Previous APRN Member Spotlight

October 2022 Sharon Vanairsdale Carrasco

Sharon Vanairsdale Carrasco, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, NP-C, CEN, FAEN, FAAN, FNAP, is an associate professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University. She is the program director of the Region 4 Ebola and Other Special Pathogen Treatment Center based out of Emory University Hospital.

As the program director, she manages unit readiness and hospital preparedness for patients with special pathogens and has been involved with COVID-19 pandemic response at Emory. Sharon is also the director of education for the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, a training program to prepare health care workers to safely and effectively manage patients with special pathogens.

She is a fellow in the Academy of Emergency Nurses and the American Academy of Nursing, as well as a Distinguished Fellow in the National Academies of Practice. In 2016, she was awarded the American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Nurse of the Year for Exemplary Professional Practice and the March of Dimes Nurse of the Year for Nursing Administration.

April 2022 Craig Nuttall

Dr. Craig Nuttall is a dual certified emergency and family nurse practitioner. He obtained his MSN from Brigham Young University and His DNP from the University of Arizona. He also holds the Diploma in Mountain Medicine from the International Mountain Medicine Center. He is currently working as an associate teaching professor at Brigham Young University where he teaches in the family nurse practitioner program. Craig maintains a clinical practice in the emergency department at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, Utah

His research focuses on patient care at high altitudes and resource-limited environments. Over the past several years he has been working with the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to improve search and rescue and health care access in the Himalayas. He received the 2020 Rivers Foundation Explorer Award for Health and Humanities by the Scientific Exploration Society for his work training search and rescue workers in the Garhwal Mountain range.

In response to his work in 2020 with patients during the COVID- 19 pandemic, Craig developed the Stethogram 3D printed digital stethoscope and iOS app. This open- source stethoscope is used by nurses and other health care providers to assess their patients suffering from COVID- 19 while still wearing appropriate PPE and maintaining a safe distance from the patient. This device is now being used in hospitals and for telemedicine to help protect health care providers and patients with COVID- 19 around the world.

March 2022 Michael D. Gooch

Michael D. Gooch, DNP, APRN, CCP, is board certified as an acute care, family, and emergency nurse practitioner. He is also board certified as an emergency, flight, transport and trauma nurse. He has more than 25 years of emergency and transport medicine experience. He obtained his MSN from Vanderbilt University and his DNP from Loyola University Chicago. He is an assistant professor of nursing with the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, as well as faculty with the Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia. He has completed more than 1,500 patient transports during his tenure with Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s LifeFlight transport program. At Vanderbilt, he also serves as an emergency nurse practitioner in the patient flow center and , with TeamHealth in a community emergency department.

Michael is actively involved in advancing ENP. He is a founding member of the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners and serves as the southeastern regional director. He is an APRN liaison to the Air and Surface Transport Nurses Association’s board of directors and is a member of the the ENA’s Advanced Practice Advisory Council.

Michael is a nationally recognized speaker and published author on varied emergency and transport medicine topics. He serves as a column editor for the Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal. His clinical interests include transport medicine, airway management, toxicology, and pharmacology.

January 2022 Chris Dellinger

Chris Dellinger, MBA, BSN, RN, FAEN, is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Emergency Nurses Association and is in her third year on the board. She is currently the director of trauma services and specialty care services. Dellinger has served in various roles within ENA at the local, state and national levels, including many years as the West Virginia ENA State Council president and the state’s pediatric chairperson. Dellinger has served as an instructor and faculty for TNCC and ENPC, ENA’s premier courses. She has been part of ENA’s Course Administrative Faculty Committee and the Conference Education Planning Committee. Dellinger was instrumental in partnering with her state ACEP physician group to hold an annual summit. She is the immediate past president of the Mountain State Trauma and Injury Prevention Coalition and is the appointed registered nurse to the State Medical Review Committee.

In 2017, she was chosen as the 2016 Leader of the Year at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center. She is a Fellow in the Academy of Emergency Nursing. Dellinger earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from West Virginia at Parkersburg in 2008 and later went on to complete her MBA with an emphasis in Health Care Administration from Salem University in 2017. With her willingness to make critical decisions, Dellinger continues to be dedicated to ENA’s mission and commitment to care by promoting the tools to make the clinical practice safer, while protecting the emergency nurse, their patients and their families.

