Nursing Faculty Member Receives State Award for Excellence

Emily Merrill, Ph.D., R.N., a professor and department chair for nurse practitioner and nurse midwifery studies at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing, today (June 20) received the prestigious American Academy of Nurse Practitioners’ (AANP) Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence at the AANP’s 27^th National Conference in Orlando, Fla.

The award is given annually to dedicated nurse practitioners in each state that demonstrate excellence in their areas of practice. In 2010, Merrill was inducted as an AANP fellow.

Merrill’s areas of expertise include graduate education for nurse practitioners, role development for advanced practice registered nurses, advisement of graduate students seeking advanced nursing education and nurse practitioner faculty development in academia. She also has clinical experience as a family nurse practitioner in primary care. Her research focuses on weight bias and optimizing care for overweight patients.

The AANP represents the interests of more than 125,000 nurse practitioners currently practicing in the U.S. and continually advocates at local, state and federal levels for the recognition of nurse practitioners as providers of high-quality, cost-effective and personalized health care.

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