Jennifer Bevacqua, MS CPNP-AC/PC AG-ACNP CPEN CEN, is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner (acute and primary care) as well as an adult-geriatric acute care nurse practitioner in Oregon. Much of her early career was in pediatrics—in EDs, inpatient, and urgent care settings—in addition to precepting in nurse practitioner programs through Rush University School of Nursing and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and teaching didactic at Oregon Health & Science University.
Several factors converged that led her to pivot into a community hospital’s emergency department in 2021. She completed her post master’s work as an adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner, was looking for a full-time position as an NP, and realized the current demand for her skills was in a general ED.
“The pandemic wasn’t hitting kids as hard (as adults),” she said. She was ready to shift her role to go where the need was greatest and work full time in an ED. She now works full time in the ED at Oregon Health & Science University Hillsboro Medical Center.
“Now I still get to see my babies and my toddlers and my kids, and I get to see sick adults too,” Bevacqua said. “There is such a need.”
Bevacqua is also passionate about professional issues that affect nurse practitioners, particularly scope of practice. She has worked with a coalition addressing state licensure issues, written on scope of practice issues in regard to acute care pediatrics, and also served on the Nurse Practitioners of Oregon’s Professional Practice Committee.
The ENAP Advisory Committee was a natural outlet for her to continue promoting the advanced practice specialty. Prior to that, she served for a term on ENA’s DEI Committee.
“I’m excited to continue work with ENAP and promote quality education for nurse practitioners,” she said.
Bevacqua said that even as a young child, she was always interested in anatomy and physiology. She earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Indiana University and her Master of Science, pediatric primary care nurse practitioner from Oregon Health & Sciences University. She continued her education with a post-master’s certificate, pediatric acute care nurse practitioner from Rush University, and a leadership certificate program from Harvard University School of Medicine & University College London before completing her last post-master’s adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner from Boise State University.
Bevacqua loves the wilderness and enjoys backpacking with her family throughout Oregon, and she has also worked as a camp nurse. Her love of the outdoors and desire to always be prepared prompted her to add the Advanced Wilderness Life Support certification to the numerous certifications she has achieved over the years
Whether it’s a fall, a surprise storm, or any other thing that can go wrong in the woods, she likes knowing that if someone in her party needs help, she could respond to it.
“I’ll know what to do, with no tools, no IVs,” she said.