NAHPAC members enjoyed time to connect, create, and have a little fun during their 2025 retreat

NAHPAC, the Nursing and Allied Health Professional Advisory Committee, is a standing NNECOS committee made up of active associate members, including nurses, advanced practice providers, physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, pharmacists, practice managers, and other members of the cancer care team. The committee provides guidance to the NNECOS Board of Directors, helps plan and implement educational programming, and works to strengthen team-based, interdisciplinary cancer care across our region. In short, NAHPAC exists to make sure allied health professionals have a real voice in how NNECOS serves them. We welcome new NNECOS members year-round and work to connect colleagues across the region who might not otherwise cross paths.

As an active associate member of NNECOS, NAHPAC represents you. Here's a look at recent work being done for you.

NAHPAC members do more than meet as a committee. They serve as ambassadors throughout NNECOS. Members sit on task forces spanning education, philanthropy, research, and program planning, and report back at each committee meeting on what they're seeing across the organization. NAHPAC also has a standing voice at the Board level through the Allied Health at Large Officer, ensuring your perspective is part of every major decision.

NAHPAC provided direct input to the 2026 Annual Meeting Chair to help close longstanding gaps in programming. Based on a 10-year review, hematologic and gynecologic malignancies were identified as underrepresented topics, and NAHPAC advocated for sessions on non-pharmacological approaches to chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, regional barriers to fertility preservation, and speakers from our own ME/NH/VT allied health community.

NAHPAC's home base within NNECOS programming is the Spring Meeting, and this year's committee retreat was held alongside it, with members reporting high satisfaction in connection and shared purpose. NAHPAC is also focused on closing representation gaps within its own ranks, and new members are welcomed year-round through a structured onboarding process that helps them get connected quickly.

NAHPAC's work this year is organized around five goals: clarifying governance standards, ensuring our membership reflects the community we represent, meeting the unique needs of allied health professionals through education, keeping the NNECOS Board informed on issues affecting our profession, and growing engagement and retention across our ranks.

This fall, NAHPAC has issued a call for letters of interest to fill three identified gaps in our membership: mental health/counseling, financial navigation/patient financial advocacy, and practice management. If you or a colleague works in these areas and is interested in joining NAHPAC, we'd love to hear from you.

NAHPAC also continues to explore new education programming for advanced practice providers across NH, ME, and VT, and is looking at ways to expand successful local initiatives, such as a recent Dartmouth event centered on hope and healing, into a broader member benefit. NAHPAC has also long served as a pipeline to NNECOS Board leadership, so getting involved here is a meaningful step for anyone interested in a larger role in the organization down the road.

NAHPAC exists to represent your interests, and that starts with knowing what you need. If there are professional needs NNECOS isn't currently meeting, whether that's education, resources, or something else entirely, we want to hear from you. Reply directly or contact any NAHPAC member to share your thoughts or learn how to get involved.

Warmly,

Nikki Langstaff, PT, MS, CLT

Chair, NNECOS NAHPAC