Meet the AORN Board of Directors

Deborah Spratt,
MPA, BSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, CRCST, CHL
President 

Deborah Spratt is currently the chief of sterile processing at the Canandaigua VAMC in Canandaigua, New York. She was previously a staff nurse at the Lattimore Community Surgicenter (LCS) in Rochester, New York. Prior to LCS, she was the clinical director of perioperative services at the University of Rochester's Highland Hospital. Spratt was also at the University of Rochester's Strong Memorial Hospital as the director of value analysis, with responsibility for both capital and supply product evaluation, and purchase recommendation. In addition, she was a nursing clinical specialist assisting with ongoing Magnet and JCAHO Interdisciplinary preparation, and a liaison between nursing and other departments with a focus on patient and workplace safety, process improvement, and systems. Ms. Spratt was nurse manager in the OR at Strong Memorial Hospital providing administrative and clinical leadership for more than 150 perioperative RNs and technicians. Prior to joining Strong Memorial, Ms. Spratt was clinical director of the Lattimore Community Surgicenter in Rochester, New York. Before joining Lattimore, Ms. Spratt was manager of surgical services at Highland Hospital. She earned her diploma in nursing from Highland Hospital, her BSN from Alfred University in Alfred, New York, and a Master's in Public Administration from the State University of New York at Brockport. In 1979, Ms. Spratt achieved her CNOR and in 1993 obtained her CNAA. She has been a perioperative nurse since 1973 and a member of AORN since 1975. She contributed to the AORN publications, Ambulatory Surgery Principles and Practices, and Leadership in Action-A Manager's Guide to Success. She is one of several authors of the book Operating Room Management. Ms. Spratt has testified as an expert witness in the areas of ambulatory/office-based surgery and OR nursing practice and was a member of the New York State Department of Health's Committee on Quality Assurance in Office Based Surgery, and the Procedural and Site Verification Panel. She is a member of the AORN Ambulatory Surgery and Leadership Specialty Assemblies and has served on the governing council for each specialty assembly. She was a member of the AORN Governance Task Force, Specialty Assemblies Futures Task Force, and the Workplace Safety Task Force. Ms. Spratt was a member [2003-2004] and Chair of the 2004-2005 AORN Nominating Committee. She has been a member of the AORN Board of Directors [2006-2008], AORN Secretary [2008-2010] and President-Elect [2011-2012]. Ms. Spratt is also a member of AONE, ANA, and IAHCSMM. Ms. Spratt is the AORN President.

Rosemarie Schroeder, BSN, RN, CNOR
President-Elect 

Rosemarie Schroeder is currently director of surgical services at St. Joseph's Hospital with Ministry Health Care in Marshfield, Wisconsin. She manages 19 ORs, PACU/PreOp, and Central Services at this level II trauma center in North Central Wisconsin. Schroeder was the administrative director at Cox Health in Springfield, Missouri. 

Prior to joining Cox Health, Schroeder was OR Manager at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and a staff nurse and RNFA at University Hospital and a nurse manager at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before joining the CMC system, she held positions at Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Norman Municipal Hospital in Norman, Oklahoma, and St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. She graduated in 1973 from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, with a BS in Nursing. She completed a course in first assisting at Perioperative Plus in Phoenix, Arizona in 1998 and a Clinical Leadership course at UNC in 2004.

Schroeder has been a member of AORN since 1980 and has spoken at conferences locally, regionally, and nationally on many perioperative topics, including total joints, quality improvement, and legislative grassroots involvement. She co-authored an article on legislative efforts in the AORN Journal. She was named to the NC Great 100 Nurses in 1998. She has held various offices, including chair, at the AORN chapter level and the NC State Council. She was a member of the national AORN legislative committee and scholarship committee, a member and chair of the education committee, and chair of the bylaws committee.

Schroeder has served two terms on the AORN Board of Directors, served as Vice President and is currrently serving as President-Elect.

Renae Battié, MN, RN, CNOR 
Vice President 

Renae N. Battié, MN, RN, CNOR, is currently the Regional Director for Perioperative Services for Franciscan Health System, responsible for coordinating the perioperative/GI/Sterile Processing departments at their five hospitals in the greater Tacoma, Washington area.  Her previous roles were in academic and private nonprofit multicampus systems, including ambulatory.  She has experience in OR design/construction, surgical information system implementations, specialty team development and just culture.  She is a frequent presenter at state and national conferences on many topics.

