Nurse practitioners at Grand Canyon University and around the country are being recognized this week for the good work they do during National Nurse Practitioner Week and Arizona Nurse Practitioner Week. Holding a proclamation signed by Gov. Doug Ducey are, from left, GCU nurse practitioners/faculty members Anne Wendt, Jennifer Billingsley, Rick Lloyd, Ruth Skinner, Connie Colbert and Tamara Wisely. The proclamation reads, “Nurse practitioners around the country have a special reason to celebrate Nurse Practitioner Week this year. Fifty years ago, at the University of Colorado, the first nurse practitioner program was established. Now, 50 years later, nurse practitioner programs graduated approximately 17,000 students in the 2013-2014 academic year. There are more than 205,000 nurse practitioners licensed to practice in the United States, and nurse practitioners now have full practice authority in 21 states and the District of Columbia.” (Photo courtesy of the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions)
