Linda Burnes Bolton, PhD, RN, FAAN

Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN
President, AAN

Register NOW for the
34th Annual Meeting & Conference
Breaking Barriers: Changing Policy and Practice with Evidence

November 8-10, 2007
JW Marriott Hotel – Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC

Pre-registration open until October 22. Registration will be available on site.

To register online, click here or complete and fax/send in the Preliminary Program registration form. Don’t forget to reserve seats for the Saturday, November 10 Awards Ceremony & Induction Banquet.

Each year, some of the nation’s finest minds come together for the American Academy of Nursing’s Annual Meeting and Conference, tackling problems through cutting-edge presentations, panel discussions, and high-powered dialogue. This Meeting promises to be as exciting as ever, with participants devising key strategies for speeding up the translation of evidence into practice and policy. Improving patient outcomes as well as the nation’s healthcare system depends on an efficient and effective translation process; our conference theme is both urgent and timely.

The roster of outstanding speakers includes:

• Janet Corrigan, President and CEO, of the National Quality Forum
  Opening Keynote Session: Evidence-Based Practice and the Quality Movement
• Mark McClellan, Senior Visiting Fellow with the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies
  Plenary Session: Pay for Performance
• Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and author of Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management.
  Closing Keynote Session: Evidence-Based Management
• Robert Kolodner, MD, National Coordinator, Health Information Technology
  Panelist: Nursing Informatics Patient-Centered Care and Electronic Health Records

New this Year!
Pre-Conference Sessions
This year the Annual Meeting Planning Committee has expanded the schedule by offering three concurrent pre-conference sessions from 1:00 to 4:00 pm Thursday, November 8.

• Evidence-Based Practice
• Evidence-Based Education
• Implementation Science

Expert Panels Meet on Saturday
To best accommodate attendees unable to arrive on Thursday, Expert Panel meetings are scheduled for Saturday, November 10, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

Friday Night Entertainment
Still poking satirical fun at those who hold office, Capitol Steps will be performing Friday, November 9, at 8:00 pm in the JW Marriott Hotel (the Meeting venue). At $45.00 per ticket, the proceeds will benefit the AAN Annual Fund and entitle you and your guests to an evening of laugh-out-loud entertainment.

National Leader Program
This year’s National Leader Program, designed for graduate students, faculty members, or Academy Fellows interested in advancing through the ranks of the nursing profession, features a Welcome and Networking Session, a focus on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pipeline to Placement Project, and a panel discussion: Leading from Different Perspectives.

The Annual Meeting Planning Committee, co-chaired by Jackie Dunbar-Jacobs, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, CPNP/NPP, FAAN, has created a program that promises to stimulate thinking, generate ideas, and lead to crucial actions. I applaud them for a job well done and urge you to register now!

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Annual Fund Ahead of Last Year – But We Still Need to Meet Our $100,000 Goal

Please Contribute!
I am very pleased to report that thanks to the generosity of Fellows and the work of the Annual Fund Committee chaired by Linda Groah, MS, RN, CNOR, CNAA, FAAN, Annual Fund proceeds are $11,000 ahead of where they were at this time last year. We still need to raise $40,000 to reach our $100,000 goal, however, so please take time now to send a check (to headquarters at 555 E. Wells Street, Suite 1100, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 43202) or donate online by credit card.

The board and I so appreciate your support. Without it we could not fulfill our mission through such initiatives as:

• Technology Targets – improving medical/surgical unit workflow and reducing the demand on nurses’ time
• Influencing health policy by placing a nurse scholar at the Institute of Medicine
• Implementing a national strategy for improving health care quality and serving on the National Quality Forum

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RWJF and AARP Support Nursing Policy Work
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded a grant of $331,400 to The George Washington University (GW) Department of Nursing Education, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, to design and promote national policies that reflect nursing’s contribution to quality. Ellen T. Kurtzman, MPH, RN, assistant research professor at GW, will direct this project, “Nursing Engagement in Performance Measurement and Public Reporting.”

The project will develop and advocate public policies that support nursing-related quality measurement, extend public accountability to nurses and reward nursing’s essential contribution to quality through value-based purchasing models. Through a unique and essential alliance with the Academy, the project will strategically engage the nursing profession in national policy setting related to performance measurement, public reporting and pay-for-performance and build knowledge capacity among nursing leaders of developments in these areas.

