Professor Courtney Pitts, DNP, MPH, FNP-BC, FAANP, was honored with VUSN’s Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award during VUSN’s MLK event on Tuesday. The award recognizes faculty who foster social justice by advocating for equal rights and opportunities for all people.
In addition to leading our FNP specialty and teaching, Pitts provides HIV management and primary care in a family and internal medicine urban setting. She was instrumental in promoting diversity and culture change within the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, where she has served on the board, and has been lead author of several white papers. She received a HRSA grant in 2019 for $2.7 million to create the CAP (collaborative academic practice) program to recruit and graduate FNPs to work in rural areas. She is a fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and was appointed to a four-year term on the National Advisory Council for Nursing Education and Practice by the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Congratulations, Courtney!