Three Vanderbilt University School of Nursing alumni and faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as part of the 2025 class.
Associate Professor Abby Luck Parish, DNP, MSN’05, FNAP, Associate Professor Mary Lauren Pfieffer, DNP, MSN’11, and Assistant Professor in Clinical Nursing Tiffany Street, DNP’18, MSN’03, were selected for their positive and profound impact on the nurse practitioner profession, education, and national and global health.
“Being named fellows is a significant accomplishment and recognition of the dedicated work and commitment these three have for advanced practice nursing, patient care and the future of the nursing profession,” said Dean Pamela Jeffries, PhD, FAAN, ANEF, FSSH. “I applaud them for their achievement and look forward to their continued contributions to nursing and to VUSN.”
Parish is associate professor and executive director of educator initiatives at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She is a national leader in practice in post-acute/long term care and primary care, contributing to expert recommendations, publications and toolkits to support nurse practitioners’ evidence-based practice. She leads policy advocacy for the role of the nurse practitioner and the well-being of patients as the chair of the health affairs committee of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association. In addition to her work with GAPNA, she has been active with the Tennessee Nurses Association and National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty. Parish is also a Distinguished Fellow in the National Academies of Practice.
Pfieffer is an associate professor at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and a family nurse practitioner at Cool Springs Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. With over 13 years of clinical experience as an FNP and 15 years of experience as an educator teaching in nursing programs from associate degree to doctor of nursing practice, she has made sustained contributions to the field of education. Her work, particularly in health care simulation, has had a national impact on NP education. Her clinical expertise and focus is in women’s health and adolescent patient populations. Pfieffer is on the editorial board of the Journal for Nurse Practitioners and is active with NONPF, Tennessee Nursing Foundation Board of Trust, Sigma Theta Tau International, and Special Olympics. She has been awarded Vanderbilt’s Junior Faculty Teaching Fellowship and Blended & Online Learning Design (BOLD) Teaching Fellowship, and is the recipient of Vanderbilt University School of Nursing’s Sara K. Archer Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.
An accomplished and nationally known acute care nurse practitioner, Street is associate nursing officer at the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute and assistant professor at VUSN. She is a national expert in vascular nursing care whose advanced practice nursing career is in the specialty of vascular medicine and surgery. As president of the Society for Vascular Nursing, she led its merger with the Society for Vascular Surgery and expanded educational outreach to nurses and patients. Among her honors are the Jeanne E. Doyle Award, the highest honor bestowed to a member of the Society for Vascular Nursing, the Cumberland University Distinguished Alumni Award and the Ada A. Norton Alpha Sigma Tau National Award for leadership.
AANP is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners of all specialties. AANP provides legislative leadership at the local, state and national levels, advancing health policy; promoting excellence in practice, education and research; and establishing standards that best serve NPs’ patients and other health care consumers.
Established in 2000, the FAANP program recognizes NPs who have made significant accomplishments through clinical practice, research, education or policy. AANP fellows volunteer their expertise as reviewers, topical experts, committee members, journal contributors, mentors and more. The 2025 Class of Fellows will be honored at the 2025 AANP National Conference June 17-22, 2025, in San Diego, California.