UAPRN STATE BOARD ELECTIONS FOR 2024-2025
Posted 10 months ago by Ashley Blackmon
Please see the full list of candidates below and vote here accordingly: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VTT2DC2
UAPRN State Board Election Candidates:
For President:
For President:
Wilantha Silva, Doctor of Nursing practice, Family Nurse Practitioner serves those who live with diabetes and other Endocrine disorders in the CSRA. She enjoys this subspecialty because it touches on so many aspects of a person’s life and health. She has worked in a variety of areas including corrections, homecare, and family practice. As an RN she worked ICU, Forward Surgical Team, Telemetry and Behavioral health. Her most rewarding career was serving in the Active Army for over 20 years.
Wilantha believes the nursing profession is a rewarding career that has a major impact on the total health of the nation’s population. Nurse Practitioners are at the forefront and actively working to lead that charge. Wilantha actively works to keep her finger on the pulse of state policies and needs of our profession. When nurses come together to impact change, we create a sonic boom that can be felt worldwide.
For President:
James Lawrence: I have a wealth of clinical, teaching, and leadership experiences in healthcare that are reflected in my purposeful choices of employment. I believe these experiences have made me a stronger clinician, educator, researcher, and leader in healthcare.
Experiences that make me an outstanding choice for electing me as your state UAPRN president (again) include my successful track record of leading UAPRN when it was a struggling organization that was close to disbanding and “in the red financially” to a vibrant, healthy, growing professional organization with a financially growing reserves that established and achieved over 90% success in reaching its short-term and long-term goals while growing its membership to over 110%; serving in national leadership roles at ANCC, GAPNA, AANP, Sigma Theta Tau, and under two United States Presidents’ administrations as a White House Healthcare delegate, healthcare advisor and consultant; serving under three Gubernatorial administrations in Georgia and South Carolina, being one of 13 founding members of UAPRN.
The leaders that followed my elected office have taken this organization to new heights that I never imagined could take place. As they achieved these outstanding accomplishments, I became a student again. I watched and took notes meticulously on their leadership successes in advancements throughout the state and nation. If I am elected, my goal will be to perform an organizational evaluation of our current position in the state and nation, report those results in my first state-wide town hall meeting, ask for members’ assistance and feedback on their wishes for UAPRN's future, formulate short-term and long-term goals that reflect my, my board of directors, and the members’ feedback, and then collaboratively construct a pathway to reach these goals with a designated timeline. This is your organization, and an effective leader is one who identifies, understands, and can strategize ways to carry out the established goals of the people he/she leads.
For Secretary:
Regina Canty: Regina Canty, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC is the Chapter President for United Advanced Practice Registered Nurses of Georgia (UAPRN), on the UAPRN Government Relations Council, and the Lead Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner for The Southeast Permanente Group of Georgia.
Ms. Canty has been in the healthcare arena for more than 20 years, including her experience as an RN and FNP. Her Nursing journey started at Gwinnett Medical Center in 1998 where she became an Oncology Board-certified Registered Nurse. From Gwinnett Medical Center, her path led her to work for Northside Hospital’s Bone Marrow Transplant Group of Georgia. Her nursing career took her to ICU working at Grady Memorial Hospital. While working at Grady Hospital, she continued her nursing education matriculating towards her MSN degree with a focus as a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Ms. Canty obtained her Associate and Bachelor in Nursing degrees, in 1998 and in 2006 respectively, from North Georgia College and State University which is now the University of North Georgia located in Dahlonega, GA. She graduated from Brenau University in 2009, with her MSN as a Family Nurse Practitioner, all the while being a clinical adjunct Associate Degree in Nursing clinical instructor teaching at Gwinnett Technical College.
Once she became certified through American Association of Nurse Practitioners, she started her FNP profession at Emory Healthcare of Georgia. Presently, she works for The Southeast Permanente Group/Kaiser Permanente and was promoted to the Lead Nurse Practitioner for the Internal Medicine Department.
Ms. Canty joined United Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (UAPRN) of Georgia as a member and became the Chapter President for Gwinnett/Forsyth Chapter in 2018. She is an active leader for healthcare in the community which is demonstrated by coordinating multiple state conferences, summits, and legislative workshops. Presently, she co-chairs the Government Relations Council for UAPRN. Ms. Canty was the proud recipient of the annual 2022 American Academy of Nurse Practitioners’ Nurse Practitioner of Excellence for Georgia.
