You Want Me to Do WHAT??!! Facing Frenzy at Work, Flip the Coin! Heads-Wipe the floor Tails-Nurse the patient

Meet with Linda Stierle of the American Nurses Association, Wylecia Harris from The Center for American Nurses and Anne Wagner, of the SEIU Nurse Alliance of Nevada. Hear the nuts and bolts of nurse empowerment and how to make JCAHO work for you in this dynamite moderated panel session.

Invited moderator-Cynthia Bunch, Immediate Past President of the NNA

In addition to Cynthia serving as the president of the Nevada Nurses Association, she served as Legislative Chairperson for the organization as well. Cynthia has a clinical background as staff nurse in intensive care. She served as coordinator of federal and state nursing legislative issues and was instrumental in the passage of the Nevada's Patient Protection Act, the first such legislation in the country.

Linda Stierle, RN, MSN, CNAA, BC is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the American Nurses Foundation (ANF). She plays a key role in the corporate continuity between ANA and its three related entities: the American Nurses Foundation, The American Academy of Nursing and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

She also plays a key role in the continuity between ANA and its important associate members, the Center for American Nurses and the United American Nurses, AFL-CIO. She brought more than 30 years of nurse management experience in health care operations to the position when she joined the ANA.

Stierle retired with the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps after a distinguished and highly awarded military nursing career. Her clinical and management positions included staff nurse, intensive care and chief nursing officer of medical centers at both Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and Lakenheath, England.

As Chief of US Air Force Nurse Corps, Stierle had oversight of a $4.5B budget and helped develop health care policy that impacted nursing personnel, ancillary personnel and facilities.

Linda Stierle earned a MSN from the University of California, San Francisco, a BSN from Incarnate Word College, San Antonio, Texas and a Diploma in Nursing from Spartanburg General Hospital in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Wylecia Wiggs Harris is the Executive Director of The Center for American Nurses. She is responsible for providing leadership and vision for the Center's staff, volunteers and constituent member organizations. With 20 years of diverse association experience, Ms. Harris brings to the position strong relationship management skills and a proven track record in building and establishing sustainable organizations.

Prior to joining The Center, Ms. Harris served as executive director for the Sister to Sister: Everyone Has a Heart Foundation, a Maryland-based organization supporting women's issues and heart disease education. Additionally she worked with the American Heart Association in positions at the local, regional and national levels. During her tenure with the American Heart Association, she used her negotiation and communication skills to effectively orchestrate the merger of five independent state operating units into a regional structure, now known as the Mid-Atlantic Affiliate.

She holds a bachelor's degree from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and a master's of management degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She received her certified executive director certification (CAE) in January 2006. Ms Harris' professional affiliations include the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Maryland Society of Association Executives (MSAE), American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

Ms. Harris is passionate about helping individuals develop their leadership and self-empowerment potential. Recently, she was accepted into Capella University to pursue a doctorate in organizational development with a concentration in leadership.

Anne Wagner RN, BSN, brings more than a decade of ongoing staff nurse experience in cardiovascular intensive care at a Las Vegas hospital. An ACLS provider and instructor, she is Nurse Alliance Coordinator of continuing education and political programs for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Anne is a member of the American Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International, The American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the SEIU Nevada Alliance of Nurses. Her current Nurse Alliance activities relate to nurse staffing ratios, patient care outcomes and legislative actions. Anne will complete her MSN at the UNLV School of Nursing with a focus on Nursing Education in the summer of 2006.