Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Week (Sept. 22 – 26, 2025) is the perfect moment to honor our nurse practitioners and physician assistants/associates. They bridge care gaps and bring excellence to pediatric care, delivering life-changing treatments with skill and confidence. Their partnership with our patients, families, colleagues and community creates a family-centered network of care that’s both powerful and personal, breaking down barriers with collaboration that transforms lives.
To celebrate APPs and all they do, we interviewed Erin Dobie Taylor, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, associate medical director of emergency department (ED) APPs; and Tiffanie Woods, APRN, CPNP-PC, associate medical director of ear, nose and throat (ENT) APPs.
Erin Dobie Taylor
Who or what inspired you to become an advanced practice provider?
My mother, Colleen Dobie, CNP, was one of the first pediatric nurse practitioners in the nation. I was born the summer between her two-year master’s program. I like to think that I was educated and influenced to become a nurse practitioner while still in the womb.
One photo I provided is from a clinic pamphlet in 1984, introducing my mother to patients explaining what a nurse practitioner is. I am just 4 years old in that picture, modeling as the patient. The second picture is from this past January, highlighting what I love to do most, suturing. The model for this picture is my 4-year-old son, Rory. These pictures bring my life and career full circle.
My mother has been my greatest inspiration and supporter. I grew up watching her career and the profession evolve. In 2008, my mother and I became the first certified parent/child pediatric nurse practitioner duo.
My career in the emergency room (ER) was cultivated by another mentor, Mary Mackenburg, CNP. I first met her as an undergraduate student and then became her ER colleague. She encouraged me to apply as a new graduate and mentored me early in my emergency department career. Both women embodied strength, resiliency and leadership characteristics that have guided me into becoming the associate medical director for emergency department APPs. I aspire to be this mentor for other APPs.
What does a typical day look like for you as a nurse practitioner?
There are no typical days/evenings in the emergency department. It’s something I love about this setting. In the ED, the nurse practitioner comprehensively evaluates a variety of patients with different levels of health or injury concerns. We assess patients, order appropriate diagnostic testing, perform various interventions, educate families, and complete an admission or discharge plan. We work as a team with all ED colleagues to deliver high quality, patient-centered care. Often the families that come to the emergency department are having a tough day and as a nurse practitioner, I am in the position to help each individual patient and family get through it.
What do you love most about your job?
The children! Pediatric patients are strong, resilient and constantly bring a smile to the world around them. In the emergency department, I love to complete laceration repairs and take great pride in the whole patient experience around these repairs. I am passionate about reducing procedural distress (pain and anxiety) using a unique patient-centered, team-based comfort promise approach, all while optimizing cosmetic outcome. As an ED nurse practitioner, it is not just a skill to complete a laceration repair, but an art that is constantly challenging me to improve my patience, compassion and technique!
