AACN Honors Safriet

May 12, 2016

Added to Collection

Barbara Safriet receives AACN award for distinguished career in critical care

Safriet — health law and policy expert who advocates for advanced practice nursing — honored for extraordinary contributions to critical care and AACN mission, vision


ALISO VIEJO, Calif.
 — May 12, 2016 — The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) honors Barbara Safriet, J.D., with the 2016 Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career.

Safriet will receive the award for exceptional contributions throughout her 45-year legal career that enhanced the care of critically ill patients and their families, and furthered AACN’s mission and vision. The presentation will occur during the 2016 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition, New Orleans, May 16-19.

“Barbara’s contributions to advanced practice nursing are legendary among experts in licensure and credentialing,” said AACN national president Karen McQuillan. RN, MS, CNS-BC, CCRN, CNRN, FAAN. “As a specialist in health law and policy, she recognized that improving healthcare outcomes required workforce reform and challenged unnecessary barriers to nursing practice.”

For the past seven years, Safriet has taught at Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon, as a visiting professor of health law and policy. She was a member of the law school’s full-time faculty from 1976 to 1988.

She then served as associate dean for academic affairs and a lecturer in law at Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut, for 18 years. She was the founding adviser and member of the advisory board of the peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law and Ethics, from 2001 to 2009.

Nearly 25 years ago, Safriet helped establish the case for the economic value of APRN’s with her article “Health Care Dollars and Regulatory Sense: The Role of Advanced Practice Nursing.” The Institute of Medicine commissioned her to write a paper about maximizing the value of advanced practice nurses for its landmark 2010 report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.”

Safriet serves on the certification commission for the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as a public member and was a member of The Pew Health Professions Commission, and its Taskforce on Health Care Workforce Regulation.

Numerous organizations — including the Rockefeller Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, governmental agencies, non-profit groups and professional associations — regularly seek her expertise as a health law consultant and presenter.

She graduated with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, where she served as editor-in-chief of Maryland Law Review.

About the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award: Established in 1997 and named for a past AACN president, the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career recognizes extraordinary and distinguished professional contributions that further AACN’s mission and vision of a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and families where acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. Recipients of this Visionary Leadership Award receive a $1,000 gift to the charity of their choice, lifetime membership in AACN and a crystal replica of the presidential “Vision” icon. Other Visionary Leadership Awards, AACN’s highest honor, include Lifetime Member Award, Honorary Member Award and the AACN Pioneering Spirit Award.  

About the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition: Established in 1974, AACN's National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI) represents the world's largest educational conference and trade show for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients and their families. Bedside nurses, nurse educators, nurse managers, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners attend NTI.  

About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: Founded in 1969 and based in Aliso Viejo, California, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. AACN represents the interests of more than 500,000 acute and critical care nurses and includes more than 225 chapters worldwide. The organization's vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution.