Dr. Grace Ifiok Akpan, DNP, MS, FNP- BC, RN
Dr. Grace Akpan is a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, presently working with the SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (University Hospital of Brooklyn) in the Student /Employee Health Service Department. She started nursing 38 years ago and became Registered Nurse (RN) and Midwife (RM) in 1985 and 1989, respectively, from the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Anua, Uyo. She proceeded and completed the Registered Accident and Emergency Nurse (RAEN) in 1999 from the National Orthopedic and Trauma Center, Igbobi, Lagos. She attended University of Lagos (UNILAG), Nigeria for bachelor’s in health education from 2001 -2003. after which she migrated to the United States of America in search of better opportunities in 2004. Dr. Grace Akpan earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2011 from Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn, New York, Master of Science in Family Nurse Practice in 2013 from Lehman College, Bronx, New York, and Doctor of Nursing Practice with Emphasis in Educational Leadership from Grand Canyon University (GCU), Phoenix, Arizona in 2020.
Dr. Grace Akpan practiced in different capacities since graduation in 1985 as a Registered Nurse/Midwife in the Akwa Ibom State, and various locations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Medical department from 1991 to 2004. In the United States, she worked at the Med/Surg unit of Coney Island hospital from 2006 -2007, University Hospital of Brooklyn Dialysis Unit from 2007- 2011. With her passion for imparting knowledge to the young and upcoming nurses, she held a faculty position both at the AMG School of LPN in Brooklyn from 2013 to 2017 and Hunter Business School, LPN program from 2015 -2016. He started practicing in the Nurse Practitioner (NP) role at Essen Medical Associates in 2016, both at the Primary Care and Urgent care practice in the Bronx, NY. before moving to SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in 2018. She has precepted many NP students. Her passion is to influence the myriads of challenges in the health care delivery system to produce a positive impact in the community.
Dr. Akpan is a proud member of the National Association of Nigerian Nurse Practitioners US – NY chapter. She also holds membership with the Nurse Practitioner Association of New York State (NPA) and the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN).