NEW OFFICERS ELECTED ACROSS THE STATE

(Cheyenne, WY) – The Wyoming Nurses Association (WNA) held their annual convention in Cheyenne on September 28th and 29th.  During the meeting the results from the election of officers were revealed.  For the Wyoming Nurses Association Vice-President position, Alicia Lepard, PhD, MBA, APRN, RN, ACNP, ENP, FNP, GNP, FAANP, of High Desert Healthcare, LLC in Gillette Wyoming won the seat.  Previously, she has served as the President of the Northeast Region of WNA. Lepard stated, “WNA is poised to take new directions in leading Wyoming nurses from the troubled COVID-19 era and enter into a stronger, nimbler, actively engaged workforce fighting for the health in the rural and frontier environment which we live in.”

The WNA Secretary position is now Jennifer Stephens, MA, PhD, RN, OCN, CCNE, Assistant Professor, Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, University of Wyoming.  Stephens was previously on the Board of the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology and is excited to serve for WNA now that she has moved back to the United States.  Stephens “overall aim is to build collaborations and to encourage communication and sharing between nurses and with our healthcare colleagues. My vision for nursing is one which sustains both a humanistic and holistic approach while finding a cohesive way to respond to challenges such as climate change, promoting diversity, and confronting growing economical and political divides.”

The state is divided into five regions to represent the nurses in their geographical areas.  In the Southwest Region Brenna Kirsch, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, Nurse Practitioner at Castle Rock Medical Center will remain the President. The new incoming Southwest Region Treasurer will be Ashlee Ledgess, BSN, RN, is a full-time student at the University of Wyoming in their Doctor of Nursing Practice Family Nurse Practitioner Program.  In the Southeast Region Jennifer Stephens, MA, PhD, RN, OCN, CCNE, Assistant Professor, Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, University of Wyoming will also serve as the Treasurer. 

In the Central Region the leadership will continue with Megan Mendoza, DNP, BSN, RN at Banner Health as the President and Heather Jones, MSN, RN, at Summit Medical Center as the Treasurer.  In the Northwest Region the new Treasurer is Marcy Holford, MSN, RN, CMGT-BC, CCM, from Humana - Utilization Management Nurse Behavioral Health.

“It is exciting to see the diversity in leadership across the state that will represent nursing through the WNA,” stated Abby Bremer, MSN, RN, President for the Wyoming Nurses Association.  There are a few open positions on regional boards in the state.  Bremer encourages nurses who are interested in serving to contact the association via email at director@wyonurse.com.