ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - Nov. 11, 2025 – The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the largest specialty nursing association in the world, has made a substantial deposit of historical materials to the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing).
The AACN materials will be one of the largest collections housed at the Bates Center. The comprehensive collection, with continued ownership by the association, includes physical and digital documents, correspondence, audiovisual assets and other materials that chronicle the evolution of critical care nursing as one of the earliest specialties in the nursing profession. They date prior to AACN’s initial founding as the American Association of Cardiovascular Nurses in 1969.
“Penn Nursing and AACN have been trailblazers in setting the standards for research, education, credentialing and practice in critical care,” said Antonia Villarruel, PhD, the Margaret Simon Bond Dean of Penn Nursing. “Over the years, faculty have assumed prominent national leadership roles within the association as AACN has championed the work of our faculty and students. We are honored to be entrusted with this history as we continue to create the future of nursing.”
The collaboration significantly enhances the Bates Center's mission to preserve and promote the rich heritage of the nursing profession.
“This generous deposit from AACN represents a pivotal moment for our center,” said J. Margo Brooks Carthon, PhD, the Van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, and director of the Bates Center. “The AACN collection will serve as an invaluable resource for researchers, educators and students seeking to understand the evolution of critical care nursing and its impact on patient outcomes.”
The AACN materials will be carefully catalogued, preserved, and made accessible to researchers and the public by the Bates Center’s curator, Jessica Martucci, PhD, and archivist, Jessica Clark.
The collection will support academic research, educational initiatives and public programming that highlight the continuing pivotal role of critical care nursing in healthcare history.
“AACN’s groundbreaking contributions to the development of critical care as a distinct specialty in nursing and healthcare continue to advance and strengthen global healthcare,” said Dana Woods, AACN CEO. “By creating official archives, we can make our association’s unique history accessible for future scholarly and public use.”
“The center’s working relationship with AACN began in 1998 with “Critical Care Nursing: A History,” a University of Pennsylvania Press publication, authored by the Bates Center’s emeritus directors Drs. Julie Fairman and Joan Lynaugh, and funded by AACN,” said AACN Organizational Historian Ramon Lavandero.
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. 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. AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, with about 130,000 members and nearly 200 chapters in the United States.
About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing: The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) is one of the world’s leading nursing schools. It has been ranked the #1 nursing school in the U.S. by QS University for a decade. Our Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is among the top-ranked programs in the nation, according to the 2026 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings. Penn Nursing also consistently earns high rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of best graduate schools and is a top recipient of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for nursing research. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube & Instagram.
About the Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing: Housed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, the center is renowned for its extensive collection of nursing artifacts, documents and memorabilia that chronicle the profession's evolution from its earliest days to the present. For 40 years, it has served as the premier resource for scholars, students and healthcare professionals interested in nursing history.