Rhonda Anderson
RN, CNAA, FAAN, CHE
Chief Operating Officer,
Banner Desert Medical Center (Mesa, Arizona)

Ms. Anderson has extensive experience in staff nursing, education, hospital and healthcare organization, and management. With work in the Southwest, Northeast, and Midwest, Ms. Anderson’s diverse experience has given her exposure to a wide range of regional healthcare practices. Prior to moving back to Arizona for her current role, Ms. Anderson was the executive vice president and the chief operating officer for eight years at Hartford Physician Hospital Organization. While in Hartford, Ms. Anderson held a faculty appointment at the University of Connecticut School of Nursing as an assistant professor. Serving on the editorial board of five nursing journals, she has written, published and lectured on professional nursing practice models, financial management, patient classification systems and health care reform. In March 1995, she was a visiting professor at King Faisal Specialty Hospital and Research Centre in Saudi Arabia and in November 1993 was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing. Ms. Anderson is active in several professional, civic, community church and national boards and organizations, including the American Organization of Nurse Executives where she is a Past President, the Arizona Organization of Nurse Executives. She also is currently a JCAHO Commissioner

Leah Curtin
DSc(h), RN, FAAN
Editor of The Journal of Clinical Systems Management
Editor in Chief, Journal of Clinical Systems Management

A graduate of Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing and the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Curtin earned a Masters in health planning and administration and a Masters in philosophy with a major in ethics from the Athenaeum of Ohio. A Clinical Professor of Nursing at University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health, Curtin was editor-in-chief of Nursing Management for 20 years – and has been the senior partner in Metier Consultants for the last 15 years. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York for the impact her editorials have on the development of nursing and health care in the United States. Dr. Curtin has been a visiting scholar at Ballarat University in Victoria, Australia and at the University of Oklahoma, Brigham Young University and the University of Eastern Kentucky. In 1998, Dr. Curtin testified in Copenhagen before Denmark’s Ministry of health on the impact restructuring in U.S. hospitals had on the safety of patient care. A distinguished lecturer for the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, Dr. Curtin, is the author of 280+ editorials and 400+ articles, and eight books, including one on children’s stories of war, which was researched in the war-torn Balkans in Eastern Europe. The book, written to raise money for the care of children damaged by war, was critically praised in The New York Times Sunday Book Review.

Kathleen McCormick
PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI
Senior Scientist/Vice President, SAIC

Dr. McCormick is a senior practitioner, researcher, and policy executive in informatics, bioinformatics, cardiopulmonary physiology and gerontology clinical trials. A graduate of Barry University, Boston University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. McCormick spent 13 years as a bench scientist and clinical trial researcher for the National Institutes of Health. After several years with the United States Public Health Service – where she retired at the rank of captain, Dr. McCormick joined SRA International, Inc, in 1998. There she developed the Genomics, Bioinformatics, and Life Sciences Solutions program. In 2001, she received the Vision Award – only the third time given in the company’s 25 year history – for her work developing and implementing numerous programs. The author of over five books in the field of informatics and over 100 published professional journal articles, Dr. McCormick is a seasoned speaker, consultant and educator with a broad range of disciplines including information, technology, health services research, clinical trials, basic science, medicine and nursing. She is co-author of Essentials of Nursing Informatics, 4th edition.

Nancy Valentine
PhD, DSc(h), MPH, RN, FAAN, FNAP
Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer. Main Line Health, Bryn Mawr, PA

Dr. Valentine is Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Main Line Health, Bryn Mawr, PA. where she serves as the nursing strategy and thought leader for the largest member organization of the Jefferson University Health System. Prior to this role she served as CIGNA HealthCare’s First Vice President, National Nursing Executive, where she provided policy and nursing community strategy development for the company’s more than 3,000 nurses. A graduate of Rutgers University, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard School of Public Health and Brandeis University, Dr. Valentine has served in high-level leadership roles including Assistant Chief Medical Director for Nursing Programs, Special Assistant to the Secretary for Health Affairs and Advisor to the Undersecretary for Health for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C., Vice President for Nursing at McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA. and Director of Nursing at Boston City Hospital, Boston, MA. She has also held numerous adjunct faculty positions and served on educational advisory boards in every city she has been employed in and is on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Serving on numerous professional association advisory boards, and a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the National Academy of Practice, Dr. Valentine is the past president and founding member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association and has served on the founding board of the American Psychiatric Nurses foundation. She served as president of the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research, as commissioner and treasurer of the National League for Nursing Accreditation’s Commission, as corporate committee chair of the Sigma Theta Tau Foundation and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Regis College where she serves as the first nurse on the Board of Trustees. Dr. Valentine also serves as principle of Valentine Group Health. a firm that links innovative solutions in health care to organizations dedicated to enhancing nursing and patient care services.

Pat Stone
PhD, MPH, RN
Assistant Professor,
Columbia University School of Nursing

Dr. Stone is a health services researcher with interests in cost and quality outcomes as it pertains to the nurse work environment and the impact of organizational components on patient, employee and systems outcomes. Dr. Stone is currently Assistant Professor at Columbia University School of Nursing and the principal investigator of “Outcomes of ICU Working Conditions,” a national study that 68 hospitals have enrolled 110 intensive care units and over 2,000 ICU nurses. Initial findings indicate that a positive scheduling climate is perceived as an important factor in the overall work environment of ICU care takers. In addition, Dr. Stone is working on a study in the New York region that is evaluating 14 hospitals and the relationship between scheduling flexibility and nursing. It is hoped that results from these and future projects will inform healthcare leaders and policy makers of how to improve working conditions for nurses while improving patient outcomes and organizational efficiency.