Like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Academy has an absolute commitment to transforming healthcare policy and practice and this grant represents a coordinated response to the challenges and opportunities of engaging nursing leaders in performance measurement, public reporting and value-based purchasing will be explored. This is an important step in assuring high-quality nursing care and improved patient safety for the American public.

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Raise the Voice! Campaign Grows Stronger
Through our Raise the Voice! Campaign and Edge Runner stories we continue to provide concrete, verifiable examples of nurse innovators. These stories reach opinion leaders, public policy leaders, and the media, increasing their perception of the Academy as an expert source on a wide variety of health care topics. Reporters from the Wall Street Journal and USA Today have interviewed me as has Washington, DC’s most popular morning radio station, WPGC. Philadelphia’s The Patriot News published an OpEd written by Patricia L. Gerrity PhD, RN, FAAN, and me that profiles the 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University, a wonderful example of a nurse-managed clinic that has improved patient access to care and created a healthier, more productive community. In addition, I co-authored an OpEd with Kay Roberts, EdD, ARNP, FAAN, that discussed how nursing is the cornerstone for health care, which ran in The Courier-Journal.

Press Conference Scheduled at the National Press Club
Moderated by John Iglehart, founding editor of Health Affairs, our “Nursing, Technology and Patient Safety: Improving the Health Care Practice Environment” press conference, scheduled for November 7, 2007, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, will focus on nursing strategies for making the health care practice environment more patient centered. A dialogue among Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, FAAN, chair of the Workforce Commission; Marilyn P. Chow, DNSc, RN, FAAN, Vice President, Patient Care Services, Kaiser Permanente; a senior representative from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and myself will shed light not only on inefficiencies that keep front-line nurses away from patients but technological and work-process solutions that return these same nurses to the patients’ bedsides.

The “Impact of Health Care Issues on the 2008 Presidential Election”
Bill McInturff, Co-Founder of Public Opinion Strategies, will be telling 34th Annual Meeting and Conference attendees that candidates must address health care issues and why those very issues could well shape election outcomes. It’s a good bet that his talk will remind us that our Raise the Voice Campaign! is crucial and timely.

Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN
President

Key 2007 Dates:

• 2007 Leadership Election Results:
• Many thanks to all of you who took the time to vote. Election results will be shared at the November 10 Annual Business Meeting in Washington DC.
• Annual Meeting and Conference:
  • “Breaking Barriers: Changing Policy and Practice with Evidence”
  • November 8-10, 2007 - JW Marriott Hotel, Washington DC
  • Sponsorship opportunities and Exhibit space are still available!
  • Register before October 22 for discounted rates! 
• Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science Special Topics Conference:
  • “Practice-Based Evidence: Another Side of the Knowledge Development Coin”
  • October 24, 2007 - Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington DC
  • Register Now!

2007 Awards and Honors:
LIVING LEGENDS: The Living Legend designation recognizes extraordinary Fellows who serve as reminders of the proud history of the nursing profession and as extraordinary role models. These Fellows have been selected as Living Legend honorees because they have been Fellows in the Academy for 15 or more years and have demonstrated extraordinary and sustained contributions to nursing and health care throughout their careers. Although these Fellows have transitioned from a formal work role, they continue to have a profound influence on the profession. They will be honored at a reception on Thursday, November 8, at the AAN Annual Meeting and Conference in Washington, DC. The 2007 LIVING LEGENDS are:

• Marie Cowan, PhD, FAAN
• Phyllis G. Ethridge, MSN, RN, FAAN
• Carrie B. Lenburg, EdD, FAAN
• Margaret L. McClure, EdD, RN, FAAN
• Callista Roy, PhD, RN, FAAN
• Gloria R. Smith, PhD, RN, FAAN

HONORARY FELLOWS: Honorary Fellowship into the Academy is awarded to individuals, not eligible for regular Fellowship, who are making outstanding contributions to healthcare and/or nursing. The 2007 HONORARY FELLOWS are:

• Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
• Dr. Donna Shalala of the University of Miami
• Dr. Dennis O’Leary of the Joint Commission
• Dr. Jack Needleman of the University of California – Los Angeles

CIVITAS AWARD: The Academy is presenting this prestigious award to an organization which has made outstanding efforts to improving the health of the American public and has provided strong support for nursing. The 2007 CIVITAS award will be given to:

• The WK Kellogg Foundation

PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS: This special award is being given to two Academy Fellows in recognition for their creation of the successful and innovative Raise the Voice Campaign. These awards go to:
Joanne M. Disch, PhD, RN, FAAN
Karlene Kerfoot, PhD, RN, CNAA, FAAN

