Joy Deupree, PhD, MSN, RN, WHNP-BC

HomeFellows & AlumniFellow BiographiesJoy Deupree, PhD, MSN, RN, WHNP-BC

  • 2014 Fellow
    Joy Deupree

Director, Professional Development

UAB School of Nursing

Birmingham, AL

Joy P. Deupree, PhD, MSN, RN, WHNP-BC is Director of Professional Development at UAB School of Nursing where she teaches in the Adult Nurse Practitioner Program and has an active program of research for promotion of healthcare for underserved and vulnerable populations. During her 17 year career at UAB School of Nursing she has served in many roles including Assistant Dean for Student Affairs; Director, Alumni Relations for Diploma Graduates in the Office of Development; and Coordinator for the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Program. Dr. Deupree has served in many leadership roles for professional organizations and is currently the senior advisor for policy for the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama (NPAA) the professional association she co-founded in 2006 which represents the interests of close to 3,000 NPs in Alabama. Joy served as president of NPAA (2012-2013) and championed the passage of SB224 that provides for NPs in Alabama to prescribe controlled medications; allows NPs access to the Patient Drug Monitoring Database; and required that the Alabama Board of Medicine establish an interprofessional Advisory Council for which Joy is an appointed member. In addition to her work to improve access to care in Alabama, Joy's other passion is health literacy. A certified Laubach literacy tutor since 1997, she began her research in this area in 2002 as co-investigator for a grant to study health literacy and fever management of children ages 6 months to 6 years. After attending health literacy conferences for over a decade where other health professionals dominated the conversation; her vision was to establish an organization for nurses who share her passion. With her belief that nurses are at the forefront of patient care with the potential to make the most significant contributions to improve health care for low literate patients, Joy began the efforts in 2012 to establish the Alliance of International Nurses for Improved Health Literacy and now serves as the leader of the organization. Previously, Dr. Deupree earned a master’s degree in women's health nursing, a postmaster’s from the Family Nurse Practitioner Program and a BSN, all from UAB School of Nursing, Birmingham, Alabama. She earned her PhD in Health Promotion/Health Behavior in 2011 via a joint program from the Schools of Public Health and Education at UAB and the School of Human Studies at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Some of Joy's current and past activities include leadership in the Alabama Health Action Coalition, Sigma Theta Tau Nu Chapter, Alabama Nurse Leaders in Practice and Education, Alabama State Nurses Association, and was a charter member, past president and executive director of Sylacauga City School's Foundation Board, Sylacauga, Alabama. In 2015, she was appointed by Governor Robert Bentley to serve on the statewide Governor's Healthcare Improvement Task Force. Dr. Deupree has also served as a Gubernatorial appointee to the Alabama Board of Nursing; Alabama Black Belt Commission and the Alabama Child Death Review Board.