Alumni Spotlight

Meet Veronica Taylor, RN, MS

• 1975 / BSN
• 1990 / MS – Emphasis on nursing education, community health planning, health promotion and policy development

Veronica Taylor has greatly contributed to the nursing profession through avenues and activities almost too numerous to mention. Briefly touching on the highlights of her career, we would find noteworthy her clinical practice and leadership as hospital supervisor at Campbell County Hospital (where she also wrote a $500,000 HRSA grant for that institution), and also her community activities in Gillette, Wyoming, where she has been a member of the Gillette Area Leadership Institute, has served on the Campbell County Planning Commission, the Hospice of Campbell County Memorial Hospital Advisory Board and the Campbell County Health Care Foundation Board. She has served on faculty at her alma mater, the University of Wyoming Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing (1997-2006), and also at Western Wyoming Community College (1987-1991). However, Taylor’s most significant contributions come from her leadership in professional nursing organizations, most notably the Wyoming Nurse Association (WNA). She is currently the President of WNA, but has held numerous other positions over the years, including being a Wyoming delegate to the American Nurses Association (ANA). Because of her long-term involvement in WNA, she is well known across the state in nursing.  In fact, says School of Nursing Dean, Dr. Mary Burman, “It is difficult to find a nurse who hasn’t heard of her!”

One of Taylor’s passions has been legislative and regulatory issues for nursing, even while she was in school as a student.  Her master’s thesis was entitled, “Opinions of Legislators on Issues Related to Standardization of Nursing Education.”  Because of her involvement over the years, her impact on legislation and regulation affecting nurses has been significant. She has been actively involved in the legislative committee of WNA, working closely with state and national legislators. She has been an ongoing participant in the Wyoming Legislative Days sponsored by WNA and her knowledge of Wyoming’s legislative process and positive working relationship with many elected officials is very evident. As a delegate to ANA, she has also gained a national perspective on legislative and regulatory issues affecting nursing. She has shared this knowledge and expertise with the state through her involvement in WNA. Taylor has also served on the Wyoming Board of Nursing, the primary regulatory body for nursing in the state.

Taylor has also been actively participating in the Center for American Nurses on the national level as a Wyoming delegate and on their Policy Workgroup presently, addressing position statements on nursing assistive personnel, violence in the workplace, delegation, staffing, economic value of nursing and leadership in nursing.  She has been instrumental, through lobbying efforts, in the development of legislation and funding for the Wyoming Investment in Nurses Funding to pay for nursing students and faculty to obtain higher education.