AAN/ANF IOM DISTINGUISHED NURSE SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE: This program provides a full-time year-long leadership opportunity in health policy at the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) and the American Nurses Foundation (ANF) in partnership with the IOM support this program. It is designed as an immersion experience to facilitate nurse leaders playing a more prominent role in health policy development at the national level. The 2006-2007 Scholar is:

• Carolyn Williams, PhD, RN, FAAN

AAN Nurse leader in aging award: The American Academy of Nursing (AAN), in partnership with the John A. Hartford Foundation are pleased to announce the first recipient of this new award which was created to recognize leadership and significant achievements, contributions, productivity, competence and mentorship in the field of aging. The 2007 and first awardee is:

• Dr. Jeanie Kayser-Jones, PHD, RN, FAAN

The awards mentioned above will be formally presented at our Annual Awards Banquet and New Fellow Induction Ceremony November 10, 2007, in conjunction with our Annual Conference, in Washington DC.

Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science News:
The Council will begin collecting abstracts for its 2008 State of the Science Congress in September 2007. Please continue to check the Council Web site at www.nursingscience.org for the official call for abstracts.

New AAN Expert Panel on Magnet Advancements:
We have created a new Expert Panel on Magnet Advancements. Following is a message from Pat Reid-Ponte and Pat Yoder-Wise, the Chairs of this new Panel:

Dear Colleague:

We are thrilled to inform you that the American Academy of Nursing Board of Directors has approved a new Expert Panel, The Expert Panel on Magnet Advancements. This Expert Panel is open to anyone with interest in the Magnet Recognition Program and how the Academy can advance research, policy and leadership initiatives to leverage the effect the program has on the profession at large. The inaugural meeting of the Expert Panel will be Saturday, November 10, 2007, at 1:30 PM Eastern time.

This panel has special meaning for the Academy, where the original research related to Magnet germinated.  The idea of an expert panel grew out of the Strategic Planning session for ANCC this past spring. The potential for this expert panel is great; so we hope if you are interested you will attend.

Please respond to PSYWRN@AOL.COM to indicate two things: interest in being included in the Expert Panel and intent to attend the meeting.

We look forward to doing great things together.

Sincerely,

Pat Reid Ponte, RN, PhD, FAAN
Member, Commission on Magnet Recognition Program
American Nurses Credentialing Center
Co-Chair

Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, RN, EdD, CNAA-BC, FAAN
Past President, American Nurses Credentialing Center
Co-Chair

Congratulate a New Fellow -- A Great Way to Support the AAN Annual Fund!
Making a contribution to the Annual fund in a new Fellow’s name or giving the new Fellow Academy merchandise are wonderful ways of expressing your congratulations. Visit the Academy's Annual Fund page to make a contribution or go to our Merchandise page to honor a new Fellow or Awardee with a contribution or Academy merchandise item purchase today!

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Greetings From the AAN Washington Policy Office

Pat Ford-Roegner, CEO

The Washington Policy office continues to work closely with AAN President Linda Burnes Bolton, the AAN Board of Directors, Expert Panels, the Policy Working Groups, the Workforce Commission, the Hartford Geriatric Initiative and the Health Disparities Task Force and Advisory Committee to operationalize the AAN Strategic plan.

I urge you to check the AAN Web site for news releases and updates. Over the next few weeks you will see the Web site get a new look and updated information on a number of the Academy’s initiatives.

In May, I went to New York to represent the Academy as part of a small working group that met with the Clinical Director of the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation to discuss the global need for nurses and other health care clinical staff as well as the faculty shortage. We also discussed a future partnership and the AAN’s 2008 annual meeting, Health A Bridge for Global Peace. While in New York, I also had very productive meetings with the John A. Hartford Foundation leadership and the Barbara and Donald Jonas Foundation’s Center for Nursing Excellence.

In June the Academy was invited to a major Capitol Hill event sponsored by AdvaMed, whose members form the world’s largest producer of medical devices, diagnostic products and health information systems. AdvaMed’s public education campaign, Progress You Can See, aims to improve the overall understanding of the value of medical technology. The focus of the evening was to thank and celebrate researchers, scientists, innovators, the public health community, and the physician and nursing communities. More than 450 guests turned out to hear actress Jane Seymour and television host Regis Philbin, who thanked the attendees for their work and assistance to improve care they received in their own lives.

