NANN-AP Corner

Leanne Nantais-Smith, PhD RN NNP-BC FAANP
NANN-AP Council Chair

Best wishes to all for a peaceful and productive 2025!

I hope you all read the 2024 NANN BY THE NUMBERS report mentioned in the Board Update. If not, take a minute to read about the accomplishments for 2024. These incredible achievements are a testament to the hard work of our members and volunteers, who devote time and energy to contributing as experts to the care of the neonatal population.  

Last year, we received several requests from NNPs for a NANN-AP Position Paper and Action Plan addressing NNP critical staffing issues. This project has been funded, and we received 20 applications in response to our call for authors to prepare this document. Many thanks to all the highly qualified and experienced professionals who applied. A NANN-AP Council Task Force reviewed all applications, and five authors were chosen. We look forward to working together with the author group on this important position paper.   

We will continue current programs, including our APRN and RN You Should Know. If you have a colleague you want to publicly thank for their hard work, simply share their name, contact information, and a short descriptive paragraph and send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The NANN-AP Council is in the process of prioritizing future projects, and updates will be forthcoming. As a leading neonatal advanced practice organization, we are tasked with responding to the many challenges in neonatal health care. To accomplish our goals, we need all our advanced practice colleagues on our team. Volunteering will allow you to share your experience, expertise, and viewpoints on committees, position papers, and publications aimed at providing safe, evidence-based care to our neonatal patients and families. Volunteering is easy to do. Stay informed on calls for nominations (opening next week on 2/3), open positions, and author calls for projects. TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE, BE ON THE FRONTLINE, and join other talented neonatal professionals in this important work. Please also encourage your advance practice peers to join our organization and contribute. The larger our numbers, the stronger our collective voice.

Mark your calendars for the NANN 41st Annual Conference, taking place September 9-12, 2025, in Palm Springs, CA. The NANN-AP APRN Summit Task Force is busy planning our second all-day APRN-focused preconference. Although the main conference will also have APRN content, the task force is reviewing feedback from last year’s first all-day APRN Summit and planning another exciting day of amazing experiences for you.

Our 2024 accomplishments were achieved thanks to the hard work of the NANN staff, Board of Directors, NANN-AP Council and many volunteers. This is my personal thank you to everyone who worked so hard in 2024 and helped to get us ready for work on our big goals for 2025!