Board Presentation of Officers for 2022 - 2023

The Executive Board is pleased to announce Mrs. Oteia Keion Morris and Dr. Daniel Gellar for the positions of Atlanta Chapter President and Corresponding Secretary for the 2022 - 2023 term. 

Chapter President – Oteia Morris, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Mrs. Morris is a certified nurse practitioner at Longstreet Clinic Center for Weight Management in Gainesville and Braselton. She currently is President of the Atlanta Chapter of UAPRN ran in the incumbent position, unopposed.

Greeting UAPRN Atlanta,

It has been more than an honor to serve as your Chapter President.  During this first year of my presidency my focus has been to remain steadfast with keeping our members engaged. Covid-19 restrictions has presented some challenges with meeting in person for dinner meetings and planning for annual events; however, without hesitations I and the existing board members have forged ahead and continue to set up meeting for our members virtually.  This included the planning of a virtual Transitions day this past spring. Transitions Day ended up being a phenomenal two day event, a first of its kind for our chapter.  I am remembering the faces of APRN students getting their headshots professionally taken and those who got to have their resume critiquing by our very own Dr. Michelle Nelson at the “Pop Up” shop hosted at GNA Headquarters.  I can still appreciate the knowledge shared on the virtual platform that following Sunday from the nursing scholars and experts in the advance practice field. Per usual, our students and new APRNs were provided with the most up to date information to help them in moving their careers ahead.  The latter has always been the purpose of Transitions Day and one of the reasons that the Atlanta Chapter continues to host this signature event every year.  So the barriers of Covid-19 has not halted our chapter operations at all, but made us more resilient-stronger as we work through it.

As I look ahead to next year and what I want most for this chapter. I would like to help with building a pipeline of leadership. 

Please know that if you are a nurse that would like to serve as a volunteer or and APRN that would like to serve on the executive board, “lean in,” UAPRN is good place to start!

Sincerely,

Oteia Keion Morris, UAPRN Atlanta Chapter President

 Corresponding Secretary – Daniel Gellar, DNP, APRN, FNP-C

 Dr. Gellar is a Clinical Instructor at Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. He was nominated for the position of Corresponding Secretary and ran unopposed.

The corresponding secretary is responsible for the organization of social and educational activities for the chapter, the dissemination of information relating to these, the recruitment of new members, and outreach to other nursing and healthcare organizations among other related tasks. Prior to the advent of COVID-19 I had organized monthly educational dinner meetings and had pharmaceutical companies lined up as sponsors, but unfortunately all was cancelled. I am ready to again contact all these organizations so that our chapter can have at minimum of one in-person activity per month. There is a vast untapped reservoir of potential NP (Nurse Practitioner) members for our chapter in metro Atlanta. Outreach can include contacting graduate NPs in clinical settings and contacting student NPs at the several graduate schools where they are in training. We can also begin outreach to other healthcare related professional organizations for possible collaborations, either for social events or public service volunteer days. The potential for growth of our organization, both in attracting new members and increasing the participation of members is great. As I am newly retired with ample time to commit to UAPRN Atlanta Chapter I will be able to fulfill my obligation as Corresponding Secretary.

Please register and join us at the upcoming October 21st Chapter Meeting at Maggiano's off Cumberland Parkway. Both Oteia and Dan will be in attendance and look forward to meeting you!