A Fastastic Four
Newest professionals on Nursing Spectrum’s national
advisory board
bring a wealth of talent, expertise,
and experience.
By Margaret Hawke, RN, MA
November 1, 2004
Nursing Spectrum is proud to welcome four new members to the national advisory board. Each new member brings a rich and diverse nursing background to the board.
“I am honored to be asked to join the Nursing Spectrum advisory board,” says Pamela Austin Thompson, RN, MS, FAAN, CEO of the American Organization of Nurse Executives.
“As AONE’s representative, this appointment offers me the opportunity to participate in the future work of Nursing Spectrum in promoting the issues critical to nursing,” Thompson says.
Before joining AONE in 2000, she served as vice president at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. During her 14-year tenure, she was responsible for the Children’s Hospital, obstetrical, and psychiatric services, and strategic planning for the entire medical center’s clinical enterprise.
With a strong interest in global nursing, Thompson collaborated with nursing leaders from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union republics for nearly a decade.
She has worked extensively with Croatian nurses and was a coordinator for a U.S.-Croatia hospital partnership.
Wanda Johansen, RN, MN, CEO of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, views her board appointment as chance to work with other professionals in addressing nursing issues.
“Collaboration among organizations within the nursing community is a strongly held value and something I have worked toward most of my career,”Johansen says.
She brings a wealth of critical care experience to the advisory board, including that of director of critical care services at the University of Washington Medical Center, past president of the AACN board of directors, and director of critical care and inpatient surgery at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash.
Johansen, as associate operating officer of medical/surgical care services at Duke Health System in Durham, N.C., since 1998, has concentrated on developing high quality, cost-effective integrated programs.
Nadene Chambers, executive director of the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, focuses on accomplishing the ASHHRA goal — to advance excellence and increase competency in human resources management. Effective human resources management is an integral part of promoting the nursing profession and ensuring that nurses stay in the profession.
Before joining ASHHRA, Chambers served as director of operations for The Institute for Diversity in Health Management, developing new diversity programs and services for the health care field. She also served as associate vice president of ambulatory services for Loretto Hospital in Chicago.
Her background in health care includes serving as director of operations for Planned Parenthood and director of the Southeast Health Center in the Chicago area. Chambers has been involved in a variety of organizations, including the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Rudy Valenzuela, RN, MSN, NP-C, president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and director of clinical services and health promotion for the Regional Center for Border Health in Yuma, Ariz., brings the voice of Hispanic nurses to his role on the board. “Minority nurses have much to offer to the health care system of the United States,” says Valenzuela, “and the quality and prestige of Nursing Spectrum as a nursing organization has always been known among nurses.”
Valenzuela is a board member of the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations. The position includes working with the underserved and uninsured population of Yuma, La Paz, and Mohave counties.
He is a consultant to the University of Arizona College of Nursing Spanish for Healthcare Professionals Curric ulum Development, and is a member of the advisory council for the Rural Health for Advanced Practice Nursing Program. He has presented his research in spirituality, health, and nursing in Mexico, Bolivia, and the United States.
Valenzuela also promotes minority health care, focusing on health disparities.
He is a member of the National Project Advisory Committee for the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Office of Minority Health. “Nursing Spectrum,” he says, “offers a platform in which to make our voices heard.”
Margaret Hawke, RN, MA, is a contributing writer for Nursing Spectrum.