NANNP Corner

NANNP Council Chair

Barbara Snapp DNP APRN NNP-BC

Dear Colleagues,

May I introduce myself? My name is Barbara Snapp, and I am the current NANNP Council Chair having previously served on the Council from 2016 to 2020. I have been in neonatal nursing since 1981 and a NNP since 1994. Although I certainly have Level 4 experience, I have spent most of my career in the community hospital setting. I am employed by Children’s National in Washington, DC, and work in a Level 3 community hospital in Virginia.

I want to thank Dr. Bobby Bellflower for her leadership of the NANNP Council which coincidently started along with the COVID pandemic. Despite the frustrations of an ever-changing work environment, Dr. Bellflower was able to achieve so much; all via tiny video screens! These accomplishments include:

• A quarterly advance practice podcast with Jill Beck
• Updated, retired, or reaffirmed our position statements
• Provided leadership and timely updates on the National Task Force for Quality Standards in Nurse Practitioner Education (NTF)
• Lead a task force to choose leadership to update the Standards and Curriculum Guidelines for NNP education (Chairs: Dr. Michele Savin and Dr. Amy Koehn) (in progress)
• Under the DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) pillar, guided the development of an animated video on neonatal APRNs
• Administered the publication of the 2020 Workforce Survey in two separate journals: Advances in Neonatal Care: Snapp B., Moore T., Wallman C., Staebler S. (2021). The National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners 2020 workforce executive summary. Advances in Neonatal Care, 21(3):242-246.
  Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners: Snapp, B., McCutchon, L., Moore, T.A., Teel, D. (2022). Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Job Satisfaction, Workforce Environment, and Mental Well-Being. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 34(9):1058-1065.

One of the key responsibilities of the Council is to represent advanced practice nurses in various arenas. These include the Education Strategic Coordinating Committee (ESCC), Health Policy and Advocacy Committee (HPAC), Research Institute Steering Council (RISC), plus representation on various American Academy of Pediatrics committees and other nursing organizations such as LACE (licensure, accreditation, credentialing, and education). Others are assigned to committees specific to APRN needs such as the annual conference committee (ACC), nominations committee, awards, and research committee. These all take time and a commitment to represent our advanced practice members throughout the industry. It is imperative that we continue these activities to keep the advanced practice providers equitably represented in healthcare.

However, we, as a profession, are facing far more issues than committee assignments. We know the distribution of NNPs is uneven nationwide. We know we need to match preceptors and students. We know we need to be more inclusive and partner with our fellow APRNs. We know that we have new colleagues in our formally exclusive workspace.

What we don’t know is what you think. How do we remain relevant in a shifting work environment? How do we attract new people to what can be admittedly hard work and long hours?

Please share your thoughts. We need people willing to shares ideas but also to be open to new ideas to move us all forward. The Council is willing to do the work, but we need to know what work you want done.

We also need members and volunteers as we are a small group. Increased numbers will intensify the power of our collective voice. Your membership dollars provide the funds required to perform the work that will benefit you.

Please reach out to me (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or any of the Council members. You are also welcome to open a dialogue on the MyNANN community forum. We truly want to hear from you.

Our Sponsor