QSEN Profile - Geraldine "Polly" Bednash

Geraldine "Polly" Bednash, PhD, RN, FAAN

CEO & Executive Director
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
Washington, DC

Program Experience

RN-BSN, BSN, ABSN, Graduate

QSEN Expertise

Dr. Bednash has been a member of the Steering Committee since Phase I of QSEN; she is the PI for the AACN portion of Phase III of QSEN.  In her role as CEO of AACN, since 1989, Dr. Bednash has overseen many national curricular innovations, e.g. DNP, CNL, and revised Baccalaureate Essentials, and several  national faculty development initiatives, e.g., ELNEC, GNEC, and QSEN.

 

Dr. Bednash received her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Texas Woman’s University, Master of Science in Nursing from The Catholic University of America, and doctorate in higher education policy and law from the University of Maryland.  She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and member of nursing’s national honor society, Sigma Theta Tau International.

Competency Expertise

Patient-centered Care, Teamwork and Collaboration, Evidence-based Practice, Quality Improvement, Safety, Informatics

Teaching Expertise

Before joining AACN, Dr. Bednash was assistant professor at the School of Nursing at George Mason University and a Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Faculty Fellow in Primary Care at the University of Maryland.

Research Expertise

Dr. Bednash is serving as the PI for the national faculty development initiative for the Robert Wood Johnson-funded Phase III of QSEN.

Publications and Presentations

Malloy, P, Paice, J, Virani, R, Ferrel, B, Bednash, G. (2009) End-of-life nursing education consortium: 5 years of educating graduate nursing faculty in excellent palliative care.  Journal Professional Nursing, 24(6), 352357.

Ladden, M D, Bednash, G, Stevens, D P.  (2006)  Educating interprofessional learners for quality, safety, and systems improvement.  Journal of Interprofessional Care, 20(5), 497-505.

Bartels, J E and Bednash, G.  (2005)  Answering the call for quality nursing care and patient safety.  Nursing Administration Quarterly, 24(1), p 5-15.

Related Funding

Author and co-principal investigator for $374,000 grant awarded by Pew Charitable Trust for study — Costs of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Education.