Renae was involved with the Recommended Practices Committee for many years as these transitioned from paper publishing to electronic publishing and the increased use of evidence.  She has continued to be involved with the development of PNDS and the standardized perioperative record, as this work is crucial in validating the importance of the perioperative nurse in excellent perioperative patient care. She was honored to receive the AORN award for Outstanding Achievement in Perioperative Nursing Management in 2010.  She is a member of the Seattle chapter and Washington State Council and currently serves as the national AORN Vice President.

Callie Craig, MS, BSN, RN, CNOR
Secretary 

Callie Craig is the clinical director for surgical services at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City. She received her BSN from the University of Arkansas and her MS in nursing administration and management from the University of Oklahoma. Ms. Craig has served on the AORN National Nominating and Leadership Development Committee and the National Membership Committee. She is a current member of the AORN Congress Education Planning and International Activities Committee, the AORN of Central Oklahoma Chapter Board of Directors, and the Oklahoma State Council of Perioperative Nurses. She has presented numerous programs throughout the US on evidence-based practice and leadership. Her international speaking engagements include programs in Singapore and Austria. Craig's professional experience includes orthopedic, neurology medical-surgical nursing, perioperative neurology, ENT, and plastics nursing. Craig is a member of the INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center Magnet steering committee, infection control committee, nursing excellence council, and clinical quality valve analysis team. 

Anne Fairchild, MS, BSN, RN, CNOR
Treasurer 

Sarah "Anne" Fairchild is an independent perioperative consultant and CEO of Vanguard Enterprises, LLC, Tulsa, Oklahoma. She earned her BSN from Oklahoma Baptist University and her master's in health care administration from Oklahoma State University. Fairchild has been a perioperative nurse for 43 years and a member of AORN for 22 years. She is a member of AORN of Northeastern Oklahoma, e-chapter, the Oklahoma State Council of Perioperative Nurses, the Leadership Specialty Assembly, the Ambulatory Specialty Assembly, and the Business, Industry & Consulting Specialty Assembly. Highlights of Fairchild's service to AORN include that she currently is Treasurer, AORN Board of Directors, and has previously been a member of the Congress Education Planning Committee, a member of the national Executive Leadership Task Force, a member of the Perioperative Nursing Data Set Task Force, member and chair of the AORN Management Connections Advisory Panel, an alternate representative to the Joint Commission's Ambulatory Professional and Technical Advisory Council, a member and chair-elect of the Leadership Specialty Assembly Governing Council, council chair and program chair of the Oklahoma State Council of Perioperative Nurses, and has held every office at the local chapter level.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kathleen Gaberson, PhD, RN, CNOR, CNE, ANEF 

Kathleen Gaberson has over 35 years of experience in nursing education as a faculty member and administrator in diploma, associate degree, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs, as well as 30 years experience as a perioperative nurse. She has served as a member and chair of several AORN committees. She is the recipient of the AORN Perioperative Academic Nurse Educator Award and the Award for Excellence in Perioperative Nursing Research. Dr. Gaberson previously served as research section editor of the AORN Journal, served two terms on the Editorial Board. She has published numerous articles and book chapters and is the co-author of two books on nursing education. She is certified in nursing education and is a Fellow of the Academy of Nursing Education.

Judith Goldberg, MSN, RN, CNOR, CRCST 

Judith Goldberg has been a perioperative nurse for 26 years. Her current position is clinical director, endoscopy, and sterile processing at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut, where she has been for 25 years. Goldberg is responsible for the daily operations, orientation planning, inservice education, and competency development for employees of the endoscopy and sterile processing department. Responsibilities also include collaboration with operating room materials management and serving on multiple hospital committees, including sterilization, infection control, materials management, value analysis, moderate sedation, and safety. Goldberg also serves as a coach in the hospital Frontline Leadership Academy program. Goldberg has been a member of AORN since 1987. She currently serves as her chapter vice-president, and has been active in her chapter for many years having served as president, on the board, and on numerous committees. She currently serves on the CT State Council Board of Directors. On the national level, she currently serves on the Recommended Practices Advisory Board after previously serving six years as a member of the Recommended Practices Committee, with two of the years as Chair. She is currently serving as chair of the Sterile Processing/Materials Management Specialty Assembly. She has been published in the AORN Journal, and has made multiple Congress, chapter, and other presentations.

