Keynote Speaker
Felisia R. Bowen, PhD, DNP, PPCNP-BC, FAAN
The National Nurse Practitioner Symposium is pleased to announce Felesia Bowen as the Keynote Speaker for the 2024 symposium.
Dr. Bowen is the Inaugural Associate Dean and Professor in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the School of Nursing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is the Vice Chair of the Child, Adolescent, & Family Expert Panel for the American Academy of Nursing and a member of the NIH Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists National Advisory Committee. Dr. Bowen has authored numerous articles, has been a Reviewer or member of the Editorial Advisory Board for several journals, and has been the Primary Investigator for numerous awarded grants.
Felesia began her nursing career as an Army Nurse where she served on active duty, in the army reserves and with the New Jersey National Guard for 15 years. She is a veteran of the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. During her tenure in the military, she held several nurse leadership positions and earned several military honors and awards for her service during peacetime and war. After leaving active duty, Dr. Bowen pursued an advanced degree in nursing. She has practiced in vulnerable communities for the majority of her advanced practice career. Dr. Bowen served as the Director of the Center for Urban Youth and Families at Rutgers College of Nursing, which was an interdisciplinary group of scientists and community members working collaboratively to address pediatric health disparities through interdisciplinary research.
Dr. Bowen earned her BSN from Tuskegee University, MSN from Rutgers University, PhD from Columbia University, and DNP from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She joined the University of Alabama – Birmingham School of Nursing in August 2021 as the inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She also is a Professor in the Department of Acute, Chronic and Continuing Care and has distinguished herself as a leader in the areas of pediatric asthma, health disparities and health equity.
The Keynote Presentation, “Beyond Race, Ethnicity and Gender: Exploring the Concept of Diversity” will take place Thursday, July 18, 2024 at the Keystone Conference Center.
symposium schedule overview
Speakers & TopicS
Tuesday, July 16 & Ongoing | |
Keystone Adventure Pass - Valid for reservations of 2 nights or more booked through Keystone Resort Property Management (KRPM). All activities are subject to availability, weather, restrictions and change. Keystone Adventure Pass includes: • Free golf on day of arrival • Free 1 hour tennis court rental • Free yoga class or fitness class • Free guided hike • Free scenic lift ticket for kids 12 and under |
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Tuesday, July 16 | Rocky Mountain Retreat |
8:00 am – 8:30 am | Rocky Mountain Retreat Registration |
8:30 am | Shuttle Departure from Keystone Conference Center to Keystone Ranch |
9:00 am – 4:30 pm | Rocky Mountain Retreat (optional) |
4:30 pm | Shuttle Departure from Keystone Ranch to Keystone Conference Center |
Wednesday, July 17 | Day 1 & Rocky Mountain Retreat |
8:00 am – 7:00 pm | Symposium Registration |
8:30 am – 12:15 pm | Rocky Mountain Retreat (required if attended Rocky Mountain Retreat on Tuesday) |
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm | Pre-Symposium Session (optional – non-certified) |
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm | Pre-Symposium Sessions |
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm | Pre-Symposium Sessions |
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm | Sponsors Welcome Reception |
Thursday, July 19 | Day 2 |
7:00 am – 6:30 pm | Symposium Registration |
7:00 am – 6:30 pm | The Hub Open (complimentary food and beverages) |
7:00 am - 8:00 am | Morning on the Mountain - stretch and walk (optional – non-certified) |
8:00 am – 9:30 am | Educational Session |
10:00 am – 11:15 am | Keynote Address & Awards Ceremony |
11:30 am – 1:00 pm | Luncheon Sessions (optional – non-certified) |
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm | Educational Sessions |
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Educational Sessions |
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm | Opening of Exhibits/Colorado Mixer Reception (complimentary buffet) |
Friday, July 19 | Day 3 |
7:00 am – 6:00 pm | Symposium Registration |
7:00 am – 6:00 pm | Posters on Display |
7:00 am - 5:30 pm | The Hub Open (complimentary food and beverages) |
