Dr. Blanco is an associate professor at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Hunt School of Nursing.
Newswise — EL PASO, Texas — As a nurse practitioner and nursing advocate, Christy Blanco, D.N.P., R.N., WHNP-BC, FAANP, has spent her career advancing, supporting and promoting nurse practitioners. In September, she was honored as the 2022 Texas Nurse Practitioner of the Year by Texas Nurse Practitioners.
Nurse practitioners are R.N.s who have completed a master’s or doctoral degree and have advanced clinical training.
Dr. Blanco, an associate professor at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Hunt School of Nursing and former president of the Texas Nurse Practitioners Board of Directors, has been promoting accessible, quality health care by nurse practitioners for over a decade. She is taking the lead in building a stronger nurse practitioner community and working to find solutions to health care access by engaging with legislative leaders in the Texas State Senate and House committees and serving as a panelist in health policy proceedings.
Her efforts are particularly important in Texas, currently ranked 51st in the U.S. in health care access and affordability by The Commonwealth Fund. More than seven million Texans live in health care shortage areas, according to Texans for Healthcare Access. Within El Paso County, 23% of persons under 65 do not have health insurance, and 19% of El Pasoans live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Dr. Blanco said access to health care becomes even more difficult in rural West Texas, due to a lack of primary care physicians. Nurse practitioners can step in to help fill the gap, she said.
“Health care doesn’t just start with the patient,” Dr. Blanco said. “There is a lot to consider, and one of those considerations is access to care. I’m doing what I can to advance nurse practitioners and break those barriers that keep health care from rural areas around us.”
Dr. Blanco said one of the most significant barriers in Texas is a requirement that a nurse practitioner must have a delegation agreement— a contract—with a physician before the nurse practitioner can provide care. Nurse practitioner organizations and advocates like Dr. Blanco are working to eliminate regulatory mandates affecting nurse practitioners across the country.
Nurse practitioners are 1.5 times more likely than physicians to work in rural areas, and in Texas, 243 of 254 counties are federally designated Health Provider Shortage Areas. In El Paso County, there are 690 nurse practitioners.
“We noticed the impact of allowing nurse practitioners to provide health care in rural areas during the pandemic when we needed health care providers more than ever,” said Dr. Blanco. Texas joined 17 states that removed or waived delegation requirements for nursing practitioners during the public health emergency. “Nurse practitioners fill a vital role and want to serve in rural areas where they’re needed the most.”
Dr. Blanco said she’s humbled by the 2022 Texas Nurse Practitioner of the Year honor and hopes it will help with her mission of advancing the nurse practitioner profession.
“I’m advocating at all levels to get nurses at the table whenever health care decisions are being discussed,” said Dr. Blanco.
In her health policy master course at the Hunt School of Nursing, she empowers students to make effective changes within the institution and the community.
“Health policy is across the board in nursing. We haven’t been at the table for long, but by mentoring my students the way I have been mentored, we’re changing that,” Dr. Blanco said. “It’s important I acknowledge the only reason I got where I am is because of people who have poured their life into me and mentored me.”
Dr. Blanco was honored as the 2022 Texas Nurse Practitioner of the Year on Sept. 24 at the Texas Nurse Practitioners Fall Conference in Round Rock, Texas. She was selected for demonstrating excellence as a nurse practitioner and as a role model for other nurse practitioners and the nursing profession.
Dr. Blanco earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston in 2010. She joined the faculty of TTUHSC El Paso’s Hunt School of Nursing in 2016.
About the Hunt School of Nursing
The Hunt School of Nursing opened in 2011 and offers the only accelerated program in the region where students earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) in just 16 months, entering the workforce shortly after.
As of 2022, the Hunt School of Nursing has educated more than 1,140 nursing students, helping to reduce the severe shortage of nurses in El Paso and surrounding areas. Currently, 87% of Hunt School of Nursing students are El Paso natives, fulfilling TTUHSC El Paso’s mission to create more educational opportunities for Borderplex residents.
About Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It is a designated Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care leaders, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.
TTUHSC El Paso was established to focus on the unique health care and educational needs of our Borderplex community. In 2023, TTUHSC El Paso will celebrate its 10th anniversary as an autonomous university within the Texas Tech University System. In those 10 years, the university has graduated nearly 2,000 doctors, nurses and researchers, soon adding dentists to its alumni.
About Texas Nurse Practitioners
Since 1989 when the official charter for Texas Nurse Practitioners (TNP) was signed, TNP has focused on meeting the needs of nurse practitioners across the state. The purposes of TNP are to advance, support and promote the role of nurse practitioners and to promote accessible, quality health care provided by nurse practitioners. This includes continuing education opportunities and providing members with current information that impacts their clinical practice. TNP promotes legislative changes that enhance nurse practitioner practices within Texas, positively affecting patient welfare.
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