FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Cheryl Perry, a University of Arkansas student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, received the 2016 Award of Excellence for Advocacy from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

The award is presented annually to a nurse practitioner advocate in each state. Perry won the Arkansas award.

"We are very proud of Cheryl's efforts on behalf of advanced practice nurses in the state of Arkansas and beyond," said Susan Patton, assistant director of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. "She has worked diligently with advocacy groups to make the public and lawmakers aware of the value nurse practitioners contribute to the health of the community."

Perry was honored at the association's national conference June 21-26 in San Antonio. The award was founded in 1991, and the advocacy designation was added two years later to recognize the efforts of individuals who have made a significant contribution toward increasing awareness and acceptance of nurse practitioners.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners of all specialties. It represents the interests of more than 205,000 nurse practitioners, including 65,000 members and 200 organizations, providing a unified networking platform and advocating for their role as providers of high-quality, cost-effective, comprehensive, patient-centered and personalized health care.

Perry is taking the family nurse practitioner track of the DNP program. A doctoral course in health policy helped her to recognize a strong desire to become more active in promoting and advocating the advancement of nursing in Arkansas.

"The majority of my interest and research has been focused on issues related to advanced practice nursing, specifically researching barriers to nurse practitioners' ability to practice at the full extent of their education and training," Perry said.

Since 2014, she has served as the Committee for Health Policy grassroots coordinator of the Arkansas Nurses Association. In this position, she is responsible for planning, organizing and evaluating grassroots efforts among health care colleagues and other stakeholders. She also serves as a co-chair of the Committee for Health Policy.

Perry earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1998 from Arkansas Tech University and an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1997 from the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, which was formerly Westark College. She has worked in many roles in nursing, but specifically credits her years as a nurse clinician/creative consultant for Sparks Health System in Fort Smith as forming the foundation for her current health policy activity. 

"Once I finish my doctorate, I hope to continue my health policy advocacy at the state and national levels and to improve access to care at the community level by operating a mobile clinic to bring health care services to medically underserved communities in rural Arkansas," Perry said.

She plans to model her practice after The Health Wagon mobile clinic operated by two of her role models and mentors, Teresa Gardner and Paula Hill-Meade, both family nurse practitioners in Wise, Virginia. 

"A portion of my clinical hours will be dedicated to spending time with them and learning from their extensive experience in delivering care to rural communities," she said.