State Liaison Candidate
Campaign Message
Elect Kimberly Brazee, A Proven Leader for Ohio APRNs! We need a leader who embodies healthcare excellence, patient-centered dedication, and a passion for removing APRN practice barriers. With over 30 years of experience, Kim Brazee is a respected executive APP leader and acute care nurse practitioner. She consistently advances patient outcomes while expanding access to care. Kim works closely with healthcare stakeholders and policymakers to ensure APRN voices are represented in Ohio. She values lifelong learning and champions educational programs that keep nurse practitioners at the forefront of healthcare innovation. Vote Kim Brazee as AANP State Liaison amplify our voice, strengthen our profession, and shape the future!
Bio Sketch
Kimberly Brazee, MSN, APRN, ACNP-BC is the System Director for Advanced Practice Providers at University Hospitals and a practicing critical care clinician. She leads more than 1,400 APPs, building an organization that supports, promotes, and elevates advanced practice. Passionate about advancing the APRN role, Kim serves on local, state, and national boards and committees, ensuring the profession s recognition and influence in healthcare policy. She has transformed APP education and professional development by creating APP-specific onboarding programs, standardizing training, and linking providers to resources for growth and advancement. Her leadership extends beyond her institution, Kim has shaped state and national APRN practice through legislative advocacy, committee work, and a strong commitment to professional excellence. A champion for collaboration, education, and innovation, she continues to be a powerful voice for APPs and a driving force for advancing patient care.
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?
Although many challenges exist, the biggest challenge facing NPs in the delivery of health care over the next decade is navigating the changing platform of education and acceptance. In Ohio, we are not a full practice authority state and have had challenges gaining momentum for change. Strong opposition exists against full practice authority and tends to be focused on the different education nurse practitioners receive as opposed to other provider s education. Continued conversations educating others on understanding the eligibility requirements for board certification and increasing awareness of educational requirements can help to alleviate this barrier to advancement.
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.
As a transformational leader, my expertise focuses on bringing teams together and developing sustainable unified programs. As the healthcare landscape continues to change, we need to remain creative and agile in developing healthcare models that integrate advanced practice providers ensuring the best delivery of care to our patients. In my current position, I identified significant deficits in the retention and transition of our newly graduated providers in our organization and built a sustainable program to decrease this turnover and build a system of support for success. This was accomplished through systemwide training, education programs, mentoring program and close follow up.
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?
The only challenge identified at this time would be time management. As the leader of a large organization, time is always a challenge to ensure proper attention is provided to each initiative. Although this is a challenge, I navigate this challenge effectively through thoughtful evaluation of requests and committing appropriately. My employment requires my commitment to my institution of >1400 advanced practice providers but what ignites me is the ability to continue to impact change and advancement of nurse practitioners at a state and the possibility to reach nurse practitioners at a national level.
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?
Increasing the number of APRNs in leadership roles and continued education of the nurse practitioner role is just a couple ways we can advance AANPs mission. If given the opportunity to serve as Ohio state liaison, I would commit to linking APRNs across the state, encourage growth in leadership and promote participation in AANP. APRN leaders have the unique opportunity to educate on models of care, promote collaboration, and elevate nurse practitioner roles across the healthcare continuum resulting in high quality care.