About Mary Frances

Mary Frances Pate, RN, PhD, CNS, served a two-year term as chair on the AACN Certification Corporation board of directors from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2016. A board member from July 2009 through June 2013, she was secretary/treasurer in 2011-2012 and chair-elect in 2013-2014. Before holding teaching positions at the undergraduate and graduate levels, she was a clinical nurse specialist in the pediatric ICU at Oregon Health & Science University, and at Children’s Hospital of Alabama. She served on the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal AACN Advanced Critical Care from 2004 - 2014. She also was the pediatric department editor for AACN Advanced Critical Care from 2007- 2014, and currently serves as the clinical editor for The Journal of Pediatric Nursing. Her published work includes many nursing articles and textbook chapters related to pediatric intensive care, evidence-based practice, and Healthy Work Environments.