December 2021 Nancy Denke

Nancy Denke DNP, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC, FAEN, CEN, CCRN, has worked in various roles in emergency care, neurology/stroke and toxicology over the last 43 years. Nancy holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University; received her CNS and FNP from the University of North Carolina; and earned her ACNP from St. Louis University. Most recently, she received her DNP-Innovation in Leadership from Arizona State University. She is currently a full-time toxicology nurse practitioner with Toxicology Consultants of Arizona, where she cares for patients of all ages at three different hospitals. Her practice includes overdoses, altered mental status and envenomation patients. In her free time, she is a part-time DNP faculty member at ASU. She has been an active ENA member the last 43 years, holding several leadership positions with the Kansas, North Carolina, Colorado and Arizona ENA state councils. She has served on many ENA volunteer committees, most recently as the 2018 chairperson for the Academy of Emergency Nursing and now as chair of the Emergency Advanced Practice Committee. In these positions, she was able to work with her committee to launch the ENA Mentoring program and the APRN library.

Nancy enjoys contributing to the clinical training of nurse practitioners and nursing students, and as a mentor for active-duty Air Force nurses in the Critical Care/Emergency Trauma Nurse Fellowship Program at Scottsdale Healthcare. She has presented numerous times about emergency, toxicology, trauma nursing and medicine topics to local, state, national and international audiences, and has published numerous papers related to these subjects.

November 2021 David T. House

David T. House, DNP, CRNP, ENP-C, FNP-BC, CNS, CEN, CNE, FAEN, is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing. He is specialized in emergency services with 20 years of experience in administrative and clinical roles. He serves on faculty for both the graduate and doctoral tracks at UAB, as well as co-coordinator of the Emergency Practitioner Pathway. House received his Doctor of Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt University in 2016, is a Scholar with the UAB Center for Interprofessional Education and Simulation and is also a Fellow of the 2019-2020 UAB Interprofessional Leadership program. A lifetime ENA member, House is currently the past-chair of the ENAP Advisory Council having served on the council from 2019-2021 and as chair in 2020. In 2021, he was inducted into the Academy of Emergency Nursing. He has also contributed to ENA as a member of the ENP and CNS Competency Workgroups and on the Conference Education Planning Committee for EN20X and Emergency Nursing 2021.

October 2021 Kimberly R. Brandenburg

Kimberly R. Brandenburg, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, CEN, CPEN, has worked in emergency care, trauma, and critical care for the last 24 years. She graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University with her BSN from Bryan College of Nursing, earned her MSN in education at Nebraska Wesleyan University and obtained her FNP from Clarkson College in Omaha, Nebraska. She has filled several roles in the ED over the years including as a trauma program manager and clinical educator. She currently works full time as a nurse practitioner in the critical access setting, caring for patients of all ages in the clinic, inpatient setting, emergency department and as a PRN at a Level III Trauma Center.

She has been an active member of ENA for the last 16 years; in several leadership positions the Nebraska ENA State Council; was the Chairperson for the 2019 ENA Conference Education Planning Committee and served as Innovation Lead in 2020 and 2021. She has lectured at the national level on trauma, leadership, and concussion treatment  and is passionate on delivering an evidence-based approach to chronic disease management, which directly affect the ED patient population. She plans to obtain board certification over the next year. She also specializes in adult concussion and TBI, and is the APRN lead for the Adult Concussion Clinic one day a week in her hometown. For the last seven years, she has taught as an ad hoc professor in the MSN program at Nebraska Wesleyan University. In addition to ENA, she is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Brain Injury Association of America, and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

September 2021 William Fiebig

William Fiebig, DNP, APRN, AGACNP-BC, ENP-C, FNP-BC, CEN, NREMT-P, has been involved in some form of emergency care for the past 45 years. After starting his career in EMS and f& Fire, he then went on to nursing school, graduating from the Union Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Baltimore. He would go on to obtain his BSN at the University of Phoenix and later he graduated from the University of South Alabama emergency dual role (FNP/AGACNP) NP program in 2016 before, and then completing his DNP in 2019. His doctorate project involved a performance improvement project to reduce the door-to-CT and door-to-needle times in acute ischemic stroke. He is also an instructor for ACLS Instructor, PALS Instructor, BCLS, TNCC and ENPC instructor, as well as a member of several organizations, including: Sigma Theta Tau, American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners, Emergency Nurses Association , and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. His special interests include emergency nursing education, disaster preparedness, emergency medical services – education and operations, and critical care in the ED setting, and disaster preparedness. Throughout his career, he has spent time in emergency nursing, critical care nursing, nursing management, emergency education, air and ground critical care transport, trauma program management, and as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner. He is currently serves a staff advanced practice provider at Hoke Hospital in Raeford North Carolina. In addition to his clinical position, he is an assistant professor at the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions College of Nursing in the Emergency Nurse Practitioner program, and an adjunct instructor for the FNP/ENP program at the University of South Alabama.

