2012 President
Gail Lenehan, EdD, MSN, RN, FAEN, FAAN, is currently serving as president of the Emergency Nurses Association, the specialty nursing association serving the emergency nursing profession through research, publications, professional development, and emphasis on quality and patient safety. Lenehan’s term ends in December 2012. Dr. Lenehan has worked in emergency nursing since graduation from nursing school, first as an emergency department staff nurse at St. Francis Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Beth Israel Hospital, and UCSF, then as an emergency department psychiatric clinical nurse specialist, and most recently as an emergency department clinical nurse specialist, per diem, at the Massachusetts General Hospital's Emergency Department.
Dr. Lenehan has been involved in ENA at the national level since 1977. She was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Emergency Nursing for 25 years and served on dozens of committees and task forces, including the original Standards of Emergency Nursing Task Force, the original Academy of Emergency Nursing Task Force, the Occupational Health & Safety Committee, the ENA Membership Vision Council, the Institute of Emergency Nursing Research and the Psychiatric Patient Education Product Development Work Team. In addition, she has also been active at the state level since the 1980s, serving as a member of the Massachusetts State Council board and as the program co-chair for the New England Regional Symposium.
Dr. Lenehan was the recipient of the ENA Lifetime Achievement Award, ENA’s Judith C. Kelleher Award, the Pine Street Inn Shelter’s Humanitarian Award, the Mosby Award of Excellence and the Journal of Emergency Nursing Special Recognition Award, among others. In 2000, the Gail P. Lenehan Award for Advocacy was named in her honor. She has made significant contributions as an advocate for the health care of the homeless, for victims of sexual assault and for the occupational health and safety of other nurses. She has worked with the MNA Congress on Occupational Health and Safety for 12 years, receiving the Kathleen McGinn Cutler Award for sustained contributions to the health and safety of nurses, and serves on the Advisory Committee to Boston College’s Forensic Nursing graduate program.
A Fellow of the Academy of Emergency Nursing and of the American Academy of Nursing, Dr. Lenehan has authored numerous articles, position papers, grants and chapters, and co-edited the Manual of Emergency Nursing. She is a reviewer for the Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the American Nurse Today.
Dr. Lenehan received her diploma in nursing from St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing, Hartford, Connecticut, a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Boston College, a Master of Science degree in nursing from Boston University, and a doctorate in education from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
For more information, please contact the ENA Executive Services Office at 1-847-460-4095 or ExecOffice@ena.org.