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ACNM 2008 Elections
The votes are in! Read the ACNM Election Results.
Candidate Information
Candidates for Vice President: Candidates for Region I Representative: Candidates for Region VI Representative:
Melissa D. Avery, CNM, PhD, FACNM Present Position/Title: Associate Professor and Director, Nurse-Midwifery Program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota ACNM Activities: Local: Member 1982 – present; Active with Chapter to pass legislation for 3rd party reimbursement and prescriptive authority in the 1980s; Vice-Chairperson, 1982-1984 Candidate Statement Related to Office: The Vice President of ACNM facilitates communication between the committees and divisions and the Board of Directors, and further supports the College as requested by the President or Board. My experience on many committees and divisions over 26 years, both as member and chair, has facilitated my work as Vice President the past 2 ½ years. ACNM has worked with the membership to promote the midwifery model as the best way to provide quality care to women for over 50 years. Going forward, we must be able to work together strategically to promote midwifery and quality care for the women we serve. In order for ACNM to be an effective association, it is important that we demonstrate value as an organization to our members; really value differences in practice, education and perspective; encourage synergy among the generations of midwives; and continue to adapt our organizational structure to one that can be responsive in a fast paced world. I would welcome the opportunity to continue to serve as the ACNM Vice President and help the College continue to develop as a flexible organization that can anticipate trends and change to meet the evolving needs of our membership. Elaine K. Diegmann, CNM, M.Ed., ND, FACNM Present Position/Title: Program and Services Director, Nurse-Midwifery Education Program UMDNJ School of Nursing, Newark, New Jersey ACNM Activities: Local: Chapter Chairperson, 1982-1987; Developed Peer Review mechanism for New Jersey, 1985-1998; Chair, for 15 years and am currently part of the revival of the Peer Review mechanism in the State; Co-author of the prescriptive privilege bill for New Jersey; Instrumental in the development of the Midwifery Liaison Committee, 1989-1998; Participated in the initiative to place a midwife on the BOME of New Jersey as an official voting member Candidate Statement Related to Office: I have spent 28 years in midwifery education and practice, and since 1991 I have been the program director at UMDNJ. In 2006, the program was transferred to the UMDNJ School of Nursing from the School of Health Related Professions as part of the new mission of the University to bring congruence to its education goals. It is my belief that to be a good educator one must stay in touch with the “real world” of practice and to that end have set up and maintained three faculty practices in order to educate our students and to serve the community. Part of my work week includes clinical practice and dealing with the business end of clinical practice such as insurance carriers, billing and coding, credentialing, etc. and the other part involves administration of the educational program: curriculum, student recruitment and retention, the responsibilities of academia, etc. So I can see both sides of the midwifery profession: education and service, and face weekly the joys and problems of each. As an added bonus, I can now view education from inside and outside of Schools of Nursing having been part of both. I feel that as Vice President I will be able to understand the needs and priorities of both practice and education and to insure that the ACNM maintains a balanced agenda and strategic priorities in the coming years. I will join in the fight to preserve the midwifery model of care and to educate women and their families about the perils of the medicalization of birth. I will work to impassion young people and future health care providers to become midwives and to help establish midwifery as the primary care provider for women in this country. Candidate for Region I Representative Lynette Hamlin (Ament), PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM Present Position/Title: Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Nursing, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire ACNM Activities: Local: ACNM Connecticut Chapter (1997-2004) Candidate Statement Related to Office: As a board member and Region I Representative, I believe the most important characteristics of a leader are communication, inclusiveness, trust, and valuing. It is important to maintain open lines of communication. It is also important for a board member to be inclusive in decision-making, whereby Region 1 members feel that their input is sought out and communicated to the national office staff and leadership and a local impact can be felt. My experience as a CNM includes starting the first practice in a county where no CNM had hospital privileges to re-invigorating an academic practice. Since becoming a CNM I have been actively involved in our national organization and have continued to assume leadership roles. The ACNM is a valuable professional organization that meets an important need for its members and its consumers and our challenges change with those needs. We must continue to have a voice and role in those changes. Candidate for Region I Representative Linda Nanni, CNM Present Position/Title: Shareholder, Managing Board Member & Director of Nurse-Midwifery Services, Women's Care, Inc., Providence, RI ACNM Activities: Local: RI Chapter Chairperson, 1989-1992, 2003-2004; Chairperson Peer Review Committee 1988-1992 Candidate Statement Related to Office: One of the ACNM’s priorities is to gain and retain members. There are several issues that influence that goal. The organization must be a recognized leader in all matters of women’s health regionally, nationally and internationally. The organization needs to be responsive to its members’ concerns and the organization must be supportive to its members by providing tools that will advance the member’s professional growth and development. As a Regional Representative I can help the organization achieve these goals. I see this role as an ambassador for the profession and for its members in the region. Communication with members in the region on the matters important to the ACNM through chapter chair correspondence and regional meetings and bringing regional issues back to the board would be my main goal. Candidate for Region VI Representative Candace Curlee, MS, CNM Present Position/Title: Clinical Position – Women’s Health, Scripps Clinic Mission Valley, San Diego, California ACNM Activities: Local: Legislative Representative for Region 6, Chapter 1, San Diego, Past Chapter Chair Candidate Statement Related to Office: I have been in clinical midwifery practice for 27 years. During this time, I have actively maintained my membership with ACNM and have persistently pursued the expansion of midwifery practice. Sixteen years of my career as a nurse-midwife were as an active duty US Naval officer. I held many leadership roles in the Navy, which included 5 years of service as a specialty advisor for nurse-midwives and women’s health nurse practitioners to the Navy Surgeon General. I have also served in two separate hospitals as a member of the executive committee of the medical staff. I believe that every woman deserves midwifery care, and