FMU’s Hopla named American Academy of Nursing fellow

Francis Marion University’s Dr. Deborah Hopla has been named a member of the American Academy of Nursing’s 2019 class of academy fellows.

Hopla is one of 231 distinguished nurse leaders from across the nation selected for this year’s class. AAN fellows are selected by a committee of their peers. Selection is based on their contributions to increase access, reduce costs, and improve quality through nursing theory, practice, and science. Induction into the Academy is a significant milestone in a nurse leader’s career.

Hopla, the director of FMU’s MSN Family Nurse Practitioner program, is both an educator and a practitioner. Besides leaded the FNP program, she is an associate professor of nursing and a practicing FNP at Hope Health in Florence. She’s practiced in the Pee Dee area since 1993.

Hopla is a 1989 graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina’s BSN program. She holds a Master of Science in Nursing and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of South Carolina.

Previously, she was honored as a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, recognized as a Palmetto Gold Award by the South Carolina Nurses Foundation, and received the Health Policy Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.

Hopla and the other AAN fellows will be recognized at the organization’s annual policy conference this fall.