The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) will present Patricia Mullen Reilly, CRNA, BSN, with its AACN Pioneering Spirit Award.
The AACN Pioneering Spirit Award, one of AACN’s Visionary Leadership awards, recognizes significant contributions to fulfill acute and critical care nurses’ promise to patients and their families at the most vulnerable times of their lives. The presentation will occur during the 2022 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition in Houston, May 16-18.
Throughout her professional career, Reilly has simultaneously practiced as a nurse anesthetist while holding management roles in the healthcare technology industry — currently as manager of corporate partnerships at Medtronic. Her work has established partnerships between that industry and major healthcare professional societies to support education, research, and patient care and safety.
A certified registered nurse anesthetist since 1977, she practices at Chester County Hospital, Penn Medicine in West Chester, Pennsylvania, administering anesthesia for patients undergoing a wide range of surgical and nonsurgical procedures at the hospital and its outpatient surgical center.
“Patty’s sustained contributions throughout her career confirm how nurses can bring their own expertise and the voice of the patient to the development of complex clinical technology,” said AACN President Beth Wathen. “She has influenced the development and implementation of monitoring devices that support clinicians’ daily work, keeping patients safe while improving clinical and financial outcomes.”
Reilly’s activities to advance patient and clinician safety over more than 30 years have included service to the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation on its board of directors, its corporate advisory board and numerous committees.
She has collaborated with the Lucian Leape Institute and the Patient Safety Coalition of the National Patient Safety Foundation, part of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
A career-long AACN member committed to local and national interprofessional education for clinical nurses, Reilly earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Pennsylvania State University, State College, and has obtained a Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) credential from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
She completed her anesthesia education and training at the University of Pittsburgh, where she practiced as a nurse anesthetist and clinical coordinator for the nurse anesthesia program.
About the AACN Pioneering Spirit Award: The annual AACN Pioneering Spirit Award recognizes significant contributions that influence progressive and critical care nursing regionally and nationally, and relate to AACN’s mission, vision and values. Recipients of this Visionary Leadership Award come from business, academia and healthcare. Other Visionary Leadership awards, AACN’s highest honor, include the Lifetime Membership Award and the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career.
About the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition: Established in 1974, AACN’s National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI) represents the world’s largest educational conference and trade show for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients and their families. Bedside nurses, nurse educators, nurse managers, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners attend NTI.
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. 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. AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, with more than 130,000 members and over 200 chapters in the United States.
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 27071 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; twitter.com/aacnme
