“Becoming a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing is a tremendous honor that represents years of dedication to advancing nursing and improving health care,” said Toby Marsh, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Chief Nurse Executive and VP, Clinical Integration. “At Kaiser Permanente, we celebrate this achievement as a reflection of leadership, innovation, and a deep commitment to equity and excellence in caring for the communities we have the privilege to serve.”
Kaiser Permanente Northern California nurse leaders Brenda Jones, DHSc, MSN, RN, C-ONQS, CPPS, BCPA, LSSGB, FAAN, senior director of Maternal Child Health, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, and Patricia Zrelak, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, ASC-BC, CNRN, SCRN, CCRN, CPHQ, PHN, FAHA, FAAN, quality & safety improvement consultant VI, regional stroke program manager, Regional Quality, Accreditation, Regulation & Licensing Department, were recently inducted into the 2025 class of fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) at the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.
Champion of maternal health equity
The academy honored Jones for her exceptional leadership in advancing maternal health and health equity throughout her 36-year career. “Every woman deserves to be heard, and every child deserves a healthy start in life,” said Jones.
Jones is a 3-year Kaiser Permanente employee and a member of the California Maternal Health Task Force Steering Committee, where she provides high-level guidance to help reduce severe maternal morbidity and mortality, particularly racial and ethnic inequities in care.
Before joining Kaiser Permanente, she served as the Illinois State Deputy Director, where she spearheaded a hiring initiative that filled 350 positions across the Department of Public Health and the Department of Health and Human Services — reducing vacancies by 33%. These roles strengthened critical programs, including school-based health centers, services for children with special health care needs, and high-risk infant follow-up, all of which support vulnerable populations.
Following her tenure in Illinois, Jones partnered with Project HOPE as a women’s health nurse practitioner, educating women on maternal health in Haiti, Guyana, Suriname, and El Salvador. She is also a published author in Nursing for Women’s Health, a journal dedicated to translating research into practice to improve the health of women, their families, and communities.
Dedication to nursing quality
The academy recognized Zrelak for her significant contributions to quality assessment in health care and the dissemination of research. “This recognition is both a personal milestone and a celebration of the mentors, colleagues, and interdisciplinary teams who have shared in advancing quality and safety,” said Zrelak.
As Kaiser Permanente’s regional stroke program manager, she oversees stroke care across 21 hospitals, serving over 5 million people. Under her leadership, the program consistently achieves top national performance in acute stroke care.
Zrelak previously served as Quality Lead for Research at the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research at UC Davis, where she was the co-clinical lead for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Indicator Program. In this role, she contributed to the development of key patient safety and quality measures, including the Patient Safety and Adverse Events Composite, which evaluates hospital safety by examining preventable patient harm such as surgical complications and patient falls.
Additionally, Zrelak helped shape the dissemination of evidence-based practice globally as the founding managing editor of the International Journal of Critical Care, a peer-reviewed journal published by the World Federation of Critical Care Nurses, which publishes research on critical care topics such as coronary and emergency care.
She also serves as the sole RN on the editorial board of The Permanente Journal.
Congratulations, Brenda and Patricia
“Induction into the Academy represents the highest honor in nursing. Earning the Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing credential is a prestigious recognition of one’s accomplishments and signifies the power of nursing to transform health and enact positive outcomes,” said academy President Linda D. Scott, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FADLN, FNAP, FAAN.
The American Academy of Nursing
With over 2,300 fellows, the AAN represents the most accomplished leaders in the profession. Fellows advance the academy’s mission by participating in leadership roles — all to improve health and achieve health equity through leadership, innovation, and science.