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Alicia Le Pard, is a MSN, MBA, APRN. Alicia is certified as an acute care, emergency care, family and geriatric nurse practitioner with a specialization as a certified diabetes educator, and advanced diabetes management as well a certified informatics and emergency nurse!

She runs her own family practice clinic, High Desert Healthcare, Gillette, focusing on the family with chronic diseases such as diabetes but branches into urgent care. As a sideline, Alicia teaches EMS through Gillette College, and a variety of nursing courses with Maryville University. She continues her self-education as well and acts as the current President of the Northeast Region of WNA and a member-at-large of WCAPN.

Amy Gruwell, FNPC is WCAPN’s Immediate Past President. She was invited to be a Member At Large in the spring of 2015 and was elected President Elect in 2015.  She has been a member of the WCAPN Conference Committee and served as Chair in 2016. She is heading up the Leadership and Public Policy Committees this year.

A few quick words from Amy:

I am a Wyoming native. I have been lucky to obtain all of my nursing degrees (RN, BSN, MSN-FNP) while living in Wyoming and from Wyoming Schools. I have been a nurse for 19 years and a NP for 14 years. I have primarily worked in primary care practices, but have dabbled in Gastroenterology and Urgent Care. I have owned a family practice clinic for the last 9 years…or wait maybe it has owned me. Regardless, I am amazed at the changes that occur in health care daily. I am thankful to always be surrounded by NP’s and nursing staff who are as passionate about caring for families as I am. I have two young boys, 3 years old and 7 months old, who remind me to appreciate the little things in life. I am married to a pharmacist and love that we can empathize with each other at the end of the day. 

I am so glad that I was introduced to this group. I am really proud of the changes that WCAPN has made in the last 3 years. I feel that Wyoming APRN’s are finally getting a full-time association that has value and meaningful benefits for its members. I am excited for the future of WCAPN. I am looking forward to continued member services and ways to connect with my colleagues. 

FOCUS & PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH: We are researching a “telehealth” program that is web-based and will allow you to get treatment from the comfort of your home. Patients will work with a speech-language pathologist (talking), a physical therapist (exercise), and a pharmacist (medication) through a computer.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN: Before the telehealth sessions starts, the patient with work with our study coordinator to answer some case history questions. Then the coordinator will measure the patient's starting points for speech, for exercise, and for medication management. This should take about 70 minutes. The study coordinator will then schedule the patient's telehealth appointments with the speech-language pathologist, physical therapist, and pharmacist.

After the telehealth sessions starts, participants will work with these professionals via their provided computer for about 8 hours each week. This will continue for 8 weeks.

1.  The speech-language pathologist will provide LSVT-LOUD intervention to keep or restore the patient's speech loudness. During the first 4 weeks, participants will work with the speech-language pathologist for 4 one-hour sessions each week. During the remaining 4 weeks, the speech-language pathologist will meet with the patient for 1 hour each week to monitor their speech practice, and they will have a one-hour exercise homework to complete four times each week.

2.  The physical therapist will supervise the particpant's Telehealth Exercise Program for 8 weeks. The therapist will meet with the patient via telehealth one time a week and assign homework for them to complete for 2 additional 60 min sessions each week.

3.  The pharmacist will meet with the patient up to 1 hour each week to discuss their medicine(s).

After the telehealth sessions ends, the study coordinator will measure the participant's ending point for speech, exercise, and for medication management. This should take about 70 minutes right after and then again 6 months after they complete the telehealth sessions.

AM I ELIGILBLE TO JOIN THIS RESEARCH? Contact us for details. Participants must be an adult with Parkinson’s disease in Nevada or Wyoming, can follow instructions, and not in a nursing home.

WHERE WILL THIS STUDY TAKE PLACE? Participants can be in their home or any other place that has an Internet connection. The health care professional will join participants through the weblink on a computer that we will loan to you.

Ten days down - Ten to go. 

With such a short session, deadlines are tight and days are long. It is not unusual for legislators to work very late into the night and then return early in the morning.

This past week was focused primarily on the budget but they also had to listen to bills that had moved out of a committee. If a bill had not been heard and voted to move on by the Committee of the Whole (COW) by end of business Friday, it d

ied a quiet death.

The Legislature will not meet on Monday as the schedule allows them a mid-session break. The focus of next week will be to finish hearing and voting on bills in their house of origin and those that get the majority vote will "cross over" to the other side to start the process again. Bills that cross over do not necessarily ma

ke it to the final destination, which is the Governor' desk. Just because one side likes and passes a piece of legislat

ion does not guarantee the other side will agree.

