Meet the ACN Faculties 2023

A key part of a nurse’s career is selecting a specialty and developing skills in the chosen area. Whether you want to focus on general practice, perioperative, nursing policy, or one of dozens of other specialties, finding a community of peers who are passionate about the same specialty will enable you to receive support, further your career and work together to make a difference.  

The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is committed to advancing the profession by connecting like-minded nurses who share similar areas of expertise or interest through a range of ACN Faculties. We are proud to introduce three new Faculties, allowing ACN Fellows and Members working in clinical research, chronic disease, and mental health to connect, network and stay up-to-date with new research and news in their areas of expertise.  

Learn more about each Faculty below.  

Clinical Research Nurses Faculty

Launched at the 2022 National Nursing Forum, the Clinical Research Nurses (CRN) Faculty is a group of highly specialised nurses that are passionate about improving health outcomes through clinical trials. CRNs combine their clinical nursing expertise with research knowledge and skills to facilitate the delivery of rigorous, high-quality clinical research to improve health outcomes, the research participant experience and treatment pathways.  

“As a CRN working in a rare disease area, you become a ‘specialist’ nurse resource for patients and their families. Part of the job that I love is interchanging two ‘hats’: the research ‘hat’, and a myositis specialist nurse ‘hat’.” – Kelly Beer MACN, RN, Clinical Research Nurses Faculty  

Find out more about the Clinical Research Nurses Faculty and join today.  

Chronic Disease Faculty

Launched at the 2023 ACN Policy Summit, the Chronic Disease Faculty facilitates a space for nurses working in, or interested in, chronic disease prevention and management. As our population continues to live longer, more than ever there is a need to support our nurses working chronic disease nursing. The Faculty will advocate for both nurses and consumers by supporting policy development, best practice education and research.  

“To provide adequate support to consumers, chronic disease nurses are familiar with the resources and processes available. We maintain good professional knowledge about risks associated with multimorbidity, know how to identify and access resources, and how to operate in rapidly changing technological and complementary healthcare environments. The Chronic Disease Faculty brings chronic disease nurses from all the different and diverse areas of chronic disease management together for a common cause.” – Robyn Quinn FACN (Chair) and Linlin Ho MACN (Deputy Chair), Chronic Disease Faculty 

Find out more about the Chronic Disease Faculty and join today.  

Mental Health Nursing Faculty 

The Mental Health Nursing Faculty is a community of nurses dedicated to supporting the mental health of Australians. Launched in 2023, the Faculty brings mental health nurses together to provide strategic advice and support on policies and positions around mental health and mental wellbeing. Additionally, mental health nurses can learn the most up-to-date best practice ways to advocate for their consumers and clients for optimal outcomes and showcase their expertise through policy, research and networking.  

Stay tuned to learn more about our Mental Health Nursing Faculty Leadership team soon.

Find out more about the Mental Health Nursing Faculty and join today.