NAPNAP Receives NYSAE Award for Excellence in Educational Programming
NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2021 – In recent years, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners has soared to new heights with its national conference and other continuing education opportunities. While supporting the continuing education and clinical practice needs of pediatric-focused advance practice registered nurses always requires innovation, the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 presented unique challenges forcing the education team at NAPNAP to pivot and adapt to provide meaningful, accessible networking, continuing education and certification review opportunities for its community of experts in pediatrics and advocates for children. Last Friday, NAPNAP’s efforts were recognized by the New York Society of Association Executives (NYSAE) as Laura Nelsen, director of education and learning, accepted the association’s award for Excellence in Educational Programming.
The award recognizes an organization that has “created a relevant educational program that contributed significantly to the development of its members’ profession or industry workforce.”
Unable to provide an in-person learning experience in March 2020 NAPNAP’s education team transitioned to a virtual conference platform complete with networking lounges and an exhibit hall attracting the most registrants in conference history. Based on the success of the early 2020 virtual national conference, the team conducted a fall virtual symposium in Oct. 2020 and virtual national conference in March 2021. In addition, NAPNAP launched TeamPeds Talks, TeamPeds Experts Live and TeamPeds Town Halls in 2020 to provide members with learning opportunities focused on pediatric primary, acute and specialty care topics.
“While many would see the limitations of the pandemic as an obstacle that is impossible to overcome, NAPNAP staff instead saw it as an opportunity to provide new, unique experiences to advanced practice registered nurses,” said NAPNAP Executive Director James H. Wendorf. “I am proud of our staff’s tireless efforts to deliver a wide variety of high-quality content to our audience. Their efforts have strengthened the NAPNAP brand as experts in pediatrics and advocates for children.”
Along with hosting large-scale in-person and virtual conferences and symposia, NAPNAP’s education team also maintains the association’s online continuing education platform, PedsCESM, which features evidence-based courses developed by experts in their fields and available to members and non-members.
“I am truly honored to receive this award on behalf of NAPNAP,” said Nelsen. “Our success would not be possible without the hard work of our six-person education team and our national office colleagues, the NAPNAP executive board and conference planning committee.”
With both an in-person and virtual symposium this fall, NAPNAP looks forward to the future of hybrid learning and continuing education opportunities that support the professional needs and career development of all pediatric-focused APRNs.
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The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) is the nation’s only professional association for pediatric-focused advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) dedicated to improving the quality of health care for infants, children, adolescents and young adults. Representing more than 8,000 healthcare practitioners with 18 special interest groups and 53 chapters, NAPNAP has been advocating for children’s health since 1973 and was the first APRN society in the U.S. Our mission is to empower pediatric-focused advanced practice registered nurses and key partners to optimize child and family health. www.NAPNAP.org
