2012 international new Fellows - American Academy of Nursing

While serving as President of Buckner Retirement Services, Dr. Merritt lead the movement to
bring the first Green House Model® for Long-Term Care to Texas. She serves in numerous
professional and academic positions including the Center for Nursing Workforce Studies which
was created during the 78th Legislative Session. While on this advisory committee, she serves as
a resource for data and research. She also chaired the Long-Term Care Task Force which made
recommendations to the Texas Legislature and Governor’s Office.
Dr. Merritt is currently co-principle investigator on a Health Resources and Services
Administration Grant that was awarded to Sears-Methodist Retirement System in partnership
with Texas Tech University Health Science Center School of Nursing. This grant is a $750,000
award in which individuals are selected to attend school to become a certified nursing assistant.
Dr Merritt is a strong advocate for the elderly and involved on a state and national level in the
culture change movement.
sUsan RUppERt, pHD, Rn, anp-bC, np-C, FCCm, Faanp
Susan Ruppert is a Professor and Assistant Dean at The University of Texas Health Science
Center-Houston School of Nursing. She directs the Adult/Gerontology Primary Care Nurse
Practitioner (NP) Program and maintains a faculty NP practice. She is a Fellow in the American
College of Critical Care Medicine and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Dr. Ruppert has been the Editor-in-Chief of The Internet Journal of Advanced Nursing Practice
since 1997; the first online peer-reviewed journal for advanced practice nurses. As an early
innovator, she received the Sigma Theta Tau Information Technology Award for Knowledge
Advancement for this publication. She continues to shape the journal and mentor scores of
authors. She has been editor/contributor for a critical-care nursing textbook and serves as an
editorial board member/reviewer and author for numerous acute and primary care journals.
Dr. Ruppert has served as a national and international practice and education consultant.
Currently, she is an expert reviewer for the only college-based nursing program in Oman. She
has held numerous national leadership positions within professional organizations including
Sigma Theta Tau, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and the Society of Critical
Care Medicine. She chairs the American Nurses Credentialing Center content expert panel for
the adult NP certification examination, and has served as consultant to other specialty certifying
bodies. Dr. Ruppert is currently on the Board of the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
(CCNE), the CCNE Accreditation Review Committee, and the National Organization of Nurse
Practitioner Faculties Curricular Leadership Committee. She leads the TEXAS TEAM Gulf Coast
Regional Leadership Team.
sUsan spORtsman, pHD, Rn, anEF
Susan Sportsman is the Director of the Academic Consulting Group, a service of Elsevier,
designed to provide targeted consultations and faculty development workshops to nursing and
health professions programs. Prior to joining Elsevier, Dr. Sportsman was the Dean of the College
of Health Sciences and Human Services at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls Texas
and is currently a Professor Emeritus of that institution.
Dr. Sportsman has also served in a variety of other educational and administrative roles in her
career, including Associate Dean for Practice at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center,
administrator for public and private, not-for-profit psychiatric inpatient and outpatient facilities,
and a number of faculty assignments. She is the immediate past President of the Texas Nurses
Association and holds membership in a variety of professional organizations including Sigma
Theta Tau International, Inc., and the American Nurses Association.
Dr. Sportsman currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Education Committee for the Texas
Team: Advancing Health through Nursing, charged with implementing recommendations of the
Institute for Medicine Report on the Future of Nursing in the state. Her published work related to
simulation, conflict management, leadership, professional competencies and other educational
topics can be found in a variety of peer refereed professional journals.
2012
new FEllOWs
83