Mary Ellen Biggerstaff, DNP, FNP, MPH

Education

• MPH, Public Health, University of California Berkeley, 2020
• DNP, Nursing, Frontier Nursign University, 2015
• MSN, Nursing, Frontier Nursing, 2009

Areas of Emphasis or Expertise

• Global Health Nursing
• Substance Abuse Disorder
• Underserved Populations & Social Determinants of Health

Books

• Advanced Practice Pharmacology Chapters Substance Use and Addiction Medicine ( Anticipated 2027)
• Radical Nurses (Olympia, WA: Bildung Press 2025) : View Book
• Health Policy for Advanced Practice Nursing: A Toolkit for Implementation and Improvement Chapters Selected Policy Issues in Advanced Practice Nursing Education (Springer Nature 2026) : View Book
• Advanced Practice Pharmacology Chapters Substance Use and Addition Medicine 2024)
• Advanced Practice Emergency Nursing Chapters Forensic Nursing Anticipated Publication 2023)

Selected Presentations

• ICN NP Conference, Advance Practice Nursing in China, Nashville, TN (2026 September)
• AANP Conference, Emerging Substance Use Disorders, Las Vegas, NV (2026 June)
• AANP Conference, Pharmacology for Substance Use Disorder, Las Vegas, NV (2026 June)
• International Nurses Society on Addictions Conference, Global Nurse Prescribing for Opiate Use Disorder, Seattle, WA (2026 April)
• National Correctional Health Care Conference, Fentanyl Use Disorder, Baltimore, Maryland (2025 November)
• ARNPS United Regional Annual Conference, Caring for Immigrant Patients, Bellevue, WA (2025 October)
• Sigma Theta Tau International Research Congress, Comparative Analysis of Nurse and Non-Nurse Prescribing of Controlled Substances: A Review of National and State-Level Data, Seattle, WA (2025 July)
• ARNPS United of Washington Annual Conference, Pharmacology for Substance Use Disorder, Issaquah, WA (2024 October)
• International Council of Nurses Advance Practice Conference, A Scoping Protocol for Global Nurse Prescribing for Opiate Use Disorder, Aberdeen, Scotland (2024 September)
• International Council of Nurses, An Ethical Comparison of Cross Cultural Training (Poster Presentation) (2023 July)
• Sigma Theta Tau Invited Speaker, Nursing Advocacy for Immigrant Patients, St. Xavier Nursing University (2023 March)
• Premier CME, Chronic Pain, Treatment and Management (2023 February)
• Premier CME, Opiate & Substance Use Disorder (2022 November)
• International Philosophy of Nursing Conference, White Savior Syndrome and Nursing Ethics (Panel Presentation) (2022 September)
• Diversity and Equity Speaker Series, Being a Nurse Advocate for Your Immigrant and Refugee Patients, University of Texas Health Sciences (2022 September)
• International Council of Nurses Congress 2021, Global Health Nursing Policy: A History Through Key Documents and Institutions (2021 November)
• International Council of Nurses Advance Practice Nursing Conference, A Qualitative Inquiry into International Advance Nursing Practice (Accepted) (2020 August)
• American Academy of Nursing Practice, Appropriate Use of Interpreter Services (Accepted) (2020 June)
• Faculty Meeting, Experience at Low Barrier Medication Assisted Treatment Clinic, Frontier Nursing University (2019 October)
• Faculty Meeting, Advocating for Our Immigrant Patients, Frontier Nursing University (2018 October)
• DNP National Conference, Implementing an Interpreter System at a Rural Health Care Center (2015 September)

Selected Articles

• Biggerstaff, Mary Ellen. "Kratom Use." Journal of Substance Use Nursing Accepted 2026 July:
• Biggerstaff, M.E.. "Fentanyl Use Disorder: A Guide for Nurse Practitioners." The Journal for Nurse Practitioners Vol. 21(3), 2025:
• Biggerstaff, Mary Ellen. "The Importance of Community Partnerships in Nonprofit and Business Responsiveness to COVID-19; Success Stories From the Field." Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2022:
• Biggerstaff, Mary Ellen. "Summit Pacific Clinical Guidelines." Published internally and approved by Medical Staff to guide clinical care at Summit Pacific Hospital System 2018:
• Biggerstaff, M. E., & Short, N.. "Evaluation of specialist referrals at a rural health care clinic." Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Vol. 29(7), 2017: 410-414.
• Biggerstaff, M. E., & Skomra, T. S.. "Nurses as Immigrant Advocates: A Brief Overview." Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 25(2), 2020:
• Biggerstaff, Mary Ellen. "Nursing in Vietnam." Global Nursing Caucus Newsletter 2019: