Topeka, KS -- (SBWire) -- 08/20/2014 --The American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) has announced Dr. Marilyn Anne Ray, RN, PhD., CTN-A, FSfAA, FAAN as the keynote speaker for their 35th Annual Conference, being held June 12-17, 2015 at the Chateau on the Lake Resort Spa & Convention Center in Branson, Missouri.

About Marilyn Ray
Dr. Marilyn Anne Ray is Professor Emeritus at Florida Atlantic University, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Boca Raton, Florida. She has researched, presented and published both nationally and internationally on caring science, holistic nursing, transcultural caring, technological caring, and caring ethics in complex organizations, primarily hospitals.

Dr. Ray is a Fellow with both the Society for Applied Anthropology (FSfAA) and the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). She is certified as an Advanced Transcultural Nurse (CTN-A), and was awarded the position of a Transcultural Nursing Scholar from the Transcultural Nursing Society.

For over 30 years Ray served the United States of America in the field of aerospace nursing administration, flight nursing, practice, education, and research as an officer in the United States Air Force Reserve, Nurse Corps, retiring in 1999 as a full Colonel. She was also one of a small handful of professionals selected to attend a program in space education at the Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama in preparation for the potential role of nurses in space.

Dr. Ray is a charter member and on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Human Caring (IAHC). She holds a diploma in Nursing from St. Joseph Hospital, Hamilton, Canada; Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Nursing from the University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado; Master of Arts, in Cultural Anthropology from McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Transcultural Nursing from the University of Utah, College of Nursing, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Furthermore, AHNA’s keynote speaker has held faculty positions at the University of San Francisco; University of California San Francisco; McMaster University; the University of Colorado; and the Eminent Scholar positions at both Florida Atlantic University and Virginia Commonwealth University.

She’s also held both Professorial and Professor Emeritus positions at Florida Atlantic University.

In addition, Ray attended Ethics Courses at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and studied with theoretical physicist Dr. F. David Peat on Complexity Science at the Pari Center for New Learning in Pari, Italy.

Dr. Ray has had a prolific and impressive career that has included developing the Theory of Bureaucratic Caring; the Theory of Relational Caring Complexity (with Marian Turkel); the Theory of Transcultural Caring Dynamics in Nursing and Health Care. Ray’s books include: A Study of Caring within an Institutional Culture: The discovery of the Theory of Bureaucratic Caring; Transcultural Caring Dynamics in Nursing and Health Care; Nursing,Caring, and Complexity Science: For Human-Environment Well-Being. The latter title was the 2011 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year for Professional Development.

More information about Dr. Marilyn Ray is available at http://marilynray.com.

About the AHNA Annual Conference
The AHNA 35th Annual Conference, Healthcare: Grounded in Holistic Nursing will be held June 12-17, 2015 at the Chateau on the Lake Resort Spa & Convention Center in Branson, MO. It will enable participants to integrate the historical foundations of holistic nursing into the creation of strategies designed to support the transformation of contemporary healthcare into a practice grounded in holism.

Attendees will learn about holistic nursing practice, education and research from a variety of health experts. 30+ contact hours will be available for nurses, and more information about the conference can be found at http//www.ahna.org/conference.

“Holistic nursing is grounded in caring and we are fortunate that Dr. Ray will be sharing her extensive knowledge of caring research and theories as our keynote speaker at our 35th anniversary celebration in Branson” said AHNA’s President Peggy Burkhardt PhD, FNP, AHN-BC.

The conference will offer attendees an enticing and informative schedule of nursing educational workshops, speakers, networking opportunities and exhibitors.

AHNA conferences can always be counted upon to engage nurses in an understanding of rootedness and how their practice reflects the origins of holism, holistic nursing and caring as foundational basis of nursing care.

Along with pre-conference and full nursing education sessions, attendees will enjoy early morning activities such as Yoga and Qigong and have the opportunity to participate in a “Zen Raffle and Auction,” explore Branson, and attend a variety of exciting optional tours.

All are welcome to attend: nurses, educators, administrators, and other healthcare practitioners from all specialties. Come and experience the healing value of a holistic community, networking, sharing circles and mentorship.

Those interested in attending this presentation and other portions of the AHNA conference can do so online at www.ahna.org/register.

About AHNA
Since its founding in 1981, the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) – a non-profit professional membership organization headquartered in Topeka, KS - has increasingly become the definitive global voice for holistic nursing for registered nurses and other holistic healthcare professionals around the globe.

The organization’s primary mission is to advance holistic healthcare by increasing awareness, education and both professional and personal community-building among nurses, other healthcare professionals, and the public.

Over the past 34 years AHNA has consistently delivered valuable resources, improved educational tools, and offered superior networking opportunities to a vibrant and expanding universe of healthcare professionals. AHNA currently services almost 4,500 members through 130 local chapters/networks both in the U.S. and abroad.

Holistic nursing is recognized by the American Nurses Association as an official nursing specialty with both a defined scope and standards of practice.

The American Holistic Nurses Association’s Education Provider Committee is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission (ANCC) on Accreditation.