Illinois State University’s Assistant Professor of Nursing Teresa Valerio has been honored with the Marie Lindsey Spirit of Advanced Practice Nursing Award by the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing (ISAPN).
Valerio, who heads up the doctor of nursing practice (D.N.P.) program for the University’s Mennonite College of Nursing, is also a nurse practitioner with Illinois State’s Student Health Services. She is the D.N.P. program leader–a new post-masters online program–and is herself a doctor of nursing practice. This program prepares nurses with a blend of clinical, organizational, economic, health care improvement, and leadership skills to serve as clinical and/or administrative healthcare leaders.
According to the ISAPN, the nominee must exemplify the characteristics of leadership, commitment, and achievement in advanced practice nursing.
Valerio, a native of Morton, is also the recipient of the 2013 Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence from the American Association for Nurse Practitioners. In 2012, Valerio was the first nurse practitioner to become board-certified in the practice of Behavioral Sleep Medicine (CBSM) by the American Board of Sleep Medicine. She was honored as a contributor to the 2011 Book of the Year Award from the American Journal of Nursing for the book Sleep Disorders and Sleep Promotion in Nursing Practice.
