The University of Colorado College of Nursing has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of nurse practitioner education this year in a number of ways, starting with light pole banners around campus. We had a presence in the exhibit hall at the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners conference and distributed giveaways with the slogan: “We don’t just teach nurse practitioners, we invented them.” The College worked with the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium on a presence at the Keystone, Colo. event and the Nurse Educator Conference in the Rockies at Breckenridge, Colo., both in July.

NP-themed items were also given away during National Nurses Week celebrations in May and during the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) conference in New Orleans in June. At AANP, the College also co-sponsored the opening reception featuring Loretta Ford, EdD, RN, FAAN, FAANP, singer Naomi Judd who is a former nurse, and Dean Sarah Thompson, PhD, RN, FAAN. Ford spoke at the event and Henry Silver, MD, co-founder of the nurse practitioner role, was posthumously inducted as a fellow into the organization. Silver’s son, Andrew Silver, MD, accepted the award on his father’s behalf.

On Oct. 2, the College of Nursing and the School of Medicine will hold a gala in Denver to celebrate the anniversary and to honor Drs. Ford and Silver. Associate Professor Emerita Sue Hagedorn, PhD, RN, PNP, WHNP, FAAN, FAANP, of Seedwork Films will show a new feature film she has produced just prior to the gala’s start. Alumni reunion activities will also be held that day.