UCSF Advanced Practice Providers November 2025

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IMPORTANT UPDATES

APP Town Hall Topic: Inpatient documentation. Watch the video recording

Enter the BCH HAPI Prevention Slogan and Tip Contest. See below.

Nominations for 2026 UCSF Health Exceptional Physician Awards. Click here to nominate an attending physician, resident for clinical fellow. Deadline November 19.

APP SPOTLIGHT

Welcome the 2025-2026 cohort of UCSF APP Fellows

Submitted by Brandon Sessler, APP Fellowship Program Director, Director of APP Professional Practice

Seven APP fellows started at UCSF on November 1, 2025 and will be participating in a 12-month transition to practice program designed for new graduates. The fellows are participating in Emergency Medicine, Cancer Services, or Surgical and Critical Care Medicine Fellowships. Please welcome them if you see them on campus! In photo: back row: Sarah Laughlin, NP, Oluchi Okwu, NP, Michael Grossman, NP, Sofia Burgoon, PA. Front row: Kristine Koyejo, NP, Irene Ung, NP and Yasmin Khodayari, NP).

If you are considering serving as a preceptor for these fellows and/or general faculty in the APP oncology Fellowship program, please take this anonymous survey to determine how we can better support and involve cancer center APPs.

Intensive Care Nursery Simulation/Education Team

Submitted by Erna Josiah-Davis, APP Manager

Brenna Esparza, NNP, AC-PNP (in photo: left), Marlies Murdoch, NNP, (in photo: middle) and Stephanie Smith, NNP (in photo: right) leads the Intensive Care Nursery APP team through bi-annual Simulations, Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) courses, and educational initiatives. The NNPs perform 11 core procedures, which are reviewed and practiced through hands-on simulations in the skills lab. During these sessions, APPs have the opportunity to review and recertify their NRP credentials. The team's newest educational focus has been on ultrasound-guided procedures, which has improved the success in completing difficult or previously unsuccessful procedures in the ICN. This has been a huge stride in the ICN APP team's practice. This winter, the team will expand their educational reach by providing Neonatal Resuscitation training to the Well Baby Nursery team. Over the past 7 years, their expertise has included Midwives, Neonatal Fellows, Neonatal Hospitalists, and Transport Registered Nurses. Wherever there is a need for deeper neonatal education, Brenna, Marlies, and Stephanie remain dedicated and enthusiastic in sharing their knowledge and advancing clinical excellence.

Erna Josiah-Davis Earns Nurse Executive Advanced-Board Certification (NEA-BC)

Submitted by Tara Valcarcel, Director of Pediatric Operations

Erna is an accomplished Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist with over 30 years of experience at UCSF Health. Since 2022, she has managed the Intensive Care and Newborn Nurseries at Mission Bay, and her role has recently expanded to include oversight of all APPs in the Neonatology service line across both campuses.

Thank you, Erna, for your continued leadership, dedication, and commitment to excellence in neonatal care. Congratulations on earning your NEA-BC. This ANCC board certification is a competency-based examination that provides a valid and reliable assessment of the entry level knowledge and skills of the nurses with system-wide or organization-wide influence.

Advanced Heart Failure (AHF) Team Presents at Symposium

Submitted by Nimaljeet Tarango, Director of Advanced Heart Failure

Congratulations to the AHF Comprehensive Care Center APP team who presented at the 3rd Annual Advanced Heart Failure Symposium in Sonoma on September 12-13, 2025 at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa. In attendance were approximately 150 MDs, APPs, RNs, and other medical professionals who heard the most up-to-date information in research and practice in regard to all things Advanced Heart Failure. AHF Comprehensive Care Center APP team members: Ashley Jannesen, NP; Yuri Nam, NP; Robin Fischer, NP; Simran Grewal; Anja Strehlow, PA, Nimi Tarango, NP Shannon Lee, NP, Kuanie Julin, NP, Lina Gao, NP among others in the large multidisciplinary team.

