At the February 9, 2009 Board of Nursing meeting, the new slate of Board officers was elected. The newly elected officers are Ellen Leff, MS, RN, Chair; Jeanine Carr, PhD, RN, Vice-chair; and DeAnn Welch, LPN, Secretary. The full Board consists of ten members: 4 RNs, 1 APRN, 2 LPNs, 1 LNA, and 2 public members, and beginning in this issue, we will introduce members of the Board with brief profiles.
Linda Rice, has been the APRN member for 2 terms (10 years) and will soon be completing her illustrious tenure on the Board when the new APRN member is appointed. During the past year she has served as Board Chair and prior to that, she was the Vice-Chair for a number of years. She has worked tirelessly, well-representing Vermont, on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing's Advanced Practice Task Force. This group produced a bold and comprehensive document last year: Consensus Model for APRN Regulation: Licensure, Accreditation, Certification, and Education. Ms. Rice earned her MSN at University of Massachusetts Amherst, and practices at the Brattleboro Retreat where she is Vice President of Admissions and Evaluation. Her keen perspective and insight are much appreciated--as well as her dedicated travel to Montpelier through every kind of weather event! At the February 2009 Board meeting, she was presented with a plaque from the Secretary of State, Deb Markowitz, honoring her for her years of dedicated service.
Ellen Williams Leff, recently elected as Board chair, previously served as Vice-chair for a year. She completed her first 5-year term on the Board and is eligible for reappointment by the governor. Ms. Leff has enjoyed a wide-ranging nursing career in terms of specialties, staff and management positions, and geographical locations. Her nursing career began in Honolulu, Hawaii after graduating from nursing school at UVM. Upon returning to Vermont, she worked at Fletcher Allen Health Care in gynecology, pediatrics, newborn, and maternity settings for several years. She has worked in home health for more than ten years and is currently the Director of Adult Home Care for the Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties in Colchester.
In addition to her BS in professional nursing, Ms. Leff holds an MS in administration from St. Michael's College. She has been an active member in a variety of professional organizations, and received awards for Excellence in Nursing Practice and Nurse of the Year from the Kappa Tau Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau and the Vermont State Nurses Association, respectively. She has published nursing articles, presented at professional conferences, and has participated in many community service organizations.
Jeanine M. Carr was appointed to the Board in January 2008 as an RN member and was recently elected Vice-chair. She is an associate professor at the University of Vermont where she teaches in both the graduate and undergraduate nursing programs. Her PhD in Nursing Science is from the University of South Carolina, the state where she also earned her BSN and MSN degrees. Dr. Carr's illustrious nursing career began in Vermont where she was granted an Associate Degree from Castleton State College and where she held her first nursing position at Central Vermont Medical Center.
Highlights of her professional career include an Award for Excellence in Nursing Research from the Kappa Tau Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau; author and co-author of several refereed articles, primarily on family vigilance; recipient and investigator of numerous research awards and grants; co-presenter of 'Shaping the Future of Vermont's Nursing Workforce' at the 2007 VONL Leadership Summit; and membership on many professional and community service committees and organizations.
William G. White, public member appointed in October 2007, is a retired engineer, having worked in a variety of engineering and computer positions with the firm Stone & Webster. He grew up primarily in Minnesota, which he left to attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where he earned a degree in civil engineering. His career took him to posts in Boston and New Jersey, but throughout, he came to Vermont regularly to indulge his passion for skiing. During his career he also earned an MBA at Babson College. He has remained very active in his retirement with a number of volunteer and recreational activities in addition to being on the Board of Nursing, including teaching computer use at his local library and being a host at Mt. Mansfield during ski season. Mr. White's contributions are noteworthy as he provides the perspective of a non-nurse health care consumer and ably applies his systems expertise to issues confronted by the Board of Nursing.
