Ask The Expert - Biographies

Sherri-Lynne Almeida, RN, DrPH, MSN, MEd, CEN, FAEN is the Chief Nursing Officer for CareFusion. She has 28 years of nursing experience in Emergency Care and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Almeida earned her BSN at Fitchburg State College and her MSN at the University of Texas-Houston. She holds a MEd from Bridgewater State College and a DrPH from the University of Texas. She is a nationally and internationally recognized consultant, speaker and author on clinical and leadership issues in nursing, with many peer reviewed publications and book chapters to her credit.

Dr. Almeida is a past President of the Emergency Nurses Association and current board member. She served as the 2009 Secretary/Treasurer. She was inducted as a Fellow in the Academy of Emergency Nursing in 2005. She is also a member of ANA, AONE, AACN, Sigma Theta Tau, MNA, and TNA.

She maintains adjunct positions at the University of Texas-Houston School of Nursing as an Assistance Professor and at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Nursing as an Assistant Clinical Professor. Dr. Almeida has served on numerous national committees and task forces.
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Mary Alexander, MA, RN, CRNI^®, CAE, FAAN

Infusion Nurses Society
As Chief Executive Officer of the Infusion Nurses Society (INS), Mary Alexander is responsible for the management of an international, nonprofit specialty nursing organization of over 6,200 members by assuring consistent delivery of professional services to members. As Editor of the Journal of Infusion Nursing, a scientific, research-based, peer-reviewed publication, Ms. Alexander writes bimonthly columns for the Journal and has editorial responsibilities for a bimonthly membership newsletter, INS Newsline. She is an editor of the Core Curriculum for Infusion Nursing, 3rd edition and Editor-in-Chief of the new, revised INS textbook, Infusion Nursing: An Evidence-Based Approach. She is also responsible for the credentialing program of the Infusion Nurses Certification Corporation.

Ms. Alexander's areas of expertise include infusion therapy with an emphasis on patient safety, practitioner competency and standards development. Ms. Alexander's clinical experience spans a variety of practice settings, encompassing home care, alternative sites and acute care settings. She received her nursing diploma from Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing, her Bachelors of Science degree in Health Care Administration from Emmanuel College in Boston, MA, followed by her Masters of Arts in Business Administration from Framingham State College in Framingham, MA. She has maintained her certification in infusion nursing since 1985 and is recertified through 2012. In 2005, she achieved the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society of Association Executives. She is Past President of INS and received the distinguished award of INS Member of the Year in 1992. In November 2008 she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She has spoken nationally and internationally on the benefits of the specialty practice of infusion nursing and standards of practice development.
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Ruth M. Carrico, PhD, RN, CIC is an Assistant Professor with the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences and Associate Faculty with the Center for Health Hazards Preparedness. Dr. Carrico has focused her practice toward issues dealing with infection prevention in the healthcare and public health sectors and is board certified in infection control. She has received training specific for healthcare epidemiology and public health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in conjunction with the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). Return to Ask the Expert


Kelly Fugate, ND, RN is an Associate Project Director, Specialist, in the Division of Standards and Survey Methods at The Joint Commission. She manages standards development work pertaining to infection prevention and control, heart failure, organ and tissue transplantation, health care staffing, nursing leadership, and palliative care, including ongoing education for Joint Commission field staff. Dr. Fugate has published journal articles and authored book chapters. She has cared for adult patients for twenty years in urban county public, teaching, and suburban community hospitals, as well as private clinics, and taught undergraduate and graduate nursing students. Dr. Fugate has worked with persons with HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, and persons with addictions from a variety of ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds; other clinical areas of expertise include critical care, end of life care, and complementary therapies. Dr. Fugate earned her Doctor of Nursing from Case Western Reserve University. Return to Ask the Expert


Carol Hatler, PhD, RN speaks at conferences, conducts workshops and consults with healthcare and educational organizations on a variety of clinical and professional development topics. Dr. Hatler received her baccalaureate and master's degrees in nursing from Arizona State University. She completed her doctoral studies in clinical nursing research at the University of Arizona in 2004, with an emphasis in health care systems.

In her 30 plus year nursing career, Dr. Hatler has held clinical and management positions in critical care, oncology and emergency nursing departments in a variety of healthcare facilities. As an adjunct faculty member, she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on topics such as research methods, professional dynamics and leadership. Her current position is Director of Nursing Research at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ. Return to Ask the Expert


Joan Hebden RN, MS, CIC received her baccalaureate and master's degrees from the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Her clinical background includes general medicine, oncology and cardiothoracic intensive care. She has served as the lead infection control practitioner for 25 years at the University of Maryland Medical Center, a 575 bed tertiary care facility. Since 2005, she has provided oversight for the infection control program at a 170 bed long-term acute care facility that is affiliated with the medical center.

An accomplished practitioner, Ms. Hebden has presented at national epidemiology conferences, participated in research regarding the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, contributed chapters on infectious diseases to nursing resource texts, and published in medical and infection control journals. She is a faculty member of the University of Maryland School of Nursing and serves on the editorial board of AJIC. Return to Ask the Expert


Jeanne E. Zack, PhD, RN, CIC is the manager of Infection Prevention and Control at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Saint Louis, Missouri and is certified in infection control. She has held positions as an infection control specialist, a research assistant and adjunct faculty at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Jewish College of Nursing and Allied Health Services. She speaks nationally about interventions to reduce infections and has published extensively. Her work in reducing infections using educational interventions has been replicated in Thailand.
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