Denise Jackson, MSN, RN, CNS, CRNFA 

Denise Jackson is a clinical nurse specialist and CRNFA in practice at Shannon Medical Center/Shannon Clinic in San Angelo, Texas. She has been an RNFA in general, thoracic, peripheral vascular, neuro-, ENT, and gynecological surgery since 1992. Denise has been involved in state nursing legislative initiatives since 2000 and serves as a resource to the Texas Nurses Association regarding perioperative issues.

Darin Prescott, MSN, MBA, RN, CNOR, CASC 

Darin Prescott has been a perioperative nurse since 1994. He is presently employed at Mayo Clinic Health System, Mankato, MN in the role of patient care manager, same day surgery and PACU. His past experiences have included roles as a staff nurse, nurse manager, unit coordinator, and director. Currently, he is responsible for operations, planning, and facilitating work teams within the areas of perioperative care. He received his associate of applied science degree in nursing from St. Mary's Campus of the College of St. Catherine in 1993, his BSN from the University of Phoenix in 2006, and his MSN/MBA degree in 2010 from the University of Phoenix. Prescott also serves on the advisory committee of the Anthem College Surgical Technology Program. He teaches perioperative nursing in academic and clinical arenas. In 2006, Prescott received the AORN Next Generation Achievement Award in recognition for professionalism and dedication to perioperative nursing. In 2007, he was invited to join Sigma Theta Tau International in recognition of his leadership in nursing.

Victoria Steelman, PhD, RN, CNOR, FAAN 

Victoria Steelman has been a perioperative nurse for over 25 years. As a perioperative advanced practice nurse at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, she focused on implementing evidence-based practice changes for 20 years. In July 2009, she joined the Department of Veterans' Affairs as a quality scholar focusing on perioperative safety and quality. She is assistant professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Iowa, where she worked with others to develop a perioperative rotation for undergraduate students, and teaches evidence-based practice. She has been nationally active in AORN for more than 15 years, serving as a member and chairman of several committees. In 2010, she chaired the AORN Evidence-based Practice Taskforce, identifying the most appropriate method for rating the strength of evidence in AORN documents. She has extensively published and presented about issues related safe patient care in the OR and has been primary author of many of the AORN Recommended Practices. She has received two outstanding achievement awards from AORN as well as the AORN Award for Excellence in recognition of her many contributions to perioperative nursing. In 2007, she was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in recognition of the national and global impact of her work.

Martha Stratton,MSN, MHSA, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC 

Martha Stratton has been a Perioperative Nurse for over 30 years and has been in surgical services management positions for over 20 years. Stratton is currently the director of surgical services for AnMed Health System in Anderson, South Carolina. She earned her associates degree in nursing from the University of South Carolina, her bachelor's degree in nursing from West Texas A&M University, and master's degrees in nursing and in health systems administration from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing. Martha has served extensively at the local, state, and national levels within AORN. She has been chair of the Leadership Specialty Assembly Coordinating Council, chair of the AORN Congress Education Planning Committee and co-chair of the Congress Education and International Activities Planning Committee. Martha has been nationally recognized for her leadership ability and received two national awards from AORN: Outstanding Achievement in Perioperative Nursing Management in 2005 and Outstanding Achievement in Specialty Assembly Leadership in 2011. Ms Stratton taught finance courses at the graduate school level for nursing administration and healthcare executives and is a certified perioperative nurse as well as a board certified advanced nurse executive. She is AORN’s representative to OR Manager’s planning committee for the Managing Today’s OR Suite conference and serves on the advisory board for OR Manager.

Annette Wasielewski, BSN, RN, CNOR 

Annette Wasielewski is a perioperative nurse with 28 years of experience, the last 20 years specializing in minimally invasive surgery. She is currently self-employed as a consultant for MIS, robotics, and bariatrics. As the past administrative director of MIS, robotics and bariatrics at Hackensack University Medical, she was responsible for the coordination of all minimally invasive, robotic, and bariatric procedures done there. In November of 2000, Hackensack purchased two daVinci surgical robotic systems and was one of the first hospitals to integrate robotics into its surgery department. Additionally, Hackensack is designated by Intuitive Surgical as one of its training facilities in the US for physicians and nursing staff learning to use and operate this system.

Annette has lectured locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally on robotics and bariatrics. She is an active member of SAGES, MIRA, and Sigma Theta Tau.  She is past chair of MIS, lasers and robotics specialty assembly.