Matt Tierney Named 2025 Psychiatric Nurse of The Year

Matt Tierney, NP in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Substance Use And Addiction Medicine, is the recipient of the 2025 Psychiatric Nurse of the Year Award, from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA). The award was presented at the opening of the APNA Annual Conference in New Orleans on October 15, 2025. Learn more about Matt and his achievements by clicking this link.

Karoly Dyer Inducted into The Interprofessional Education Champion Circle

Karoly Dyer, NP III has been a volunteer facilitator with the UCSF Program for Interprofessional Practice and Education (PIPE) for several years and was inducted into the IPE Champions Circle in April 2025. Champions teach 7 or more interprofessional educational sessions in an academic year, consistently contributing towards the goal of ensuring that UCSF graduates are collaborative practice ready. Karoly continues to maintain her full-time NP role in the UCSF Prepare Clinic since July 2024. She has 24 years of experience as a PCP, most recently at WHPC (while also precepting UCSF Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) students) and at other locations until joining UCSF in 2016. In addition to her role as facilitator for the 5-part IPE curriculum, she has, in the past year, joined the UCSF PIPE Simulation Subcommittee, which plans and prepares for the Interprofessional Standardized Patient Exercise (ISPE) each spring. She has also earned the UCSF Interprofessional Education Teaching Certificate. This August she was nominated for the 2024-2025 Excellence in Interprofessional Teaching Award for her dedication to interprofessional education. Congratulations Karoly! To learn more about PIPE, click here.

Rosalind de Lisser Presents on Geriatric Behavioral Health and Workforce in California

Rosalind de Lisser, PhD, FNP, PMHNP was invited to present at the California Department of Health Care Access and Information October 2025 California Health Workforce, Education, and Training Council meeting. The presentation titled, "State of Geriatric Behavioral Health and Workforce in California" will inform future geriatric workforce policy in California. Click here to view the presentation.

Simran Grewal Travels to Minneapolis

Simran Grewal, NP presented an e-abstract at the Heart Failure Society of America Annual Meeting in Minneapolis September 2025. Her abstract focused on utilization of SGLT2i in cardiac transplant patients with proteinuria on mTORi agents. Learn more about the scientific meeting.

Yuri Nam Recognized by Her Peer As An Outstanding Clinician

Submitted by Lelah Levin, Advanced Heart Failure

Yuri Nam, an NP on the Advanced Heart Failure Team has been pivotal in my growth as an APP. She is a mentor, an advisor, a shoulder to lean on and most importantly a friend. She always goes the extra mile and wants her team to succeed. She is an asset to UCSF and is worth more than her weight in GOLD!! I cannot thank Yuri enough for her support!

EDUCATION

APP Town Hall

Save the date Monday December 8, 2025 12010-1pm. Topic TBD

View the recordings and review the slide decks from prior Town Halls. Click here

Inpatient Documentation
Optimizing wRVU (outpatient focused)
Patient care optimization
APP Advisory Board and Committees Update
Transportation, Commute and Parking Options

Pediatric Grand Rounds (West Bay)

Full schedule and archive videos and Zoom link. Every Thursday 12-1PM

Email Marcella.azucar@ucsf.edu for more information

Thursday November 13, 2025 Topic: Driving Neonatal Drug Development Road Work Ahead

Pediatric Grand Rounds (East Bay)

Every Tuesday 8-9AM

For Zoom login information, contact: Cristina Fernandez crfernandez@ucsf.edu, 510-428-3885 ext 4343. Full schedule and archived videos (Password: CHRCO).

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

“The Evidence Is In--Now What? Translating guidelines into Clinical Practice" Presented by Deborah Franzon, MD Pediatric Critical Care Specialist, Executive Medical Director Quality and Patient Safety

Home-Based Learning Collaborative ECHO

Submitted by Courtney Gordon, DNP

The UCSF School of Nursing is proud to present the Home-Based Learning Collaborative (HBCLC) ECHO. This monthly Zoom-based collaborative aims to improve the health of home-limited adults by offering evidence-based, practical support to the clinicians who care for them. The HBCLC ECHO also provides a dynamic platform for clinicians who often work alone in home-based settings to share best practices, present challenging cases, and foster community. Each HBCLC ECHO session begins with a short 15-minute didactic. 2025 topics include navigating geriatric syndromes, loneliness, and treatment of insomnia in elderly patients. Future topics include HIV/AIDS treatment in the home, self-neglect, delirium – ETOH use, involuntary weight loss, and deprescribing in the home. The remainder of the one-hour HBCLC ECHO session serves as a platform for clinicians to discuss challenging cases (without using PHI).

