A Filipino-American nurse practitioner based in Las Vegas has joined the profession’s most elite circle of leaders.
Dr. Rhigel “Jay” Alforque Tan was formally inducted as a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP) during the organization’s national conference, an annual gathering attended by thousands of nurse practitioners and health care leaders from across the United States.
The FAANP fellowship is considered among the highest professional distinctions available to nurse practitioners, reserved for individuals whose sustained work has significantly advanced clinical practice, education, advocacy, research, leadership and health policy. Dr. Tan’s induction cites his leadership in psychiatric-mental health, his role in expanding advanced practice nursing authority, and his contributions to culturally responsive mental health care at local, national and international levels.
In Nevada, Dr. Tan has helped transform advanced practice nursing by advocating for full practice authority for APRNs, a shift that allows nurse practitioners to more fully use their training in caring for patients. He has played a central role in expanding and shaping the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner workforce, developing innovative PMHNP educational programs that integrate pharmacogenetics and precision medicine into advanced nursing curricula.
Dr. Tan serves as an associate professor-in-residence and director of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program at the UNLV School of Nursing, where he oversees graduate education while maintaining active clinical practice as a mental health specialist. His work emphasizes culturally responsive approaches, particularly for Filipino-American and broader Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Nevada, and he is widely recognized for mentoring future nurse practitioner leaders.
His influence extends beyond the United States. Dr. Tan has contributed to mental health policy initiatives in the Philippines, including advocacy efforts that helped pave the way for the country’s first Mental Health Act, expanding access to services for more than 110 million citizens. That global engagement has made him a key voice on mental health systems, policy innovation and nurse practitioner leadership.
Dr. Tan’s public service includes appointment by then-Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval to the Nevada State Board of Nursing, where he served as a member and later as board president, making history as the only Filipino on the board during his tenure. His recognitions span clinical, academic and community spheres, from being named a local “Healthcare Hero” to election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
In 2019, Dr. Tan received The Outstanding Filipinos in America (TOFA) award in Health Care during a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York, underscoring how his work resonates across the broader Filipino-American community as well as within nursing circles.
