Denise Buonocore, of St. Vincent's Medical Center in Connecticut, begins two-year term as board chair of AACN Certification Corporation
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – July 10, 2018 – AACN Certification Corporation — the credentialing arm of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) — announces its board of directors for fiscal year 2019, with terms effective July 1, 2018.
AACN Certification Corporation supports patient health and safety by establishing and maintaining high standards of excellence through comprehensive credentialing of acute and critical care nurses. The organization offers several different nursing certification programs with more than 110,000 active certificants.
Denise Buonocore, MSN, RN, ACNPC, CCNS, CCRN, CHFN, becomes chair of the AACN Certification Corporation board of directors. This is the first year of her two-year term as chair, which will conclude June 30, 2020.
Buonocore is acute care nurse practitioner for heart failure services for St. Vincent’s Multispecialty Group at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Bridgeport, Connecticut, where her clinical practice involves providing care for patients with heart failure in inpatient and outpatient settings. She is also a clinical preceptor for nurse practitioner students from the University of Connecticut, Yale and Sacred Heart University.
“More than 110,000 nurses hold certifications through AACN Certification Corporation,” Buonocore said. “Acute and critical care nurses need to practice to their highest potential and have the right knowledge, skills and abilities to care for really complex patients. Certification helps protect patients and families by ensuring nurses have these competencies. It’s a mark of excellence.”
Chair-elect Lisa Falcón, MSN, RN, TCRN, NE-BC, is director of trauma and injury prevention at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has over 20 years of experience in surgical critical care and trauma as a clinical nurse, clinical educator and nurse leader.
Myra F. Ellis, MSN, RN, CCRN-CSC, joins the AACN Certification Corporation board for a three-year term as a director through June 30, 2021. A clinical nurse IV at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, since 1999, she has worked at Duke for 22 years as a bedside nurse, charge nurse, clinical research nurse and educator.
Each year, two members of the AACN board of directors are appointed to concurrent terms on the AACN Certification Corporation board. Serving this year:
- 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.
- Justin DiLibero, DNP, RN, CCRN, CCNS, ACCNS-AG, clinical nurse specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.
Also serving on the AACN Certification Corporation board with Dana Woods, MBA, AACN chief executive officer, are the following directors:
- Lori Cox, MSN, RN, ACNPC, CCRN, FCCM, nurse practitioner in the neuroscience critical care unit at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and an instructor at Penn State University College of Nursing, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
- Teresa Jahn, MSN, RN, APRN, CCRN, CCNS, clinical nurse specialist at CentraCare Heart and Vascular Center, St. Cloud, Minnesota.
- Elizabeth Scruth, PhD, MPH, RN, CCNS, CCRN, FCCM, clinical practice consultant, Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland, who serves a one-year term as secretary/treasurer.
- Director and consumer representative Patty Cox, MBA.
About AACN Certification Corporation: AACN Certification Corporation, the credentialing arm of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, drives patient health and safety through comprehensive credentialing of acute and critical care nurses, ensuring practice consistent with standards of excellence. Since 1976, AACN Certification Corporation has granted more than 110,000 nursing certifications.
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 includes more than 200 chapters in 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