Magnet Nurse of the Year 2014

The National Magnet Nurse of the Year® Award

ANCC's National Magnet Nurse of the Year® awards recognize the outstanding contributions of clinical nurses for innovation,
consultation, leadership, and professional risk taking. Awards are presented in each of the five Magnet® Model components:

  1. Transformational Leadership
  2. Structural Empowerment
  3. Exemplary Professional Practice
  4. New Knowledge, Innovations & Improvements
  5. Empirical Outcomes

2014 National Magnet Nurse of the Year Award Winners

The 2014 award winners were recognized at the ANCC National Magnet Conference® in Dallas on October 9, 2014.


Left to right: Dr. Michael L. Evans, President, ANCC; Linda C. Lewis, Chief ANCC Office/Executive Vice President; Award
winners Paula Kobelt, DrJacqueline Murray, Kirsten Roberts, Melissa A. Kramer, and Deborah D. Pennington; Dr. Deborah
Zimmermann
, Chair, Commission on Magnet Recognition; and Dr. Jean Watson, Founder, Watson Caring Science Institute.

 

Transformational Leadership Winner


Deborah D. Pennington, BSN, RN
The University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City, KS

Deborah's 25 years of experience as a neonatal intensive care nurse helped transform the way care is provided to premature and other infants who are discharged to home from the neonatal intensive care unit. As a passionate and dedicated neonatal intensive care nurse, she understood the vulnerability and complex needs of these special infants and envisioned a way to provide both primary and specialized care. She transformed the delivery of neonatal care by building an infrastructure that creates partnerships with parents to provide for the medical, psychological, educational, and health maintenance needs of their child. Parents are now comforted knowing that Deborah and her supportive team of physicians, nurses, therapists, case managers, and specialists, are committed to making a difference in the lives of the children they passionately care for. She is a true transformational leader who challenges the status quo and moves teams to excellence.


Structural Empowerment Winner

 

Melissa A. Kramer, BSN, RN, CEN, SANE-A, SANE-P 
Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster, PA 

Melissa, an emergency department nurse, certified adult and pediatric sexual assault nurse examiner, and previous co-director of the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Program, has demonstrated unparalleled commitment to patient care, education and community service. As a dedicated and committed sexual assault nurse examiner, she developed protocols for the treatment of pediatric victims that align with best practice national standards. Melissa has led research that recognized HIV testing, education and treatment as essential components of the sexual assault examination. In addition, her efforts helped in the development of a HIV prophylaxis protocol and algorithm for the emergency department. As chair of the Community Outreach Council, she developed the Nurses Innovating Community Engagement program. Her visionary leadership in prevention and policy work, and community engagement empowers nurses to improve patient outcomes and advance the health of the communities they serve.


Exemplary Professional Practice Winner

 

Jacqueline Murray, PhD, BSN, RN, CPN 
Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO 

As the Brain Injury Nursing Program coordinator, Jacqueline has an extraordinary focus on safety and prevention. Her devotion to patient advocacy was instrumental in coordinating her team's support for the passage of Senate Bill 11-040, the Jake Snakenberg Youth Concussion Act. Her passion and strong focus on preventing traumatic brain injury in children, and coordinating interprofessional care for traumatic brain injury in children helped influence the development of a regional concussion registry. In 2013, she helped create the Non-Accidental Brain Injury Care Clinic, which provides family-centered care for infants and young children who have been diagnosed with a non-accidental brain injury. Jaqueline continues to positively impact patient care and outcomes and encourages Magnet nurses to collaborate with other talented, passionate, and dedicated professionals to promote a culture of safety, quality monitoring, and quality improvement.

New Knowledge, Innovations, & Improvements Winner

 

Paula Kobelt, MSN, RN-BC
OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio 

Paula's passion for new knowledge and innovation improves the safety and patient outcomes through evidence-based practice and groundbreaking research. As the primary investigator for an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved study, she sought to improve the safety of patients in the post-anesthesia care unit by implementing a standardized approach to prevent unwanted opioid-related sedation. The study results propelled the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nursing to adopt and publish new recommendations for assessing post-operative patient sedation. This new knowledge will affect safety and pain management for adult patients nationally and across the globe. She is currently conducting an evidence-based practice project that focuses on assisting surgery patients with comfort care preferences and pain management expectations. The “Comfort Card” provides nurses and other care providers with consistent, patient driven comfort plans before and after surgery.

Empirical Outcomes Winner

 

Kirsten Roberts, MSN-Ed, RN, CVN-I BC
DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital, Township, MI 

Kirsten's zealous passion to improve patient outcomes led her to develop an innovative Heart Failure Nurse Navigator role. Her cutting-edge research demonstrates how chronic disease management practice can improve our nation's health and quality of life. Kirsten developed and implemented the 2013 QI Sodium Screening and Education Project for the Michigan Society for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Her innovative leadership inspired 17 hospitals to join the project in improving quality of life, and increasing functional status for heart failure patients. She continues to work with physicians and colleagues to create and implement new policies and protocols into standard practice that will improve the continuum of care for heart failure patients.

 

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