AACN Board
July 2024-June 2027
Dannette Mitchell, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, FCNS, serves a three-year term as a director on the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) board of directors from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027.
Mitchell is a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) in medical critical care, with a focus on harm reduction, at ChristianaCare in Wilmington, Delaware. Through new ways of working, surveillance and evidence-based care, Mitchell and her team have successfully reduced the incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections in their units. She created a mentorship cohort for clinical nurses in the hospital, and also mentors CNSs and CNS students, which helps her stay passionate in her career. In addition, she helped develop the code blue documentation application CritiTrac, for which she and others hold a patent.
A Circle of Excellence recipient, Mitchell has chaired the NTI Program Planning Committee and served on the AACN - AACN Certification Corporation Nominating Committee. She reviewed the ECCO module and contributed to “AACN Procedure Manual for Progressive and Critical Care,” 8th ed. She is a member and past president of AACN’s Diamond State Chapter
Mitchell is a member of the Delaware Valley affiliate of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists. As a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, she serves on the Neuromuscular Blocking Agent Guideline Panel, which is updating guidelines for publication in 2025.
She earned a Master of Science in Nursing at University of Delaware in Newark and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
In 2016, Mitchell started participating in a women’s walking group for exercise and accountability. She has since started racing and competing. By walking her first half-marathon, she says, “I completely surprised myself. It helped to build my confidence for other areas of life.”