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Nursing prof is ACNP president-elect

Judy Hendricks, assistant professor of nursing
10:25 a.m., June 7, 2004--Judy Hendricks, University of Delaware assistant professor of nursing, has been chosen president-elect of the American College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP).

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the ACNP is an advocacy group working to unite and inform nurse practitioners on legislative, regulatory and clinical practice issues affecting nurse practitioners.

With 3,500 individual members, the organization represents more than 10,000 individuals through a variety of group, state and national affiliates.

Currently serving as vice president of ACNP, Hendricks will assume her new duties as president of the nonprofit member-directed organization in 2005.

“I am thrilled to be able to represent this organization,” Hendricks said. “It is very energizing and very humbling. I really look forward to representing this group of nurse practitioners at the national level.”

Hendricks said that the classification of advanced practice nurse is an umbrella term that includes nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists.

From the planning of the 1993 Invitational Leadership Summit, which led to the formation of the National Nurse Practitioner Coalition, to the creation of the ACNP in 1994, Hendricks has been closely involved as an advocate for nurse practitioners at the local and national levels.

“I was on the board in the early 1990s, when we began to unify nurse practitioner groups in support of health care reforms. I also was chair of a committee that was working to get legislation that would allow advanced nurse practitioners to prescribe medicine,” Hendricks said. “Our mission was to unite nurse practitioners and to advocate for legislative changes that would remove certain barriers faced by advanced practice nurses. We also wanted to increase access to health care for vulnerable populations.”

Among the barriers to making health care available to all sections of the population, Hendricks said, are restrictive requirements in many states that mandate the supervision of nurse practitioners by physicians.

“The 1997 Medicare omnibus bill (H.R. 4577), recognized nurse practitioners and physician assistants and allowed them to be reimbursed for their services,” Hendricks said. “Our organization developed a grass roots petition to rally members of Congress to keep that language in the bill. This was a big step for us.”

Hendricks said that her election as ACNP president was partially the result of her involvement in the Delaware political arena, where she ran a pair of close but unsuccessful campaigns for state representative in 2000 and 2002.

Locally, Hendricks serves on the chronic disease task force appointed by Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. The group, which has been charged with the task of improving the quality of chronic disease management in Delaware, meets monthly and expects to issue a report by early summer.

“This involves a coordination of efforts and the creation of an increased knowledge base as well as access to care for people who are uninsured,” Hendricks said. “The goal is to improve health outcomes in these folks. It’s a huge undertaking, and it is multifaceted, involving legislators, doctors, nurses and insurance companies.”

A teacher of undergraduate courses in the nursing program at UD from 1978-81 and 1989-95, Hendricks has been a faculty member in the graduate nurse practitioner program since 1995.

Besides serving as an educator, Hendricks also has been actively employed as a nurse practitioner in a local internal medicine practice since 1983.

“I can’t think of a better way to teach nursing at either the graduate or undergraduate level than to be a practicing nurse in the community,” Hendricks said. “Each of these roles complements the other, and makes you a better teacher and a better practitioner. It really is the best of both worlds.”

Hendricks also said that her role as both teacher and health care practitioner has been enhanced by her involvement in ACNP.

“I’ve had the privilege of meeting and working with some wonderful nurse practitioner leaders from across the country, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. It gives one a sense of involvement that really means a lot,” Hendricks said. “I enjoy taking that enthusiasm back into the classroom and instilling it to graduate students.”

Besides enhancing her role as a nurse practitioner and educator, her involvement as an advocate at the national level also may cause others to consider involvement in local and national nurse practitioner advocacy groups, Hendricks said.

“I think it’s energizing for students and colleagues to know that I will be representing Delaware as president of a national organization,” Hendricks said. “This gives Delaware more of a voice at the national level and may serve as a catalyst for others to get involved. I think this is a win-win situation.”

Hendricks received a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1971 and a master’s degree in cardiopulmonary nursing in 1978, both from UD. She also holds a post-master’s certificate from the University of Maryland as an adult nurse practitioner and has obtained national certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 1982.

A member of the Delaware Board of Nursing from 1992-98, including a two-year term as president, Hendricks also has been chair of the board’s joint practice committee since its inception in 1995.

In addition, Hendricks has served on the Advanced Practice Registered Nursing task force of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (1997-98) and as the founding chair of the Primary Care Council of the Delaware Nurses Association, and she was a past delegate to the American Nursing Association convention.

Article by Jerry Rhodes

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