Karen McQuillan, University of Maryland Medical System, becomes board president of world’s largest specialty nursing association
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — July 7, 2015 — The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the world’s largest specialty nursing association, announces new leadership and members of its board of directors for fiscal year 2016, effective July 1, 2015.
Karen McQuillan, RN, MS, CNS-BC, CCRN, CNRN, FAAN, is the new president of the AACN board of directors. She is a clinical nurse specialist, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland Medical System, Baltimore, a position she’s held since 1987. She also holds a faculty associate position with University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore.
An investigator, author and presenter on issues related to trauma and nursing, she has lectured on neurological and trauma topics at numerous regional, national and international conferences. Well published on neurological and trauma topics, McQuillan served as lead editor for “Trauma Nursing: From Resuscitation Through Rehabilitation,” 3rd and 4th editions.
Clareen Wiencek, RN, PhD, ACNP, ACHPN, begins a one-year term as president-elect. As associate professor of nursing at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Nursing and coordinator of the ACNP program, Wiencek has almost 40 years of experience as a bedside nurse in critical care, nurse manager, educator and researcher. She worked at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond for four years before joining the faculty at UVA.
She held various research, staff nurse and management positions at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland for 20 years before moving to Virginia.
Current board member Deborah Klein, RN, MSN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, CHFN, FAHA, begins a one-year term as secretary. Klein is a clinical nurse specialist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where she has worked since 2000. She also is an adjunct faculty member at Kent State University School of Nursing in Ohio and a clinical instructor at Case Western Reserve University, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing in Cleveland.
Paula S. McCauley, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, CNE, also a current board member, begins a one-year term as treasurer. McCauley is associate dean for academic affairs at University of Connecticut School of Nursing in Storrs. Her academic appointments have included a joint clinical/faculty position for the accelerated registered nurse and graduate programs and track coordinator for the ACNP program.
Joining the board as directors are Kimberly Curtin, MS, APRN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, CEN, CNL; Wendi Froedge, RN-BC, MSN, CCRN; Michelle Kidd, RN, MS, ACNS-BC, CCRN-K, and Louise Saladino, RN, DNP, MHA, CCRN. They each serve a three-year term through June 30, 2018.
Curtin is associate director of the Clinical Nurse Leader Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. Other roles at MD Anderson have included Magnet program director and National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators site coordinator.
Froedge is an RN IV, Critical Care Services at Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, Houston. She also chaired the hospital’s Permanent Fall Reduction Committee from 2010-2014 and has chaired its Magnet Champions since 2013.
Kidd is a clinical nurse specialist for critical care at Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital, Muncie, Indiana. She also serves on multiple hospital-wide and Indiana University Health system-wide teams.
Saladino is the clinical operations director, cardiology, at Duke University Health System, Durham, North Carolina. Her primary focus is on safety — through formation of unit-based safety teams, family initiated rapid response teams and early nurse intervention teams — as well as alarm management.
Also returning to the AACN board are Dana Woods, AACN chief executive officer, and the following directors:
- Megan E. Brunson, RN, MSN, CNL, CCRN-CSC, night shift supervisor in the cardiovascular ICU at Medical City Dallas Hospital
- Nancy Freeland, RN, MS, CCRN, senior nurse educator for critical care at University of Rochester Medical Center, Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York
- Karen L. Johnson, RN, PhD, director of nursing research, Banner Healthcare System, Phoenix
- Lisa Riggs, MSN, APRN-BC, CCRN-K, cardiovascular clinical nurse specialist at Shawnee Mission Medical Center, Overland Park, Kansas
- Christine S. Schulman, RN, MS, CNS, CCRN, critical care clinical nurse specialist at Legacy Health System in Portland, Oregon
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: Founded in 1969 and based in Aliso Viejo, California, 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 includes more than 225 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.
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
101 Columbia
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656-4109
Phone: (949) 362-2000
Fax: (949) 362-2020
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