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This year's Aesthetic Extender Symposium will take place Nov. 2-4 in Boca Raton, Fla. The 2012 symposium moves the conference to a new city and venue to accommodate more attendees. The symposium was established in 2008 by Krystie P. Lennox, PA-C, and David J. Goldberg, MD, to enhance the skills and knowledge of nurse practitioners and physician assistants who work in aesthetic settings or seek to add aesthetic services to their current settings. The event has sold out each year.The symposium has been ...

Mimi Chang, NP, who helped develop the Asian Pacific Liver Center (APLC) at St. Vincent Medical Center in Downtown Los Angeles, will receive the Sherri Ziegler Community Service Award as a leader in viral hepatitis education and advocacy at a ceremony in Sacramento on May 23. The award, given by the California Hepatitis Alliance (CalHEP), will recognize Chang's efforts to assist thousands of people affected disproportionately by chronic hepatitis B (CHB) disease. Nominations for the award came from the ...

Outgoing VCNP president Cindy Fagan, MSN, RN, FNP-C, hands off leadership to incoming president Phyllis Everett, MSN, RN, AOCN, NP-C, during the 2012 VCNP conference. NPs from across Virginia gathered at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., for the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners' (VCNP) 38th annual professional conference in March. More than 460 NPs learned about legislative changes, earned continuing education credits and celebrated ...

Susan L. Adams, NP, PhD, is running for Congress in California's 2nd district. With 9 years of experience as county district supervisor and 33 years in healthcare, Adams hopes to bring her dedication to community wellness to Congress.Adams has devoted her work to ensuring all citizens have access to quality and affordable healthcare through the Marin Health and Wellness Center, the Emergency Medical Corps, which uses volunteer healthcare professionals to assist in crises, and a therapeutic justice program ...

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) Foundation recently announced the appointment of Anita Duhl Glicken, MSW, as president. The appointment became effective March 1. At the same time, the NCCPA Foundation announced that Randy D. Danielsen, PhD, PA-C, will continue as senior vice president.Glicken, a tenured professor at the University of Colorado, has served in the medical community for more than 30 years. She has written more than 50 published works, served as ...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Approximately 1,500 pediatric NPs gathered here in late March to focus on the future of child health. The 33rd annual conference of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) featured abundant learning and networking activities set against the inviting backdrop of this river city.A major theme of the conference lineup was the problem of childhood obesity. Keynote speaker Judith S. Palfrey, MD, FAAP, executive director of the First Lady's Let's Move! initiative, ...

In an effort to refine the growing practice of team-based care, the NP Roundtable recently released a statement on the requirement of individual licensure. The statement proposes the replacement of team-linked care, such as that in Virginia, where NPs practice under physician-led teams, with team-based care, in which NPs are integrated in a team of healthcare providers including other disciplines. Commenting on the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners' (AANP) perspective on the issue, Tay Kopanos, ...

Florida Senate Bill (SB) 730 has become law and will provide Medicaid patients with access to primary care services delivered by NPs and PAs. The bill, which takes effect May 12, 2012, changes the term "primary care physician" to "primary care provider." Susan Lynch, MSN, NP-C, vice chair of public relations for the Florida Council of Advanced Practice Nurses Political Action Committee (CAP-PAC), believes the legislation will benefit all Medicaid patients who are currently struggling to find primary ...

American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) president Penny Kaye Jensen, NP, and First Lady Michelle Obama recently recognized nurses' contributions to the Joining Forces initiative, a veteran-specific care program to offer specialized programs and activities. With the support of more than 150 state and national organizations and more than 500 universities, Joining Forces aims to meet the healthcare needs of veterans, active service members and their families.AANP will contribute to the effort by ...

The certification cycle for physician assistants will change significantly as a result of a recent decision by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). The certifying body followed the recommendation of a 2009 task force to extend the cycle by 4 years. Since recertification was mandated in 1981, PAs have been required to retest every 6 years. Beginning in 2014, certified PAs will transition to the 10-year cycle. Those who pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying ...

The American Academy of Physician Assistants and the Physician Assistant Foundation will honor PAs or PA students who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to primary or secondary disease prevention with the Prevention  Ambassador Award.The award will be given to a PA whose work supports nutritional interventions with dietary and lifestyle modifications with proven prevention benefits. The recipient will be awarded $15,000 to be used in research, outreach and patient education, and professional ...

A bill introduced to level the reimbursement rates of NPs practicing in Oregon has been rejected. Susan King, MS, RN, executive director of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) confirmed the bill would not be passed in the state. Hundreds of nurse practitioners in Oregon have been forced in recent years to reduce or close their practices due to diminished reimbursement rates. "NPs across the state have been required to limit their practice, won't accept new patients with certain types of insurance ...

President Barack Obama's proposed 2013 fiscal year budget includes a $12 million increase in funding for physician assistant training."The funding increase will allow more PA programs to benefit from the health professions grant program and will provide more diversified training opportunities for students from underserved communities," said Jennifer Teters, MPA, director of congressional and political advocacy for the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). At press time in late March, the House ...

Michael Champion, DHSc, MMSc, EdM, PA-C, is running for a U.S. Senate seat representing Texas. The San Antonio native is running as an independent conservative candidate."I have always tried to be a good leader in a variety of positions over the years as a PA, so this sounded like another opportunity to serve the people of Texas," Champion said.Champion said he can provide a unique view of healthcare to Senate members. "My medical training will bring to the Senate a realistic idea of what happens between ...

Kentucky Senate Bill (SB) 96 would permit physician assistants to prescribe, dispense and administer drugs and medical devices as delegated by a supervising physician and to prescribe all legend and schedule II drugs. SB 96 would also allow physicians and relevant facilities to determine which records of PA-provided services would require cosignature. Additionally, it would remove Kentucky's restrictions on new graduate PA practice.Steve Gaskins, MPAS, PA-C, chair of the Kentucky Academy of Physician ...