In July the Academy was invited to join the Advisory Board of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), led by former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS, Ken Thorpe, PhD, a former White House advisor and Mark McClellan, MD, the former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. This national bipartisan coalition is committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability and rising health care costs in the U.S.: chronic disease. The Academy believes nursing is uniquely suited to offer solutions to the issue of chronic disease management. Our engagement in this coalition and the development of its platform provides us with an opportunity to make our case and highlight the Raise the Voice Edge Runners. The coalition includes the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Hospital Association, NAACP, American Academy of Family Physicians, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and many others.

This past July the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded a grant to the George Washington University (GWU), Department of Nursing Education, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, to strategically engage nurses in performance measurement, public reporting, and value-based purchasing. Ellen T. Kurtzman, RN, MPH, Assistant Research Professor at GWU will direct this two year project, Nursing Engagement in Performance Measurement and Public Reporting. Through her work and a unique alliance with the Academy, Ellen will regularly inform nursing leaders on pay-for-performance developments, advocate for policies that support high quality nursing care, extend public accountability to nurses, and reward nursing’s essential contribution to quality. This project will enhance the work of the AAN National Quality Forum working group and the Expert Panel on Quality already underway. Ellen will work closely with the Washington office.

In August the Academy was pleased to announce the inaugural 2007-2008 AARP-AAN Fellowship. This unique position will be housed at the AARP “think tank,” the newly created Public Policy Institute (PPI) led by Susan C. Reinhard, RN, PhD, FAAN. The AARP/AAN Fellow will have significant opportunities to impact policy development and in creating a natural link between the two organizations to achieve common goals. The Policy office is currently recruiting for this position, the deadline is September 30, 2007.

We welcome Carolyn Williams, RN, PhD, FAAN to Washington as the new AAN/ANF 2007-2008 IOM Scholar. Dr. Williams will spend her year delving into models and issues regarding interprofessional education and practice. This office works closely with the IOM Scholar to consolidate efforts in making nursing more visible with policymakers.

On September 10 and 11, 2007, I represented the Academy at the National Health Council (NHC) Board meeting and annual retreat. The Academy is the only nursing organization represented on the 20 member Board of Directors. The NHC promotes the health of all people, and supports and advocates on behalf of the voluntary health movement. The NHC voluntary organization members include: the Arthritis Foundation, Easter Seals, Alzheimer’s Association, the American Society, the Mental Health Association and many others. One of the 2005-2007 strategic thrusts of NHC is to advance patient-focused care through a more targeted advocacy program. The AAN Board Secretary, Diana Mason, RN, PhD, FAAN, has been an advisor to the NHC’s Putting Patients First, a public education campaign.

The Policy office has been closely monitoring the progress of the reauthorization of the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is set to expire on September 30, 2007. The reauthorization of this popular program has been the main health care initiative moving through Congress this year. On August 1, the House of Representatives passed the Children’s Health and Medicare Program Act, which provides $47 billion in new federal funding to expand and improve SCHIP. On August 3, the Senate passed the CHIP Reauthorization Act, which provides $35 billion in new funding for SCHIP. The Senate and House are now trying to work out the differences in the two bills. While President Bush has expressed support for SCHIP, he favors a scaled-back approach, and has promised to veto both the House and Senate bill as currently written.

Over the past several months, the Raise the Voice campaign has had some exciting successes. The Policy office prepared a new Raise the Voice packet, which highlights 13 Edge Runners. The packets, which were distributed to policymakers, health care leaders, and members of the media, have been very well received. We are currently working on our second set of Edge Runners, and will continue to showcase these and other Edge Runners throughout the campaign.

We continue to have success getting opinion editorial placed in local newspapers. On July 10th, The Courier-Journal in Louisville, KY ran an op-ed by AAN President Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN and AAN Edge Runner Kay Roberts, EdD, MSN, ARNP, FAAN, which focused on how nursing is the cornerstone of health care. We have several other opinion editorials and Letters to the Editor that we will soon submit to papers across the country.

