Region Director Candidate
Campaign Message
I am a dedicated advocate for nurse practitioners (NPs) and the communities that we serve. Region 4 is currently a battleground for autonomous NP practice and I am committed to amplifying the voice of the NPs in this Region. With deep roots in patient care, education, and leadership, I will bring a collaborative spirit and clear vision for advancing the NP profession. I respectfully ask for your vote and partnership in this journey.
Bio Sketch
Dr. Callie Dimsdale Tennyson, DNP, ACNP-BC, AACC, CHSE, FAANP is an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner at Duke University Hospital and an Assistant Professor at the Duke University School of Nursing. She specializes in cardiac critical care and leads quality improvement initiatives nationally and internationally to improve patient- and family-centered care during Cardiac Arrest events. She is an Associate of the American College of Cardiology and a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator. She is the Director of the Duke Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program and the Duke Academic Practice Partnership. She served as the North Carolina State Liaison for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners from 2023-2025. She was appointed to the Journal for American Association of Nurse Practitioners editorial board in 2024. Clinically, Dr. Tennyson cares for patients in a community hospital intensive care unit in Durham, NC.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing NPs in the delivery of health care over the next decade? How should AANP address this issue to support NPs and the populations they serve?
The healthcare systems that we work in are slowly adapting to the skills that NPs bring to the collaborative care team. The states that do not support full practice authority are doing their state's people a disservice and the policy behind this limitation is currently our biggest challenge. I believe that AANP is working to address this issue by elevating the visibility and voice of the NP and preparing NP leaders in the areas of practice, education, advocacy, research, and leadership.
Describe, in detail, leadership and other professional skills that you will bring to AANP and provide at least one initiative or outcome that occurred because of these skills.
I am a motivational and transformational leader. My strength lies in finding consensus and building teams and solution-oriented systems. An example of this is the development of a postgraduate certificate track to enable practicing NPs to return to school for dual-certification, leveraging competency-based education. This provided a pathway for NPs to align their certification with their clinical practice. This was a collaborative and innovative process. I believe I can bring that creativity and problem-solving to the Region 4 Director role.
Identify one major challenge that could impact your ability to fulfill the responsibilities of the position you are seeking. How do you plan to manage this challenge to be successful?
Time management will be a challenge in this role. I am fully committed to optimizing my work time to manage the responsibilities required of the Region 4 Director.
AANP’s mission is to empower all NPs to advance accessible, person-centered, equitable, high-quality health care for diverse communities through practice, education, advocacy, research, and leadership. If elected, how do you propose to advance AANP's mission and strategic plan?
If elected, I will champion full practice authority in the Region 4 states and elevate the needs of our great community. I will continue to contribute to AANP's efforts to promote practice, education, advocacy, research, and leadership. I will be a connector across Region 4 and beyond to unify the organization's efforts to improve care for diverse communities.