Dr. Jeanette Lancaster from the University of Virginia
Named President
of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing
Dr. Lancaster Presents
Testimony before the House Appropriations Committee Today
on
Behalf of the Tri-Council for Nursing
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 29, 2006 - Jeanette
Lancaster, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor
and Dean at the University of Virginia School of Nursing,
was elected to serve a two-year term as President of the
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Dr.
Lancaster assumed the presidency at AACN's Spring Annual
Meeting held in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.
"At this pivotal time in the history
of nursing education, I am honored to serve AACN as President
and will work collaboratively to support the mission of
this fine organization," said Dr. Lancaster. As AACN's
President, I will work to build consensus on future directions
for nursing education, pursue legislative support for
nursing workforce development, raise public awareness
about the importance of nurses in health care delivery,
and advance the goals of professional nursing education,
research and practice."
Dr. Jeanette Lancaster has served
on the AACN Board in many capacities over the last 12
years in the roles of President-Elect, task force chair,
committee chair and columnist for the Journal of Professional
Nursing. She has served AACN as the Chair of the Task
Force on Leadership Transition and member of the Program,
Bylaws, and Nominating Committees. Her distinguished career
as a nurse educator in baccalaureate and higher degree
programs includes the appointment as dean at the University
of Virginia since 1989; dean at Wright State University
(OH) from 1984-1989; and faculty roles at both the University
of Alabama in Birmingham and Texas Christian University.
Dr. Lancaster, who holds the first endowed
nursing professorship in the United States, was herself
honored in 1999 with the first endowed professorship named
for a female Dean at the University of Virginia: the Jeanette
Lancaster Alumni Professorship in Nursing. She has been
honored as a distinguished alumna at the University of
Tennessee College of Nursing and the Francis Payne Bolton
School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University and
was named honorary alumna at the UVA School of Nursing.
In 2004, the New York University Division of Nursing presented
her with the Maes-Macinnes Award in recognition of her
contributions to and impact on the nursing profession.
In 2005, the Beta Kappa Chapter of Sigma ThetaTau International
Honor Society of Nursing awarded her the Distinguished
Nurse Award.
In collaboration with various colleagues,
she has published over 50 articles in a variety of professional
journals and given more than 200 speeches and workshops
throughout the United States and in several foreign countries.
She edits the interdisciplinary journal Family and
Community Health and has edited or co-edited eight
textbooks.
Dr. Lancaster received her PhD in Public
Health from the University of Oklahoma, her MS in Psychiatric-Mental
Health Nursing from Case Western Reserve University, and
her BSN from the University of Tennessee, Memphis. Her
UVA tenure has been distinguished by her innovative efforts
to improve gender imbalance at the University to give
women a more equal role in decision-making, by new alliances
forged within the UVA Health System, and by leading the
School of Nursing to greater national prominence.
Other members elected to serve on the Executive
Committee of the AACN Board of Directors include C.
Fay Raines, PhD, RN, nursing dean at The University
of Alabama in Hunstville, who was elected to serve as
President-Elect, and Lea Acord, PhD, RN, from Marquette
University who was elected to serve as Secretary. Also
joining the Board as Members-At-Large are Martha Hill,
PhD, RN, FAAN, from Johns Hopkins University; Linda
Niedringhaus, Elmhurst College (IL), and Melanie
Dreher, PhD, RN, FAAN from the University of Iowa.
Dr.
Lancaster Presents Testimony Before the LHHS Appropriations
Subcommittee
In one of her first official duties as AACN
President, Dr. Jeanette Lancaster presented testimony
today before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related
Agencies (LHHS) on behalf of the Tri-Council for Nursing.
The Tri-Council, a coalition of four nursing organizations
including AACN, the American Nurses Association, the American
Organization of Nurse Executives and the National League
for Nursing, is concerned that current funding levels
for Nursing Workforce Development programs (Title VIII
of the Public Health Service Act) are insufficient to
maintain an adequate nursing workforce. The group is advocating
for $175 million in funding for nursing education programs
which represents a $25 million increase from last year's
funding level.
"My message to legislators on behalf
of the Tri-Council is simple: Registered nurses are indispensable
to the health and safety of our nation, and we need to
invest now in order to sustain an adequate nursing workforce,"
added Dr. Lancaster. "Scientific evidence clearly
shows that patient care suffers and mortality rates increase
in practice settings without sufficient numbers of registered
nurses."
Read Dr. Lancaster's written testimony
to the House LHHS Subcommittee.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
is the national voice for university and four-year-college
education programs in nursing. Representing more than
590 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions
nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental
advocacy, data collection, publications, and other programs
work to establish quality standards for bachelor's and
graduate-degree nursing education, assist deans and directors
to implement those standards, influence the nursing profession
to improve health care, and promote public support of
baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research,
and practice. Web site: http://www.aacn.nche.edu.
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