UF dean of nursing voted president-elect of AACN

Kathleen Ann Long, dean of the University of Florida College of Nursing, has been voted president-elect of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

Long’s two-year term began at the conclusion of the association’s annual meeting in Washington D.C. last month. In March 2002, she will assume the presidency of the organization that is the national voice for university and four-year-college programs in nursing.

The AACN represents 550 member schools of nursing at both public and private institutions nationwide. The organization works to establish quality standards for bachelor’s and graduate degree nursing education, and assists schools with implementing those standards. The organization also seeks to influence the nursing profession to improve health care and to promote public support of nursing education, research and practice.

“I have found AACN to be an important asset for my own professional development, as well as the source of proactive strategies for addressing the nation’s most significant nursing issues,” Long said.

“It will be a privilege for me to contribute to the organization in this new leadership role. With the remarkable talents of AACN’s members and staff, I believe we can turn today’s higher education and health-care delivery challenges into opportunities for the nursing profession and the people it serves.”

Long, who has been the dean of nursing since she came to UF in 1995, was first elected to a two-year term on the 11-member AACN board of directors in 1992. Since then she has had several leadership roles in the organization, most recently working to establish a national advisory committee, consisting of people from other healthcare disciplines and the public, to provide recommendations on AACN programs and policies.