An exceptional clinician, teacher, leader and innovator, Lisa Pierce is Director of Advanced Practice Education and Fellowships at OSF HealthCare, responsible for system-wide education initiatives within the health system, including the Advanced Practice orientation program and APP Fellowship programs.
Pierce began her career at OSF in nursing and later became an advanced practice nurse (APN) in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), where her passion and ability to explain the complex workings of the heart made her a favorite nurse of patients, families, staff and physicians. As an acute care nurse practitioner in the PICU, she took on the added responsibility as supervisor of its advanced practice providers (APPs), helping to change the practice, education and onboarding processes, and driving collaboration with other healthcare disciplines, which ultimately led to nearly $1 million in savings for the organization. After developing the APP Fellowship program in primary care, she began to build other specialties and is currently working with a national certification body to gain program accreditation.
As an adjunct clinical instructor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Pierce provides instruction on pediatric content and mentors acute and primary care nurse practitioner students. She is a member of the Association of Post-Graduate APN Programs and the Center for Advancing Provider Practices Thought Leaders Council, as well as a participant in the Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Special Interest Group with the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
As a volunteer with local Junior Football Leagues, Pierce has offered concussion screenings prior to the start of football season, and has served as a first aid volunteer with the Dunlap Dolphins swim team for five years. In addition, she represents the PICU in offering a biannual memorial service for all pediatric patients who have passed away in the last 25 years at OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois, comforting the families of former patients.
Certified as an Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Pierce holds a number of advanced degrees and earned the Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing Outstanding Alumni Award for Excellence in Education earlier this year. iBi
