TNA Annual Convention to feature three outstanding speakers!

Tennessee Nurse, Fall, 2008

Kate Payne, JD, RN, Director of Ethics, Saint Thomas Hospital, will present Why Ethics Matter in Nursing Practice on Friday, October 24. Payne has been in Ethics Practice since 1994 and currently directs a multifaceted program in healthcare ethics that includes the design and implementation of a variety of educational programs including an ethics fellowship program for pre and post doctoral students seeking a clinical emersion experience in clinical medical ethics; student interns from a variety of disciplines; and educational programs related to healthcare ethics for professional and non-professional audiences on a local and national level. She is also the Human Protections Administrator for the Federal Wide Assurance with the Office of Research Protections related to the ethical conduct of research, member Ethics Review Board for Research for Saint Thomas Health Services.

Payne serves as adjunct clinical faculty at Vanderbilt University, School of Nursing; University of St. Francis, Masters in Health Services Administration Program; and as adjunct faculty at Massey College of Business at Belmont. She also serves as a guest speaker at Belmont University, College of Nursing; Vanderbilt University, Medical School, School of Nursing; and Aquinas University, School of Nursing.

Susan Cooper, MSN, RN, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Health, will present The Health of our State on Saturday morning, October 25. She made Tennessee history on January 20, 2007 when she became the first nurse to serve as Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health.

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Cooper joined state government in September 2005 as a health advisor and was instrumental in developing Tennessee's Health Care Safety Net. She later assumed leadership of Project Diabetes, a program Gov. Phil Bredesen created to curb the Type II Diabetes threat facing young Tennesseans. Cooper also helped facilitate GetFitTN, the public awareness portion of Bredesen's campaign to promote healthier lifestyles and habits among Tennesseans.

Before joining state government, Cooper was a faculty member and assistant dean at Vanderbilt's School of Nursing, where she also earned her nursing degree. Cooper began her career as a nurse specializing in emergency and intensive care.

Jan Towers, PhD, NPC, CRNP, FAANP, FAAN, Director of Health Policy, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, Washington, D.C., will present Nurses & Health Policy on Saturday afternoon.

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Towers has been active in the area of health policy at the national level for more than 20 years, working in behalf of nurse practitioners and their patients to facilitate appropriate regulation, utilization and support for nurse practitioner practice during that time. She has served as a health policy consultant for multiple government and private programs and agencies, including the national advisory committee for the primary care initiatives grants sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

The author of numerous publications related to nurse practitioner practice, she is also founding editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She is a life member of Sigma Theta Tau and Delta Omega honorary fraternities and is a fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.