Associate Professor, FNP Program Director
Dr. Leslie Sharpe is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Nursing and FNP Program Director. An experienced family nurse practitioner of 25 years with experience in primary care specializing in the care of patients with complex, co-morbid physical and mental health illnesses, Dr. Sharpe is committed to educating primary care nurse practitioners to be able to apply behavioral health concepts in primary care. She is the Primary Care Education Team Lead for HRSA ANEW Grant “Partners in Practice, Engagement, & Education in rural NC: Preparing Nurse Practitioners for Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care” (PI: V. Soltis-Jarrett). She is also a hub team member of the UNC ECHO MOUD ABC (Addiction-Behavioral Health Clinic) team.
Dr. Sharpe is passionate about teaching NP students and mentoring new nurse practitioners as they enter the workforce. With a desire to serve the community, she embraces the opportunity to work with underserved communities and currently volunteers as a provider with the UNC School of Nursing Mobile Health Clinic. The UNC SON MHC provides clinical inter-professional education and practice in a robust mobile health environment that mentors students from multiple disciplines to screen for social determinants of health, hypertension, diabetes, depression, and anxiety, provide health education and resources, and connect to healthcare. Dr. Sharpe is routinely involved in advocating for increased access to care for patients in North Carolina.
2023 – The Great 100 Nurses’ Award
2023 – National Lead of Nursing Scholarly Writing Retreat Participant
2022 – North Carolina Nurses Association Board of Directors Mentorship Award
2014 – American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, North Carolina Award for NP Advocate
2011 – NCNA Legislative Nurse of the Year Award
Sharpe, L. (2024). Parentification: Identifying Young Caregivers at Risk. Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 20(5), N.PAG. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2024.104930. Participant of NLN Writing Retreat.
Lynch, S., White Street, N., Sharpe, L., & Kellish, A. (2024). Social Determinants of Health: PRAPARE Tool Implementation in Primary Care. The Journal of Nurse Practitioners, 20(4), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2024.104955
Davison, J. A., Cockroft, M., Mullen, L., & Sharpe, L. (2024). Robust interprofessional clinical education and practice to improve health equity. Journal of Medical & Clinical Nursing, 5(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.47363/JMCN/2024(5)175
Mullen, L. G., Oermann, M. H., Cockroft, M. C., Sharpe, L. M. & Davison, J. A. (2023). Screening for the social determinants of health: Referring patients to community-based services. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 35(12), 835-842. doi: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000922
Weaver, S. D., Singh, S., Sharpe, L., Reuland, D. S., & Coombs, L. A. (2023). Values assessment tools in advanced cancer: A clinical literature review. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 27(5), 525 – 531.
Mackler, C. D., Williams, J. R., Sharpe, L. (2023). Gender-affirming sexual assault nurse examiner care: A program evaluation and quality improvement project at a community-based rape crisis center. Journal of Forensic Nursing. doi: 10.1097/JFN.0000000000000422
Wilhelm, E., Davis, L. L., Sharpe, L., & Waters, S. (2022). Assess and address: Screening and management of depression in patients with chronic heart failure. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 34(5), 769–779. https://doi.org/10.1097/JXX.0000000000000701
Detert, N., Kitzmiller, R., & Sharpe, L. (2019). Primary care-nonprofit partnerships: Posttraumatic stress disorder screening and treatment for veterans. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 15, e189-e192. doi: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2019.05.006
Dupart, G., Berry, D., D’Auria, J., Sharpe, L., McDonough, L., Houser, M., Flanary, S., & Koppelberger, S. (2019). A nurse-led and teacher-assisted adolescent healthy weight program to improve health behaviors in the school setting. The Journal of School Nursing. 35(3), 178-188. doi: 10.1177/1059840517744020
Sharpe, L., Bishop, C., Devries, A., & Derouin, A. (2016). Quick screen to intervene: Starting the conversation about pediatric obesity. Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 12(10), e431-e434. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2016.06.009
Sharpe, L. (2022). Policy implementation: Overcoming policy failure. In N. Short, Milstead’s Health Policy and Politics: A Guide for Nurses, 7th ed. (pp 121 – 146). Burlington, MA: Jones Bartlett Learning.
| Role | Title | Total Direct Amount | Percent Effort | Agency | Dates |
| Project Faculty Member | “Nurse Practitioner Residency: Behavioral Health Integration in Rural Primary Care using the TANDEM3-PC Model (NPR: BHI-Rural PC/TANDEM3-PC)
PI: V. Soltis-Jarrett |
20% funded | Health Resources Services Administration
(HRSA) NP Residency Grant |
2019 – 2023 | |
| Project Faculty Member, Educational Team Leader | Partners in practice, engagement, & education in rural NC: Preparing Nurse Practitioners for Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care (PEER NC: NP-BHI/PC)
PI: Victoria Soltis-Jarrett, PhD, PMHCNS/NP-BC, FAANP |
$1.2 million | 20% Funded | Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) ANEW Grant | 2017-2023 |
| Project Faculty Member, Contracted by PHS | Family Nurse Practitioners Taking the Lead in North Carolina: Interprofessional Practice, Education, Integration of Care
PI: Victoria Soltis-Jarrett, PhD, PMHCNS/NP-BC, FAANP |
$900,000 | 20% Funded | Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) NEPQR Grant | 2016-2018 |