7:00 am – 8:00 am | Morning on the Mountain - stretch and walk (optional – non-certified) |
8:00 am – 9:30 am | Educational Sessions |
9:00 am – 1:00 pm | Exhibits |
10:00 am – 11:30 am | Educational Sessions |
11:30 am – 1:00 pm | Bag Lunch Served in Exhibit Hall (complimentary) |
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm | Challenges in Care Panel (optional) |
2:45 pm – 3:45 pm | Educational Session |
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Educational Session |
5:15 pm – 6:00 pm | Authors Present Posters |
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Twilight's Highlights Complimentary Entertainment |
Saturday, July 20 | Day 4 |
7:00 am – 5:00 pm | Symposium Registration |
7:00 am – 5:00 pm | Posters on Display |
7:00 am - 12:00 pm | The Hub Open (complimentary food and beverages) |
7:00 am - 8:00 am | Mornings on the Mountain - stretch and walk (optional - non-certified) |
7:30 am – 10:30 am | Workshops (optional) |
9:00 am – 12:00 pm | Exhibits Open |
9:00 am – 10:30 am | Educational Sessions |
10:30 am – 12:00 pm | Brunch Served in Exhibit Hall (complimentary) |
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm | Educational Sessions |
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm | Authors Present Posters |
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm | Educational Sessions |
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm | Authors Present Posters |
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Educational Sessions |
6:00 pm+ | Twilight’s Highlights (free time to enjoy the area) |
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Don Watson & the Vail Valley Band (complimentary entertainment) |
Sunday, July 21 | Day 5 |
7:00 am – 11:00 pm | Symposium Registration |
7:00 am – 8:00 am | Morning on the Mountain - stretch and walk (optional – non-certified) |
8:00 am – 9:30 am | Educational Sessions |
10:00 am – 11:00 am | Educational Sessions |
An overview of confirmed speakers and topics. Please check back for additional updates.
KEYNOTE: : Felesia R. Bowen, PhD, DNP, PPCNP-BC, FAAN
Leslie Boles, CCS, CPC, CPMA, CHC, CPC-I
April Kapu, DNP, RN, ACNP- BC, FAANP, FCCM, FAAN
Eileen O’Grady, PhD, RN, ANP-BC
Theresa Mallick-Searle, MS, PMGT-BC, ANP-BC
Sean Michael, MD, MBA, FACEP
Peggy Vernon, RN, MA, C-PNP, DCNP, FAANP
IN PROGRESS, CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES
Acute Care
Adult/Geriatric
Dermatology
Pediatric
Professional Development
Women’s Health
Allergies
Anxiety
Business Practice
Cardiology
Contraception
Dermatology
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology
Geriatrics
Gynecology
Hematology
Imaging
Infectious Disease
Legislation
Mental Health
Neurology
Nutrition
Obesity
Oncology
Orthopedics
Pain
Palliative Care
Pediatrics
Pharmacology
Professional Development
Pulmonary
Radiology
Respiratory
Self-care
Technology
Trauma
Vaccination
Women’s Health
Wound Care
Rocky Mountain RetreaT
Nurse Practitioner Wellness: A Rocky Mountain Self-Care Retreat to Promote YOUR Wellbeing
July 16-17, 2024
Keystone Ranch & Keystone Conference Center Keystone, Colorado
Accreditation
9.5 CE hours will be awarded to those that attend the entire retreat (partial credit is not available) and complete the required evaluations. Certificates of completion will be offered through Joint Accreditation (ACCME, ACPE, ANCC) and AANP, with acceptance of pertinent content by AAPA, ACNM and NAPNAP
Modern American health care is challenging on so many levels, and places unique demands on Nurse Practitioners who often give to others while their own needs go unmet. This retreat is designed for the over-deployed NP who may feel their life is not their own. It will provide specific tools to reclaim your well-being and instill rejuvenation in your work, your relationships, and your continuing self-development.
- Do you have no space in your life to do the things that you genuinely want to be doing?
- Are you looking for ways to confront a lifestyle or work that is far too stressful?
- Do you have a hard time saying NO without feeling guilty?
If you answered YES to any of these questions, then this retreat is for you!
With this day and a half retreat you will:
- Discover the science of human well-being and apply it to YOUR life
- Gather motivation and set goals to make changes that serve YOU
- Use your core strengths in new ways
- Interrupt the patterns that add stress to your life
- Set boundaries and create your own personal policies
- Discover how to grow wise instead of just growing old
…..and much more!
