Lorna Finnegan takes the helm at NONPF
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Lorna Finnegan, PhD ’93, MS ’88, BSN ’80, RN, FAAN, executive associate dean and associate professor at the UIC College of Nursing, was installed as president of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) at the group’s annual conference in April. She will serve a two-year term.
The organization is the only one specifically devoted to promoting high-quality nurse practitioner education nationally and internationally.
Finnegan takes the helm at a crucial time. In April, the organization made the commitment to move all entry-level nurse practitioner education programs to the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree by 2025.
“The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties has led the DNP movement since the early 2000s and we are now at a tipping point,” Finnegan says. “As the healthcare delivery system has grown increasingly complex, the role of nurse practitioners has evolved. We are committed to working with multiple stakeholders and providing resources and support for faculty members as they transition nurse practitioner programs to the DNP degree.”
Finnegan says she will be guided by the words of 98-year-old Loretta Ford, the “mother” of nurse practitioners and founder of the first nurse practitioner program, who was honored at this year’s NONPF conference with the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I copied down her words of wisdom when I heard her speak several years ago,” says Finnegan. “?Be authentic; surround yourself with smart, talented and passionate people; keep the vision alive through good communication; be a disruptive innovator; be approachable.'”