Phyllis Arn Zimmer, MN, FNP, FAAN
President

Ms. Zimmer is a master’s prepared Family Nurse Practitioner who has practiced in the areas of adult health, women’s health and family practice in both urban and rural areas. She holds a part-time faculty position in the Primary Health Care Family Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Washington School of Nursing. Her research activities have been focused in the areas of women’s health, NP education, and workforce issues. Through Batelle Research Centers, she was a co-investigator on a multi-disciplinary grant funded through the National Institute of Mental Health which studied primary care providers’ assessment of risk for STDs and HIV in patients presenting for well visits. She co-authored the first study looking at NPs’ ability to request, receive, and dispense sample medications.

Phyllis has provided major leadership in the NP profession through her work in the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF). Most notably, she chaired the Education Committee which authored the publication Advanced Nursing Practice: Nurse Practitioner Curriculum Guidelines. This publication provided national standards for NP education which became the “gold standard” for NP educational programs. She was the first recipient of NONPF’s Outstanding Nurse Practitioner Educator award in recognition of her work on this project. She has served as president of both NONPF and the American College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP), and for 8 years served as the Director of Marketing & Corporate Relations for ACNP.

Phyllis is a founding partner in FnP Associates, which was started in 1992. The partnership provides an array of services targeted primarily to a nurse/nurse practitioner audience. Services include consultation in the areas of nurse practitioner education, curriculum development, preceptor training, grant development and review, professional issues, organizational development, fund-raising, continuing education, and meeting planning. Through FnP Associates, she was responsible for the initiation and development of ACNP’s National Clinical Symposium.

At the state level, she chaired the task force that developed ARNPs UNITED, a state-wide organization of Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners that united nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse anesthetists in an organization that has become a voice for advanced practice in the State of Washington. In recognition of her leadership in the state, she was awarded the organization’s “Mover and Shaker Award” in 1992.

Phyllis has served as a peer reviewer for training grants for the Division of Nursing and has been a consultant for the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research and the National Health Service Corps. She currently serves on several national advisory boards, and is on the editorial boards of the American Journal for Nurse Practitioners and NP World News. She authors a column “In Celebration of Students” for NP World News. In 1995, Phyllis received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Rochester School of Nursing. In 1996, she was selected by the U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, as a Primary Care Policy Fellow. In recognition of her contributions to the nursing discipline, she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 1997.

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