The Authors

APRN · National Speaker & Author

Amy Siple, APRN

Amy Siple, APRN, is a nationally recognized healthcare speaker, author, educator, and advocate for nurses and older adults. With more than 30 years of nursing experience in Kansas, including over 25 years as a nurse practitioner providing primary care to older adults, she has devoted her career to improving healthcare, empowering nurses, and advocating for those they serve.

Amy has played a leading role in two significant Kansas nursing reform efforts. As president of the Kansas Advanced Practice Nurses Association, she helped lead the successful campaign for full practice authority for advanced practice registered nurses in 2022, making Kansas the 26th state to enact the reform. In 2026, she spearheaded a grassroots movement of nurses that resulted in legislation reforming the Kansas State Board of Nursing.

Her experiences inspired the book Battling the Bureaucrats: How One Nurse’s Fight Led to the Defeat of a Giant, which she co-authored with investigative journalist Bill Bush.

A TEDx speaker, published author, and Project ECHO content expert, Amy is also a certified John Maxwell leadership speaker, coach, and trainer. Her professional honors include the American Association of Nurse Practitioners State Award for Excellence in 2023 and the Wichita Business Journal’s Healthcare Hero Award in 2024.

As a tenured associate professor at Newman University, Amy received the university’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2011 and was invited to deliver two commencement addresses.

Amy has appeared on numerous podcasts and radio and television programs discussing nursing advocacy, professional license protection, and government accountability. She is a sought-after speaker for healthcare professionals, nursing organizations, and civic groups, encouraging others to stand up for their convictions and challenge injustice.

Amy lives in Kansas and has been married to the man of her dreams for over 34 years.

Award-Winning Journalist & Author

Bill Bush

Bill Bush is an award-winning Kansas journalist, columnist, and author whose investigative reporting has focused on government accountability, healthcare policy, and issues affecting rural Kansas communities.

Since joining Kansas Publishing Ventures in 2018, Bill has received numerous honors from the Kansas Press Association, including first-place awards for investigative reporting, education reporting, senior reporting, column writing, sports feature writing, and collaborative series reporting.

Bill has written a weekly newspaper column since 2013 and has reported on the events surrounding the reform of the Kansas State Board of Nursing. His years of reporting, interviews, and examination of public records provide the investigative foundation for this book.

In addition to his journalism, Bill is the award-winning author of the Halstead Mysteries series, whose debut novel, When the Time Is Right, received the Zebulon Award from the Pikes Peak Writers Conference. He is also the author of the Vetrix series and numerous short stories.

A native Kansan, Bill grew up in Yates Center and earned a master’s degree from Tabor College. He lives in Kansas, where he continues to write both investigative nonfiction and fiction.