North County nurse practitioner hits the awards trifecta
Some residents of San Diego North County may recognize the name of Evy Silk who is a neighbor in Cardiff and has practiced as a nurse practitioner with Dr. Warren Pleskow in Encinitas. They will not be surprised to learn of the accolades recently bestowed upon her.
On the occasion of National Nurse Practitioner Week in November 2016, the North County chapter of the California Association of Nurse Practitioners awarded her their Nurse Practitioner of Excellence Award. She went on to receive two more awards.
On March 21 at its annual educational conference, the California Association of Nurse Practitioners honored her with the Nurse Practitioner Bridging Health Care Needs Award.
In June when the American Association of Nurse Practitioners meets for its annual conference, in Philadelphia, Silk will be among the nurse practitioners from each state recognized with the AANP State Award for Excellence.
She has had a very diverse clinical career and has been instrumental in the development of the role of nurse practitioner through her advocacy and leadership.
Since the beginning of her career, she has sought to provide care to the poor who are without any healthcare. She found her calling to nursing when she studied abroad as a psychology student at UCLA and observed the desperately poor in Brazil living in wretched conditions without medical care. Upon returning, she went to get her advanced degree in nursing, also at UCLA. Long before many people became aware of nurse practitioners she saw the value of their contribution and participated in a federal grant which developed curriculum for health care providers serving the underserved.
Her experiences in Encinitas as a Family Nurse Practitioner serve as the foundation for the innovative care she would provide to farm workers, sometimes in the fields. She returns annually to Brazil at her own expense, as well as transporting crates of medical supplies to the desperately poor island nation of Fiji where she provides care in small, austere clinics, patient’s huts or at times under palm trees.
As an advance practice nurse, she has provided clinical education to prepare nurse practitioners as well as UC Irvine medical students.
To enhance the systems of care that serve the underserved, she has performed research to determine the best quality and most efficient care for this population, particularly women and children.
Nurse practitioners are nurses with postgraduate degrees educated to provide high quality, comprehensive, patient centered care in every aspect of healthcare. They are becoming a significant provider of primary and specialty care as demand grows due to increasing numbers of insured Californians. They are also found providing care to patients in many hospital departments. — Press release