Please Note: On November 9th during the Academy’s Annual Meeting the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) will kick-off its new project entitled Pipeline to Placement in partnership with the AAN. This 7 am to 8 am breakfast event will be part of the National Leader Program educational sessions during the meeting. Susan Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, Senior Program Officer with RWJF and Joanne Disch PhD, RN, FAAN Professor and Director of the University of Minnesota, School of Nursing will lead the presentation and discussion. The ultimate goal of the project is to help national health care organizations boards understand the value of placing nurse leaders on their boards to help set the quality agenda. The project is designed to become self-sustaining so that ever increasing number of organizations will seek to entice nurse leaders to join their boards. Susan and Joanne will discuss the first phase of this program.

Pat Ford-Roegner, CEO, pfordroegner@aannet.org

National Nursing Home Collaborative to Address Quality of Care for Frail Older Adults

Washington, DC, September 4, 2007 – The Atlantic Philanthropies has funded the American Academy of Nursing to develop the Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence Nursing Home Collaborative. The Collaborative aims to improve the quality of care provided in nursing homes to very frail older adults with complex and unstable health care needs.

“The Academy greatly appreciates the support from The Atlantic Philanthropies for this important project,” said Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN, president of the American Academy of Nursing. “The Collaborative brings together leaders in geriatric nursing that can work together to find a research-based professional nursing practice model that can be widely implemented and translated to a national standard. In addition, this initiative will offer assurance that our frail elderly population receives the best possible care.”

The five Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence (Oregon Health & Science University, University Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, University of Iowa, and University of Pennsylvania) together create an impressive force. The Collaborative will build on existing relationships and establish strong national and state partnerships with nurses in nursing home settings, industry leaders and operators, regulators, consumers, advocates, policy makers, and centers that are sources of important expertise, to increase the likelihood of success.

The importance of professional nursing to residents’ quality of life can be seen in the following case example: Mr. S. was an 84 year old resident with dementia and osteoarthritis. When he was in bed or sitting, he never complained of pain and therefore was not given his pain medication. But when getting dressed or bathing, he would frequently become very agitated and scream. Rather than requesting psychotropic medications, which have many negative side effects, the nurse assessed that his osteoarthritis was causing pain during movement. As a result, she made sure that he received his pain medication prior to his dressing and bathing. His agitation and screaming ceased, resulting in better quality of life for him and improved the interaction between him and the nursing assistant caring for him.

Cornelia Beck, PhD, RN, FAAN, a leading expert in nursing home care in the United States, and who serves as the National Coordinator for the effort, notes, “The need for nursing homes will always exist. The Nursing Home Collaborative will result in improved care for very frail older adults and enrich the professional working environment of the nursing home.”

About the Atlantic Philanthropies

The Atlantic Philanthropies are dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Atlantic focuses on four critical social problems: Ageing, Disadvantaged Children & Youth, Population Health, and Reconciliation & Human Rights. Programs funded by Atlantic operate in Australia, Bermuda, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United States and Viet Nam. To learn more, please visit www.atlanticphilanthropies.org.

Dear Fellows,
As chair of the Academy’s Annual Fund Committee, I want you to know that the Academy depends on you for Annual Fund support. By making a gift to the Annual Fund you help the Academy accomplish great things. Your contribution supports such important initiatives as:

• The AAN/ANF Institute of Medicine scholar. These nurse leaders immerse themselves in the Institute and contribute innovative ideas, expert knowledge and a wealth of experience. They also act as a resource, identifying nurses and other health experts to participate in IOM activities.  The 2006-2007 scholar, Ada S. Hinshaw, PhD, RN, FAAN, is studied the ways that nursing research shapes health policy. According to Dr. Hinshaw the program, “is an outstanding gift to the scholar and the profession. It opens opportunities for advanced experiences in health policy within our nation’s capital.”
• The National Quality Forum (NQF). The NQF is the leading organization developing and implementing a national strategy for health care quality measurement and reporting. Since 2004, the Academy has played an important role by providing the unique nursing perspective to quality measures and reporting to improve health care. The Academy allies with seven other nursing organizations to recommend nurse experts to a variety of different technical advisory panels and steering committees. NQF representation also gives the Academy and its Expert Panels a venue for making critical comments that help improve healthcare outcomes. For example:
  • The Palliative & End of Life Care Expert Panel reviewed and commented on the NQF's ‘A National Framework for Palliative and Hospice Care Quality Measurement and Reporting"’
  • The Workforce Commission Committee on the Preparation of the Nursing Workforce reviewed and commented on NQF’s ‘Nurses Education Preparation and Patient Outcomes in Acute Care: A Case for Quality’

Our fundraising goal for 2007 is $100,000. As of July 2007, we hit the half-way mark and I am most grateful to the many Fellows who made that happen. We need YOUR help, however, to meet - or better yet – exceed the goal, so please, visit the Annual Fund pages of the Academy’s website where you can learn more about the Academy’s programs and make an online Annual Fund contribution. Or, simply send a check made out to the American Academy of Nursing to 555 E. Wells Street, Suite 1100, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53202, attention “Amy Stone.”