To join the ECHO, go to the UCSF SON Home-Based Learning Collaborative (HBCLC) ECHO. Once you are a registered participant, you will receive a Zoom link via email a half an hour before the session. You also log into the ECHO platform (iECHO) and join directly. Please see Project ECHO's FAQ for more details.

Sessions occur on the second Wednesday of each month.

STANDARDS & COMPLIANCE

Documenting is the Foundation of Quality Care--Best Practices Inpatient Setting

Always adjust your APeX login department to an inpatient service (SVC)
Always use .APPNOTE
Document each patient encounter completely, accurately, and on time
Document using these note types: consult, H&P, progress, procedure, significant event or discharge
Document regardless of the shift you work.
Document regardless of whether you may bill for the encounter/procedure

To learn more about inpatient documentation, click here for slidedeck. To view APP Town Hall presentation by Office of Compliance and Privacy and Office of Advanced Practice Provider about inpatient documentation, click here.

AI Scribe -- Now Available for Inpatient APPs

Current ambulatory user do not need to re-sign up to use inpatient

15% decrease in documentation time

63% of clinicians report decrease in burnout

Are You Wondering What Has Changed In APeX Recently?

Inpatient Provider APeX Updates November 2025

Draft Hospital Course in Discharge Summary with AI
Provider Specialty Learning Home Dashboards

Ambulatory APeX Updates November 2025

Provider Specialty Learning Home Dashboards
Copy and Paste Links to chart review reports

Renew your DEA

Reminder: UCSF employees are exempt from paying the $888 DEA registration fee for new or renewal applications. Instructions are found here. Also, learn about the one-time DEA education requirement (effective in 2023) to complete 8 hours of continuing education on the topics of treatment and medication management of patients with opioid and other substance use disorders.

UCSF HEALTH

Announcing Wendy Horton as President of Adult Services

Suresh Gunasekaran President and CEO UCSF Health announced Wendy Horton, PharmD, MBA, FACHE, who officially joined UCSF Health this month as senior vice president and president of adult services. As president of adult services, she will have responsibility for our Helen Diller Hospital (Parnassus), Mission Bay adult hospitals and Mount Zion, and will lead our efforts to maintain our excellence in adult complex care services. In her new role, which took effect October 1, she will advance performance, access, and care delivery across our adult services portfolio. She will guide strategy, operations and program development for our campuses and align efforts to improve quality, safety and innovation .A native of Southern California, Wendy began her career as a pharmacist, launching a professional journey that eventually led her to hospital operations. She holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Utah, and a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University.

Renaming of UCSF Health Saint Francis and UCSF Health St. Mary's Hospital

UCSF Health announced the process of renaming UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital to UCSF Health Hyde Hospital, and UCSF Health St. Mary’s Hospital to UCSF Health Stanyan Hospital. The new names reflect where these hospitals have served San Franciscans for more than a century — on Hyde and Stanyan Streets — and align with UCSF Health’s place-based naming conventions, from Parnassus Heights to Mission Bay to Oakland. Read more.

2026 Certificate in Global Nursing Program Open For Registration

UCSF’s Center for Global Nursing (CGN) is excited to announce the dates for the next cohort in the Certificate in Global Nursing Program: January 13th - March 31st, 2026, Tuesdays 7am - 9am PST. This 12-week virtual program held virtually is designed for nurses and advanced practice providers interested in strengthening their understanding of global health, leadership, and health systems. Through expert-led sessions, case-based learning, and a global faculty network, participants explore key topics such as cultural humility, foundations in global health, planetary health, and sustainable equitable partnerships.

