By Laura Gasque
Three-time University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing alumna and retired Professor Natalie Baker, DNP, ANP-BC, GNP-BC, CNE, GS-C, FAANP, FAAN (BSN 1985, MSN 1990, DNP 2010), has been selected as the next Executive Officer of the Alabama Board of Nursing. She begins the role in May.
The ABN’s mission is to safeguard and promote the health, safety and welfare of the public through licensing and approval of qualified individuals and adopting and enforcing legal standards for nursing education and nursing practice.
“I look forward to assuming the Executive Officer role upon Mrs. Peggy Benson’s retirement in May,” Baker said. “I will be working closely with the Board, nursing schools and employers to continue developing innovative pathways in solving Alabama’s workforce crisis and heighten the awareness of nursing’s contributions to health care.”
Baker served the UAB School of Nursing as an educator, scholar, clinician and policy leader before retiring from the faculty in 2025 after nearly 14 years of service. Recognized for expertise and national impact in gerontology and gerontological nursing education, and health care policy, Baker is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Additionally, she is a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing, an honor bestowed by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence.
Baker maintained a practice as a nurse practitioner in the long-term care setting for more than three decades and provided care to this vulnerable patient population. In 2021, she was named one of the School’s 70 Visionary Leaders for leaving her mark on nursing education, the profession and health care, for both patients and our nursing workforce.
“The UABSON has had a profound impact on my nursing career,” Baker said. “My instructors provided opportunities to understand the complexities of health care, the importance of patient advocacy, and the value of interprofessional models of care. As a student, I was mentored by faculty who understood the importance of mastering critical thinking and leadership skills.”
Baker was appointed to the Alabama Board of Nursing in 2015 to represent advanced practice nursing and served as Vice President in 2017. At the national level, Baker was elected President of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association in 2021. She also has served as GAPNA’s Secretary and as Chair of the Education Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-authored the “Addressing Nursing Home Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond” position statement, and she also co-authored an article in the Journal of Nursing Education that emphasized the need for adult gerontological nurse practitioners and family nurse practitioners to have clinical experience in the long-term care setting during their educational training.
Baker was appointed by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence to serve on an expert panel for the development of gerontological nurse educator competencies, and was appointed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to a two-year term on the Institute of Regulatory Excellence Committee, overseeing its four-year comprehensive professional development program which develops experts in specific realms of regulation to enhance knowledge and leadership in nursing regulation.
In 2024, Baker completed a national Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program, co-administered by the American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship Program. Her fellowship included work with the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, co-authoring The Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act S. 4120, a bill focused on increasing the minimum wage and improving the working conditions of long-term care direct care professionals. She also met with stakeholders and provided her expert insight on other bills impacting the aging population.
Baker’s work has been recognized at both the state and national levels. She twice received the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Advocate State Award of Excellence for Alabama. In 2021, she received the Cindajo Overton Outstanding Nurse Educator Award from the Alabama State Nurses Association.