IMMEDIATE RELEASE/September 23, 1996 CONTACT: Anita Baumann [202/651-7048] ANA Applauds Selection of Dumas to National Bioethics CommissionWashington, DC--The American Nurses Association (ANA) applauded President Clinton today for appointing Rhetaugh Graves Dumas, PhD, RN, FAAN, to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. A charter fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and its President from 1987 to 1989, Dumas has a long history of service to the nursing profession, the field of bioethics, and to ANA in particular. Dumas was appointed on September 16 to the 18-member Commission, which is chaired by Princeton University President Harold T. Shapiro. Created last year and expected to meet for the first time in October, the Commission will focus on protection of the rights and welfare of human research subjects and issues in the management and use of genetic information. As part of its work, the commission will consider the scientific, legal and ethical implications of patenting human genes. In addition, the group will advise the National Science and Technology Council, which is part of the Executive Branch, on matters of its own choosing related to biomedical ethics. "The American Nurses Association commends President Clinton for including Rhetaugh Dumas on this Commission, for in doing so he once again recognizes the value of the nursing perspective," said ANA President Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. "We are confident that Dr. Dumas will bring to the discussions not only her bioethics expertise but also her perspective as a nurse and patient advocate." Dumas is Vice Provost for Health Affairs and the Lucille Cole Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan. She is also a member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. Dumas served as Dean and Professor of the University of Michigan School of Nursing from 1981-1994. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Dumas served as deputy director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration from 1979-1981. A native of Natchez, Mississippi, Dumas received her BSN from Dillard University, her MS from Yale University's School of Nursing, and her PhD from the Union Institute, Ohio. She is currently President-elect of the National League for Nursing, the standard-setting and accrediting body for nursing education. The President appointed the first members to the Commission on July 19. Additional appointments, including that of Dumas, were announced on September 16. On the Commission, Dumas will join specialists in the biological and social sciences, and the fields of health, law, theology, and philosophy, as well as community representatives. Dumas is presently writing a book for ANA's Center for Ethics and Human Rights, titled Caring about the Health Status and Care of Minorities: Challenges for Nursing and Other Health Professions, which is scheduled for publication in 1997. The ANA created the Center for Ethics and Human Rights in 1990 to assist nurses and assure that ethics and human rights are addressed in health care. Through their Task Force on the Nurse's Role in End-of-Life Decisions, they developed position statements on assisted suicide and active euthanasia. Last year, as an outcome of an NIH grant, the Center published Managing Genetic Information: Implications for Nursing Practice to provide guidance to nurses as they confront the challenges related to increasing genetic information. Serving as a clearinghouse for resources and information, the Center assists state nurses associations, nurse administrators, educators, journal editors, lawyers, individual nurses, human rights organizations, and other health professionals.
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