midwifery type care, that is why I have tried to use my influence in all the positions I have held to advocate for the nurse-midwifery model, whether it be in the education of resident physicians, student nurse practitioners and student nurse-midwives or in creating positions for midwifery practices. We, especially through the ACNM, need to continue to expand our influence in the healthcare arena with strategies that are working today, and with new processes that will continue to promote and expand nurse-midwifery practice. We must continue to meet the challenges in the health care climate in which we as certified nurse-midwives and certified midwives find ourselves. We must continue to present ourselves as leaders whose true goal is to insure optimal, individualized, and satisfying care for women and their families. I have learned through my professional and personal life that the best decisions made are those based on input from stakeholders, seriously analyzing the input, and reconciling differences. Advocacy to bring ideals to fruition requires planning, persistence, and negotiation and I have had success following these principles. As your representative, I will listen to your ideas and be your voice at the table of ACNM’s board so that we can continue to fashion strategies that make the midwifery healthcare model the standard for women’s healthcare. Candidate for Region VI Representative Alex Schott, CNM Present Position/Title: Faculty, School of Science and Health Midwifery Program, Philadelphia University (Distance Education Program), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ACNM Activities: Candidate Statement Related to Office: I have practiced midwifery for the last thirty years. During these thirty years I have worked in a home/birth center practice, a university practice and within a public/county system. I have worked in states with liberal nurse-midwifery legislation and in those states, such as California, where restrictive language is still present. I have experienced the professional highs when women joined with midwives to challenge the obstetrical status quo. I have also experienced sadness as birth centers closed because of prohibitive malpractice premiums and an unsupportive midwifery climate. These multiple and varied experiences provide me with insight as to how we as a profession handled our past challenges. Even though our current challenges may be more complex and slightly different, our past solutions may provide a historical prospective. Region VI is the largest region in the ACNM organization. It covers states with vastly different and yet similar midwifery challenges. Each midwifery community in each state within this region has discovered a way to meet the challenges such as restrictive licensing regulations, archaic credentialing procedures and the public misperception of midwifery practice. As Regional Representative I hope to share these different solutions through electronic communication and a regional network that brings together all midwives. I have been an ACNM member for a long time. I have seen it grow and change as the climate of health care spirals out of control. I believe that our professional organization understands the concerns of its membership. I believe that the Regional Representative is not only responsible to the organization but to her region's members. I would be honored to work toward supporting midwifery within my region and providing responsive strategies in meeting member challenges.
Candidate for Nominating Committee Patricia W. Caudle, CNM, DNSc, FNP Present Position/Title: Faculty, Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing, Hyden, Kentucky ACNM activities: Board member for the American Midwifery Certification Board. Candidate Statement Related to Office: The Nominating Committee has the responsibility for identifying those individuals in our organization who have the qualifications, willingness, and dedication to serve in the various offices for the American College of Nurse-Midwivesfery. I have been a member in good standing for 10 years and I have been involved in both full-scope practice and in teaching. During this time I have gained an understanding of what we, as an organization, need in leadership. I feel that I am ready to become an active part of the process of selecting leaders by serving on the Nominating Committee. Candidate for Nominating Committee Thomas Chappell, CNM Present Position/Title: Nurse-Midwife, Palmetto Women's Healthcare, Manning, South Carolina ACNM Activities: Candidate Statement Related to Office:
Candidate for Nominating Committee Jo Anne P. Davis, PhD, CNM Present Position/Title: Faculty, New York University Midwifery Program, New York, New York ACNM Activities: Local: Chapter Chair, Chapter Treasurer, Region IV, Chp. 2 Candidate Statement Related to Office: To serve on the national Nominating Committee is to have the opportunity to bring before the College Membership those midwives with vision for midwifery’s future, the skills and knowledge to strive for that future, and the capacity to authentically lead in women’s healthcare, both nationally and internationally. It is clear to many midwives that the College can honor midwifery’s legacy, while developing innovative approaches to the many challenges we now encounter as a profession. Seeking out talented and bold leaders for the many positions of leadership within the ACNM is one way to serve the profession we love, and to contribute to its future wellbeing. I recognize the important link between identifying our future leaders, and the future directions of the College. I would be honored and challenged by the opportunity to serve on the Nominating Committee. Candidate for Nominating Committee Fran Ventre, CNM, MPH Present Position/Title: Clinician, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, Durham, NC., RN Birth Assistant, Per Diem, Women’s Birth and Wellness Center, Chapel Hill NC, Free Standing Birth Center. ACNM Activities: Local: Massachusetts chapter chair, 1979-81, 1990-92; Worked on legislation to get birth centers legally recognized and licensed in the state; Served on the state's Department of Public Health Task Force to write birth center rules and regulations. Candidate Statement Related to Office: Working as a midwife over the last 30-plus years I have been fortunate to have had a career that is rich and varied. I have had unique opportunities of being with women in the ashrams, communes, homes, of the 70s and free standing birth centers. I have had the privilege to work in community and inner city tertiary care hospitals serving the underserved women from many strata of society as well as the migrant Mexican women who came to Sister Angela’s Birth Center in Weslaco Texas. More recently midwifery has taken me to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Sudan to work in the aftermath of their war-torn countries. I hope that I and those of us who have been part of this movement have made a difference and that we have eased the way, somewhat, for the young ones who are now taking their rightful places in this wonderful calling of midwifery. Each of us as midwives has a story to tell in this struggle of ours to gain acceptance as a recognized force in giving care to the women and their families. I value each midwife story and have savored listening to them through the years. As Midwives, it is not only imperative to “Listen to Women” but to listen to and honor each other.
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