Long Island Nurse Practitioner Association's Nurse Practitioner of the Year

Hauppauge, NY, January 21, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The Nurse Practitioner Association of Long Island recently named Donna Hallas, Phd, PNP-BC, CPNP, its 2010 Nurse Practitioner of the Year.

Dr. Hallas is a pediatric nurse practitioner whose practice serves at-risk children from birth to 21 years old who receive their primary health care in a pediatric ambulatory care center. She is an active member of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) and served for three years as the PNP at-large on the Pediatric Nurse Certification Board (PNCB; formerly National Certification Board for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and Nurses).

Dr. Hallas has a career in patient care that spans four decades. Dr. Hallas is a Clinical Associate Professor at New York University College of Nursing and is the Coordinator of the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program. She was a faculty member at Pace University for seven years, teaching pediatric nursing to undergraduate students, and was Chair of the Department of Undergraduate Studies at Pace University forthree years. Her current research focuses on improving health care outcomes for infants and children under the age of 5. She just completed a randomized controlled trial investigating an intervention to improve the social-emotional development of toddlers. She is currently conducting a study to improve the oral health care needs of young children.

Dr. Hallas has presented research at the Sigma Theta Tau International Research Conferences in Ireland (2004), Hawaii (2005), Montreal (2006) and in Vienna in July 2007. A resident of Levittown, Dr. Hallas holds a PhD in Nursing from Adelphi University, a MS in Nursing from SUNY Stony Brook, a BS in Nursing from Adelphi as well as a BS in Biology from the University Of Hartford and a diploma in nursing from St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, Waterbury, CT.

Based in Hauppauge, NY, the Nurse Practitioner Association of Long Island (NPALI) is a chapter of the Nurse Practitioner Association of New York State. NPALI was formed in 1980, and works in concert with the state organization for the purpose of uniting, representing, and advocating for the profession.

Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses who are prepared, through advanced education and clinical training, to provide a wide range of preventive and acute health care services to individuals of all ages. NPs complete graduate-level education preparation that leads to a master’s degree. NPs take health histories and provide complete physical examinations;
diagnose and treat many common acute and chronic problems; interpret laboratory results and X-rays; prescribe and manage medications and other therapies; provide health teaching and supportive counseling with an emphasis on prevention of illness and health maintenance; and refer patients to other health professionals as needed. NPs are authorized to practice across the nation and have prescriptive privileges, of varying degrees, in 49 states. The most recent Health Resources and Services Administration Sample Survey report (2008) shows 158,348 Nurse Practitioners in the United States, an increase of more than 12 percent over 2004 data. The actual number of nurse practitioners in 2006 is estimated to be at least 145,000.

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