Board of Directors

Immediate Past President

Diana Ruzicka, MSN (Oncology & Administration), MA (Strategic Studies), MA (Theology), PHN, RN-Alabama

Diana recently retired early from her role as NACN-USA President (term to June 30, 2020) to return to active duty as an Army Colonel in support of the Armed Forces. With this change in leadership, Ellen Gianoli, President-Elect has now stepped into the role of NACN-USA President.

President

Ellen Gianoli, BSN, PHN, RN-Palo Cedro, California

Ellen Gianoli, BSN, RN, PHN, MA (Theology), California Ellen is a seasoned Catholic nurse with a variety of experiences that span staff nurse, charge nurse, public health nurse, department head, hospital educator and college nursing educator. She understands the concerns of nurses to remain morally sound within the intensely changing healthcare environment. Ellen has been the NACN-USA Pacific Regional Director since June 2017, reaching out to nurses on the Pacific Coast all the way to the Northern Mariana Islands. She has taken part in International Healthcare Conferences held by the Dicastery for Integral Human Development at the Vatican, as well as other conferences both in Rome and in the U.S. Ellen firmly believes that our international presence through CICIAMS is essential to keeping a voice for good on the world stage. Ellen comes to this place with a “skill set” available to NACN-USA for “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). Ellen is firm in her willingness to serve now and in the future for Catholic Nurses.

Recording Secretary

Jennifer Hitt-Mayo, PhD, RN, CNE-Tennessee

Jennifer is an Associate Professor and Director of the Nursing Program at Christian Brothers University.  For NACN-USA she organizes the agenda and minutes for the NACN-USA BOD and keeps current the Committee Roster of the organization. Term February – June 2020.

Corresponding Secretary

Rosalinda Jimenez, EdD, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC- Lubbock, Texas

Rosalinda is an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing and is a Family and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. For NACN-USA, she serves as the corresponding secretary responsible for reviewing and responding to the messages from the website, serves on the Communications Committee and its Newsletter and Publicity subcommittee. Term February – June 2020.

Treasurer

Duane J. Belanger, BSN, RN,-Maine

Duane is a registered nurse working at Northern Maine Medical Center, attends St Louis Church in Fort Kent, Maine and is a US Army Veteran. He served as the Town Manager of Wallagrass, Maine until his election to the 118th Maine Legislature where he served as a lawmaker in the Maine House of Representatives. Duane obtained his BSN in 2018 at the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK), is a 2017 Newman Civic Fellow, awarded the UMFK 2018 Citizenship Award, a member of the UMFK Nursing Honor Society and Sigma Theta Tau International. Duane is a graduate student at Creighton University pursuing a DNP. He is an adjunct faculty member teaching classes in nursing at UMFK. He is a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, currently serving as District Marshal.

Term February – June 2020.

Region 1 – Upper Northeast (UNE)

Regional Director

P. Renee Frost, BSN, RN, CCM-Rocky Hill, Connecticut

Renee works in clinical case management. For NACN-USA she serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states: Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Appointed Term 2018-2020.

Region 2 – Lower Northeast (LNE)

Regional Director

Maria Arvonio, BSN, MA (HCE), RN-Trenton, New Jersey

Maria works in clinical nursing. For NACN-USA she serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C. (including liaison with the Archdiocese of the Military Services (AMS) office in D.C.). Term 2018-2020.

Region 3 – MidAtlantic (MA)

Regional Director

Janet Munday, BSN, RN-Wapakoneta, Ohio

Janet works in nursing informatics, endoscopy and as an operating room circulator. For NACN-USA she serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky. Term 2019-2021.

Region 4 – Southeast (SE)

Regional Director

Alma Abuelouf, BSN, RN-Memphis, Tennessee

Alma works as a Director of Pastoral Care for a Diocese. For NACN-USA she serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states: Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico. She also served as NACN President from 2012-2014. Current term 2018-2020.

Region 5 – NorthCentral (NC)

Regional Director

Janet Salihar, RN, CCM- Illinois.  She is President of Midwest Case Management and Managing Partner of OnCall Medical Management Services, nurse consulting firms. Recognizing the importance to support the Catholic nurses in their pressurized jobs and in a post Christian culture, she works tirelessly to promote her local Council and the NACN-USA. She has been the Recording Secretary of the NACN-USA and created the first formal printed and mailed newsletter. Locally, she was President of the Council of Catholic Nurses, Diocese of Joliet, IL, providing members with Eucharistic retreats, events with dynamic speakers, trips to local shrines and updates on legislation relevant to the practice of Catholic nurses. As regional director she would work to ensure that Catholic nurses in her region are aware that the NACN is a safe haven to grow in their spiritual journey and to be armed with grace and knowledge to carry on their ministry at work, with their families and in their communities. For NACN-USA, she serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas. Term 2019-2021.

Region 6 – SouthCentral (SC)

Regional Director

Margaret “Peggy” Humm, MSN, APRN, CNS-MCH
San Antonio, Texas

Peggy is a Clinical Assistant Professor in a School of Nursing. She serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi. Term 2018-2020.

Region 7 – MidWest (MW)

Regional Director

Position is vacant.  Use the Contact Us page to let us know your interest to server on our national board.

This position serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming. Term 2019-2021.

Region 8 – SouthWest (SW)

Regional Director

Position is vacant.  Use the Contact Us page to let us know your interest to server on our national board.

This position serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states: Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico. Term 2020-2022.

Region 9 – Pacific (PA)

Regional Director

Position is vacant.  Use the Contact Us page to let us know your interest to server on our national board.

The position serves as a liaison between the Board of Directors and members in the following states and territories: Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands & American Samoa. Term 2019-2021.

Priest Chaplain

Reverend Michael G. Whyte
West Simsbury, Connecticut

Appointed on July 31, 2013 by the Most Reverend R. Daniel Conlon, Bishop of Joliet, NACN’s Episcopal Advisor, with the acknowledgement and approval of the Most Reverend Henry J. Mansell, Archbishop of Hartford, and at the recommendation of the NACN-USA Board of Directors.