The National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) today announced that Yvonne Dobbenga-Rhodes, MS, RNC-OB, CNS, CNS-BC, CPN, Maternal-Child Health Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Washington Hospital Healthcare System in Fremont, Calif., has been elected to serve on the 2016-2017 NACNS Board of Directors. Dobbenga-Rhodes has been a member of NACNS since 2008. Prior to joining the Board, she served on the NACNS Nominating Committee from 2010 to 2013.
“I’m honored to be elected and serve on the Board of an organization that has done so much to build awareness of the important role that clinical nurse specialists play in ensuring that patients receive high quality care based on the best and most recent research practices,” said Dobbenga- Rhodes. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and NACNS staff and members to continue to advance this crucial role in health care.”
Dobbenga-Rhodes is also a member of the California Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Association of Operating Room Nurses, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, the National Association of Neonatal Nurses, the Society of Pediatric Nurses, and Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing.
“We are delighted to have Yvonne join our Board of Directors,” said NACNS Executive Director Melinda Mercer Ray, MSN, RN. “Her service on the Nominating Committee has been invaluable and she is a true leader in nursing. We look forward to her leadership and guidance as we continue to build and strengthen this association, advance the vital role of the clinical nurse specialist and improve health care.”
Dobbenga-Rhodes earned a Master of Science degree in Women’s Health Care from the University of Rochester School of Nursing in Rochester N.Y., and her BSN from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.