Dr. Ruth Kleinpell is currently Assistant Dean for Clinical Scholarship, Independence Foundation Chair in Nursing Education, and Professor at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville Tennessee USA. She is certified as an Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and has over 30 years of clinical experience in critical care. She has conducted research related to outcomes after critical illness, the role of the advanced practice nurse, and patient and family centered care. She serves as a board member for The World Federation of Intensive and Critical Care and as a board member for the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She is a past president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and a past president of the World Federation of Critical Care Nurses. She is a Fellow in the American College of Critical Care Medicine, the American Academy of Nursing, and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.