The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) selected University of Colorado College of Nursing faculty Rosario Medina and Heather Coats and alumnus Lt. Col. Christopher Stucky among 250 distinguished nurse leaders to be inducted into the 2022 Class of Fellows.
Inductees will be recognized for their significant contributions to healthcare at the AAN’s annual Health Policy Conference, Oct. 27-29 in Washington, D.C. This year’s fellows represent 35 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 17 countries – making it the largest cohort in the AAN’s nearly 50-year-old history.
“It gives me great pride that AAN is honoring these outstanding and exemplary nurse leaders,” said CU College of Nursing Dean and Professor Eli Provencio-Vasquez, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAANP. “Together, Drs. Medina and Coats and Lt. Col, Stucky represent the values of health equity and innovation that are hallmarks of CU College of Nursing. While their work has been celebrated within our own circles, I am proud that their accomplishments are being recognized as improving the health and well-being for communities around the world.”
About this year’s fellows
As a Professor of Clinical Teaching and Associate Dean of Clinical and Community Affairs at the University of Colorado College of Nursing, Dr. Medina, PhD, PNP-BC, ACNP, CNS, FAANP, has the executive oversight of multiple nurse-led faculty practices that provide exemplary student experiences while serving metro Denver and rural Colorado. She has 30 years of academic experience as a teaching professor and administrator and 41 years as a nurse (of which 23 has been active Family Nurse Practitioner). Her practice focuses on the management and care of underserved populations and her research has made her an expert in understanding health beliefs and values of Hispanic underserved populations.
Dr. Coats, PhD, APRN-BC, is a Palliative Care Adult Nurse Practitioner who serves as an assistant professor at CU College of Nursing. Since 2019, she also serves as director of research for the Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses Association. With 20 years of clinical experience in palliative, oncology and hospice care, her research focuses on improving communication and emotional and spiritual well-being for patients and families living with serious illness through the development of person-centered narrative interventions.
Dr. Stucky, PhD, RN, CNOR, CSSM, CNAMB, RN-BC, is a CU alumnus who attended CU College of Nursing as an active-duty soldier under the Army Enlisted Commissioning Program. He earned his BSN in Nursing Science from CU Nursing in 2001. He is currently earning a post-graduate certificate from the college’s Veteran and Military Health Care program while working full time as a research scientist at the Center for Nursing Science and Clinical Inquiry at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
