Dr. Barbara Sheer is professor emeritus at the University of Delaware School of Nursing in Newark, Delaware. Dr. Sheer has been actively involved in the nurse practitioner movement for the past 35 years and has held regional, state, and national positions in nurse practitioner organizations. She has served as president of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, chair of the National Alliance of Nurse Practitioners and chair of the Fellows of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She was the U.S. representative in planning for the first international nurse practitioner conference in London.

Dr. Sheer was involved with the development of the International Nurse Practitioner and Advanced Practice Nursing Network under the umbrella of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). She served as communications chair and core steering group member.

She has been an educator/consultant in nursing education and curriculum development for over 30 years, developed the nurse practitioner program at the University of Delaware and has consulted with nurse practitioner programs nationally and internationally. She is nationally certified as a family nurse practitioner, and is a partner in the California organization, Nurse Consultant Associates, dedicated to nursing education, service, policy development and analysis, and the emerging field of informatics.