CONTACT: Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu

For Immediate Release

American Association of Colleges of Nurses Initiates
New Partnership with the Friends of the Division of Nursing

Howard University's Dorothy L. Powell Appointed as AACN's Representative

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 18, 2001 -- The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is pleased to announce that it has formed a strategic alliance with the Friends of the Division of Nursing. The Friends is an autonomous, advocacy group that supports the work of the Division of Nursing, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Bureau of Health Professions.

"AACN welcomes this opportunity to partner with the Friends which will enable us to pool our efforts and work together to advance nursing issues and improve health care on a national level," said Carolyn A. Williams, PhD, RN, FAAN, president of AACN and dean of the University of Kentucky's College of Nursing.

Under this new partnership, AACN will act as the umbrella organization for the Friends and work in tandem with this group to support the mission of the Division of Nursing. The Division provides national leadership to assure an adequate supply and distribution of qualified nursing personnel across the country. In March 2001, AACN and the Friends held their first joint function, a Capitol Hill forum on Strengthening the Nursing Workforce, to raise awareness of federally funded programs that have been effective in promoting nursing education and encouraging careers in nursing.

Dorothy L. Powell, EdD, RN, FAAN, Associate Dean of Howard University's Division of Nursing, has been named AACN's official representative to the Friends. Dr. Powell recently completed her second two-year term on the AACN's Board of Directors. During her Board tenure, she chaired the Bylaws Task Force, chaired the subcommittee to develop a Conflict of Interest Statement, and served on the Board subcommittee to establish AACN's first Community Advisory Commission. In addition, Dr. Powell has represented AACN at the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and at the White House on Medicare Graduate Medical Education discussions.

"We are delighted that Dr. Powell has accepted this new post which is a good match for her skills as a strong leader and an advocate for nursing," added Williams.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for university and four-year-college education programs in nursing. Representing more than 550 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.

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