Our History

The idea of establishing a pediatric specialty organization began to take hold in the mid-1980s, under the leadership of Dr. Cecily Betz and in cooperation with many pediatric nursing leaders.

Following the Key Aspects of Comfort: Pain, Fatigue, and Nausea conference, pediatric staff nurses, educators, and researchers met and discussed the need to improve the care of infants and children in pain. Strong collegiality emerged from the conference and spilled into an unplanned dinner with passionate pediatric participants.

Following the 1990 Contemporary Forums annual conference on Nursing Care of the Hospitalized Child in Anaheim, CA, the Society of Pediatric Nurses (SPN) founding members established the framework for the society. SPN has grown to over 3,600 members since its inception in 1990 and continues to expand