McHenry Re-elected to Serve on AACN National Board

February 20, 2018

Dr. Lepaine McHenry, dean of the College of Nursing at OBU, was re-elected as a national board member-at-large with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

The AACN is the national voice for university and four-year college education programs in nursing. AACN represents more than 810-member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide. Its educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection, publications and other programs work to establish quality standards for bachelor's and graduate degree nursing education. In addition, AACN assists deans and directors to implement those standards, to influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and to promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research, and practice.

“It is an honor to be elected by my peers, representing more than 810 schools nationwide,” McHenry said. “As a dean from a small, private, faith-based school, the ability to contribute and participate in the national conversation of nursing education is an opportunity to shape the future of nursing. This is exciting, but it is not a task I take lightly.”

The AACN announced the results Feb. 7 of its 2018 election to fill seats on the AACN board of directors and nominating committee. With votes cast by nearly two-thirds of all member deans from the nation’s nursing schools with baccalaureate and higher degree programs, those joining McHenry on AACN’s board include Judy Beal, chair-elect, Simmons College; Jean Leuner, secretary, Auburn University at Montgomery; Christie Shelton, member-at-large, Jacksonville State University; and Kristen Swanson, member-at-large, Seattle University. New members of AACN’s Nominating Committee include Janet Krejci, Marquette University, and Lillia Loriz, University of North Florida. 

Prior to her current appointment at OBU as dean in 2013, McHenry worked as a nurse educator for 15 years at the University of Arkansas, which included serving in the role of assistant director of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. Her background in nursing regulation and practice includes service as vice president of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, vice president of the National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration, founding president of the Arkansas Directors of Nursing Administrators in Long Term Care, and president of the Arkansas Society for Healthcare Educators. She was appointed by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to serve on the state's Minority Health Commission, the Long Term Care Facility Advisory Board, and the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.