By Laura Gasque
A University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing faculty member and doctoral student have been selected for prestigious honors that will be given at the 2023 American Organization for Nursing Leadership Conference in May.
Professor and Rachel Z. Booth Endowed Chair in Nursing Patricia A. Patrician, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the AONL Nurse Researcher of the Year. This award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to nursing and health systems research. In 2019, Dean and Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair in Nursing Maria R. Shirey, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FACHE, FNAP, FAAN, was the School’s first recipient of the honor.
“I am truly blessed and humbled to receive this prestigious award from AONL, particularly when I saw the list of previous recipients,” Patrician said. “It is an honor to be among such esteemed researchers, mentors, and colleagues, including my dean.”
In 2022, Patrician and her research team received a $2.3 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant to develop and implement the Workplace Engagement for Compassionate Advocacy, Resilience and Empowerment (WE CARE) program at UAB Medicine to address and improve mental health and well-being among nursing personnel with the potential to spread evidence-based wellness and resilience interventions throughout the state.
Patrician spent 26 years in the United States Army Nurse Corps and has dedicated much of her research to studying and developing quality work environments for nurses.
“When hospitals support the work of nurses by ensuring adequate staffing and resources to care for patients, a safe process to voice concerns, control over processes that directly affect their daily work, meaningful recognition, learning and advancement opportunities, and a decent, competitive salary, nurse turnover declines, hospital-acquired infections and other adverse patient events decrease and patient satisfaction improves,” Patrician said.
Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse Executive Pathway student Patricia Mook, MSN, RN, will receive the AONL Exemplary Leadership Award. The award recognizes a nurse leader who significantly influenced professional nursing practice and the professional development of others.
“While I am honored to be receiving this award, I know that this is really the result of the work of the talented nurses I have had the pleasure to work with and lead over the course of my 43-year career,” Mook said. “I’m particularly proud of the team at Atrium Health—nurses who make a difference every single day, and grateful for the many mentors who have guided me, including colleagues I met through AONL.”
Mook is enterprise vice president, nursing operations and professional development at Advocate Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was among eight nurse leaders named to the AONL 2022 Class of Fellows.
“I believe in lifelong learning and though I started the UAB DNP program late in my career, I have been overwhelmed by how this program has helped me grow personally and professionally,” Mook said. “This experience has brought me new colleagues, new mentors, new knowledge and networking that is critical to the advancement of my own nursing leadership practice.”
Patrician and Mook will be recognized during the AONL Annual Conference in Anaheim, California in May 2023.
