ISAPN honors past president Julie Adkins DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP

ISAPN Board of Directors recently renamed the Member of the Year Award in honor of Dr. Julie Adkins, who passed away on February 5, 2022.   Julie spent 50 years in the nursing profession and has been a Family Nurse Practitioner since 2001. She owned a primary care clinic in West Frankfort, Illinois, and her passion was caring for her patients.

Julie Adkins, DNP, APN, FNP-BC, earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice in August 2011 from the University of Alabama. As dedicated as she was to her patients, Julie was a dedicated member of the profession, and she worked diligently to advance the profession both at the state and national levels. She was the first-ever advanced practice registered nurse to serve on the IL State Board of Health, and she was a member of the Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program Advisory Committee. She served as the Illinois State Representative to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Julie was a recipient of the Marie Lindsey Spirit of  Advanced Practice Nursing Award in 2006, served four years as ISAPN's Region 6 Chair, two years as Secretary, and as President from 2008-2012. In 2015, Julie was inducted as a Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Raechel Ferry Rooney, ISAPN President, states, "Julie Adkins was a dedicated Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and member of ISAPN. It is the Board's desire to pay tribute to her commitment to the association and the profession.

The Julie Adkins Member of the Year Award will recognize an individual who serves as a role model for ISAPN, actively participates on the board or committees of the association, presents new ideas, follows through to advance the association, and serve as a leader within ISAPN. Julie Adkins did all of this and more. It is the Board's pleasure to honor her in this way."