Professor Stacie Hunsaker was on her way to work when she received a notification from a friend telling her to check her email. With her friend’s encouragement and nomination, Dr. Hunsaker had applied for Fellowship with the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), and the results were in. She opened the email and was shocked to read that she had been accepted!
“I could not believe it,” she later remarked. After all, becoming a Fellow of the Academy carries a lot of weight. Fellow nursing professor Dr. Craig Nuttall was also accepted, and the two will be officially inducted and recognized during an upcoming conference in October.
AAN is a highly prestigious organization that endeavors to “serve the public by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge.” With members in all 50 states and across numerous countries, a diverse cast of professionals comes together via myriad committees and panels to achieve this year after year.
Becoming a Fellow gives them the FAAN (Fellow at the American Academy of Nursing) credential, which is widely regarded as the highest and most prestigious recognition a nurse can receive. These two professionals will join thousands of other like-minded, accomplished, and high-performing nurse leaders.
I am truly humbled to be inducted. It is such an honor to be associated with this extraordinary community of leaders who have dedicated themselves to shaping the nursing profession. I hope to live up to the legacy and expectations that come with this distinction.
Dr. Hunsaker and Dr. Nuttall didn’t begin this process on their own. Rather, each was nominated by a current Academy Fellow. The application process included two letters of recommendation from reputable sources, as well as detailed summaries of past experiences and explanations of their impact on the field.
Indeed, both professors have had long, storied careers that make them ideal candidates for the FAAN credential. Dr. Nuttall cited his substantial work to improve emergency medicine, especially in rural communities. This includes stateside projects like his work in Moab, Utah, but stretches to places as distant as India.
“These experiences, ranging from global health training and interprofessional collaboration to curriculum development, have equipped me to support the Academy’s mission in both global and educational contexts,” Dr. Nuttall stated.
Dr. Hunsaker has also dedicated lots of time to the emergency medicine discipline. Her other work includes studying ways to alleviate nurse burnout, improving vaccine access for vulnerable populations, and heavily promoting public policy to protect healthcare workers from violence.
For both Dr. Nuttall and her, the honor of becoming a FAAN is a reflection of the passion they bring to teaching and practicing nursing skills. “I love being a nurse, I love advancing the profession,” Dr. Hunsaker declared.
She seeks to radiate this passion to her BYU students, letting them “know how awesome it is” to be a nurse. She described the effect this honor has on her role as an educator, saying it “gives her another impetus to be better.”
It’s not yet clear how Dr. Nuttall and Dr. Hunsaker will contribute to AAN; they will be given specific roles and duties later on. Nevertheless, both are excited to contribute to the organization’s goal of advancing the practice on behalf of nurses everywhere.
“I would be honored to serve in any capacity, but I am especially passionate about global health and education,” said Dr. Nuttall. “I would welcome the opportunity to join committees or panels aligned with these areas.”
Dr. Hunsaker echoed that sentiment. Her specialty is emergency medicine, but she stated that she “has a lot of [different] interests in nursing, so if they have [her] serve somewhere new... [she’s] perfectly happy to learn about it.”
The two will be officially inducted at this year’s Health Policy Conference, which will be held in Washington D.C. in October.