State Liaison Candidate
Campaign Message
I am passionate about NP practice. I love what I do and I am constantly impressed by all the NPs I meet that are meeting the demands of the clinical setting while promoting NP practice, institutional change and leading the next generations of NPs. I believe that I can contribute to the work you already are doing and use my experience, skills and networking skills to be the NH AANP Liaison. This role is to help promote AANP education, leadership, research and advocacy. All areas that we have been working on in New Hampshire. Thank you for considering me.
Bio Sketch
Siobhan Benham is a graduate of UNH. She has a strong passion for the NP practice focusing on supporting and educating NPs. She has worked in Academia, building an online pediatric and women's health curriculum for the in-person and online student, ensuring quality across academic platforms. She has also lead the way in NH of developing NP owned DPC practices and mentoring other NPs considering entrepreneurship. She has served as her states NP organization Government Affairs Chair to lead passage of Global Signature Act, and commercial insurance payment parity. She served as the NH Nurse Practitioner Association president. During her tenure she has committed to education, advocacy and networking with the aim of growing and retaining new membership.
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?
A challenge I believe will impact NPs practice in the next decade is the persistent anti-NP campaign I see at the national level as well as state/regional levels. The AANP continues to keep a pulse on negative campaigns, and educate their members. I think the efforts of continuing to push back on this and bring them to light are important. Unfortunately I think that with social media there are misrepresentations of NPs, and AANP can offer education and support to their members on how to avoid creating media, reminder of what professionalism looks like, and offer new NP education.
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 have worked in academic settings as well as hospital owned practices, but what I am most proud of the leadership role I played as Chair of the Government Affairs Committee in working with the legislation to pass commercial reimbursement payment parity insurers. This was an effort of working collaboratively with our lobbyist, legislators and representatives for the insurance sector. I believe leadership can take many forms and some of my strengths are flexibility, curiosity and persistence. This was an issue we wanted to bring forward, we built relationship, monitored the mood and timing at the capital, and had success.
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?
Greatest challenges are those we do not yet know about. I am passionate about NP practice and have been working with our regional NP group for several years, during this time I have held different jobs and opened my own practice. My current position has allowed me to meet all challenges to enjoy that my NP work is priority.
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?
The AANP mission and strategic plan are near and dear to me. I aim to continue to work and share the benefits of working within a state that does have Full Practice Authority. Continue to work on educational opportunities to increase the number of NP leaders health care industry to improve political and organizational competence. This is something I have started within our state and sharing the importance of the AANP mission for all NPs.