What's New!

AANN Collaborates on TJC Resources: "Speak Up: What You Should Know About Stroke" - posted February 1

AANN was proud to be a collaborating organization with The Joint Commission's on their newest Speak Up resource "Speak Up: What You Should Know About Stroke." The series features a brochure and poster designed to educate patients and the public about the early signs and risks of stroke. Visit The Joint Commission website to download the materials free of charge.

AANN Board Member Therese West Talks Mild TBI - posted January 25

AANN Director at Large Therese West, lead author of AANN's 2011 CPG Care of the Patient with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, was featured in a recent Physician's Weekly piece discussing the guidlines based on evidence-based practice.

West discusses the latest findings on TBI among young athletes, imaging for mild TBI and follow-up care, as well as the increased importance of updated staff training and education for treating these patients. Read the online article.

Apply for an AANN Award - posted December 29, 2011

Have you made significant contributions to the neuroscience profession? Join the long list of distinguished AANN award recipients by applying. Each year AANN presents awards recognizing outstanding achievements in the neuroscience nursing specialty. Benefits to recipients include professional recognition and funds to offset registration and travel expenses to the Annual Educational Meeting. If you are eligible or know of an eligible individual, please submit an application by January 27, 2012.

AANN Annual Meeting: Expert Track Added - posted December 29, 2011

Why join us in 2012? New educational sessions, additional events offering CE and an expert level track have been added to enhave your Annual Educational Meeting experience. Browse the educational schedule to discover new session tracks and other exciting changes.

NNF CNRN Recertification Grants Still Available - posted December 14, 2011

A number of CNRN Recerfication Grants offered by the Neuroscience Nursing Foundation are still available. It's easy to apply! If you're still due to renew your CNRN certification this year, don't let this money pass you by.

Learn more about these NNF grants and submit your application by January 15, 2012.

Neuroscience Nurses Week: May 13-19, 2012 - posted November 30, 2011

Are you ready to celebrate Neuroscience Nurses Week? 

Start preparing now with resources from AANN! Neuroscience Nurses Week celebrates the work of neuroscience nurses and highlights their influence on patient care. Download the official poster and activity planning guide to plan your celebration and spread awareness of this special week.

Annual Educational Meeting: What's New this Year? - posted November 30, 2011

Exciting new educational sessions, additional events offering CE, more opportunities to network and more ways to have fun have been added to this year's Annual Educational Meeting. Check out complete meeting details and other opportunities available during the 2012 meeting in Seattle.

Call for Consistent Level of Care on Weekends - posted November 30, 2011

In a June 28 article for Kaiser Health News, President of Health Quality Advisors LLC Michael L. Millenson describes the pursuit of two men who are advocating for what Millenson calls "The Most Commonsensical and Hopeless Health Reform Idea Ever." Read this article and more in the October issue of Synapse.

AANN Congratulates Membership Survey Winners

Thank you to all who participated in the 2011 AANN Membership Survey. Your responses will shape the future of AANN and help us serve your neuroscience nursing needs. Congratulations to the following raffle winners:

$50 VISA Giftcard: Michelle Nordman, Amanda Sheets, Faith Ray, Marie Lasater
$5 Starbucks Giftcard: Mirium Pablo, Janis Namink, Amber Pearson, Amy Lieberman Silver, Shari Eversman, Brandy Hughes, Eleanor Ford, Amna Mohammad, Bonnie Blankenship, Ralph Thadeus Tuason.

JNN Receives First Impact Factor rating - posted November 17, 2011

AANN's Journal of Neuroscience Nursing is pleased to announce its first-ever Impact Factor rating. The effort to achieve the rating began in 2008.

Read the press release to learn more about this important achievement.

2012 Spirit of Neuroscience Nursing Photo Contest - posted October 27, 2011

Help AANN ignite passion of the profession of neuroscience nursing by capturing pictures of your colleagues, patients, and families! Submit your photo to be displayed on AANN's Facebook page and during the 44th Annual Educational Meeting where attendees will vote for their favorite images. The member whose photo receives the most votes will win comlimentary registration to the 45th Annual Educational Meeting.

Take a look at last year's photo submissions and submit your photo today!

Deadline is March 30, 2012.

Free Patient Education DVDs Available - posted October 27, 2011

Looking for ways to better help your patients understand the true impact their brain or spinal cord injury will have on their lives? You can now order free copies of  educational DVDs that cover complex medical concepts in easy-to-understand language. Produced by the Shepherd Center of Atlanta, you can order copies to share with patients or provide them to family members to view at home. 

Log-in to the members only page to learn how to order your free copies from the Shepherd Center.

AANN Bylaw Change - posted October 27, 2011

In conjunction with the AANN 2011 Elections, members will also be asked to approve a revision to the AANN bylaws. The proposed bylaw change impacts the current structure of the AANN Executive Committee, currently comprised of the President, President-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, and Executive Director (ex-officio or non-voting). Its charge is to address affairs of the organization between board meetings and is empowered by the Board of Directors to peform such duties as the board may direct.

The AANN Board of Directors seeks to add the expertise of the Immediate Past President to the Executive Committee. The board voted on March 18 to include the Immediate Past President in the Executive Committees as as an ex-officio (non-voting) advisor. Please help advance the profession and the association by approving these revisions as as voting for the 2012 AANN Leadership.

Webcast: "Too Good to Treat" - posted October 14, 2011

AANN, in collaboration with AHA/ASA, will present the webinar "Too Good to Treat" on Tuesday, December 6, at 12pm CST. Have you, or someone on your team, deemed a stroke patient ‘too good to treat’? Data from Get with the Guidelines shows this as the most common reason not treating a stroke patient with IV tPA, but a great amount of retrospective evidence shows these patients are suffering by not receiving this treatment.

