TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER FACULTY MEMBER INDUCTED INTO AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2004
CONTACT: Suzanna Cisneros Martinez, suzanna.martinez@ttuhsc.edu

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
FACULTY MEMBER INDUCTED INTO AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSING

LUBBOCK – Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s Chris Esperat, Ph.D., associate dean for research and practice at the School of Nursing, was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing on Nov. 13. The academy is a prestigious organization of leaders in the field of nursing who have significant impact on health care, nursing education and health policy in the U.S.

Alexia Green, Ph.D., dean of the Health Sciences Center School of Nursing, said this appointment is well-deserved. “Dr. Esperat’s continued leadership has not only resulted in an initiative in reducing health disparities in West Texas, but overall she has helped in making our community a healthier place to live,” Green said. “The School of Nursing is fortunate to have her expertise here at the Health Sciences Center.”

Esperat was instrumental in modeling community transformation through the intervention of nursing services and public policy to expand health care access for vulnerable populations. Her advocacy for providing health care to the medically underserved has earned her appointments to several state and regional commissions and committees.

She currently serves as a member of the National Council on Nursing Education and Practice, an advisory group to the U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services and the United States Congress on nursing education and practice issues. She also is on the board of directors of the National Nursing Centers Consortium.

Esperat’s efforts have resulted in increased health care services to medically underserved populations through the delivery of primary care services and the establishment of chronic disease management programs in a nurse-managed clinic in east Lubbock. She has helped in the establishment of a nurse-managed primary care service for homebound elderly and provided diabetes self-management training to medically underserved populations.
Her induction into the academy makes a total of eight Health Sciences Center School of Nursing faculty members named into the American Academy of Nursing.
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