Patricia Abbott PhD, MSN, RN, FNP-BC

Patricia Abbott earned her BSN and MS in Nursing at California State University and a PhD from the University of Washington. Currently she is the co-chair of the Government Affairs and Public Policy committee of Colorado Nurses Association and has taken a keen interest in improving access to care by optimal utilization of Nurse Practitioners to work to the full extent of their education.

Abbott has been on nursing school faculties in three states over 25 years in various capacities. For the majority of her career, she has maintained adjunct faculty positions while working clinically and in managed care roles. As the Lead Nurse Practitioner at the University of Washington Medical Center she developed (with effective collaboration with medicine) a stream of flow within the emergency department which was staffed by NPs. After 13 years this successful process improved access to care and the NP staff was able to see up to 33% of patients presenting to the ED.