Leanne Nantais-Smith, PhD RN NNP-BC FAANP
NANN-AP Council Chair
Welcome, NANN-AP Council members, as we start our 2025-2026 year! A heartfelt thank you to Barbara Snapp for her leadership and support as Immediate Past Chair of the NANN-AP Council this last year. And congratulations as she starts her tenure as President-Elect of NANN.
A sincere thank you to Council members Drs. Tosha Harris and Desi Newberry, who have completed their service as Members-at-Large on the Council. They have shared their experience and insights into the achievement of NANN-AP Council goals.
Welcome to all continuing Council members, Drs. Leann Baker, Tracy Bell, Erna Josiah-Davis, and Heather Stephens, and new Council members, Drs. Meredith Farmer and Michele Savin, as Members-at-Large. Also, congratulations to Dr. Tosha Harris as she begins her tenure as Chair-Elect of NANN-AP. Together, we will move forward in achieving our NANN-AP goals.
In addition to the regular work of the Council in meeting our strategic goals, members work as liaisons representing neonatal APRNs on committees and organizations involved in APRN practice, education, policy, and advocacy. Our liaisons continue to work on the NANN Annual Conference, Education Strategic Coordinating Committee, APRN Awards, Health Policy and Advocacy, ONE NANN, and Research Committees. We also have liaisons representing neonatal APRNs on the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF), the National Task Force for Quality Nurse Practitioner Education (NTF), and the Licensure, Accreditation, Certification, and Education (LACE) Network. We continue our partnership with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and bring an important neonatal voice to this national professional organization for NPs of all specialties. We have also created a new NANN-AP liaison position with the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners (AAENP).
Leann Baker chaired the APRN Summit Task Force for our second all-day APRN summit at the NANN 41st Annual Conference in Palm Springs. We welcomed 137 attendees and received positive feedback. Another great summit; kudos to Leann and her team for an exciting and successful summit.
We have achieved many goals in the past year:
- Continued the Fireside Chats as a forum for membership to identify issues, bring them to the Council by Chat leaders for discussion, and have Chat leaders share the Council discussion and recommendation feedback with the chat groups.
- Completed an education module in collaboration with AAENP: Common Complications of the Late Term Infant.
- Formed an author group and deployed a survey with the goal of preparing a paper on crucial NNP staffing issues.
- Fine-tuned focus on APP workforce advocacy needs for the coming year. Two appointed Council co-leads will head the task force. A call for volunteers will follow to form the Advocacy Toolkit for the Neonatal APRN Role Task Force.
- Established nurse practitioner organizational partnerships with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners (AAENP).
- Welcomed new non-nurse advanced practice providers into membership to foster inclusivity across the neonatal care team and ensure access to best practices, NANN education and guidelines, and NANN-AP position statements.
NANN-AP Council members will continue to reach out personally to new APRN members and encourage them to actively participate in volunteer activities and provide input on neonatal APRN issues and initiatives. As of July 2025, we had approximately 1,230 NANN-AP members with an 80% annual retention rate and welcomed 142 advanced practice first-time members in the last year. Your personal referrals are our most impactful catalyst for growth.
We will continue the APRN You Should Know program to recognize the phenomenal achievements of our neonatal NP and CNS colleagues. Recognize a colleague by sharing their name, contact information, and a paragraph about their achievements here.
As the advanced practice division of NANN, NANN-AP will continue to act as the unified voice for neonatal advanced practice professionals to ensure safe, quality, and cost-effective evidence-based care that impacts outcomes for neonates, infants, their families, and communities. We look forward to promoting ongoing connections and conversations with our members, supporting advocacy for our profession, patients, and families, developing statements, education, and guidelines, and fostering collaboration across the neonatal care team during the 2025-2026 year.
