A Vermont nurse who has devoted her professional career to improving the quality of health care will be recognized as one of the 10 recipients of the new Breakthrough Leaders in Nursing award created by the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a joint initiative of AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Frances (Fran) Keeler, MSN, RN, DBA, was a nurse administrator in Massachusetts for 18 years before moving to Vermont, where she is a health system regulator. Her work has led to improvements in the use of safe restraints and seclusion for patients with mental illness.
“It is unusual for a nurse to be a regulator, but it is a great way to improve the quality of care,” said Keeler, who is the State Survey Agency director at Vermont’s Division of Licensing and Protection, which regulates the state’s health care facilities. She also teaches nursing and health care administration at the University of Phoenix and Empire State College and is a member of the Vermont Organization of Nurse Leaders, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, and the Vermont Action Coalition.
The Campaign for Action created the 2014 Breakthrough Leaders in Nursing award to celebrate nurse leadership and the importance of efforts by nurses to improve health and health care. The award recipients have worked to help victims of sexual assault, medically fragile children, neurologically impaired individuals, and low-income women in rural areas, among others. Their work is helping to improve the quality of medical care in Vermont, prevent bedsores and reduce Medicaid costs in Texas, and recruit minority nursing students in Wisconsin, to name a few.
“Fran has worked tirelessly to improve health care for the people of Vermont,” said Mary Val Palumbo, professor, University of Vermont, and co-chair, Vermont Action Coalition. “This award recognizes the importance of Fran’s leadership and the incredible results of her efforts.” The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is a joint initiative of AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), working to implement the Institute of Medicine’s evidence-based recommendations on the future of nursing. The Campaign includes Action Coalitions in 50 states and the District of Columbia and a wide range of health care professionals, consumer advocates, policy-makers, and the business, academic, and philanthropic communities. The Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation and RWJF, serves as the coordinating entity for the Campaign, as well as the national program office for the Future of Nursing State Implementation Program.