Vacchiano Elected President of National Board for Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists Board of Directors

Duke University School of Nursing Professor Dr. Chuck Vacchiano has been elected president of the National Board for Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists Board of Directors.

"It is only natural that someone with the leadership qualities of Dr. Vacchiano would rise to top positions within his field," said Catherine L. Gilliss, Dean and Vice Chancellor for Nursing Affairs at Duke University School of Nursing. "Nurse anesthetists are a key component of providing important care in a variety of settings, from a rural clinic in America’s heartland to a military hospital halfway around the world."

Dr. Vacchiano spent 26 years in the U.S. Navy as a practicing nurse anesthetist, educator, and researcher. During this time, he provided anesthesia care at stateside and overseas hospitals and aboard naval combat vessels. He also taught and performed clinical research in the Navy Nurse Corps Anesthesia Program and was the director of Biomedical Sciences Division at the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory.

Following his retirement from the U.S. Navy, Dr. Vacchiano became director of the Gooding Institute, Bay Medical Center Nurse Anesthesia Program. He has published in multiple journals, including American Journal of Physiology, Cardiovascular Research, Shock, and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Journal, and serves as a reviewer for several agencies and journals. He was named the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Researcher of the Year in 2007.

About DUSON
Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON), as a diverse community of scholars and clinicians, educates the next generation of transformational leaders in nursing, advances nursing science in issues of global import, and fosters the scholarly practice of nursing. In 2011, US News and World Report ranked Duke among the top seven graduate schools of nursing in the nation. The School offers masters, PhD, and doctor of nursing practice degrees, as well as an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing degree to students who have previously completed an undergraduate degree. More than 800 individuals enrolled for Spring 2012 classes, the largest number of students in the School’s 80-year history.