Chapter Members Share Talent and Knowledge
By Melissa C. Lockhart
The Gulf Coast Chapter of GAPNA is large, covering the area from Dallas to the Mexico border (Harlingen) and over to San Antonio. Texas has 28 million residents and as of 2019 has over 26,000 APRN’s practicing in the state, up from 10,000 a decade ago. Our chapter is busy, coming to terms with the pandemic, and trying to provide meaningful virtual meetings for GAPNA members.
The July and September 2020 meetings are via video conferencing, and we have created a partnership with the Sealy Center on Aging at University of Texas Medical Branch to provide Zoom capabilities and when possible CE credit.
The July presentation was “Navigating Your Career for Fellowship: American Academy of Nursing.” Gulf Coast board members thank the Sealy Center on Aging Administrator Stephanie Burt for facilitating the partnership and Zoom capabilities!
The September 2020 presentation will be a COVID-19 update and available on Zoom. All presentations for 2020 will be Zoomed and archived and, if CME is approved, will be available for 6 months.
Myla Magno, DNP, APRN, GNP (Houston), completed her presidency on June 30, 2020 and has been a role model for me and other GAPNA members. Her admirable leadership style is all about inclusiveness and organization. Please take a moment to email Myla and congratulate her on a job well done. Thank you, Myla!
Christina Ramsey, MSN, GNP-BC, LNCC, CWS (San Antonio), is active with her Ramsey Resources, yet she was able to plan and present a chapter Zoom presentation in the spring. She remains chair of a GAPNA/PAC/LTC SIG and is a very active contributor on the GAPNA Exchange.
If you have not accessed the Exchange, it is a source of excellent daily messages and an effective way to contact GAPNA members nationwide with your questions or interests.
Christina Ramsey and Stacey Chapman, ANP-BC (San Antonio), will be presenting at the GAPNA Fall Conference 2020 on “Trauma Informed Care in the LTC.”
Shannon Drew, ANP, Brandy Hill, FNP, Tametra Jones, DNP, ARNP, FNP-C (Temple), and Melissa Lockhart, PhD, GNP-BC (Galveston), all served as beta testers for the GAPNA 22 Module Curriculum on Dementia.
It is now complete and offered via GAPNA as a CE program. If you have new graduates or NPs new to geriatrics, this resource is a must. All four ladies worked on the development of the DCARE Study, testing the "Comparative Effectiveness of Health System-Based Versus Community-Based Dementia Care.”
The four-site study is testing three models of care and the Health System Intervention is testing the role of the NP as dementia care manager. Stay tuned. The study will ongoing for 2 years.
Myla Magno and Shuyan Bi, AANP (Board/Chapter Treasurer, Houston), served as Expert Panel Members at the Southeast Texas Geriatric Work Enhancement Town Hall in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine in May.
Texas Gulf Coast is proud of the talented geriatric nurse practitioners in this chapter.
Melissa C. Lockhart, PhD, APRN, GNP-BC
Chapter President
mlockhart0196@gmail.com
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