The American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) mission statement focuses on the patient and family members who are in need of acute or critical care and the nurses who care for these patients while relying on AACN for expert knowledge and influence driving excellence of care (http://www.aacn.org). AACN is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. It represents over 500,000 nurses in 49 U.S. states and 3 foreign countries and has more than 240 chapters.
