2005 Lifetime Achievement Awards
The Mentor
President's Message
Press Releases
Spotlight on Members
2005
NONPF LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Descriptions read during the 2005 Annual Banquet
Comments prepared by Drs. Joanne Pohl and Ann L. O’Sullivan
HELEN GRACE
Dr. Grace—“Helen” to most of us - has had a distinguished career serving as a leader in nursing and primary health care nationally and internationally. Her academic roles over the years included faculty positions primarily in psychiatric nursing, Associate Dean for Graduate Study, and Dean of the College of Nursing, all at the University of Illinois. After completing a diploma at West Suburban Hospital and her BSN at Loyola, Dr. Grace received her Masters degree in mental health nursing at the University of Illinois, Dr. Grace received her PhD in Sociology from Northwestern.
Her colleagues from her time at the University of Illinois say she was ahead of her time. She shook up the neighborhood of community psychiatric nursing. She changed the curriculum, went into communities in urban Chicago that others had not dared to venture to open the doors of care to folks who had not had access previously. She was critical to the change in thinking around community mental health and in doing so she inspired and impacted her colleagues during their student days to go on and be leaders and change agents in nursing.
In 1982, stepping out of academia, Dr. Grace took a position with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation serving in multiple roles including Program Director and Vice President of Programs at the Foundation. She continues to serve as Special Assistant to the CEO at the Foundation. Her work with the Foundation positioned her well to use her big picture vision and emphasis on systems to impact nursing and primary care health care on a very broad level.
Her colleagues described her tenacity and commitment to change. For example, one colleague said she provided the vision and leadership that changed psychiatric nursing curriculum from an individual model to a community focus model. Another comment addressed her persistence and tenacity in seeing and addressing the big picture—using her words—this person quoted her “ It is like turning the Queen Mary around with a tug boat”. She never gives up, but keeps shaking up the neighborhood and moving toward that vision one inch at a time. Dr. Grace is known nationally and internationally for her leadership in community based primary health care. She is a pioneer and change agent whose underlying focus became larger systems and public policy.
She has been described as a devoted advocate for nursing who continues to position nursing as part of the solution to health care. Through her strong leadership, she has been able to facilitate the funding and advancement of community based care around the world including nurse managed health centers here in the US.
GLORIA RICHARDSON SMITH
Dr. Gloria Smith is a distinguished leader with exceptional qualities who started out her career in nursing as a public health nurse in Detroit after completing her BSN at Wayne State University. She received her MS from the University of Michigan, and an MS and PhD in Anthropology. She was Dean at the University of Oklahoma and from there became the first woman to head the State of Michigan’s Department of Public Health. In 1988 Dr. Smith became the Dean of Wayne State University. In 1991 she began her work and continued her strong career at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek Michigan. At the Foundation she was the Vice President for programs in Health. She retired in 2001.
She is known for her exemplary leadership in both private and public domains in this country and abroad. The scope of her influence in nursing, health care, and health policy arenas transcends local, state, and national boundaries to encompass several foreign countries. Through her professional initiatives in both private and public sectors, Dr. Smith has forged a broad perspective on the meaning, significance, and essential characteristics of care, education, and research in nursing and health service systems. Her work over a lifetime has demonstrated a commitment to improve the health and quality of life of people in underserved communities. She too has shaken up the neighborhood across her career. A very good friend and colleague who is unable to be here tonight described Gloria Smith as someone who over a lifetime stirred up controversy—Who shook up the neighborhood stemming from her devotion to enabling others to grow, advance, and overcome disadvantages born of discrimination based on race, gender, occupational status, and socioeconomic class. She is also known for the power of her penetrating assessments and insights in complex situations.
Dr. Gloria Smith has been a visionary across her career. She has had a profound impact through her vision and work on the Community Voices project; findings from this project informed new health care coverage options for uninsured and increased access to care. Her international work in Africa and South America helped to increase the numbers of nurses in severely underserved regions by more than 9,000. She also left her mark at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, the only Historically Black College and University in Texas with a SON. In 1997 under 8% of NPs in Texas were African American or Hispanic, whle over 1/3rd of the Texas residents belonged to these minority groups. Gloria worked with the SON to develop a APN program; in addition she linked the Son with Kellogg funding to prepare faculty for advanced practice roles. Dr. Smith was a founding member of the Black Nurses Association.
