faculty profile

April Kapu DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP, FCCM, FAAN

Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Global Affairs
Professor

Bio

Dr. April Kapu is an acute care nurse practitioner and recently appointed as Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Global Affairs, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Prior to her role as dean, she served as associate chief nursing officer for advanced practice nursing, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. There she led as nursing executive for the health system, leading a nationally recognized advanced practice program, establishing innovative, high quality, and value driven advanced practice healthcare services. Dr. Kapu is a Professor of Nursing and educator in Vanderbilt's DNP program. She has led several grant funded research projects, has presented often for national and international conferences, has authored chapters in advanced practice nursing textbooks, and has published manuscripts in numerous peer reviewed medical and nursing journals. She holds several professional roles including: Fellow for the Society of Critical Care Medicine, Fellow for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and Fellow for the American Academy of Nursing. Prior to being elected as president for AANP, Dr. Kapu served as Tennessee State Representative and later as Region 4 Director for the AANP Board of Directors. She is an active member of the Tennessee Nurses Association, served as past chair for the TN Government Affairs Committee and TN APRN Committee, and she represented TN NPs on the TN Governor's special commission focused on pain and addiction treatment education. She has chaired or has served as a member of several interprofessional healthcare boards and committees. Dr. Kapu has received numerous awards including: VUMC "Transformational Nurse Leader of the Year" and Tennessee Hospital Association's "Nurse of Clinical Distinction". Dr. Kapu holds both a master's and doctoral degree in nursing from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.

Education

DNP, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
MSN, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Acute Care
BS, Brigham Young University

Grants

"Assessing the Impact of Nurse-Led Initiatives to Promote High Value Care by Implementing Nursing Choosing Wisely? Recommendations" (Co-investigator) Nursing Solutions Research Grant, University of Chicago Medicine's Center for Healthcare Delivery Science & Innovation. With Rush University College of Nursing.

"Clinical Advancement Pilot for Non-faculty APRNs" (Co-investigator)

"Advanced Practice Health and Well-Being Study" (Principle investigator) VICTR Grant

"APRN Top of License Study" (Co-investigator) With University of Maryland Medical Center, Dallas Children's Hospital, Seattle Children's Hospital and Cleveland Clinic

"Demonstrating the Outcomes of NP Care Using a National Collaborative" (Co-investigator) 2017 AANP, FAANP Grant

"Advanced Practice Provider Patient Ratio Survey" (Principle investigator). Multi-institutional project to study APRN-to-patient ratios in various practice settings; participants from 14 academic health care systems and 1 private system.

Representative Publications

Journals

Kapu, A. and Carpenter, D. "NP/PA Scope of Practice in Critical Care White Paper." Manuscript in progress.

Kapu, A., Dubree, M., et al, "VUMC APRN/PA Health and Well-Being Study and Recommendations." Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, November 2019.

Kleinpell, R., Kapu, A. et al., "Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants in Critical Care: A Concise Review of the Literature and Data 2008-2018," Critical Care Medicine, October 2019: 47(10) 1442-1449.

Pastores, S. et al. "Critical Care Organizations: Workload, Workforce and Burnout. Academic Leaders in Critical Care Medicine," Task Force of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Manuscript CCMED-D-18-01261 R1. Critical Care Medicine, April 2019:47(4).

Kleinpell, R. & Kapu, A. "Quality Measures for NP Practice Evaluation," Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. August 2017; 29(8).

Kleinpell, R., Kapu, A., Witherspoon, B., Oliver, L., Gibson, J., Vance, H., Myers, J., Green, R., Minnick, A., Trumbo, P. & Iams, W. "Showcasing Outcomes of APRN Practice with the Choosing Wisely" Campaign," American Nurse Today. 2017; May;12(5).

Dubree M, Kapu A, Terrell M, Pichert JW, Cooper WO, Hickson GB. "Nurses' essential role in supporting professionalism." American Nurse Today. 2017;12(4):6-8.

Dubree M, Kapu A, Terrell M, Pichert JW, Cooper WO, Hickson GB. "Promoting professionalism by sharing a cup of coffee." American Nurse Today. 2017;12(5):18-19.

Dubree M, Kapu A, Terrell M, Pichert JW, Cooper WO, Hickson GB. "Promoting professionalism through awareness." American Nurse Today. 2017;12(6):6-8.

Dubree M, Kapu A, Terrell M, Pichert JW, Cooper WO, Hickson GB. "Promoting professionalism through authority guided intervention." American Nurse Today. 2017;12(7):34-36.

Kapu, A. and Steaban, R., "Adding Nurse Practitioners to Inpatient Teams: Making the Financial Case for Success," Nurse Leader, June 2016:14(3):198-202.

Kapu, A. and Jones, P., "APRN Transformational Leadership: Implementation of an Advanced Practice Leadership Structure within an Academic Medical Center." Nursing Management, February 2016:47(2):19-22.

Kapu, A., et al., "Advanced Practice Providers' Patient Ratio and Workload: Results of a Multi-Institutional Study." Journal of Nursing Administration, Oct 2016:46(10):521-9.

Kapu, A. with Dubree, M., Jones, P. & Parmley, C.L. "APRN Practice: Challenges, Empowerment and Outcomes." Nurse Leader, Apr 2015:13(2):43-49.

Book Chapters

Kapu, A., Reynolds, B. (2019) ?Advanced Practice Providers at the Organizational Level.? In the Society of Critical Care Medicine (Ed.) Integrating APPs in the ICU. Mount Prospect, IL: Society of Critical Care Medicine

Kapu, A., Sicoutris, C., Broyhill, B., D?Agostino, R. & Kleinpell, R. (2017) ?Measuring Outcomes in Advanced Practice Nursing: Practice Specific Quality Metrics.? In R. Kleinpell (Ed.) Outcome Assessment for Advanced Practice Nursing. New York: Springer Publishing Company

Professional Organizations

American Association of Nurse Practitioners
Association of Post Graduate APRN Programs
Society of Critical Care Medicine
Tennessee Nurses Association

Honors/Awards

Fellow, American Academy of Nursing, FAAN
Fellow, Society of Critical Care Medicine, FCCM
Fellow, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, FAANP
Clinical Nurse of Distinction, Tennessee Hospital Association, 2015
Transformational Nurse Leader of the Year, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2014
Clinical Nurse of the Year, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, 2014