Kamala Gipson-McElroy, DNP, APRN, PHN, CPNP-PC

Kamala Gipson-McElroy, DNP, CPNP-PC is a board-certified Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with nearly two decades of experience in pediatric health care as a nurse, pediatric nurse practitioner, and healthcare leader. Her scholarship focuses on pediatric primary care education, advanced practice provider (APP) workforce development, and leadership in pediatric health systems. Prior to joining UCLA, she served in executive advanced practice leadership at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where she led clinical practice, workforce development, and integration for more than 200 nurse practitioners and physician assistants across over 50 pediatric subspecialties.

Dr. Gipson-McElroy is passionate about preparing the next generation of pediatric nurse practitioners through clinically grounded teaching, leadership development, and innovative approaches to advanced practice nursing education. Her expertise includes pediatric primary care, pediatric physical assessment, and health promotion, as well as advanced practice leadership and clinical integration within complex healthcare systems. Her teaching approach emphasizes structured, accountable learning environments that foster clinical reasoning, professional identity formation, and application of knowledge to practice.

Her work is grounded in a commitment to inclusive excellence, with a focus on preparing advanced practice providers to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care and to lead within healthcare systems that support improved outcomes for diverse pediatric populations.

Faculty Scholarship and Clinical Expertise

Dr. Gipson-McElroy’s scholarly work focuses on pediatric primary care education and the preparation of advanced practice nurses for entry into pediatric clinical practice. Her work emphasizes the development of clinically grounded curricula that strengthen diagnostic reasoning, pediatric physical assessment, and readiness for independent practice. She is particularly interested in transition-to-practice models, competency-based evaluation aligned with national standards, and innovative teaching strategies that support learner development across diverse clinical settings.
Informed by her leadership experience, her scholarship also examines advanced practice provider workforce development, including models for clinical integration, role optimization, and sustainable team-based care in pediatric health systems. The central aim of her work is to bridge education and practice by aligning academic preparation with real-world clinical expectations.