Vanessa Pomarico-Denino EdD, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP
Vanessa Pomarico-Denino is an APRN at the CT Medical Group/Northeast Medical Group in CT where she is the Lead clinician for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging for 140 offices throughout CT, RI and NY. She is faculty with Fitzgerald Health Education Associates and teaches the Nurse Practitioner Certification Exam Review and Advanced Practice Update in addition to having several continuing education recordings, webinars and podcasts for NPs.
She was part-time faculty at Southern Connecticut State University for 19 years, and served five of those years as the Interim Director of the FNP track. During those five years under her direction, students earned higher than average national pass rate on the AANP certification exam. She is courtesy faculty for Quinnipiac University School of Nursing. A guest lecturer for many Connecticut NP, PA and medical schools, an author and a contributing author for several nursing textbooks, she served on the advisory board for many years for The Jim Collins Foundation, a transgender community non-profit organization. Vanessa served as President of the CT APRN Society and it was during her tenure through the combined efforts of a group of dedicated nursing leaders that the bill for full practice authority was achieved in CT. She later served as Co-Chair of the Health Policy committee for several years. She is a two-time Past-president for the Mu Beta chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International. She has served on the FAANP Selection Committee and currently serves as the Chair of the FAANP Career Advancement Program Committee and is co-chair for the AANP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Special Interest Group.
She has been honored with numerous awards including the AANP State Award for Excellence, the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, the Yale-New Haven Hospital Advanced Practice Providers Award for Leadership and the All-In award in recognition of her efforts to educate clinicians and staff on the appropriate care of the LGBTQIA+ patient.
Vanessa volunteered her time for many years as an NP in Mississippi post-Katrina and is a dedicated fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and Smilow Cancer Hospital. She lectures extensively at many conferences nationally on transgender, LGBTQIA+ health care, tick-borne infections and the business aspect of nurse practitioner practice. She frequently provides consultation to NPs while maintaining an established practice in internal medicine, women's health and LGBTQIA+ healthcare.