Jeri A. Milstead, PhD, RN, FAAN-Senior Nurse Consultant, Milstead Innovations, Dublin, Ohio

Dr. Jeri A. Milstead is an internationally known expert in public policy and the politics of health care.  She is the editor and senior author of Health Policy and Politics A Nurse’s Guide, 3rd ed., that is sold on four continents and Handbook of Nursing Leadership: Creative Skills for a Culture of Safety.  She has invited chapters in two other current nursing textbooks.  Dr. Milstead was a policy advisor in the Washington, DC office of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI), was president of the State Board of Nursing for South Carolina, and held leadership positions in the State Nurses Associations in OH, PA, and SC.  She has published in national and international journals, is a reviewer for several refereed nursing journals and was Editor-In-Chief of The International Nurse from 1995 to 2006 when the publication was retired.

Dr. Milstead holds a PhD in Political Science with majors in health policy and comparative politics from the University of Georgia, an MS and BS, cum laude, in nursing from The Ohio State University, and a diploma from Mt. Carmel Hospital School of Nursing.  She was awarded an honorary doctorate from MedCentral College in 2005.  She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (1500 invited members out of 3.1 million RNs).  She also is a founding member of the Nightingale Policy Institute, a virtual gathering of experienced policy nurses in the US.  She is board-certified as a Nurse Executive-Advanced by the American Nurses Credentialing Commission.  She is a member of Epsilon chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International and in 2002 became a charter member of Rho Chi, the first European chapter.  Dr. Milstead received the Gamma Mu Chapter Award for Excellence in Nursing, the first Search for Excellence Award from the American Nurses Association/SC Nurses Association and was honored by the OH House of Representatives and the SC General Assembly for her leadership and service.  She has been cited twice in the Congressional Record for leadership.  She was honored with the Duquesne University Creative Teaching Award for designing and implementing the first online course taught in the first PhD in Nursing program in the world that is offered completely online and a University of Toledo award as a “Pioneer” in distance education.

Dr. Milstead served as chair of the Board of Commissioners of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Commission on Nurse Certification, chair of the Health Policy Council of ONA, and currently is an active member of the Expert Panel on Global Health and Nursing for the American Academy of Nursing. She is an appointed member of the Patient Centered Medical Homes Education Advisory Group  and was elected Vice Chair in 2010.  From 2005 through 2008 she was an appointed member of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority where she served as chair of the Seaport Committee and the Human Resources Committee.  She was a member of a trade delegation to China in April 2006 and has conducted research and consultation in The Netherlands, Jordan, Nicaragua, and Cuba.  Dr. Milstead was the recipient of a Career Achievement Award in 2007 from the UT Health Science Campus and retired in 2008 as Professor and Dean Emerita, UT College of Nursing.  She currently owns her own business, Milstead Innovations, that provides consultation on public policy, leadership, and education.

Elizabeth Furlong, RN, PhD, JD-Associate Professor, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska

Beth Furlong, RN, PhD, JD is committed to the professionalism of nursing students, nurses, and the profession. Besides teaching senior-level leadership courses, she was on the Nebraska State Board of Nursing for eight years. She brings a knowledge base from that lived regulatory experience plus her knowledge as a lawyer. Belonging to many professional organizations, she has focused her energies in health policy with the Nebraska Nurses Association. her passion for global nursing is reflected in these ways—Peace Corps Volunteer service in South India, teaching in Lithuania, the Republic of Georgia, and Azerbaijan at the request of the Open Society Foundation and the Albert Schweitzer Institute, consulting in Armenia for an international health organization, and being the recipient of two Fulbright Fellowships—one to Jordan and one in the Spring of 2006 to Hungary. She will be facilitating professional development of nursing students at Semmelweis University and the University of Debrecen. 

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