Lynette Apen

DNP, RN, CNS, CNE

President-elect

Director, Research Operations Strategy - Office of Research, Patient Care Services - Stanford Health Care - Palo Alto, California

Lynette V. Apen currently serves as the Director of Research Operations and Strategy at Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, California.  Prior to this role, Dr. Apen was the Division Dean of Nursing and Allied Health at Evergreen Valley College (EVC) in San Jose, California. Dr. Apen has served on the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) Board of Directors since November 2021.

Dr. Apen began her nursing career as a pediatric and adult hematology/oncology/BMT nurse. After completing graduate school at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Dr. Apen became a tenured nursing faculty and then transitioned into the Dean of Nursing and Allied Health role. During her 18 years at EVC, Dr. Apen developed expertise in curriculum development, program evaluation, accreditation, strategic planning, grant management and leadership development. In May 2021, Dr. Apen completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from San Jose State University. Her doctoral project included a descriptive study outlining the workforce shortage of nursing academic leaders in California.

Dr. Apen has been actively engaged in promoting nursing and nursing education across the region, including serving as the President (2020-2022) for the northern region of the California Organization of Associate Degree Nursing (COADN), serving on the OADN COVID taskforce (2020-2022), serving on the OADN Research committee (2021- current), and serving as a Director At Large on the Stanford Medicine Black Nurses Association (2021- current). Dr. Apen’s research and professional interests include nursing student academic progression, nursing student holistic admissions, nursing academic leadership workforce shortages, leadership development and leadership succession planning. She has presented at state and national conferences on ADN to BSN pathways, nursing admissions, leadership succession planning, and advocacy.