Christine Schulman, of Legacy Health in Oregon, becomes board president of world's largest specialty nursing organization
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – July 6, 2017 – The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, announces its board of directors for fiscal year 2018, with terms effective July 1, 2017.
Christine Schulman, MS, RN, CNS, CCRN-K, is the new president of the AACN board of directors. She is a critical care and trauma clinical nurse specialist at Legacy Health in Portland, Oregon. Schulman worked for several years as the trauma and surgery clinical nurse specialist at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. She obtained most of her bedside clinical experience as a staff nurse in the surgical ICU at Oregon Health & Science University and previously held critical care and emergency nursing positions in Wyoming and Colorado.
“Nurses should maintain our promise to provide the best care possible, despite all obstacles in our way,” Schulman said. “By reconnecting with our Why, we reaffirm our core purpose and have a guiding beacon for what we can — what we must — do to ensure that every patient gets the excellent care they deserve. And that every nurse has the tools and the skills they need to provide that care.”
Lisa Riggs, MSN, RN, APRN-BC, CCRN-K, begins a one-year term as president-elect. She is system director for regulatory readiness at Saint Luke’s Health System, Kansas City, Missouri, where she oversees organizational performance relative to The Joint Commission and federal, state and other regulatory standards. Riggs previously served on the AACN board from 2013-2016, including a one-year term as secretary and a one-year concurrent appointment to the AACN Certification Corporation board.
Current board member Michelle Kidd, MS, RN, APRN, ACNS-BC, CCRN-K, begins a one-year term as secretary. Kidd is a clinical nurse specialist for critical care at Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital, Muncie.
Louise Saladino, DNP, MHA, RN, CCRN-K, also a current board member, begins a one-year term as treasurer and a concurrent one-year term on the AACN Certification Corporation board. She is director of nursing excellence and patient experience, Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans.
Joining the board as directors are Justin DiLibero, DNP, RN, CCRN, CCNS, ACCNS-AG; Nikki Dotson-Lorello, BSN, RN, CCRN, CPTC; Deborah Jones, PhD, MS, RN; and Beth Wathen, MSN, RN, APRN, CCRN. They each serve a three-year term through June 30, 2020.
DiLibero is a clinical nurse specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. Since participating in AACN Clinical Scene Investigator Academy, he has published several research and quality improvement articles and presented on a variety of clinical topics.
Dotson-Lorello is an organ recovery coordinator at LifeShare Of The Carolinas, part of Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to her work and advocacy related to organ donation, she is a legal nurse consultant.
Jones is associate dean of professional development and faculty affairs at The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston School of Nursing, where she is also an associate professor and the Margaret A. Barnett/PARTNERS Professor in Nursing. Her work as a nurse researcher has focused on evidence-based oral health practices, the prevention of hospital-acquired pneumonia and the personal and professional impact of moral distress.
Wathen has been a clinical practice specialist in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora, since 2005. She serves as an expert clinician, educator, consultant, researcher and a resource for the staff.
Returning to the AACN board with Dana Woods, MBA, AACN chief executive officer, are the following directors:
- Elizabeth Bridges, PhD, RN, CCNS, FCCM, FAAN, associate professor, Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems at University of Washington School of Nursing, Seattle, and clinical nurse researcher at University of Washington Medical Center
- Kimberly Curtin, DNP, RN, APRN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, CEN, CNL, clinical administrative director of Thoracic and Orthopaedic Services at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. She also serves a concurrent one-year term on the AACN Certification Corporation board.
- Wendi Froedge, MSN, RN-BC, CCRN-K, director, Nursing Strategic Services, Harris Health System, Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston
- Mary Beth Flynn Makic, PhD, RN, CNS, CCNS, CCRN-K, FAAN, FNAP, associate professor and specialty director of the Clinical Nurse Specialist Program at University of Colorado College of Nursing, Aurora
- Rosemary Timmerman, DNP, RN, CCNS, CCRN-CSC-CMC, clinical nurse specialist at Providence Alaska Medical Center, Anchorage
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 represents the interests of more than half a million acute and critical care nurses and has more than 200 chapters throughout the United States. 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; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; twitter.com/aacnme