Connie Barden, retired chief clinical officer of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, to be honored for her tremendous impact on nursing practice, patients and the association
Newswise — The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) honors Connie Barden, MSN, RN, CCRN, FAAN, with its 2024 Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career.
Barden receives the award for her leadership and exceptional contributions, which enhance the care of critically ill patients and their families and the nurses who care for them, and further AACN’s mission and vision. The presentation will occur during the 2024 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition in Denver, May 20-22.
Barden retired as AACN’s first chief clinical officer in late 2023. While in that role for nearly 10 years, she provided strategic leadership that drove the development of clinical practice resources, products and programs that reflected state-of-the-art acute and critical care practice. She also ensured standards and guidelines that met the rigor of a rapidly changing healthcare environment as AACN addressed current and emerging practice needs. She served as executive leader for the practice excellence team and the strategic advocacy team.
As an advanced practice registered nurse, Barden practiced for many years in the role of clinical nurse specialist in various critical care venues. While she was a tele-ICU clinical nurse specialist and then director of telehealth initiatives for Baptist Health South Florida, she co-led the task force that developed “AACN Tele-ICU Nursing Practice Guidelines.” She was previously director of clinical safety and innovation at Miami’s Mercy Hospital, with prior staff nurse and clinical nurse specialist service at other Miami hospitals.
She is proud of her role as co-founder of the YES Institute in Miami more than 25 years ago. YES is a nonprofit organization seen as the source for knowledge on gender and orientation in the Miami area.
She served as AACN president from 2002-2003, with the theme of Bold Voices: Fearless and Essential to encourage nurses to speak up and advocate for themselves, patients and families, and the profession. She was a member of the task force that framed the landmark “AACN Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments: A Journey to Excellence” in 2005, and its revision in 2016, serving as executive editor for both editions.
Barden received AACN’s 2009 Flame of Excellence award for sustained regional and national contributions to acute and critical care nursing. She became a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2018.
Barden received her undergraduate nursing degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in nursing from The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
About the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award: Established in 1997 and named for an AACN past president, the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career recognizes extraordinary and distinguished professional contributions that further AACN’s mission and vision of a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families where acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. Recipients of this Visionary Leadership Award receive a $1,000 gift to the charity of their choice and a crystal replica of the presidential “Vision” icon. Other Visionary Leadership awards, AACN’s highest honor, include the Lifetime Membership Award and the AACN Pioneering Spirit Award.
About the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition: Established in 1974, AACN’s National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI) is the world’s largest educational conference and trade show for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients and their families. Bedside nurses, nurse educators, nurse managers, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners attend NTI.
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. AACN is the world's largest specialty nursing organization, with about 130,000 members and nearly 200 chapters in the United States.
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 27071 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; x.com/aacnme
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