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For those of you who may not know me, please

allow me to introduce myself. I am a professor

and associate dean for research and clinical

scholarship at the University of New Mexico

(UNM) Health Sciences Center, College of

Nursing (CON), and have been a nurse educa-

tor/researcher for 23 years. I am a graduate of

the University of Arizona College of Nursing

with a doctorate in clinical nursing research and

a postmaster’s certificate as a family nurse prac-

titioner in 1998 from the Uniformed Services

University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). I

am the immediate-past president of the New

Mexico Nurse Practitioner Council, and I prac-

tice as an FNP at a nurse-managed clinic in

Albuquerque. I have previously served on

ACNP’s board of directors as treasurer and

Executive Committee member (2002-2004) and

am the current treasurer, Executive Committee

member, board member, and chair of the

audit/finance committee for the National

Nursing Center’s Consortium.

As I stated in my campaign for president last

year, I have two major goals for 2006: first,

working more collaboratively with other nation-

al organizations to promote a policy of inclusion

in all legislation affecting NPs, and second, pro-

viding states with support at the national level

that will help them to achieve their state goals.

I believe we have several organizations that are

working on health policy issues that affect NPs,

but each is only tangentially working with other

national NP organizations. By combining our

efforts both at educating and lobbying of legis-

lators, I believe we will have greater impact and

outcomes. In essence we will be speaking with

one voice and one message.

Providing data to states means we can help

them sustain and support their ongoing efforts

to be viewed as safety net providers for the

uninsured, underinsured, and the marginally

insured. This data will help NPs delineate the

value that they bring to primary care and espe-

cially to care for the underserved. I believe as

a group, nurse practitioners are the answer to

our health care crisis. The challenges that we

face for the future are here now. We need to be

proactive in our response to these challenges,

and to do that I will need your help in the com-

ing year.

Please feel free to contact me by e-mail at

anytime at KPMiller@salud.unm.edu with your

thoughts on issues affecting our profession. I

believe that only through dialogue will we as an

organization be able to grow and to meet your

needs. And finally, thank you for allowing me to

provide leadership, on your behalf, as ACNP’s

president for 2006.

Ken Miller, PhD, RN, CFNP, FAAN

ACNP President 2006

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