Mary Dunn, RN, MSN, OCN, NP-C Wins AUA’s 2021 ‘Advanced Practice Provider of the Year’ Award

The American Urological Association Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Membership Committee has named Mary Dunn, RN, MSN, OCN, NP-C as the recipient of the 2021 APP of the Year Award. This award was established to recognize the contributions and accomplishments of APPs in the field of urology. This award is presented annually to an AUA APP Member in recognition of their strong leadership skills and outstanding patient care in the field of urology. Mary joins her UNC colleague, Heather Schultz, who was the inaugural recipient of AUA APP of the year in 2020.

Mary Dunn, RN, MSN, OCN, NP-C is an Adult Nurse Practitioner at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her BSN from the University of Virginia in 2004 and her MSN from Duke University in 2009. Mary joined the GU Oncology program at UNC in 2010 and has a multidisciplinary role working in both the Department of Urology and Division of Oncology providing comprehensive care to patients with genitourinary malignancies. Here at UNC, Mary is a key contributor to our patient care mission. She is an absolutely stellar clinician, loved by patients and their family members as well as her colleagues. Reflecting this, she has received our UNC Health Care System-wide Award for Carolina Care Excellence every single year since 2015. Mary is the director of the Testicular Cancer Survivorship Clinic and the Co-Director of the von-Hippel Lindau Comprehensive Clinical Care Center. She has developed a GU Oncology Nursing Education Curriculum for nurses at UNC with the Prostate Cancer Module expected to be live in the near future. In recognition of her many contributions, she deservedly received the UNC Health Care Oncology Nursing Excellence Award in 2014. Her leadership is also recognized in the community, reflected by her designation as a Triangle Business Journal “Health Care Hero” in 2016.

Mary serves as the Community Outreach Coordinator for the NC Triangle Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society. In this role, she has facilitated and promoted countless community outreach initiatives across the area and founded Kaps for Kids, a program that delivers hats to children undergoing cancer treatment at both UNC and Duke. She is also spearheading an effort to teach an anti-vaping program to middle school students in Durham County. She helped form the NC Triangle Chapter of the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN), where she serves as secretary and helps plan the annual local Walk to End Bladder Cancer. The most recent program she helped develop with the chapter is a $500 Patient Assistance Grant, which aims to aid patients with bladder cancer who need financial support. She serves BCAN on a national level and is currently on the steering committee for the annual Think Tank. Mary is honored to co-chair the development of the Oncology portion of the AUA’s APP curriculum. Mary enjoys giving presentations to a variety of audiences to educate health care professionals and patients about GU Oncology.

This recognition from the AUA is not the first to reflect her national presence. In 2016 she was recognized with the Excellence in Medical Oncology Award from the Oncology Nursing Society, the nation’s largest professional association of more than 35,000 oncology nurses. On a personal level, as anyone who has had the privilege of working with Mary would tell you, she is an absolute delight to work with—kind, humble, hard-working, a consummate professional.

As the winner, Ms. Dunn will receive a $1,000 stipend for the 2021 AUA Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Also, she will be presented with her award and formally recognized during the Urologic Care for the Advanced Practice Provider program at AUA2021.