Dr. Linda Speranza Appointed to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice
Orlando, Fla. – On November 17, Dr. Linda Speranza, a nursing professor at Valencia Community College’s West Campus, will attend her first meeting in Washington D.C. as a new member of the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (NACNEP).
Speranza’s four-year term on NACNEP began July 1, 2010 and will end June 30, 2014. As a member of the council, she has the opportunity to influence national policy matters relating to nursing education, the nursing workforce, and improving nursing practice.
NACNEP advises and makes recommendations to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Congress on policy matters arising in the administration of Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act. Instituted in 1964 in response to a shortage of nurses, Title VIII focuses on training advanced practice nurses, increasing the number of minority and disadvantaged students enrolling in nursing programs, and improving nurse retention through career development and improved patient care systems.
NACNEP is made up of 23 members, including nursing students and professors, professional nurses, leading authorities in the various fields of nursing, and representatives of advanced education nursing groups (such as nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, and nurse anesthetists), and hospitals and other institutions and organizations which provide nursing services.
“It’s an honor to be able to serve Valencia, our community, and now at a national level,” said Speranza. “It’s a great opportunity to serve students from a variety of backgrounds as they start their nursing career pathways from middle to high school to college and as they proceed through their professional careers.”
Dr. Linda Speranza is a nationally certified family nurse practitioner. She has been a professor at Valencia Community College for 34 years. In addition to teaching full-time at Valencia, she practices part-time in emergency departments and in private practice. She authored as well as served as director of the Pathways Into Nursing (PIN) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Grant from 2002-2005 and is co-author of a new book aimed at teens, “Heads Up: Successful Strategies for Planning a Career in Health Care.”
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