FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/February 23, 1998 CONTACT: Michael Stewart [202/651-7048]; Joan Meehan [202/651-7020]; http://www.nursingworld.org Registered Nurse Virginia Trotter Betts Named to Key U.S. Department of Health and Human Services PositionVirginia Trotter Betts, JD, MSN, RN, FAAN, immediate past president (1992-96) of the American Nurses Association (ANA) has been named to the post of Senior Advisor on Nursing Policy and Senior Health Policy Advisor within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Secretary Donna E. Shalala announced today. In her role as Senior Advisor on Nursing Policy, Betts will monitor and participate in all DHHS policy work that involves the nursing profession. Issues include nursing education, licensure, and scope of practice, nursing research, nursing workforce concerns, and nursing reimbursement and practice arrangements. She will work on a variety of other health policy issues in her role as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Health. "This is an exciting new challenge and opportunity to represent registered nurses and those they serve," said Betts. "Quality holistic care is at the heart of nursing, and I bring that outlook to my new dual roles at HHS." ANA's president, Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, says, "As Ginna Betts' appointment shows, registered nurses continue to take their rightful place at the highest levels of health care decision making. Her appointment is good for nursing and good for the American public's future health and welfare." As ANA president, Betts served as the official representative of the association and as its spokesperson on public policy. Betts also represented U.S. nurses in the Congress of Nurse Representatives of the International Council of Nurses. She also is a past president of the Tennessee Nurses Association. While ANA president, Betts was instrumental in bringing the ANA and nursing to greater visibility and prominence in health care in the U.S. and internationally by substantially increasing the ANA's role in political activism and public policy making. Betts served as a U.S. delegate to the World Health Assembly in 1993 and 1996. She also led the way for the historic development of Nursing's Agenda for Health Care Reform. Betts' honors include her being named the Nursing Organization of the Veterans Administration's "Professional Nurse of the Year" in 1997, the American Psychiatric Nursing Association's "Nurse of the Year" in October 1996, and the Association of Nurse Attorneys' "Advocate of the Year" in 1994. Betts is on leave from her position as president and CEO of HealthFutures, a health and nursing consulting firm specializing in utilizing nurses to address the complex issues inherent in the health delivery system. She also is on leave from Vanderbilt University, where she has served as a senior research fellow at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies and where she has been active in health care reform issues and involved in research on policy issues for Medicaid. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, the Vanderbilt School of Nursing, and the Nashville School of Law, Betts is one of 12 nurses to have been chosen for the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship, where she worked as a health advisor for then-Senator Albert Gore. She is the author of scores of articles on nursing, health care, and health law.
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