You, your loved ones and your patients are best served when you place your own wellbeing as a first priority for healthy relationships and your own effectiveness. This retreat will help you assume the role of CEO of your own life, to design the kind of life and work you deserve.
The purpose of the retreat is to singularly focus on your personal and professional growth in caring for the self, which will allow each attendee to build a plan that reflects their most important values. Each person will leave with a sense of duty to make their own health, wellness and wholeness, not only possible, but a priority.
Gratitude from previous attendees:
“This retreat was life changing for me. I am going to set boundaries with my boss. I wish I did this years ago. “
“With the tools provided by Eileen in this retreat, I will face my fears and request the dignity and respect that I and my team deserve. “
“This was the most helpful session of the entire conference.”
“Great balance of activities involving response and lecture. Thought provoking and definitely worth the time invested. Great setting as well – LOVED the ranch!”
“Outstanding speaker and pre-conference. Very rewarding experience.”
TUESDAY, JULY 16 | |
8:00 am – 8:30 am | Registration (located at Keystone Conference Center) |
8:30 am | Shuttle Departure from Conference Center to Keystone Ranch |
9:00 am – 12:00 pm | Self Care and Building the Life We Want |
10:30 am – 10:45 am | Beverage Break (complimentary) |
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm | Lunch (complimentary) |
1:00 pm – 4:30 pm | Wellbeing |
2:30 pm – 2:45 pm | Beverage Break (complimentary) |
3:30 pm – 3:45 pm | Movement Break |
4:30 pm | Shuttle Departure from Keystone Ranch to Conference Center |
Overnight | You will have a small overnight assignment |
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17 | |
8:00 am – 8:30 am | Continental Breakfast (complimentary – located at Keystone Conference Center) |
8:30 am – 12:15 pm | How Adults GROW |
10:30 am – 10:45 am | Beverage Break (complimentary) |
12:15 PM | Adjourn |

Dr. Eileen O’Grady is certified Nurse Practitioner and Wellness Coach who uses an evidence-based approach with people to reverse or entirely prevent disease. She has been interested in healthcare since age 11 and believes deeply that more attention must be paid to getting us unstuck from lifestyles that do not support wellbeing.
She is an expert on intentional change in adults, emphasizing the importance of extreme self-care and how to identify and remedy a life that is out of balance. She is the founder of The School of Wellness, devoted to cultivating wisdom and self-leadership.
Dr. O’Grady is currently editor and author of, Advanced Practice Nursing: An Integrative Approach (7th ed) (Elsevier, 2022). She has authored two other books: Intentional Therapeutic Relationships: Advancing Caring in Health Care, a how-to book on placing relationships at the center of health care (In press, 2021) with Jean Johnson and Minette Coetzee (DesTECH), and her most personal book is a collection of essays, Choosing Wellness: Unconventional Wisdom from a Conventional Nurse Practitioner for the Overwhelmed, the Discouraged, the Addicted, the Fearful, and the Stuck. (2021).

KeyStone
Ranch
Tuesday’s (July 16) program will take place at Keystone Ranch, an original 1930’s Ranch homestead of rustic elegance, overlooking Keystone Ranch Golf Course, with spectacular views of Swan Mountain and the Ten Mile Range. Wednesday’s (July 17) program will take place at the Keystone Conference Center, a state-of-the-art facility nestled in a mountain valley in central Colorado’s high country, with the magnificent Rocky Mountains serving as the surrounding backdrop.
It is approximately 3.6 miles from the Keystone Conference Center to Keystone Ranch. A complimentary symposium shuttle will transport you between Keystone Conference Center and Keystone Ranch, however you are welcome to drive yourself if you would like to take a scenic ride at your leisure, before and after Tuesday’s program.
program committee
We would like to thank the following National Nurse Practitioner Symposium Program Committee members, and their supporting organizations, for their dedication, professionalism, expertise and countless hours in compiling the symposium agenda. The content and quality of the symposium agenda continually offers one of the finest CE programs of its kind in the country.
