AONL Names Mary Beth Kingston Its Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
Press Release
Chicago (Dec. 14, 2023)
The American Organization for Nursing Leadership today announced Mary Beth Kingston as the 2024 recipient of its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors an AONL member recognized by the nursing community as a significant leader in the nursing profession who has served AONL in an important leadership capacity. AONL will honor Kingston April 9 at the AONL annual conference in New Orleans.
Kingston is executive vice president and chief nursing officer at Advocate Health, Charlotte, the third-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States, serving nearly 6 million patients across 68 hospitals in more than 1,000 care locations throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama. She leads nursing strategic direction, practice, standards, professional development and patient experience across the health system, which employs more than 42,000 nurses. She spearheaded a shared governance structure that supports collaboration and paves the way for a robust, flexible nursing workforce and a multidisciplinary approach to sharing valuable resources and staff across the health system.
Prior to joining Aurora Health Care more than 10 years ago, Kingston was vice president and chief nurse executive at Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia. A former president of the AONL Board of Directors, Kingston served on the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees, where she chaired the Hospitals Against Violence advisory group. She currently serves on the boards of Providence St. Joseph Health and Maine Line Health.
Kingston has a PhD in health policy from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Kingston is a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow, a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and is board certified as an advanced nurse executive with the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
About the American Organization for Nursing Leadership
As the national professional organization of more than 12,000 nurse leaders, the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) is the voice of nursing leadership. Our membership encompasses nurse leaders working in hospitals, health systems, academia and other care settings across the care continuum. Since 1967, the organization has led the field of nursing leadership through professional development, advocacy and research that advances nursing leadership practice and patient care. AONL is an affiliate of the American Hospital Association. For more information, visit AONL.org.