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  5. Katherine Peppers

Katherine Peppers, DNP, CPNP, CPMHS, CLC, RN

Clinical Assistant Professor

919.451.3006
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Nursing
Carrington Hall, CB #7460
Office: 445
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460

Dr. Katherine Peppers has twenty-seven years of nursing experience, is a board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and a board-certified Pediatric Mental Health Specialist. She recently completed her Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) at DUSON in May of 2016. Moreover, she is a Lead Provider at Growing Child Pediatrics and Fast Braiin.  Her Lead Provide duties include:  quality improvement, care coordination, oversight of Patient Centered Medical Home certification, implementation and monitoring of electronic prescribing including electronic prescribing of controlled substances, configuration and updates of the electronic medical record, interviewing provider candidates and development and review of clinical processes, policies and procedures.  As a Lead Provider, she also serves as a member of the Executive Committee which guides practice operations, both clinical and financial.

Dr. Peppers is one of only 300 Nurse Practitioner’s in the United States with a board certification in Pediatric Mental Health.  She cares for children and adolescents with a variety of multi-faceted, mental health disorders in Growing Child Pediatrics’ integrated mental health clinic known as Fast Braiin.  Her expertise in mental health earned her the position of Co-Chair for the Governor’s Task Force on Mental Health from 2015-16 and her position as Board Member and Exam Writer for the national Pediatric Nursing Certification Board from 2011 to present.  Her DNP concentration was focused on evidence-based care and management of sleep issues in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.  Her quality improvement project was nominated for the DUSON, DNP Capstone Award of Excellence and the results, which highlighted the significant benefit of a provider-instructed sleep hygiene routine, were published in Journal of Pediatric Health Care in 2016.

Dr. Peppers has developed a relationship with DUSON beyond her graduation.  She became a Duke Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leader Fellow in May of 2016.  Her quality improvement project is focused on educating Nurse Practitioners in Pediatric Mental Health and preparing them for board certification.  She developed and instructed an online, graduate-level elective at DUSON in the fall of 2016.  A total of 25 students completed her course.  She is currently analyzing the pre and post-test data and will be presenting the findings at the Duke-Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Retreat in May of 2017.  She is also a clinical preceptor, instructor and DUSON partner, along with Growing Child Pediatrics, in a recently submitted HRSA grant.  Dr. Peppers’ passion for teaching nursing and mentoring future nurse leaders is evident in her graduate-level, guest lectures and precepting of Nurse Practitioner students.

She also has an ardor for treating children and adolescents with asthma.  Katherine hosts asthma clinics at various sites, coordinates with community partners and schools in the management of asthma and has served as the Keynote Speaker for the Wake County AHEC’s annual Asthma Made Easy Conference for the past 5 years.

In addition to the Governor’s Task Force, Katherine’s other advocacy work includes:  being selected to represent DUSON to meet with legislators in Washington, DC in March of 2015 to discuss advanced nursing practice, the nurse practitioner role and pediatric mental health, attending Nurse’s Day at the Legislature in Raleigh, participating in the North Carolina Nurse’s Association and being a member of NC Peds, the North Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Peppers has lived in Raleigh, North Carolina for the past 11 years with her husband, Lee, and their two children, Garrison (15) and Jennifer (11).  She and her husband are active in their children’s school, community activities and volunteering.

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