A global nursing leadership panel took place during the joint Sigma 60th and Alumni Night celebration.
By Laura Lesley
The UAB School of Nursing celebrated its Sigma Nu Chapter’s 60th anniversary on Nov. 15. The event, held in conjunction with the School’s annual Alumni Night, was the first of its kind to be held in the School’s newly renovated and expanded building.
Nu Chapter was founded at UAB on June 21, 1958 as only the 12th chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, which is now known as Sigma. Since then, it has inducted more than 2,500 members and currently has an active membership of over 620. Sigma’s mission is advancing world health and celebrating nursing excellence in scholarship, leadership and service, and members who are invited to join Sigma are baccalaureate and graduate nursing students who demonstrate excellence in scholarship.
The event featured keynote speaker Wipada Kunaviktikul, PhD, RN, FAAN, recipient of the UAB School of Nursing’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award. Kunaviktikul is a 1994 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing graduate of the School and is dean of nursing faculty at Chiang Mai University in Thailand.
After Kunaviktikul’s presentation, a global nursing leadership panel was led by Ada Markaki, PhD, RN, Deputy Director of the UAB School of Nursing’s Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Collaborating Center for International Nursing. Alumni panelists included Kunaviktikul, Constance Smith Hendricks, PhD, RN, FAAN (BSN 1974, MSN 1981), Dean and Professor/Director of Nursing at Tuskegee University School of Nursing & Allied Health; Dianne Richmond, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN, CPHQ (BSN 1977, MSN 1998, PhD 2013), Corporate Director of Accreditation and Clinical Documentation Improvement for the University of Maryland Capital Region Health; Rebecca (Becky) Langner, MSN, RN, CNML (MSN 2013), Nurse Manager for the Coronary Care Unit at UAB Hospital; and Larry Z. Slater, RN-BC, CNE (BSN 2008, PhD 2011), Director of the Undergraduate Program and Clinical Associate Professor at the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing.
The night also included a reception with tours of the new building, simulation demonstrations and more, preceding the Alumni Night dinner and awards ceremony.
Patricia E. Thompson, EdD, RN, FAAN, recently retired Chief Executive Officer of Sigma and a 1971 Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) graduate of the UAB School of Nursing, also delivered remarks on expanding global leadership in Sigma. At the event, she received the Nu Chapter’s inaugural Patrician E. Thompson Leadership in Service to Sigma Nu Award.
Rebecca (Becky) Langner, MSN, RN, CNML, received the Nu Chapter’s inaugural Leadership and Practice Excellence Award. She earned her MSN in Nursing and Health Administration from the UAB School of Nursing in 2013. Langner is Nurse Manager for the Coronary Care Unit at UAB Hospital and is a Certified Nurse Leader Manager.
Lastly, the 2018-2019 Nursing Alumni Chapter Board was installed. New members include Kimberly Froelich, PhD, RN, NE-BC (BSN 1991); Melanie Hallman, DNP, CRNP, CEN, FNP-BC, FAEN (BSN 1983, MSN 1990, MSN 1995, DNP 2012); Cori Johnson, DNP, CRNP, AGNP-C (BSN 2010, MSN 2014, DNP 2017); Marilyn Johnson, MPH, BSN, RN (BSN 1982); and Ashley Petty-Burnley, DNP, MSN, NP-C (MSN 2009, DNP 2016).
Sponsors of the event were Sigma Nu Chapter, UAB Hospital and the Nursing Graduate Student Association. View a full gallery of photos from the event here.