 Warm regards,

 
Linda Groah, MS, RN, FAAN
Chair, AAN Annual Fund Committee

Submitted by Margaret Comerford Freda, EdD, RN, CHES, FAAN

If you have news you wish to share in the next Fellows On the Move, please email it to Margaret Comerford Freda at margaretfreda@yahoo.com.

Gloria J. McNeal, PhD, RN, FAAN,  associate professor and associate dean for community and clinical affairs at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, has received the top 2007 nursing honor awarded by the State of New Jersey, the Governors Nursing Merit Award in the Nurse Educator category, and has been selected to join the 2007 Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program, the prestigious national fellowship program for nurses who aspire to lead and shape the Unites States healthcare system.

Following an extensive nationwide search, Janis P. Bellack, PhD, RN, FAAN, has been named the next President of the MGH Institute of Health Professions, an independent graduate school and academic affiliate of the Massachusetts General Hospital.Dr. Bellack, previously Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost and Professor of Nursing and Health Sciences at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, is a widely published and nationally recognized health professions leader with extensive experience as a federally-funded investigator. Since 1997, she has been a senior consultant and core faculty team member for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Executive Nurse Fellows Program based at the University of California, San Francisco, Center for the Health.

Loretta C. Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, FAAN, Dean and Professor Emerita, University of Rochester School of Nursing, recently received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, IN.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing Professor Myrna Armstrong, RN, EdD, FAAN, won the Excellence in Writing Award from the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses on June 25, 2007. Dr. Armstrong was the lead author of “Pregnancy, Lactation and Nipple Piercings,” which appeared in the June/July 2006 issue of the AWHONN journal, Nursing for Women’s Health. The article was intended to help health care providers better care for pregnant women with body piercings. Dr. Armstrong was chosen for the Excellence in Writing Award because she brought attention to an increasing trend among pregnant women and gave nurses evidence-based information.

The University of Virginia School of Nursing has announced the following news about their faculty who are AAN fellows: Jeanette Lancaster, PhD, RN, FAAN, Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor and Dean, was appointed to serve on the Healthcare Workforce Taskforce of the Governor’s Healthcare Reform Committee, and also received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the commencement ceremonies for SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s College of Nursing and College of Health-Related Professions. Dr. Lancaster also received American Journal of Nursing 2006 Book of the Year Award for Foundations of Nursing in the Community: Community-Oriented Practice, 2nd Edition in the Community and Public Health category. Suzanne Burns, MSN, RN, RRT, ACNP, CCRN, FAAN, FCCM, FAAN, Professor of Nursing, received the Distinguished Nurse Award from Beta Kappa Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, and also received the American Journal of Nursing 2006 Book of the Year Award for the Critical Care-Emergency Nursing book, AACN Protocols for Practice: Care of Mechanically Ventilated Patients. Mikel Gray, PhD, CUNP, CCCN, FAAN, Professor of Nursing, was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Ann B. Hamric, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor of Nursing received a Faculty Leadership Award from Nursing Alumni Association.  Catherine Kane, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor of Nursing, advanced from Fellow to Magnet Appraiser among Magnet Recognition Program Appraisers. Courtney Lyder, ND, GNP, FAAN, Professor of Nursing, received the Thomas Stewart Founders Award from the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Board, and was also selected as a 2007 University Scholar by the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. Barbara J. Parker, PhD, RN, FAAN, Theresa A. Thomas Professor of Nursing, received the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Nursing Alumni Association. Richard Steeves, PhD, RN, FNP, FAAN, Madeline Higginbotham Sly Professor of Nursing, received the Distinguished Researcher Award from Southern Nursing Research Society at their 21st Annual Conference in Galveston, Texas.

Lazelle Benefield, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and Parry Chair in Gerontological Nursing at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, has received a grant from the Alzheimer’s Association to help learn how families can better care for their loved ones from a distance. This project will look at the most difficult aspects of caring for parents from a distance, including coordination of services and ways to make care giving easier and more efficient.   She has also been chosen as one of 100 researchers across the nation to participate in the invitational think-tank conference, titled, “The Future of Human Healthspan,” sponsored by the the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative, in order to discover interdisciplinary connections between important areas of cutting-edge research. 

