Lisa Riggs, of Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, becomes board president of world’s largest specialty nursing organization
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, announces its board of directors for fiscal year 2019, with terms effective July 1, 2018.
Lisa Riggs, MSN, RN, APRN-BC, CCRN-K, is the new president of the AACN board of directors. 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.
“When our community of nurses uses our collective voice and strength, we can create lasting change and reinvent our future,” Riggs said. “Our voice and our strength give us power to improve the lives of our patients, transform the healthcare system and change the nursing profession.”
Megan Brunson, MSN, RN, CNL, CCRN-CSC, begins a one-year term as president-elect. She is the night shift supervisor in the cardiovascular ICU at Medical City Dallas Hospital, a position she has held since 2007. During more than 20 years as a night shift nurse, she has focused on securing professional development resources for nurses in a 24/7 care environment. Brunson previously served on the AACN board from 2014-2017, including a one-year term as treasurer.
Current board member Beth Wathen, MSN, RN, APRN, CCRN, begins a one-year term as secretary. She is a clinical practice specialist in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora.
Rosemary Timmerman, DNP, RN, CCNS, CCRN-CSC-CMC, also a current board member, begins a one-year term as treasurer. She is a clinical nurse specialist at Providence Alaska Medical Center, Anchorage.
Joining the board as directors are Amanda Bettencourt, MSN, RN, CNS, CCRN-K, ACCNS-P; Theresa M. Davis, PhD, RN, NE-BC, CHTP; Anna Dermenchyan, MSN, RN, CCRN-K; and Kiersten Henry, DNP, ACNP-BC, CCNS, CCRN-CMC. They each serve a three-year term through June 30, 2021.
Bettencourt is a predoctoral fellow at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia. As a pediatric clinical nurse specialist, her focus is on achieving the best possible outcomes for acutely and critically ill children. She has worked as a staff nurse in various areas of pediatric critical care, including congenital heart surgery and burns.
Davis has been clinical operations director at Inova Health System, Falls Church, Virginia, since 2004. She is also adjunct faculty for George Mason University and Shenandoah University with a focus on nursing informatics, advanced pathophysiology and research. Her clinical specialties are trauma/neuro critical care and teleICU, and she has led research in the areas of healing touch and technology acceptance.
Dermenchyan is a senior clinical quality specialist in the Department of Medicine at UCLA Health, Los Angeles. She previously worked in the Cardiothoracic ICU at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where she cared for transplant and surgical patients from 2008-2013.
Henry is chief advanced practice clinician at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center in Olney, Maryland. In addition to her hospital responsibilities, she is a member of the Maryland-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team.
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. She also serves a concurrent one-year term on the AACN Certification Corporation board.
- Justin DiLibero, DNP, RN, CCRN, CCNS, ACCNS-AG, a clinical nurse specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. He also serves a concurrent one-year term on the AACN Certification Corporation board.
- Nikki Dotson-Lorello, BSN, RN, CCRN, CPTC, organ recovery coordinator at LifeShare Of The Carolinas, part of Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, North Carolina.
- Deborah Jones, PhD, MS, RN, 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.
- 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.
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
About Saint Luke’s Health System
Saint Luke’s Health System consists of 16 area hospitals and campuses and several primary and specialty care practices, and provides a range of inpatient, outpatient, and home care services. Founded as a faith-based, not-for-profit organization, our mission includes a commitment to the highest levels of excellence in health care and the advancement of medical research and education. The health system is an aligned organization in which the physicians and hospitals assume responsibility for enhancing the physical, mental, and spiritual health of people in the metropolitan Kansas City area and the surrounding region.