November 30, 2007

American Academy of Nursing inducts two MGH nurses

Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, MS, senior vice president for Patient Care Services and chief nurse (left), and Diane Carroll, APRN, PhD, nurse researcher (below right), recently received the prestigious honor of induction as fellows into the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) at the organization's 34th annual meeting and conference in Washington, D.C. Nov. 10. Ives Erickson and Carroll were among 54 nurse leaders from across the country to receive the honor this year.

The AAN comprises many of the nation's top nursing executives, policymakers, scholars, researchers and practitioners. Invitation to fellowship is considered a recognition of accomplishments, and fellows have the opportunity to contribute their time and expertise to the AAN to engage with other healthcare leaders to transform America's healthcare system.

Ives Erickson leads the MGH's largest clinical division and is a professor of Nursing at several Boston-area institutions. She recently was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt to serve on the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice. Her commitment to improving nursing practice in countries such as Iraq and Indonesia also contributed to her election to the academy.

As a nurse researcher for the Yvonne L. Munn Center for Nursing Research at MGH, Carroll is responsible for developing and expanding cardiovascular nursing research. She also mentors colleagues with research questions that arise from their patient care practices.

The mission of the AAN is to serve the public and nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis and sharing of nursing knowledge. New fellows are selected based upon evidence of significant national or international contributions to nursing and health care, and each nominee must be sponsored by two current academy fellows.