In addition to her new fellowship in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, Margaret Brackley, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, is involved in national leadership positions as a fellow in the American Academy of Nurses and other national professional organizations.
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Contact: Rosanne Fohn, (210) 567-3079

SAN ANTONIO (April 20, 2010) — A nursing faculty member from The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio who specializes in the prevention of family violence has been named a fellow of The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). Margaret Brackley, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor of family nursing care, will be inducted June 23 during the AANP’s 25th national conference in Phoenix, Ariz.

The “FAANP” designation program was established in 2000 to recognize nurse practitioner (NP) leaders who have made outstanding contributions to health care through clinical practice, research, education or policy.

Fellows of the AANP are visionaries committed to the global advancement of nursing through the development of imaginative and creative future NP leaders, and as such, hold an annual think tank to strategize about the future of NPs and health care outside the confines of traditional thinking.

Dr. Brackley, an advanced-practice nurse in psychiatric and mental health nursing for more than 30 years, has taught undergraduate and graduate nursing courses for more than 25 years and has been a family nurse practitioner for 22 years. She is certified in three specialty areas by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Director of the Center for Violence Prevention
One of Dr. Brackley’s most significant accomplishments is serving as director of the School of Nursing’s Center for Violence Prevention, where she and colleagues conduct nationally recognized research on the psychological issues that cause and result from violence. She has researched such topics as intimate-partner violence and pregnancy, psychological issues of women in abusive relationships, psychological issues of men who batter women and dating violence among Latino and Anglo college students. She has developed a training model for nurses to improve care to victims of domestic violence and has identified critical intervention times to protect women in violent relationships.

For the past nine years, Dr. Brackley also coordinated all of the nurse practitioner programs in the School of Nursing and led the Family Nurse Practitioner program. She stepped down from that position earlier this year.

“It is wonderful that Dr. Brackley is being recognized by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners for all of the work she has done locally, regionally and nationally in research, education, policy and practice,” said Eileen T. Breslin, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing. “Dr. Brackley has spent her career trying to help people burdened by psychological issues to find peace and stability in their lives. Without effective interventions and treatment, violence is often perpetuated from generation to generation."

Dr. Brackley said, “This is a great honor for me. I have been a great supporter of the nurse practitioner role in both primary and mental health care. To receive this honor fills me with pride. The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners is an organization that represents the brightest and the best nurse practitioners in the nation. It has been a wonderful force for access to care to the millions of Americans who are in need of care. Dean Breslin, who nominated me for this honor is also a fellow. I hope to continue the work toward parity of mental health with physical care that provides hope to millions of our citizens who suffer from mental disorders.”

Proven national nursing leader
In addition to her new AANP fellowship, Dr. Brackley is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), another major national recognition for nurses. In the AAN, she co-chairs a task force working on an initiative to develop a set of psychological mental health and behavioral mental health competencies for nurses who are not specialists in this field. She also serves as the chair of the education council of International Society of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurses.

A limited number of NPs are selected for the highly coveted FAANP distinction each year. The new FAANP members will continue the tradition of contributing to the mission of the AANP and promoting the role of the NP as a provider of quality, cost-effective health care. Priority initiatives of the AANP are the development of leadership and mentorship programs for NPs and NP students.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 2 percent of all U.S. institutions receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled a record $259 million in fiscal year 2009. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced 27,000 graduates. The $753 million operating budget supports six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) was founded in 1985 and is the oldest, largest and only full-service national professional organization for nurse practitioners (NP) of all specialties. With more than 27,500 individual members and 131 group members, the AANP represents the interests of approximately 135,000 NPs around the country. The AANP continually advocates for the active role of NPs as providers of high-quality, cost-effective and personalized healthcare. For more information about AANP, visit www.aanp.org.