By Laura Gasque
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Associate Professor Melanie Gibbons Hallman, DNP, CRNP, FNP-BC, ACNP-BC, ENP-C, CNS, FAEN, FAAN (BSN 1983, MSN 1990, MSN 1995, DNP 2012), is President-Elect of the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners. Hallman has been in the role since November 2021 and will assume the role of President in November 2023.
Hallman served as Alabama’s inaugural national representative to the AAENP and is a founding member of the specialty organization for nurse practitioners who serve in emergency care.
“I am honored to have been selected by my emergency nurse practitioner peers to lead our organization representing more than 19,000 NPs in emergency care roles and offering our members quality evidence-based educational resources and a source of community and professional advocacy,” Hallman said. “My immediate goals as President will focus on increasing and engaging active membership in the organization, expanding the number of quality educational opportunities available to our members and increasing public awareness of the critical role that ENPs play in providing compassionate, safe and quality emergency care throughout our country.”
Hallman helped develop the School’s Emergency Nurse Practitioner Subspecialty, the first in Alabama, and serves as co-coordinator of the pathway. She has more than 40 years of emergency medical services and hospital emergency care experience and has practiced as an emergency nurse practitioner for nearly 30 years. She is an appointed member of the City of Birmingham Mayor’s Emergency Medical Services Advisory Committee and serves as Chair of the Jefferson State Community College EMS Education Advisory Committee, leading efforts to increase access to emergency care across the state.
Hallman was the 1990 inaugural Chief Nurse of the Alabama Disaster Medical Assistance Team, a part of the National Disaster Medical System now falling within the Department of Health and Human Services. She is a Fellow of the of the Academy of Emergency Nursing and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. In 2021, she was named one of the School’s 70 Visionary Leaders. She received the American Association of Nurse Practitioners’ state Award for Excellence in Clinical Practice in 2022. In addition to her service to AAENP, Hallman has served in elected positions and held multiple committee appointments within the Emergency Nurses Association at national, state and local levels. She currently serves as co-chair of the AANP Emergency NP Community.
“I am grateful to the UAB School of Nursing for excellent academic preparation and opportunities for growth, allowing me to effectively lead professional nursing organizations throughout my career,” Hallman said.