2009 AFPNP Award for Outstanding Educator
Leigh Small
Dr. Small is committed to the success of her students. She prepares graduate students to deliver high quality, evidence-based care. Her teaching strategies are so effective that the students' critical thinking skills and their ability to evaluate and utilize evidence-based practice in their clinical settings develops much earlier in the program. Leigh has developed and transformed the curriculum into a hybrid on-line format which has tripled the size of the program in the past 4 years. Under her leadership the program has also gone from non-ranked to ranked #13 in the country in the latest U.S. News & World Report.
Leigh encourages students to participate in clinical research in the clinical setting so that they are exposed to the role of the PNP in developing new knowledge to improve the health of children and their families. As co-editor of the evidence-based practice column in Pediatric Nursing, she also has worked with several students to write and publish their evidence reviews to guide clinical practice in this column. She is currently the principal investigator on a NIH grant to pilot test her PLAY program, a primary care childhood overweight/obesity treatment program. She has involved several PNP students in this study. The students developed the comparison intervention information, the training manual for motivational interviewing used with the experimental group parents, some of the experimental intervention information, measurement literature reviews, audio taping the experimental group information, and working on the study preparing participant folders and data entry.
Clearly, Dr. Small deserves the AFPNP educator award as she exemplifies the extra ordinary educator of pediatric nurse practitioners.
2009 AFPNP Award for Outstanding Preceptor
Kris McHarg
Ms McHarg has been an exceptional mentor and role model to the pediatric nurse practitioner students at The Catholic University of America for the past 12 years. Over the past 5 years alone, she has enthusiastically precepted 14 students including students from 4 other PNP programs in the region. She has given each student the opportunity to grow & develop professionally in a strong interdisciplinary practice that is guided by evidence based practice to a culturally & socio-economically diverse population.
One of her students states: "Kris was always encouraging and provided constructive feedback in how I could improve my practice. She was extremely patient in guiding me through this unfamiliar experience and ultimately made me feel very comfortable and confident in my skills as well. Because of her, I strive to be the best nurse practitioner I can!"
Ms McHarg's participation and accomplishments in professional activities at local regional, national, and international levels are exemplary. Importantly, she has involved students repeatedly in these activities and events. She has been an active member in NAPNAP since 1995 and Chair of the Education Committee for the Virginia Chapter of NAPNAP since 2002. She received the Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Chapter in 2006. She is an active member of the Breastfeeding SIG group and a member of the International Lactation Consultants Association. In 2006 she was chosen to be the ongoing NAPNAP representative to the United States Breastfeeding committee. Last year Kris campaigned vigorously to educate her peers about impending changes in Virginia state law regarding NP practice and prescriptive authority. Her professional activities include presentations to local universities, conferences and community groups including Day Care Centers, and Mothers Groups. She volunteers at a free clinic providing primary care to underserved children and welcomes students to accompany her. She also spearheads her local NAPNAP chapter's charitable donations. Not least is her engagement in pediatric health services in international crisis areas which she has shared with local chapter members.
It is apparent that Ms McHarg exemplifies the ideal integration of the essential roles of the PNP, that of practitioner, educator, & professional and child advocate. Her dedication to teaching and guiding future pediatric nurse practitioners and her outstanding ability to role model these skills and attributes to the students that she mentors makes her worthy of receiving the AFPNP/A preceptor award.