NAME: Kelly Goudreau, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FAAN
CURRENT POSITIONS AND AFFILIATIONS: Associate Director Patient Care Services/Nurse Executive, VA Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics, White City, Oregon
AREA(S) OF SPECIALIZATION: Orthopedics, Urology, Administration
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION: PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham
CERTIFICATIONS: ACNS-BC, FAAN
Kelly Goudreau, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FAAN, was awarded the first NACNS President's Award at the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) Annual Conference in March 2013. This award recognizes an individual for extraordinary service to NACNS. This award was established in 2012 to honor an individual or group who contributes significantly toward the accomplishment of the NACNS' mission. This award is given by the NACNS president and is not considered an annual award. It may be given at the discretion of the president. This candidate was selected by the 2012 NACNS president, Rachel Moody, MS, CNS, RN, and unanimously endorsed by the NACNS Board of Directors.
Dr Goudreau is an amazing NACNS member and had been invested in the growth and workings of NACNS over her professional career. Dr Goudreau is currently associate director patient care services/nurse executive of the Veteran's Affairs (VA) Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics, White City, Oregon.
Dr Goudreau has been an associate editor for Clinical Nurse Specialist: The Journal of Advanced Nursing Practice since 2008. She served as the NACNS board secretary from 2004 to 2005 and president-elect from 2005 to 2006 and became NACNS president in 2006 to 2007. Dr Goudreau represented NACNS as a participant on the Joint Dialogue Workgroup that created the APRN Regulatory Model (published July 2008).
She continues to be engaged in professional endeavors that include her role as co-chair of the Adult-Gerontology Competency Task Force convened by American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Hartford Foundation (2008-2009) and served as a commissioner of the American Nurses Credentialing Center Commission on Certification (2005-2006). She began work as a site visitor for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education in 2001 and continues that work today.
She is a member of a number of professional associations where she lends her leadership skills, including the American Nurses Association, Oregon Nursing Association, Sigma Theta Tau, Canadian Nursing Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, Oregon Council of Clinical Nurse Specialists, and the Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives.
"Dr Goudreau's self-less work for the nursing profession as well as NACNS make her the perfect inaugural recipient of this award. Dr Goudreau's ongoing efforts and unique achievements have helped NACNS to achieve many organizational goals and make significant steps toward defining the invaluable contribution of the clinical nurse specialist role," said NACNS 2012 president, Rachel Moody, MS, CNS, RN.
Dr Goudreau recently published a text titled Health Policy and Advanced Practice Nursing: Impact and Implications (2014) and is expecting the publication of the second edition of Foundations of Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice (April 2014).
Dr Goudreau is pleased to be representing clinical nurse specialists in the VA System and continues her advocacy for the role in the largest healthcare system in the United States. Her work on the VA Nursing Academic Partnership, the VA Learning Opportunities Residency program for nurses and workforce development in the local community, ensures the future of nursing for many years to come.