Most recently at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation she was the brains and soul behind the Community Partnerships Initiatives in Health professions education. Those who worked on this project said her futuristic thinking advanced this funding to develop real world interdisciplinary training models for medicine and nursing, moving Health professions Education away from its silos. These initiatives funded community-based Interdisciplinary Health Professions Education nationally with a focus on increasing access to cost-effective, culturally competent health care provided by Nurse Practitioners and NP-run Faculty Practices serving medically underserved communities in rural communities. In addition, under her leadership the Foundation funded NP data base efforts that continues to provide important policy-making decisions for the development of the graduate NP workforce. The NP curriculum and workforce data also served as the foundation that has justified moving the specialty NP masters degree to a DNP degree.
Dr. Gloria Smith has shaken up many neighborhoods across her career; she has shared her great gifts with so many around the world and created a legacy of lasing significance in the lives of people in communities, the healing professions—especially nursing and advanced practice nursing, and human services. She continues her commitment to community in her retirement.
JOAN LYNAUGH
Joan Lynaugh’s career includes 20 years of practice, first in intensive care and then in primary care especially of chronically ill patients. In addition, she has taught nursing at the undergraduate and graduate level since 1968. Joan completed her NP certificate at the University of Rochester and worked with Barbara Bates, as co-director of the federally-funded project entitled “Developing Curriculum and a collaborative NP-physician team model of care.” Since 1975, she has focused her research interests on the history of nursing and health care in the United States. Her current academic interests also include the development of health care and nursing over the twentieth century, inter-professional issues, and encouraging better scholarship in history here in the United States and around the world. In addition, she is involved in the delivery of home care through her Board activities with the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Philadelphia. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania and Director Emeritus of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing. This Center has grown over the years to include 1500 books, 1500 cubic feet of archival materials, and more than 5000 photographs. Dean Melesis at the center’s naming said Joan is” giving voice to nurses and the discipline of nursing.”
Dr. Lynaugh has received numerous awards, including the ANA Nursing Heritage Award, the Lavinia L. Dock Award of the American Association for the History of Nursing. Joan is a distinguished alumni awardees of the University of Rochester and Honorary member of the University of Pennyslvania Alumni Society. Joan Lynaugh is quoted by the American Association for the History of Nursing as saying: “Nursing reflects the human experience, history helps us comprehend & deal with both the beauty and tragedy of life on earth.”
DARLENE JELINEK
Darlene Jelinek was one of the first 53 NPs in the USA. During her career, Darlene has concentrated on the care of elderly patients in her clinical practice. As well, she was involved in the development of the first curriculum for nurse practitioner education. She served as National Chairperson of the ANA Council of Family Nurse Practitioners and Clinicians (later called the Council of Primary Care Nurse Practitioners) from 1974-1976. She was the project director of the RWJ-funded National Task Force for FNP Curriculum and Evaluation from 1976-1980. This task force was the fore-runner to the formation of NONPF in 1980. Darlene served as NONPF’s first president and then served as the volunteer Executive Director of NONPF from 1982-1987. Some of our long-time members remember when the annual conference banquet was held in Darlene’s backyard! One of Darlene’s professional colleagues, Dr. Bert Umland, was the first Secretary of NONPF, and he sent a letter to mark this occasion of honoring Darlene for her significant contributions to this organization.
JESSIE M. SCOTT
Jessie M. Scott was the Director of the Division of Nursing in the Department of HHS from 1963-1979. Under her leadership, the Division of Nursing implemented the Nurse Training Act of 1964, which was the most significant nursing legislation in American history. This legislation marked the recognition of nursing as an important workforce to the Nation’s welfare. This legislation also brought significant new responsibilities under the Division of Nursing, notably the funding of educational programs. This funding was critical to the expansion of nursing programs and the formation of new ones. The Division of Nursing, under Jessie Scott’s guidance, conducted an evaluation of the first nurse practitioner program developed by Loretta Ford and Henry Silver at the University of Colorado. The Division of Nursing determined that NPs were extremely well-accepted by patients and other health professionals, and this evaluation showed that the competence of NPs providing pediatric primary care was well-documented. The legacy of implementation of the Nurse Training Act is significant as it supported shifts in nursing education. Jessie M. Scott’s work to support funding for early NP education was critical to the advancement of the NP role. Jessie is widely recognized for her leadership as Director of the Division of Nursing during this critical period. In 1979, the ANA established the Jessie M. Scott award in her honor and uses this award to recognize nurses for demonstration of the interdependent relationships among nursing education, practice and research.