AONL and AONL Foundation Honor 2020 Award Recipients
AONL and the AONL Foundation for Nursing Leadership Research and Education earlier this year announced the recipients of several recognition awards. These awards highlight AONL members, supporters and affiliates that demonstrate significant achievements in the practice of nursing leadership. Their work sets an example for every nurse leader.
AONL Lifetime Achievement Award
Ann Marie T. Brooks, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, President, Mount Carmel College of Nursing, Columbus, Ohio
The AONL Lifetime Achievement Award is AONL’s most prestigious award. It honors an AONL member who has served the organization in an important leadership capacity and been recognized by the nursing community as a significant leader in the profession.
This year’s recipient is Ann Marie T. Brooks, president of the Mount Carmel College of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio. Before taking on this role, Brooks gained broad strategic and operational experience during more than 40 years in health care. She served as vice president of patient care services at Riddle Memorial Hospital, Main Line Health System in Media, Pa., and as a Magnet appraiser/team leader. On the global stage, she provided leadership development to nurses in former Soviet states and in Central and Eastern Europe. She served as a chief nursing officer at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Brooks’ professional engagement includes board service as president of AONL when it was the American Organization of Nurse Executives; as president of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association; and as chair of the Psychiatric and Mental Health Governing Board.
The Catholic University of America Conway School of Nursing in Washington, D.C. has been Brooks’ academic home for decades. She earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at that institution and held the position of dean from 2000 to 2004. Brooks also holds an MBA from Loyola College, Baltimore, and completed the Johnson & Johnson/Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives at the University of Pennsylvania.
Brooks is the recipient of many previous awards including the AONL Mentor Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award from The Catholic University of America. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, American College of Healthcare Executives and National Academies of Practice.
Pamela Austin Thompson Early Careerist Award
Jennifer Grenier, DNP, RN, CENP, Associate Chief Nursing Officer, MacNeal Hospital/Loyola Medicine, Bridgeview, Ill.
The Early Careerist Award, named after AONL CEO Emeritus Pamela Austin Thompson, recognizes an AONL or AONL Foundation program alumnus who exhibits significant potential as a future health care leader and demonstrates exemplary leadership within his or her organization, community and the nursing profession.
This year’s recipient, Jennifer Grenier, DNP, RN, CENP, is associate chief nursing officer at MacNeal Hospital/Loyola Medicine in Bridgeview, Ill. She also serves as president of the Illinois Organization of Nurse Leaders, and she recently completed the AONL Nurse Director Fellowship, a yearlong professional development program.
Until recently, Grenier was a telemetry unit director at Rush Oak Park Hospital in Oak Park, Ill., where she spearheaded efforts to address patients’ food insecurity. In 2015 she established the Rush Surplus Project, which makes surplus food from hospital cafeterias and catering departments available to community shelters and food pantries. She subsequently collaborated in the development of Rush’s Food is Medicine Program, which provides groceries to individuals who need them upon discharge.
Grenier began her career as a nursing assistant before earning her undergraduate degree from Millikin University, Decatur, Ill., a master’s from Lewis University, Romeoville, Ill., and a DNP in systems leadership from Rush University, Chicago. Her colleagues praise her leadership and mentoring skills, and her fellow IONL members applaud her ability keep them informed, recruit members and increase revenue and networking opportunities.
AONL Prism Award
Anne Arundel Medical Center, Annapolis, Md.
Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in Annapolis, Md., was chosen for this year’s AONL Prism Award, which recognizes an individual, organization or program that has advanced diversity efforts within the nursing profession, the community or the individual’s organization.
Under the leadership of Senior Nursing Director Nia Wright, AAMC has made remarkable strides in furthering greater staff diversity and culturally competent care. A systemwide action plan empowers clinicians to form authentic connections with patients.
An interactive theater experience engages actors in scenarios to help staff reflect on unconscious bias and culturally appropriate care. AAMC is also the first health care organization to have a Coming to the Table chapter, which brings staff together to discuss matters pertaining to racism and inclusion.
AAMC works with historically black colleges to recruit job applicants and more than half of all new full-time hires come from minority backgrounds. In FY 2019, 100% of 39 open leadership positions had a minority candidate finalist, and 21 of these were hired.
