Megan O’Brien
RANDOLPH, Vt.—The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) has recognized Gifford Family Nurse Practitioner Megan O’Brien with the 2020 AANP Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence.
O’Brien, who cares for patients as part of the hospitalist team at Gifford Medical Center, will be honored for her achievement in June 2020 during the AANP National Conference in New Orleans, La.
“Megan is an invaluable member of our team and we congratulate her on this well-deserved award,” said Gifford Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joshua White. “She is committed to providing the best possible care for our patients, advocating for her colleagues, and continually building upon the strength of our hospitalist program.”
Michelle Wade, APRN, president of the Vermont Nurse Practitioners Association, works with O’Brien at Gifford. As hospitalists they provide specialized, day-to-day care for inpatients. Wade nominated O’Brien for the award, citing her leadership skills and development and implementation of in-service trainings.
“Megan excels not only in providing the highest quality specialized care for patients who are hospitalized at Gifford but also in forging the way for other nurse practitioners and staff,” said Wade, who also serves as the Vermont representative to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. “She is a leader in teamwork and, for example, has been instrumental in enhancing multidisciplinary bedside rounds on our unit so that our providers, therapists, care managers, social workers and nurses are optimizing coordination of patient care.”
O’Brien joined the Gifford staff in 2009. In addition to her nurse practitioner role at the hospital, she serves as vice president of the medical staff and chair of quality, and is a member of the Nurse Practice Council. She also serves on the board of the Vermont Nurse Practitioners Association and is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society. She earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate-level nursing degrees from the University of Vermont as well as an additional specialty degree for hospitalist medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, and is board certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
For more information about the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, visit aanp.org. For more information about inpatient care at Gifford, including the hospitalist team, visit giffordhealthcare.org/service/inpatient-care-hospitalization.
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Gifford is a community hospital in Randolph, Vt., with family health centers in Berlin, Bethel, Chelsea, Randolph, Rochester, and White River Junction; and specialty services throughout central Vermont. A Federally Qualified Health Center and a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in the country, Gifford is a full-service hospital with a 24-hour emergency department and inpatient unit; many surgical services; a day care; two adult day programs; and the 30-bed Menig Nursing Home, which was named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best 39 nursing homes in the country in 2012. The Birthing Center, established in 1977, was the first in Vermont to offer an alternative to traditional hospital-based deliveries, and continues to be a leader in midwifery and family-centered care. The hospital’s mission is to improve individuals’ and community health by providing and assuring access to affordable, high-quality health care in Gifford’s service area.
