March 31st, 2022

Canadian Appointed ICN’s Inaugural Chief Nurse

Dr. Michelle Acorn — DNP, NP PHC/Adult, MN/ACNP, BScN/PHCNP, FCAN, GCNC, FAAN — has recently been appointed the inaugural Chief Nurse of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) — a federation representing more than 130 national nursing associations and over 27 million nurses worldwide. 
       Chief Nurses are System Nurse Executives who are poised and capable to lead, stabilize, rebuild, and advance nursing and health across the world.  Strengthening quality care and leading transformation for meaningful health and social impacts — locally to globally — is paramount.       

Dr. Acorn’s academic career has evolved from diploma to post-doctoral education. She completed her Doctor of Nurse Practitioner/ Nursing Practice and is dually certified as both a Primary Health Care and Adult Nurse Practitioner. She holds national nursing certifications in Emergency and Gerontology and an international certification as a Global Nurse Consultant.                                                                 Dr. Acorn was inducted as an inaugural Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing and also inducted into the American Academy of Nursing. Michelle was an inaugural international Miller Foundation Post-Doctoral System Chief Nurse Executive Fellow in the Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western University. She is also currently a Miller Coldiron Fellow. She has transitioned from government as the Ontario Provincial Chief Nursing Officer to the ICN.
         Dr. Acorn’s diverse clinical expertise includes practicing in the Emergency, as a Hospitalist, innovating GAIN (Geriatric Assessment and Intervention Networks), and pioneering the most responsible provider (MRP) impacts of a NP–led model of inpatient hospital care and primary care in corrections. She currently practices primary care in the community.

Email: acorn@icn.ch
LinkedIn dr-michelle-acorn-87782863
Twitter @AcornMichelleDr