At the same time, nurses at AAMC are serving the local community through volunteer efforts that benefit predominately African American, low-income older adults. AAMC received an Equity of Care Award from the American Hospital Association in 2019. Although advancing diversity and inclusion is now an organizationwide priority, nursing continues to play a leading role, with nurses sitting on the AAMC Board of Trustee’s Health Equity Task Force.
AONL Exemplary Nurse Leadership and Mentorship Award
Barbee Whisnant-Burgess, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Vice President, System Nursing, Atrium Health, Davidson, N.C.
The AONL Exemplary Nurse Leadership and Mentorship Award recognizes a nurse in executive practice who has been exemplary in supporting the professional development of his or her colleagues by serving as a mentor or advisor.
“A servant leader” and “an inspiration” are among the words used to describe this year’s award winner, Barbee Whisnant-Burgess, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, vice president of system nursing at Atrium Health in Davidson, N.C. A clinical nurse leader (CNL), Barbee was instrumental in the early adoption of the CNL role at Atrium’s flagship hospital, which improved retention and nursing sensitive indicators. The hospital received its first Magnet designation under her leadership.
As a mentor, Barbee has impacted the careers of nurses across the Atrium system. She led the Atrium Health Professional Nurse Clinical Advancement Program for more than a decade and served on the board of the Mentoring Program for Women on the Road to Success. She also helped implement a nurse manger transition-to-practice program, which incorporates AONL Nurse Manager Competencies.
Most recently, Barbee led an effort to support RNs and certified nursing assistants to practice at the top of their licenses or listing, resulting in enhanced patient and team satisfaction. She also spearheaded the development of Atrium’s New Nurse Graduate Residency Program, which received American Nurses Credentialing Center Practice Transition Accreditation with Distinction.
AONL Affiliate Achievement Award
Minnesota Organization of Leaders in Nursing, St. Paul, Minn.
The AONL Affiliate Achievement Award recognizes an AONL affiliate that is promoting nursing leadership and its influence in the areas of the advancement of nursing practice, patient safety and quality, recruitment and retention, or another priority initiative for that particular state or region, and that can serve as a model for other states or regions with similar interests.
The affiliate receiving this year’s award is the Minnesota Organization of Leaders in Nursing (MOLN) based in St. Paul, Minn. In 2016, MOLN embarked on a journey to redefine its role. Now 80 members stronger, the organization has emerged as a driving force in nursing leadership education, public policy advocacy, coalition building and collaboration across the nursing community in Minnesota.
MOLN hosts two well-attended professional development conferences and six webinars annually; facilitates networking through chief nursing officer roundtables; hosts Charge Nurse Boot Camps; and offers a nursing and organizational finance course. MOLN also provides a formal, yearlong mentorship program for new nurse leaders.
On the public policy front, MOLN now leads the way for nursing in the state legislative arena and co-hosts a two-day program to prepare nurses to become effective advocates. MOLN also collaborated with the Minnesota Hospital Association to conduct a nursing leadership burnout study.
AONL Foundation Nurse Researcher Award
Mary K. Anthony, PhD, RN, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Kent State University College of Nursing, Kent, Ohio
The AONL Foundation Nurse Researcher Award honors an outstanding nurse researcher whom the broader nursing community recognizes as having made a significant contribution to nursing and health systems research.
This year’s award goes to Mary K. Anthony, PhD, RN, professor and associate dean for research at Kent State University College of Nursing and prior director of the college’s PhD program. Her pioneering research links elements of nursing practice such as leadership, collaboration, communication and workflow interruptions with quality and safety concerns that influence patient outcomes.
Anthony has a strong publication record in top-tier research and clinical journals, and her work has been cited in more than 1,800 articles and association publications. She has received funding from foundation and federal sources, including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Anthony, whose clinical background is in critical care, holds a joint appointment as director of nursing research with University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, a Magnet-designated facility. Highly regarded for her consistent leadership, she has a successful record of board service and mentoring future nurse researchers. She obtained a BSN degree from St. John College, Cleveland, and her master’s and PhD degrees from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.