Enrollment is open through December 31, 2025. Tiered pricing for UCSF faculty, staff , and students and those working in LMICs. Learn more and register

Leadership Institute Offers Multiple Programs

Looking for leadership development? The Leadership Institute provides intentional and outcome-driven leadership development programming for APPs. Wherever you are on your leadership journey, there is a program to take you to the next level. Click here to learn more (multiple start dates).

3 Pediatric/Neonatal APP Job Openings (November)

85285BR - Pediatric/Neonatal AHP Dept Nurse Practitioner - Pediatric Cardiac ICU 1 90%

85958BR - Pediatric/Neonatal AHP Dept Nurse Practitioner - Pediatric Cardiac ICU 1 90%

86467BR - Pediatric/Neonatal AHP Dept Nurse Practitioner - Pediatric

Cardiac ICU 1 90%

QUALITY & SAFETY

November 20, 2025 Marks Worldwide Pressure Injury Prevention Day--Enter The Slogan and Tip Contest

Submitted by Alyssa Mickelson and Jennifer Schwarz

The BCH Cross-Bay HAPI Prevention Taskforce invites BCH APPs to contribute to Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injury (HAPI) prevention by participating in a HAPI prevention slogan and tip contest!

Submit your best HAPI prevention slogan – The winning slogan will be featured across BCH in newsletters and on swag to promote awareness about HAPI prevention.

Share your favorite HAPI prevention tip – The top tips will be shared with the BCH community to promote peer learning about HAPI prevention. How to participate: click flyer.

- Use this link to submit or use QR code in the flyer.

- Deadline: Monday, December 1, 2025

The winners will be announced in December. The slogan and tips will be highlighted across BCH. Let’s work together to achieve zero harm! For questions, email BCH Quality & Safety (BCHQS@ucsf.edu).

Relationship Centered Communication Training for all APPs

Complimentary training for all ambulatory and inpatient APPs. Required training for all new APP hires, must complete within 2 years of hire. Understand the importance and value of effective communication, build rapport and relationships with others. Recognize another's perspectives and concerns. Listen reflectively and respond with empathy. Upcoming dates Friday November 14 (zoom), Friday November 21 (zoom), Thursday December 4, 2025 (in person at Mission Bay), Monday December 15, 2025 (zoom) Learn more.

Press Ganey Comments about NPs, PA, CRNAs, Midwives

Primary Care Bayfront: Kellie Kozel, NP is a very good NP. She listens and is very compassionate. She explains in detail and care. I am very lucky to have her as my primary.

Dermatology: All [Dr] and PAs i have encountered are outstanding in their care for me

Liver Transplant (post): [Nichole Werger-Humaydan], NP has always been an excellent and very attentive resource. I feel very fortunate and secure to be under her care.

Interventional Radiology: Stacey Wong, NP did an excellent job of paracentesis for me. She has always been so gentle, kind and supportive. UCSF Mission Bay has the best cancer supporting team for their patients. I'm so blessed and happy i switched from Stanford.

Look up your own patient experience comments on this dashboard

WELLNESS

Campus Life Services Offers Many Discounts

Safeway stores are offering a 5% discount on each transaction to UCSF employees and students. Click here for more Safeway details.

Shopping Discounts: click here Activities, Sports , Event Ticket Discounts: click here

Free Tickets to Cobb's Comedy Club and The Punch Line

Click here to see the November dates and shows titles for free comedy tickets for Cobb's Comedy Club and The Punch Line SF

REMINDERS

Pursuing NPIII Promotion in the Near Future?

The members of the NPIII Clinical Ladder committee are offering mentorship to NPIIs who are thinking about pursuing NPIII. They will provide tips for your application and guidance about the NPIII process. Click here for more information and video link for recorded info session. Initial applications are accepted twice a year on the last business day of March and September. Reappointments applications are accepted on the last business day of February and August.

Current Concepts in Advanced Practice-virtual Conference

Hosted by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Center for Advanced Practice on December 4,5, 2025

Celebrate five years of innovation, leadership and impact at CHOP's nationally recognized current Concepts in Advanced Practice Conference. 4 distinct program tracks: Ambulatory/Primary Care, Acute Care, Informatics, Managing APPs. Option to view all conference sessions for 6 months after virtual conference.