American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Announces New National Leadership, Board Members

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) announces new leadership and members of its board of directors for fiscal year 2013, effective July 1, 2012.

Kathryn E. Roberts, RN, CNS, MSN, CCRN, CCNS, begins a term as president of the AACN board of directors. Roberts -- a clinical nurse specialist in the pediatric ICU at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia since 1998 -- began her career at the hospital as a nurse extern in 1990, before working as a staff nurse in the cardiac step-down, cardiac intensive care and pediatric intensive care units.

Vicki Good, RN, MSN, CENP, begins a one-year term as president-elect. Good served on the AACN board from 2008 to 2011, acting as treasurer in 2009-2010. As administrative director of patient safety for CoxHealth in Springfield, Mo., she conceptualizes and develops various safety programs, including the patient safety, medication safety and infection prevention offices.

Current board member Melissa Hutchinson, RN, MN, CCNS, CCRN, CWCN, begins a one-year term as secretary. A clinical nurse specialist in the medical intensive care unit at VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Hutchinson also serves as an adjunct clinical faculty member at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Mary Bylone, RN, MSM, CNML, also a current board member, begins a one-year term as treasurer. Vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer at The William W. Backus Hospital, Norwich, Conn., Bylone is co-author of AACN's Essentials of Nurse Manager Orientation, an e-learning program developed with the American Organization of Nurse Executives.

Joining the board as directors are Linda M. Bay, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, PCCN; Riza V. Mauricio, RN, MS, CCRN, CPNP; Kathleen K. Peavy, RN, MS, CCRN, CNS-BC and Mary Zellinger, RN, MN, ANP, CCRN-CSC, CCNS. They each serve a three-year term through June 30, 2015.

Bay works as a clinical nurse specialist at Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee. She has a longstanding relationship with AACN and has been actively involved in the Greater Milwaukee Area Chapter, for which she served as president in 2008-2009.

A past president of AACN's Houston Gulf Coast Chapter, Mauricio has served on a variety of review panels and planning committees and helped develop the CCRN pediatric exam in 2003-2004. She is a pediatric ICU nurse practitioner at The Children's Hospital of the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Peavy is a critical care clinical nurse specialist at Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, Ga. She has been associated with the hospital since 1999, being selected as its nurse of the year in 2001. Peavy has been active with AACN chapters, both as past president of the Atlanta Area Chapter and on the Chapter Advisory Team in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, leading the group in 2005-2007.

A clinical nurse specialist in cardiovascular critical care with Emory University Hospital in Atlanta since 1985, Zellinger also serves as adjunct faculty at the university's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She has published dozens of articles on a variety of topics, including cardiac surgery, wound care, hemodynamics and organ transplantation and is a frequent presenter at conferences.

Returning to the board are the following directors:

• Sheryl Leary, RN, PhD(c), CCRN, CCNS, PCCN, clinical nurse specialist, VA San Diego Healthcare System
• Karen McQuillan, RN, MS, CNS-BC, CCRN, CNRN, FAAN, clinical nurse specialist, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore
• Pamela Popplewell, RN, MSN, CCRN, ANP-BC, director of nursing, surgery, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle
• Maureen Seckel, RN, MSN, APN, ACNS-BC, CCNS, CCRN, clinical nurse specialist, Medical Pulmonary Critical Care, Christiana Care Health System, Newark, Del.
• Clareen Wiencek, RN, PhD, ACHPN, ACNP, nurse manager, Thomas Palliative Care Unit, Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, Va.

AACN members elect the board through a process initiated by AACN's Nominating Committee. Newly elected officers and directors begin their terms July 1 and conclude them June 30.

About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: Founded in 1969 and based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. AACN joins together the interests of more than 500,000 acute and critical care nurses and claims more than 235 chapters worldwide. The organization's vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. To learn more about AACN, visit www.aacn.org, connect with the organization on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aacnface or follow AACN on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aacnme.

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SOURCE American Association of Critical-Care Nurses