On Monday, March 23, DeSales University will host a conference that will provide an update on nurse practitioner (NP) practice as well as an update on full practice authority for NPs.
The event, sponsored by the DeSales University Nurse Practitioner Programs, starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at the Gambet Center on the University’s Center Valley Campus. It is free to attend. Optional tours of the Gambet Center facilities begin at 5:30 p.m.
Susan M. Schrand, FNP-BC, MSN, CNRP (right), chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners (PCNP), will deliver the keynote address, which will feature an update on full practice authority for Nurse Practitioners and the PCNP Care for PA campaign.
The discussion will focus on the distinction between the primary care and acute care nurse practitioner roles, scope of practice, and maintaining eligibility for certification.
Following the keynote, a panel of nurse practitioners representing both the acute and primary care roles will answer specific questions regarding role delineation in the outpatient and inpatient environments.
Schrand, MSN, CRNP, is a family nurse practitioner and a leader in state nursing policy. In that role, she has helped to improve and finalize certified registered nurse practitioners (CRNP) regulation revisions following Governor Rendell's Scope of Practice Laws in 2007, successfully championed Act 68 of 2012 that amends the Vital Statistic Law to allow CRNPs to sign death certificates for their patients, and continues to work in collaboration with other associations and state department leaders across the Commonwealth to maximize full use of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs).
Schrand was a 2009 recipient of the Bux-Mont Nurse Practitioner of the Year Award and served on the Corbett Administration transition team for Health and Aging. In 2014, she was given the AANP Nurse Practitioners Advocate State Award for Excellence from Pennsylvania. Schrand completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and her master's degree at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia with board certification in family health.