Kathleen E. Carlson, MSN, RN, CEN, FAEN, Named President of the Emergency Nurses Association
January 4, 2016 • News
DES PLAINES, Ill. (January 4, 2016) – The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) today announced Kathleen E. Carlson, MSN, RN, CEN, FAEN, will lead the largest professional association of more than 40,000 emergency nurses, as elected president for one year. Carlson will work with the ENA Board of Directors to set the strategic direction of the Association. She has general oversight of the Board of Directors, and serves as the official representative and spokesperson of ENA.
“Kathie, an emergency nurse herself, understands the challenges our members face on a daily basis in the emergency nursing profession,” said ENA Past President and Interim Executive Director, Matthew F. Powers, MS, BSN, RN, MICP, CEN. “Her concern, passion and commitment to growth and innovation to move the organization forward exemplify her strong leadership capabilities. Kathie’s interest in the retention of emergency nurses will be an important focal point during her tenure, and will positively impact the profession.”
Carlson, of Hampton, Virginia, is an emergency department nurse at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, and has been actively involved with ENA throughout her career including time spent on the Association’s Board of Directors.
The Board is the official governing body of ENA responsible for managing the Association’s affairs. They maintain and update ENA’s mission, vision and goals through strategic planning, guide the Association, and serve as board liaisons to states as assigned.
The new 2016 ENA Board of Directors includes:
President: Kathleen E. Carlson, MSN, RN, CEN, FAEN
President-elect: Karen K. Wiley, MSN, RN, CEN
Secretary/Treasurer: Joan Somes, PhD, RN-BC, CEN, CPEN, FAEN, NREMT-P
Director: Maureen Curtis Cooper, BSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, FAEN
Director: Mike Hastings, MSN, RN, CEN
Director: Patricia Kunz Howard, PhD, RN, CEN, CPEN, NE-BC, FAEN, FAAN
Director: Jean A. Proehl, MN, RN, CEN, CPEN, FAEN
Director: Sally K. Snow, BSN, RN, CPEN, FAEN
Director: Jeff Solheim, MSN, RN-BC, CEN, CFRN, FAEN
Director: Tiffiny Strever, BSN, RN, CEN, FAEN
Immediate Past President & Interim Executive Director: Matthew F. Powers, MS, BSN, RN, MICP, CEN
ENA is two years into its new five-year strategic plan which focuses on member recruitment, engagement and retention; leadership; knowledge; quality and safety; advocacy; technology; and funding the Association’s future.
“I’m looking forward to spending this year focusing on the needs of our members, the retention of emergency nurses and further understanding moral distress and how it uniquely impacts our emergency nurses,” said Carlson. “I’m excited to help further ENA’s vision, which centers on Safe Practice, Safe Care, and keeping nurses, other emergency department personnel, patients and their families safe while providing the most skilled emergency care.”
Carlson attended her first ENA meeting in California in 1975, and her participation in ENA activities at the chapter, state and national levels has remained a constant in her professional life since then. Carlson wrote for the Journal of Emergency Nursing for 12 years, has been a Trauma Nursing Core Course instructor and course director, and served on the Connecticut ENA Board of Directors as vice-president, president and past president. She also held positions in both the New York and Virginia state chapters. Carlson’s active participation on the national level included serving on several committees, and served as a director (2011-2013), secretary/treasurer (2014), and president-elect (2015) on ENA’s Board of Directors.
Her selection as the recipient of the Judith C. Kelleher Award in 2008 and induction to the Academy of Emergency Nursing in 2009 demonstrate her enduring and substantial contributions at both the local and national levels.
Carlson received her nursing diploma from Stamford Hospital School of Nursing in Stamford, Connecticut. She received her Bachelor of Science degree and her Master of Science degree in nursing from Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, Connecticut.
