Long Island Nurse Practitioner Association Member Elected New York's AANP Representative

Hauppauge, NY, July 28, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The Nurse Practitioners Association of Long Island announced that Margaret (Peg) O’Donnell, ANP, BC, MS, RN, of Baldwin, has been elected New York's State Representative to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

State representatives of the AANP actively serve as the contact person and liaison for communication and other grass roots activities with members and other NPs in their states. The state representative also serves as a contact person for the regional director, board of directors (BOD), committees and Executive staff.

Ms. O’Donnell practices at Monte Nussbaum Family Medicine, one of the busiest family medicine practices in Nassau County Long Island. She has been awarded the New York State NP Advocate Award by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the NP of the year for the NPALI, and is also the past president of the Long Island Chapter of the New York State Nurse Practitioner's Association. She has served on multiple committees on the local and state levels, and is currently on the board of directors of the NPALI.

Ms. O’Donnell has been in the healthcare provider profession for more than 30 years. Ms. O’Donnell started her career as an RN in 1981, and has served at some of the Northeast’s most prestigious hospitals including, the hospital for Joint Diseases in Manhattan, Long Island Jewish-North Shore University Healthcare System, University of Massachusetts Medical Center and most recently at South Nassau Communities Hospital. Ms. O’Donnell worked in many disciplines including emergency services, intensive care, stem cell transplantation, and electrophysiology. She was also involved in clinical research trials at South Nassau Communities Hospital, where she maintains medical staff privileges as a nurse practitioner.

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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