Beth Hammer, RN, MSN, APN-BC, president of the American
Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Board of Director,
began her one-year term on July 1, 2009. She has served on the
AACN Board since 2005 including terms as secretary from
2007 to 2008 and president-elect from 2008 to 2009.
Hammer - a certified adult nurse practitioner in cardiology at
the Clement J. Zablocki Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center,
Milwaukee - provides consultation and long-term follow-up care
to patients with acute and chronic arrhythmias including those
with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators. She
also oversees the hospital’s 23-Hour Chest Pain Evaluation Program.
Hammer, who held various clinical positions of increasing
responsibility at the medical center, helped to develop the hospital’s
electrophysiology program, a regional referral site for optimal patient care.
She began her career there in the medical-telemetry unit; later transferring to the
medical/surgical intensive care unit where she spent most of
her career before completing her master of science in nursing
degree in 1996 from Marquette University, Milwaukee.
Hammer, an adjunct graduate faculty member at Concordia University,
Mequon, Wis., earned her bachelor of science in nursing degree from
the College of Saint Teresa, Winona, Minn. She lives in Wauwatosa,
Wis., with her faithful canine companion, Toby.