Speaker Harshman wants to add $750,000 for telehealth grants to Wyoming healthcare providers into the ENDOW bill that will be coming up next week. WNA has asked that WCAPN support this. We need APRNs to send emails to their Representatives asking them to vote in support of this funding. 

Notes would start like this...Dear Representative ____________. Please support the addition of $750,000.00 to ENDOW to be used for telehealth in Wyoming. (Then fill in your own BRIEF reason why this is important). Click here for additional talking points to include in your email.

Have you read the opinion?

In order to clarify misconceptions regarding the role and population foci for APRNs in the State of Wyoming, the WSBN Practice Committee has requested email distribution of the of the 2007 Advisory Opinion "APRN Population Focus." Click here to read.

What is an Advisory Opinion?

In accordance with W.S. 33-21-122 (c) (iii) of the Wyoming Nursing Practice Act the Wyoming State Board of Nursing can publish advisory opinions relative to whether the nursing procedures, policies and other practices of any agency, facility, institution or other organization that employs individuals licensed or certified under this act complies with the standards of nursing practice as defined in this act and board rules and regulations.

Interested in being a speaker at the upcoming Advanced Practice Forum? We'd like to hear from you!

The event takes place in Sheridan, Wyoming on October 12-13, 2018. Deadline for submissions is May 1, 2018.

To learn more or to submit your proposal click this link: Call for Speakers.docx

If you have any questions, contact wcapnevents@wcapn.org.

WCAPN, in partnership with the Wyoming Nurses Association, Wyoming Hospital Association and High Desert Healthcare, hosted a Nursing and Legislative reception on Thursday, February 22, 2018 at the Little America Hotel, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The reception was held in conjunction with WNA's Nurses Day at the Legislature.

In addition, WCAPN hosted an APRN briefing session prior to the reception to update attendees regarding the 2018 Legislative session and issues facing APRN's.

We packed the Little America Hotel's grand ballroom, with over 275 attendees and 23 exhibitors. This year’s theme Understanding Workplace Violence: Seeking Civility. This issue is at the forefront of our profession and the day provided timely information on the topic.

The day started with a presentation on “Nurse Licensure Compact: What’s in it for me?” provided by Cynthia LaBonde, MN, RN, Executive Director for the Wyoming State Board of Nursing. The keynote “Workplace Violence: It affects all of us” was presented by Gordon Gillespie, PhD, DNP, RN, CEN, CNE, CPEN, PHCNS-BC, FAEN, FAAN. Gordon's presentation included his research efforts derive from his clinical practice and responding to patient, visitor and coworker aggression and his research has been funded by the CDC‐National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Nurses Foundation, and Emergency Nurses Association Foundation. Most recently, Gordon chaired the national workplace violence conference, co‐chaired the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario’s second edition of the Best Practice Guideline “Preventing and Managing Bullying and Violence in the Workplace,” and guest edited an interprofessional journal issue on workplace violence. Attendees then heard from Tina Smith, MSN, RN, Assistant Professor at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming presented “Can I Reduce My Risk for Physical Violence?” which was an introduction to crisis prevention training. 

Following lunch attendees engaged in a meaningful and collaborative conversation to identify opportunities for action in Wyoming around workplace violence. The educational sessions for the day wrapped up with WNA Lobbyist, Toni Decklever, MA, RN who provided an energetic and dynamic presentation around the “2018 Legislative Process and Bills: What do they mean to me?”

The Northeast Wyoming Region of the Wyoming Nurses Association, and the local members of the Wyoming Council of Advanced Practice Nurses cordially invite you to reach out to your nursing constituents prior to the 2018 Legislative Session to hear our input to your upcoming issues.

February 8, 2018

Gillette Campus, Northeast Wyoming Community College

Health Sciences Center

6:30 p.m.

Coffee and Desserts will be available.

AANP, NAPNAP and NONPF responded to an article that ran in KevinMD.com, a physician blog. The article, titled Independent practice: Both nurse practitioners and physicians should be outraged, ran January 5, 2018 and contained numerous erroneous statements. AANP, NAPNAP and NONPF all contributed to a response that was shared with KevinMD.com and posted on AANP’s website.

Incident on American Airlines Flight

The WCAPN 2018 Strategic Plan is available for download here. The plan includes WCAPN's plan for leadership development, organization viability, association visiblity, membership connection, educational opportunities, public policy and partnerships. Check it out!