Join speakers Joan Censullo, MS RN CNRN FAHA, Pooja Khatri, MD MSc, Steven Levin, MD, and Eric Smith, MD MPH, as they reflect on this data and discuss the potential impact of treating mild strokes.

Registration is now available.

Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action Celebrates 1 Year - posted October 6, 2011

The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is celebrating the first year of progress since the release of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.

Learn more about the the Campaign for Action and the campaign activities in the past year.

New CPG: Nursing Management of the Patient with Multiple Sclerosis - posted September 29, 2011

AANN has partnered with ARN and IOMSN to to develop the Nursing Management of the Patient with Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Practice Guideline. This guideline provides recommendations based on current evidence to help registered nurses, advanced practice nurses and institutions provide safe and effective care for patients with multiple sclerosis.

View the new guideline at www.AANN.org/cpgs.

Join AANN in Seattle - posted September 29, 2011

Start planning for AANN's 44th Annual Educational Meeting in Seattle, WA, April 28-May 1.

Looking for things to do while you're here?

Check out visitseattle.org for attractions, restaurants and events. We'll see you there!

AANN CPG Listed on National Guideline Clearinghouse Website - posted September 22, 2011

In September 2011, AANN's "Care of the Patient with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury" and "Care of the Patient Undergoing Intracranial Pressure Monitoring/External Ventricular Drainage or Lumbar Drainage" Clinical Practice Guidelines became the 7th and 8th AANN guideline accepted for inclusion on the National Guideline Clearinghouse website. The NGC site has more than 1 million visits each month from people whose primary reason for visiting is to find evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.

New ABNN Site Launched! - posted September 21, 2011

We're pleased to announce a newly created American Board of Neuroscience Nursing (ABNN) website. Certificants have been an important part of the development for the new CNRN.org. This new site will feature expanded information regarding the Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN) credential, including certification and recertification.

New Opportunity to Serve Your Association! - posted August 31, 2011

New Opportunity to Serve Your Association! This month, AANN has unveiled 2 new volunteer opportunities - the Educational Products Committee and the Scope and Standards Task Force (ad hoc). For more details and to submit your interest, please visit the AANN Volunteer Board.

3 AANN Members Nominated for AAN Fellowship - posted July 18, 2011

The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) announces that 142 nurse leaders have been selected to be inducted as Fellows during the Academy's 38th Annual Meeting and Conference on October 15, 2011, in Washington, D.C.

AANN is pleased to honor members Janice Buelow, PhD RN, Karen McQuillan, MS RN CNS-BC CCRN CNRN, and Paula Sherwood, PhD RN CNRN who were nominated for this honor by two current Academy Fellows and selected by the Academy's 15-member Fellow Selection Committee for their outstanding achievements in the nursing profession.

Welcome to New CPG Associate Editor - posted July 1, 2011

Member Patricia Blissit, PHD BC RN ACNS CCRN, has been selected as the new Clinical Practice Guideline Associate Editor. A new volunteer role, the associate editor assists in the development and production of CPG publications. The associate editor then assumes the role of CPG Editor in 2012. Learn more about AANN's popular Clinical Practice Guideline series, including 2 new CPGs published in June.

AANN Congratulates Members Appointed to AHA/ASA Committees - posted June 20, 2011

An ongoing partnership with the American Stroke Association has offered AANN the opportunity to make a larger impact in stroke education and advocacy. 3 AANN members have been appointed to committees in 2011:

•   - Advisory Committee: Claranee Mathiesen, MSN RN CNRN
•   - ISC Nursing Symposium Program Committee: Mary Kay Bader, MSN RN CCRN CNRN
•   - Stroke Council: Kathy Morrison, MSN RN CNRN

'AANN Neuroscience News' Launches - posted June 16, 2011

AANN members have received their first issue of the new weekly e-newsletter "AANN Neuroscience News." The publication features stories on neuroscience related topics, including stroke, epilepsy, neurotrauma, and other neurological disorders. Members will receive the newsletter each Thursday. View the first edition of the newsletter in the online archives now.

Didn't receive the new AANN Neuroscience News? Contact AANN member services today to confirm your email address at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 888.557.2266.

AANN Chapter Integration

In order to more effectively utilize resources available to both chapters and the National Organization, while increasing membership, functionality and communication for both groups, all AANN-affiliated chapters have been asked to have 100 percent dual membership by 2014.

100% dual membership will be phased in over a 3 year period. Starting this spring, National will ask chapters to have 25% dual members with a 25% increase each year until the 100% goal is met.

In January 2014, membership dues and the management of a local membership database will be the responsibility of the National Office. Chapters will also be asked to maintain a chapter area so there is no geographical overlap between chapters.

AANN recognizes that chapters are a crucial part of the association’s success and advancement. This decision was not made lightly, nor for ease or increase of profits. Thorough research and benchmarking was performed against similar organizations as well within our own chapters.

AANN on Facebook

Do you "like" AANN? Expand your nursing network through AANN’s page on Facebook. Catch a glimpse of AANN activities and mark your calendar for upcoming events. Share your neuroscience nursing experiences by posting success stories and photos to the wall or discussion board. Add AANN to your Facebook network today!

AANN Career Center

Visit the AANN Career Center, your best source to find current information on the neuroscience nursing profession and exciting new careers. Job seekers: post your professional profile online and browse all available positions for free. Start your new year with the new career you deserve!