Meet the 2024 AANP International Advanced Practice Nurse Ambassadors
Media Contact: Bryan Black
Nursing leaders from countries with emerging advanced practice nursing roles will receive scholarships to attend the 2024 AANP National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Austin, Texas — The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) is pleased to announce three advanced practice nurses (APNs) have been selected as 2024 AANP International APN Ambassadors. These exceptional nurses will enjoy an exclusive opportunity to exchange knowledge with and be mentored by distinguished nurse practitioner (NP) leaders. The AANP International Ambassadors Program was established to provide NPs and other nurses from countries with emerging APN roles the ability to establish relationships with each other, AANP members and NP leaders; be mentored; gain new perspectives about the NP role; and accelerate the development of advanced practice nursing within their countries.
Congratulations to Chiu-Hui Chen, MSc, RN, NP, from Taiwan; Arūnė Norvilaitė, MSN, FNP, from Lithuania; and Haruna Seidu, RGN (Dip), RNP (BSc), MPH, from Ghana! Each ambassador will receive a scholarship and travel stipend to attend the 2024 AANP National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, June 25-30.
Chen began her journey as a NP in 1994 at Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center, the only hospital specializing in cancer care in Taiwan. After pursuing graduate and postgraduate education in palliative care, she assisted the hospital in establishing the first collaborative palliative care team in Taiwan and worked with the team for eight years. Chen has been recognized as a Distinguished Nurse and Nurse Practitioner at her hospital, and as a Distinguished Nurse in Taipei City. She played a critical role in developing and implementing the first NP training program in Taiwan and has since given lectures at numerous hospitals to educate the health care community regarding the NP role.
In 2010, Chen assumed a leadership role equivalent to the Director of the Advance Practice Provider role in the U.S, leading her team's growth from 10 members to the current team of 50 NPs. This team is responsible for the care of over 90% of inpatients at the current hospital. She actively engages in impacting policies that concern the NP role in Taiwan and has been invited to serve on multiple advisory boards to revise policies that impact NP practice and patient access. Chen will be mentored by Kristi Acker, DNP, PhD, CRNP, and Katie Kemble, DNP, ARNP, FNP-C, AOCNP, FAANP.
Norvilaitė is a NP who is passionate about chronic disease management and preventive care in primary care in Lithuania. She is a lecturer at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, and is currently pursuing her PhD. Norvilaitė’s research areas include long-term care of patients, preservation of patients' dignity and refining the concept of home and palliative care. Funded by the Research Council of Lithuania, she successfully implemented ‘Home Care’ within long-term care services for older adults and presented this work at the 18th European Association for Palliative Care World Congress in 2013.
Norvilaitė works with the European Commission and World Health Organization as a local expert — developing tools that inform national reform processes and policies impacting the quality of long-term care services. She participated on a team that organized two significant meetings to promote nursing’s role in Lithuania, collaborating with medical organizations to gain professional support and mutual understanding. Since launching APN education in 2015, there are more than 70 APNs and NPs in Lithuania and a thriving Lithuanian Association of Advanced Nursing Practice. Norvilaitė will be mentored by Jamesetta A. Newland, PhD, FNP-BC, DPNAP, FAANP, FAAN, and Cheryl Thaxton, DNP, MN, CPNP, FNP-BC, CHPPN, ACHPN, FPCN, FAANP.
Seidu has dedicated himself to the Ghana Health Service for almost two decades. He currently works as both a nurse manager and NP in the Sene West District Hospital in Ghana, overseeing the daily nursing and midwifery services and conducting the general outpatient departments. He also has a teaching appointment with Wisconsin International University College in Kumasi, where he provides student nurses and midwives with physiology education.
In 2023, Seidu was elected as the National Chairperson for the Nurse Practitioners Society of Ghana. He has helped train more than 200 staff members at the Kintampo Municipal Hospital to reduce the social stigma and discrimination against individuals living with HIV. He has also worked tirelessly to improve his region’s pediatric outcomes by identifying critical areas that contributed to delays in care at the hospital. Seidu received a Presidential Award for COVID-19 Heroes and is also a four-time winner of the U.S Navy Medicine Manpower Personnel Training and Education Command Award.
“As health care needs grow worldwide, APNs are stepping up in their home countries to provide holistic, person-centered health care to their communities,” said AANP President Stephen Ferrara, DNP. "This year, the 2024 AANP International APN Ambassadors from Taiwan, Lithuania and Ghana, are being recognized for their outstanding contributions. AANP is truly honored to acknowledge their groundbreaking achievements and applauds them for expanding the APN role where they live.”
As AANP strives to empower all NPs to advance accessible, person-centered, equitable, high-quality health care for diverse communities through practice, education, advocacy, research and leadership, the association recognizes the importance of advanced practice nursing worldwide. AANP seeks to increase its global impact by continuing to build relationships within the international APN community and increasing the rich diversity of experiences and perspectives from which NP practice can benefit.
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The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners (NPs) of all specialties. It represents the interests of the more than 385,000 licensed NPs in the U.S. AANP provides legislative leadership at the local, state and national levels, advancing health policy; promoting excellence in practice, education and research; and establishing standards that best serve NPs' patients and other health care consumers. As The Voice of the Nurse Practitioner®, AANP represents the interests of NPs as providers of high-quality, cost-effective, comprehensive, patient-centered health care. To locate an NP in your community, visit npfinder.com. For more information about NPs, visit aanp.org.