Virginia Trotter Betts, JD, MSN, RN, FAAN, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities (TDMHDD), was recently elected Vice President of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD). She has represented the Southern region on the NASMHPD Board of Directors since 2005. The NASMHPD organizes to reflect and advocate for the collective interests of state mental health authorities at the national level, conducting environmental scans in the delivery and financing of mental health services, and building and disseminating knowledge and experience reflecting the integration of public mental health programming in evolving healthcare environments. 

Mary E. (Beth) Mancini, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Nursing Programs at The University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing, has been appointed co-chair of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation's (ILCOR) Education and Implementation Task Force. Dr. Mancini will be serving with Co-Chair Jasmeet Soar, MD from the United Kingdom. ILCOR was formed in 1992 so that principal resuscitation organizations could work together to coordinate all aspects of cardiopulmonary and cerebral resuscitation worldwide and foster scientific research in this area.

Kathy Malloch, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, President of KMA Associates and a board member of the Arizona Board of Nursing, was recently elected to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing for a two year term.

Marva Mizell Price, DrPH, APRN-BC, FAANP, FAAN,  Assistant Professor and Director of the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Duke University School of Nursing, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.  Price is among the six AANP active members in North Carolina.  The FAANP program was established in 2000 to recognize nurse practitioner leaders who have made outstanding contributions to health care through nurse practitioner clinical practice, research education or policy.  A limited number of nurse practitioners are selected for this highly coveted distinction every year.

Polly Johnson, MSN, RN, FAAN, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Nursing, was honored with the most prestigious NCSBN honor, the R. Louise McManus Award. Individuals receiving this award have made sustained and lasting significant contributions through their deep commitment and dedication to the purpose and mission of NCSBN.

Dr. Myrtle Irene Brown, RN, PhD, FAAN, 92, died Thursday
August 2nd, 2007. Irene, as she was known to most, was born February 1, 1915 in East Peoria, Illinois to the late Clifford and Sarah Pauline Scoville Brown. Her sisters Hazel Howell, Eva Eichelberger and Helen Sutton predeceased her. She graduated as valedictorian from Central High School and Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, both in Peoria. She earned a B.A. degree in Nursing Education and a M.S. degree in Public and Child Health from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, both magna cum laude. In 1959, she received her PhD in Educational Sociology and Anthropology from New York University. She was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Eureka College in 1978. (Read More…)

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of former AAN President, Rhetaugh Graves Dumas, RN, PhD, FAAN, on Sunday, July 22. She was 78 years old.  While we mourn the loss of this wonderful woman and Fellow, the impact of her contributions to the Fellowship, nursing, and humanity won’t soon be forgotten.

Rhetaugh Etheldra Graves Dumas, a native of Natchez, Mississippi, was born on the eve of America’s Great Depression. In the arc of a long professional life, Dr. Dumas surmounted numerous challenges and left an indelible mark in the health care system of the United States. (Read More…)

All Fellows are invited to regularly submit a brief article for the AAN pages in Nursing Outlook about your work or the work of other AAN Fellows. It is imperative that we keep others informed of what AAN Fellows are doing at the local, state, national and international levels. When possible, please include how this work relates to health policy. It is also important to inform others of how they can help your efforts or how to become involved.

To facilitate the article, the Communication and Publicity Committee has developed templates on Leadership, Research, Health Policy and Expert Panel work. Articles only need to be 500-1000 words in length. Please feel free to complete any of these templates, add any other pertinent information and submit to one of the committee members below.

Nov/Dec Issue

September 20, 2007

Communication and Publicity Committee
(Article Submission Subcommittee)
Donna Zazworsky, Chair donnazaz@aol.com
Marilyn Rantz RantzM@health.missouri.com
Franklin Shaffer fshaffer@crosscountry.com
Elizabeth Porter poster@uta.edu
Michael Kremer michael.kremer@rosalindfranklin.edu
Marion Good mpg@cwru.edu
Margaret Comerford Freda margaretfreda@yahoo.com
Gail Melkus, Expert Panel CAPC Liaison Gail.Melkus@yale.edu

4th Quarter (December Issue)

Submission Deadline December 10

All advertisements will appear in one quarterly issue.

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Spotlight on the Academy is published quarterly.