American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Announces Board of Directors for Fiscal Year 2022

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, announces its board of directors for fiscal year 2022, with terms effective July 1, 2021.

Beth Wathen, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, is the new president of the AACN board of directors. A pediatric nurse for 35 years, she is currently a clinical practice specialist in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora, where she has practiced since 2005. She oversees the PICU’s Quality Program and serves as organizational lead for the Code/RRT Program, Sepsis Task Force, and nursing lead for the Clinical and Operational Effectiveness Committee.

“Today, nurses are at a threshold, at the cusp of a new and different world, one we can’t yet completely imagine. I am honored to serve as AACN’s president as we move toward a future we can create together,” Wathen said. “Nurses are rooted in strength, forged in fire and growing in power. As we begin to transition out of this pandemic, we need to take time to pause, reflect, heal and find meaning on the path forward as leaders in healthcare.”

Amanda Bettencourt, PhD, APRN, CCRN-K, ACCNS-P, begins a one-year term as president-elect. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Health at University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Current board member Paula Levett, MS, RN, CCRN-K, begins a one-year term as secretary. She is a nursing practice leader in the PICU at University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.

Rose Hata, DNP, MBA, RN, APRN, CCRN-K, CCNS, NEA-BC, also a current board member, begins a one-year term as treasurer. With over 19 years of nursing experience, she is currently director of Queen Emma Nursing Institute at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.

Joining the board as directors are Joseph Falise, MSN, RN, CCRN-CSC; Veronica Gurule, MSN, BSN, RN, CCRN; Janet Mulroy, DNP, MSN, ACNP, CCNS, CCRN; and Tonka Williams, MHA, BSN, RN, CMSRN. They each serve a three-year term.

Falise is nurse manager in the Cardiovascular ICU and the Neuroscience ICU at University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, Miami. He previously served as director of the hospital’s professional development department.

An experienced pediatric intensive care/cardiac intensive care nurse and adult cardiac intensive care leader, Gurule is manager of the Cardiovascular ICU at Medical City in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mulroy is an acute care nurse practitioner at Threlkeld, Threlkeld & Omer Infectious Disease Associates, in Memphis, Tennessee. During her 40 years as a nurse, she has been a staff nurse, staff development educator and academic faculty.

Williams is nursing director of Medicine and Nursing Nutrition Support at VCU Health, Richmond, Virginia, where she oversees the acute/progressive care nursing medicine units, an ambulatory incarcerated medicine clinic and the nursing nutrition support team.

Returning to the AACN board with Dana Woods, MBA, AACN chief executive officer, are the following directors:

• Jennifer Adamski, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, CCRN, FCCM, clinical assistant professor and director of the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) Program at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Atlanta, and a critical care ACNP for Cleveland Clinic’s Critical Care Flight Team. She also serves a second concurrent one-year term on the AACN Certification Corporation board.
• John Gallagher, DNP, RN, CCNS, CCRN-K, TCRN, RRT, professor in the school of nursing at the University of Pittsburgh and an adviser/clinical nurse specialist for the Trauma Program at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia
• Alvin Jeffery, PhD, RN-BC, CCRN-K, FNP-BC; assistant professor of nursing and biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
• Rebekah Marsh, BSN, RN, CCRN, clinical nurse educator, acute care/telemetry, at Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medicine, Seattle
• Katie Schatz, MSN, ARNP, NP-C, ACHPN, sepsis program coordinator at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Holy Family Hospital, both in Spokane, Washington. She is also a palliative care nurse practitioner and serves a concurrent one-year term on the AACN Certification Corporation board.

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