Michele Bielarski, RN | AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare |
Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN | AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare |
Nancy Denke, DNP, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC, FAEN, CEN, CCRN | Toxicology Consultants of Arizona |
Mary Anne Eagelston, BSN, MSN, WHCNP | Private Consultant |
Loretta C. Ford, RN, EdD, PNP, FAAN, FAANP (Honorary Committee Member) | Private Consultant |
Joseph Lyon, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC | Stanford Health Care |
Kathy Magdic, DNP, ACNP-BC, FAANP | University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing |
Bernadette Marie Makar, MSN, NP-C, APRN-C | AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare |
Theresa Mallick-Searle, MS, PMGT-BC, ANP-BC | Stanford Health Care, Division of Pain Medicine |
Katrina Mierkey, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC | Kids First Pediatrics |
Nancy Munro, RN, MN, CCRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP | Private Consultant |
Michelle Papachrisanthou, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC | Saint Louis University |
Shirley M. Pfister, RN, MS, ANP/GNP | Private Consultant |
Conrad Rios, FNP-BC, PA, MS | Saint Agnes Medical Providers |
Nancy Rudner, DrPH, MPH, MSN, APRN | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
Laura A. Thomas, DNP, APRN-BC, WHNP-BC | Colorado National Guard |
Peggy Vernon, RN, MA, C-PNP, DCNP, FAANP | Creekside Skin Care |
Mary Wagner, RN, MSN, ANP (Emeritus Committee Member) | Private Consultant |
Cheryl A. Walker, MSN, MSBA, APRN, FNP | Humanitas, Inc. |
The Bridge: A Comprehensive Headache Education Program
About
Attend a seminar featuring didactic presentations and a choice of one of two workgroups.
Current pathophysiologic models will be addressed. Hear acute and preventive treatment strategies for adult and pediatric populations along with appropriate patient selection, administration (timing and route), and potential medication misuse and/or overuse concerns. Learn how to address comorbid medical complaints in appropriate medication selection and monitoring.
The American Headache Society® (AHS) Nurse Practitioner / Physician Assistant (NP/PA) Special Interest Group developed this educational offering for Primary Care Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants. This comprehensive overview of migraine is delivered by Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant members of AHS..
Accreditation
4.0 CE hours will be awarded to those that attend the entire seminar (partial credit is not available) and complete the required evaluations. Certificates will be offered through Joint Accreditation (ACCME, ACPE, ANCC) and AANP, with acceptance of pertinent content by AAPA, ACNM and NAPNAP.
Seminar Leaders
Annika Ehrlich, MS, FNP-C, AQH, CNRN; Nurse Practitioner, UCSF Medical Center; San Francisco CA and Nurse Practitioner III, Neurology – Headache Center, UCSF Health; San Francisco CA
Maureen Moriarty, DNP, ANP-BC, FAHS, FAANP; Director, DNP and RN/BSN Programs, Malek School of Health Professions, Marymount University; Arlington VA and Adult Nurse Practitioner/owner, Moriarty Associates; Westminster MD
Laurel Short, DNP, APRN, FNP-C; Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Practitioner, Sunflower Medical; Roeland Park KS
Karen Williams, DNP, FNP-BC; Deputy Director, Headache Center of Excellence, Neurology, Central Virginia VA Health Care System; Richmond VA and President, KDW Health Management; Richmond VA
Laura B. Xanders, FNP-BC; Family Nurse Practitioner, Neurology, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital; Washington DC
Agenda
WEDNESDAY JULY 20 | |
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm | Diagnosing Headache in Adults and Pediatric Patients |
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm | Risk Factors, Clinical Course and Barriers to Care in Adults and Pediatric Patients |
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm | Pathophysiology |
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm | Acute Treatment Strategies in Adults and Pediatric Patients |
3:30 pm – 3:45 pm | Break (complimentary) |
3:45 pm – 4:15 pm | Preventive Treatment Strategies in Adults and Pediatric Patients |
4:15 pm – 5:45 pm | Hands-on: Behavioral strategies, acupuncture, neuromodulation devices, and procedure options (trigger point injections, nerve blocks, and botulinum toxin) for headache treatment |
Past Symposia
Please click on any image below to view speakers and content from previous years.
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