Regina Canty was born in New York City and grew up in Harlem. Currently, she resides in Lawrenceville, GA along with her two daughters and 2 grandsons, who keep her very busy. When she’s not putting together health-fairs, conferences, and workshops, you will find her traveling, learning the game of golf or going dancing.
For Director-at-Large:
Patrice Little: Dr. Patrice Little is a transformative figure in nurse practitioner (NP) education and practice, bringing a decade of family NP expertise to the forefront of professional advancement. As the founder of NP Student® she designed a framework that supports registered nurses (RNs) in their transition to nurse practitioners (NPs), while overseeing and establishing pivotal educational and organizational partnerships.
Previously serving as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Campaign for Action, Dr. Little aided state APRN organizations in policy navigation regarding scope of practice, and worked to eliminate barriers in nursing education for pre-licensure students. Her scholarly work includes contributions to "Advanced Practice Nursing Leadership: A Global Perspective" and "The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Global Applications to Advance Health Equity," highlighting her dedication to nursing policy.
During the 2022 Legislative Session, Dr. Little served as a content producer with Georgia Public Broadcasting, demonstrating her communication skills and talent for making complex policy information understandable to the public. In addition, Dr. Little's participation in the Healing Politics Campaign School emphasizes her dedication to political strategy and healthcare advocacy.
Dr. Little seeks to serve as Director at Large within UAPRN with a vision to strengthen Georgia APRN's roles through advocacy, educational excellence, and media strategy. With her extensive background in policy, research, and media, she is ready to lead efforts to unite academia and practice within the state and beyond. She holds a DNP degree from Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University, an MSN from Brenau University, and a BS degrees in Biology/Pre-Medicine and Nursing from Georgia Southwestern State University. She is a member of the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ), the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), and the Gwinnett/Forsyth Chapter of UAPRN.
For Director-at-Large:
Robin Pingeton: Robin is a Family Nurse Practitioner with over 35 years’ experience in healthcare. Her medical experiences and focus include primary care, psychiatric medical management, diagnosis of dementia, depression, and mood disorders in the elderly. Her early nursing career includes ICU nursing in cardiac, surgical, trauma and burn specialties. She holds a Master of Science Degree from Georgia State University and received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Kansas. Robin is a subject matter expert in her field. She has worked with nationally recognized experts in Neurology and Psychiatrics in the elderly and is a sought-after speaker by many different medical organizations and community health awareness events. She was a State of Georgia educator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hand in Hand program which focuses on training staff in senior living communities about person-centered care and abuse prevention of the elderly. Recognizing a greater need for quality primary and dementia care in the frail geriatric population, she began her own practice that focuses exclusively on the delivery of comprehensive dementia and chronic care management, reducing polypharmacy, and preventing needless visits to the ER among these types of patients. One of the key goals in her Practice is to provide opportunities for other advanced nurse practitioners to work and thrive in an all-NP focused setting. She mentors and pro-actively works to support other Nurse Practitioners seeking to become entrepreneurs with their own Practice. Robin also devotes a large portion of her time to promoting and educating on the role of the Advance Practice Nurse Practitioner (NP). NPs provide a vital role in health care to Georgians, and she actively participates in activities, including legislative, to promote the full scope of their training to help those with poor or limited access to health care. Her practice also works to help underserved elderly patients in suburban and rural areas of the state. Robin has served the last four years as Secretary of the Gwinnett and Forsyth County Chapters of the United Advanced Practice of Registered Nurses (UAPRN) of Georgia and is currently serving as co[1]chair on their Government Relations Committee. In this role, Robin collaborates with members of the Georgia State Legislature, Board of Nursing and Board of Medicine to advance the impact NPs can have to help mitigate the current health crisis in the State. Most recently, she was awarded the 2023 Nurse Practitioner Advocate State Award for Excellence for the State of Georgia by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and received the prestigious Mary Jane Seacole award by Help for Healthcare Professionals as the 2023 Champion of Healthcare Advocacy. She is also proud of being a Girl Scout for over 40 years and is currently serving as the healthcare advisor for their summer camps in the greater Atlanta area. Robin lives in Atlanta with her husband and has two children