NLN Welcomes Two High-Ranking Nursing Deans to the Board of Governors
NLN Welcomes Two High-Ranking Nursing Deans to the Board of Governors
Nominations Committee & Certification Commission Also Elect New Members
Washington, DC — The National League for Nursing is pleased to announce that Tedra S. Smith, DNP, CPNP-PC, CNE, CHSE, was elected to the office of secretary of the League’s Board of Governors and that Rachel Risner, PhD, DNP, APRN, C-FNP, CNE, was elected as a governor-at-large. The two were elected by a vote of the League’s membership during this year’s NLN elections.
“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Tedra Smith and Dr. Rachel Risner to the extraordinary volunteer leadership team at the National League for Nursing. Like their dedicated colleagues on the Board of Governors, I am grateful for their generosity of time and spirit to advancing the League’s mission to promote excellence in nursing education,” said NLN Chair Kathleen Poindexter, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, interim associate dean of academic affairs at Michigan State University in Lansing.
NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, said, “We appreciate the strong support and commitment of thought leaders and scholars at the highest levels of nursing education, like Drs. Smith and Risner. They will help to facilitate the success of multi-faceted initiatives across all levels of nursing education. Together, we are helping to build an outstanding and diverse nursing workforce prepared to deliver quality, culturally sensitive health care.”
An associate professor and assistant dean for graduate clinical education-MSN at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing, Dr. Tedra Smith is the recipient of the 2021 National Black Nurses Association Nurse Educator of the Year Award and the 2022 Cindajo Overton Outstanding Nurse Educator Award. Her primary scholarly interest is focused on simulation in nursing education and community-based health care for children. She has received funding to support these endeavors from Health Resources and Services Administration, school, and foundation grants. Dr. Smith has held various leadership positions within the profession and is a member of the editorial board of the Pediatric Nursing Journal.
Dr. Rachel Risner, associate dean of academic affairs at Frontier Nursing University in Versailles, Kentucky, is a certified family nurse practitioner, a certified nurse educator, and a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach. She earned an associate degree of applied science in nursing (RN) from Oklahoma City Community College, a bachelor of science in nursing from Oklahoma City University, and a master’s of science in nursing as a family nurse practitioner from Frontier Nursing University. She later returned to Oklahoma City University to earn a doctor of nursing practice, where she also completed doctoral studies for a Ph.D. in nursing education.
Also during this year’s elections, Jacquelyn McMillian-Bohler, PhD, CNM, CNE, assistant clinical professor at Duke University School of Nursing, was elected to the Nominations Committee, which solicits nominations from individual and agency representative members for all League elected positions reflecting the organization’s diverse membership.
Pamela Fifer, EdD, MS, RN, CNE, associate dean of George Fox University College of Nursing, and Erin Killingsworth, PhD, RN, CNE, clinical associate professor at Baylor University School of Nursing, were elected by those with current NLN certifications to serve as commissioners on the NLN Certification Commission, which oversees and supervises the NLN Academic Nurse Educator Certification Program.
For more information, visit NLN.org.#####
About the National League for Nursing
Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers professional development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its nearly 45,000 individual and 1,100 institutional members, comprising nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education and health care organizations. Learn more at NLN.org.