Debbie A. Gunter

MN, RN, FNP-BC, ACHPN, CMSRN

Debbie holds multiple certifications, including family nurse practitioner, hospice and palliative care nurse practitioner and medical-surgical nursing. She has over 30 years of nursing experience in many different areas of practice. She received her BSN from Florida State University, her master’s degree in adult health-critical care from Emory University and her family nurse practitioner certification from the University of Missouri. She is on the faculty at Emory University in the School of Medicine and School of Nursing. Debbie is also president of her own nursing consulting firm, developing and presenting multiple nursing seminars throughout the country.

In her current role of nurse practitioner with the Emory Healthcare System in Atlanta, GA, Debbie is part of the team that is responsible for providing palliative care expertise to hospitalized patients within a major academic institution. Some of the responsibilities include: pain and symptom management, goals of care discussions, withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments, advance care planning and staff education. Prior to this position, Debbie had developed and managed a 25-bed in-patient hospice unit. Debbie had also previously served as a nurse practitioner in the long-term care setting for nine years, which involved the medical management and responsibility of multiple geriatric patients in two different nursing homes in the Atlanta area.

Debbie has been recognized for her outstanding achievements in nursing by Who’s Who in American Nursing for multiple years, as well as being named “Healthcare Professional of the Year” for Strathmore International Who’s Who. She was honored with the Nurse Practitioner State Award for Clinical Excellence from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in 2011. Recent honors and achievements include being named a March of Dimes “Nurse of the Year” for Georgia in 2013 and a finalist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution nursing excellence award in 2014. Debbie is a national and international speaker and presented at the Imperial College of London for the International Nurse Practitioner Conference in 2011.

Debbie is well-known for her dynamic and innovative teaching style and her ability to present challenging concepts in a form that is interesting and easy to understand. She has presented over 700 nursing seminars across the country in the critical care, medical-surgical, geriatric and palliative care nursing fields.