Seven members of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing family have been recognized by the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama (NPAA) for their exceptional work and were recently honored at the 2017 NPAA Conference in Birmingham. Receiving awards were five alumni and two members of the UAB School of Nursing Board of Visitors.
John BeardJohn Beard, who is chairman and president of Alacare Home Health and Hospice and a member of the UAB School of Nursing Board of Visitors, has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to health care, particularly palliative and hospice care. He received the NPAA Advocacy Award in recognition of his contributions to the profession of nursing in Alabama. Beard was influential in Alacare’s gift to the UAB School of Nursing Building Fund to name a laboratory for simulating home health care visits in the School’s building expansion and renovation, which will open in Fall 2018.
Dr. Eileen MeyerAlumna and Board of Visitors member Eileen Meyer, DNP, CRNP, received the NPAA Outstanding Nurse Practitioner Regional Award for Central Alabama. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degrees from the School in 1997 and 2017, respectively. Her husband, Bruce Burns, MD, who is also a member of the Board of Visitors, endowed a scholarship in Meyer’s name in the UAB School of Nursing in 2014. Also receiving awards at the NPAA conference were: Steven Galvez, MSN (1998), FNP, Outstanding Nurse Practitioner Regional Award for West Alabama; Cheryl Emich, MSN (1995), CRNP, Outstanding Nurse Practitioner Educator Regional Award for North Alabama; Kristi Acker, DNP (2009), FNP-BC, Outstanding Nurse Practitioner Educator Regional Award for West Alabama; Patsy Riley, (BSN 1974, MSN 1997), PhD (1988), FNP-BC, Outstanding Nurse Practitioner Educator Regional Award for the River Region; and Traci Wells, (BSN 1995), MSN, Outstanding Nurse Practitioner Student of the Year Award for Alabama.
