National League for Nursing Announces New Board of Governors. M. Elaine Tagliareni, EdD, RN, Takes Office as President
The official results of the election for new officers and members of the Board of Governors of the National League for Nursing have been released, following the swearing-in ceremony at the NLN's Annual Business Meeting, recently held in Phoenix, AZ.
New York, NY (PRWEB) October 19, 2007
The official results of the election for new officers and members of the Board of Governors of the National League for Nursing have been released, following the swearing-in ceremony at the NLN's Annual Business Meeting, recently held in Phoenix, AZ.
M. Elaine Tagliareni, EdD, RN, who for the past two years has been the NLN president-elect, stepped into presidency on Friday, September 28. Her inauguration was held in conjunction with the NLN's 2007 Education Summit in September which drew 1,600 nurse educators representing 500 schools of nursing to the Phoenix Convention Center.
Dr. Tagliareni replaced L. Antoinette Bargagliotti, DNSc, RN, who served at the NLN helm from 2005-07. The new NLN president is professor and Independence Foundation Chair in Community Health Nursing Education at the Community College of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, where she has worked for 25 years. The Independence Foundation supports work at the college that serves vulnerable populations in underserved areas of metropolitan Philadelphia.
Dr. Tagliareni's previous League activities include membership on the Board of Governors and its Executive Committee, as well as on the Executive Committee of the NLN's Nursing Education Advisory Council (NEAC); chair of the NLN Foundation's Scholarship Review Panel; participation in the NLN Think Tank of Preparation of Nurse Educators; and service on the Editorial Board of Nursing Education Perspectives; the Nominations Committee; the Education Summit Program Planning Committee; and the Council of Associate Degree Programs (CADP).
In other professional commitments, Dr. Tagliareni has chaired and been a board member of the National Nursing Centers Consortium and a member of the Board of Governors of Holy Ghost Prep School. She earned a doctorate in education from Teachers College of Columbia University; a master of science from the University of California at San Francisco; and a BSN from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Among the honors she's received are the prestigious NLN Mildred Montag Award and the Lindback Foundation Award, CCP.
In her inaugural remarks to the membership, Dr. Tagliareni thanked her colleagues and especially her students for serving as inspiration and support. "Like all of you, who also stand in life as teacher, our students are our blood; they are the center of our professional lives and we are compelled to help them embrace nursing as a profession, and in the process to disclose possibilities," she observed. Recalling the excitement of the first NLN conference she attended in New York City in 1979, as a new teacher at Greenfield Community College in western Massachusetts, Dr. Tagliareni lauded the process of educational reform that leads to continual discovery of innovative curricula and learning modalities.
"We need to rethink untested assumptions about how students learn and how they thrive," she asserted. "We will discover new ways to embrace technology and simulation. We have no choice but to reframe our old notions about 'essential content' and embrace new approaches to teach safety and quality, evidence-based practice, leadership and geriatrics, because as teachers of nursing, we are called to see the world as it is and as it is unfolding, not as we are."
Looking ahead, Dr. Tagliareni called on the nursing education community to join the NLN "as the voice to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce." She concluded, "This is what we aspire to achieve for you, for your students, and most importantly, for the patients we are privileged to serve. As NLN president, I am honored to stand with you, as teacher, as your colleague, bringing voice and value to the work you do everyday."
In addition to Dr. Tagliareni, the slate approved included Cathleen M. Shultz, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN, to become president-elect. Dr. Shultz will become president in 2009; her current term as treasurer will be fulfilled by public board member Michael Newsome, CRA. Anne Bavier, PhD, RN, FAAN joins the Board of Governors as secretary. She will serve a three-year term, through 2010.
Also joining the board for the first time are governors-at-large Elizabeth T. Speakman, EdD, RN, CDE, ANEF and Helen J. Streubert Speziale, EdD, RN, CNE, ANEF. Joan L. Frey, EdD, MSN, RN, CNAA will rejoin the board after an absence of four years, and Marsha Adams, DSN, RN, CNE has been re-elected. Governors-at-large serve for three years.
"I am delighted to welcome this roster of outstanding nurse educators to the highest ranks of NLN leadership," said NLN CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, in making the announcement. "The NLN relies on its board members for their time, energy and talents - and they never let us down. They have consistently made a difference in advancing the NLN's mission and representing the viewpoints and interests of both our institutional and individual membership. I extend my congratulations and thanks in advance to this new team for their professional contributions in the years ahead."
Reporters/Editors: To arrange interviews, please contact Karen R. Klestzick, chief communications officer, at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick @ nln. org.
Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education offering faculty development, networking opportunities, testing and assessment, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 23,000 individual and 1,100 institutional members.
###
