Franny Meritt, Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) in the UK College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was recently named UK HealthCare’s first CNM of the Year! The special recognition was part of UK HealthCare’s Celebration of National Advanced Practice Provider (APP) week. National APP week was celebrated September 25-29, 2023. UK HealthCare had the privilege of serving as this year’s host.
Franny is a Midwife at the UK Women’s Health Morehead Clinic. Franny began her nursing career in 1996 as a Labor and Delivery Nurse. She also trained as a doula, and taught childbirth classes. After Labor and Delivery, Franny worked in prenatal care coordination and education at an outpatient clinic – it was her work there that led her to midwifery. “Listening to the birth stories women shared with me, I wanted to serve them better as a midwife,” said Meritt. With four young children at home, Meritt stayed 4 days a week for clinicals 2 hours away. She served as a midwife at a local hospital for 8 years before joining the UK Women’s Health Morehead Clinic in 2020.
“Our community clinic in Morehead, Ky. extends our department’s clinical care, education, and research missions. We support this clinical site, the faculty, and our Advanced Practice Providers to ensure more women in Kentucky have access to our programs and to facilitate more opportunities for medical education for students and residents in Eastern Kentucky,” said Bryan Rone, MD, acting chair and associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology. “Our department is extremely fortunate to have Franny Merritt, CNM within our Morehead, Ky., community clinic. She is an asset to women’s health in the Morehead community and has shown a true commitment to the community over many years. Congratulations to Franny for being awarded the Certified Nurse Midwife of the Year Award from UK HealthCare this year. Well deserved!”
More than 100 organizations representing over 40,000 advanced practice providers took part in this year’s National APP Week celebrations. “National APP week is a wonderful occasion to honor and celebrate all advanced practice providers within our organization. Our Advanced Practice Providers include Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Certified Nurse Midwives, Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners. It takes the contributions from each of these specialties to elevate the fields of medicine and nursing to ensure our patients receive high-quality, safe, effective, evidence-based care across the Commonwealth,” said Paula Works, DNP, Interim Chief Advanced Practice Officer.
An APP of the year was selected from all five provider areas. Award winners were nominated, and those nominations were scored by a panel of judges. Franny’s nomination states she regularly goes above and beyond expectations, “She often comes into the hospital to be there for her patients when she is not on call or scheduled to be available. She shows a true commitment to the women in Morehead.”
Congratulations, Franny Meritt, UK HealthCare CNM of the Year!
To Learn more about what APPs do: https://bit.ly/3F5bnk0
View the directory of APPs at UK HealthCare: https://bit.ly/46ssdFX