August 2021 Steve Branham

August 2021 Steve Branham

Steve Branham PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC, ENP-C, FAANP, CCRN, has nearly four decades of progressive health care delivery experience. He started his career in Columbus, Ohio after graduating from Central Ohio Technical Collage in 1980. Branham relocated to Las Vegas for 10 years serving as a change nurse and nurse manager in the intensive care unit at Desert Springs Hospital. After completion of his BSN at the University of Phoenix, Branham relocated to Houston to enroll in graduate school with plans to become a certified registered nurse anesthetists.

While in graduate school, Branham – a career critical care nurse became intrigued by the evolving new role for a nurse practitioner who had a substantial background in the care of the critically ill. He quickly enrolled in a new program at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston designed to prepare acute care nurse practitioners and graduated with the inaugural class in 1996.

Branham’s contributions have included professor, manager, business owner and CEO. He completed doctoral work at Texas Woman’s University in 2011. His current university affiliations include associate professor in the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program at Texas Tech University and adjunct faculty at Texas Woman's University. He has provided instruction to more than 500 acute care nurse practitioners, as well as many other practicing nurse practitioners. Through out his entire career, Branham has maintained an active clinical practice based on a firm belief that those teaching nurse practitioners should also practice as nurse practitioners. He is a frequent speaker at the local, state, and national levels on issues affecting the acute care nurse practitioner role, emergency care, business practices, telehealth and international issues related to the nurse practitioner role. He is one of a few nurse practitioners in the nation authorized by the Society of Critical Care Medicine to serve as an independent course consultant for the Fundamental Critical Care Support Provider Course. In 2013, Branham was inducted as a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners based on his professional contributions. Branham currently maintains an active clinical practice focused on critical care, emergency and tele-practice.

July 2021 Scott Stover

Scott Stover, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, NEA-BC, CPHQ, CEN, is a current member of the ENA Advanced Practice Council. Scott started his medical career nearly four decades ago as an Army combat medic. After earning his BSN, he continued to serve as a combat medic instructor during his 22 years in the military. An emergency clinical nurse specialist for almost 25 years, Scott has spent most of his career working as an emergency services director at large health systems in Texas. 

Additionally, he has worked as a critical care flight nurse, adjunct faculty for ADN, BSN and MSN programs, and as a volunteer firefighter/paramedic. He has served in ENA leadership positions at the chapter, state, and national levels. In 2017, Scott graduated with his DNP from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He currently works as a lead nursing quality specialist in Sarasota, Florida, where he is the president of the Manasota ENA chapter.

June 2021 Tresa Zielinski

Tresa Zielinski, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC, is a current member of the Emergency Nurses Association Advance Practice Council. She also serves on the Emergency Medical Services for Children National Pediatric Readiness Project Steering Committee through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is a past president of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and NAPNAP Partners. A pediatric nurse practitioner for more than 20 years, she earned her doctorate in nursing leadership focusing on quality improvement and nursing leadership in 2011 from Rush University. With a clinical focus in pediatric emergency medicine, Tresa has presented extensively at the national level on pediatric health care issues including pediatric kidney and cardiac disease, as well as emergency care and human trafficking. Prior to serving as NAPNAP’s president, she was president of its Illinois Chapter in 2005-06 and NAPNAP's executive board communications chair from 2009-13. Tresa has served on more than a dozen medical missions to Guatemala and was on the board of directors for Latin American Medical Providers a former non-profit organization. She remains involved with Rush University and Villanova University as a lecturer, mentor and preceptor.

May 2021 Jake Miller

Hey everyone! My name is Jake Miller, I'm a Flight Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist at UC Air Care in Cincinnati. My previous clinical background includes predominantly emergency department and flight nursing, in addition to over 15 years and counting of EMS practice as a paramedic.I originally grew up in Buffalo; went to graduate school in Baltimore; lived and worked for a few years in Cleveland before finally coming to Cincinnati. I'm a bit of an adventurer, loving to travel, hike, and getting lost (metaphorically, anyhow) in nature - so I have some catching up to do after the chaos of the past year. On the travel front, I'm looking forward to EN21 in Orlando,  (and several other adventures, near and far, in between!

My own professional philosophy surrounds what I refer to as the "three pillars" of transport nursing: education, clinical excellence, and operational safety - essentially, anything that enhances our ability to understand and deliver the very best care to complex patients in a safe manner. To that extent, I applaud ENA's and this committee's work to extend these very tenets to the greater discipline of emergency nursing. I enjoy networking with others from diverse backgrounds, yet with a shared goal to understand, define, and sujavascript:void(0);pport the role of the APRN in emergency nursing.