NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci addressed nurses during American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ annual conference
NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci gives keynote address during American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ annual conference
Newswise — Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and chief medical advisor to the President of the United States, spoke to nurses and other healthcare professionals during the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI), the annual conference of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the world’s largest specialty nursing association with more than 130,000 members.
“ICU nurses throughout the country… They’re the great heroes and heroines and everybody in the world knows that,” he said. “You never realize you’re living through history when you’re living through it. It’s tough now, but when it’s over and you think back about it, you will have done a historic thing.”
AACN President Elizabeth Bridges, PhD, RN, CCNS, FCCM, FAAN, conducted the virtual interview with Dr. Fauci for NTI attendees, with a discussion about how his past experience with the HIV epidemic almost 40 years ago prepared him for this past year and his hopes for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Serious COVID-19 is a disease that was made for the intensive care nurse,” he said. “This is a disease that’s in your hands. It really is. As much as developing a vaccine and developing drugs is in my hands as a scientist and a public health person, the on-the-ground, in-the-trenches responsibility and success of this is in the hands of the people who are taking care of these people.”
The full transcript of the conversation is available here.
About the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition: Established in 1974, AACN’s National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI) represents the world’s largest educational conference and trade show for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients and their families. Bedside nurses, nurse educators, nurse managers, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners attend NTI.
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: For more than 50 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has been dedicated to acute and critical care nursing excellence. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, with more than 130,000 members and over 200 chapters in the United States.
American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 27071 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; 949-362-2000; www.aacn.org; facebook.com/aacnface; twitter.com/aacnme
