The theme for our NHNPA NP Week celebration in November 2016 was NP Advocacy. We wanted to showcase and celebrate the role of advocacy in NP practice and to highlight a road map to our members of how to become an advocate and how advocacy is essential to developing and protecting our practice on a local, state and national level. Through our assembled panel of powerful Nurse Leaders and attendees, we discussed the journey of NP practice in New Hampshire. The outcome of that evening was a powerful recounting of the work, dedication and vision of our NP pioneers to establish and protect full practice authority in our state. These remarkable leaders told of the set backs and the multitude of hard won victories that established NH as one of the first states to have autonomous practice and most importantly, how this needs to be protected and nurtured, through diligent and persistent advocacy.

That evening was the genesis of the Legacy Project. The impact and import of sharing our stories was clear. Many of those attending that evening had never heard these stories and were unaware of our history or how we obtained and maintained the privilege of independent NP practice in NH. It was decided to capture the oral history of those who were integral in our journey.  The hope is that the Legacy Project will be an ongoing endeavor with more interviews and stories of NP pioneers that will give further dimension and perspective to our past. We hope this living project will be the valuable road map from our past to our future, to protect and support our practice for the health and wellbeing of the citizens of NH and beyond.