By Laura Lesley
Six graduates and one Board of Visitors member of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing were honored at the Alabama State Nurses Association (ASNA) Annual Convention on October 6, 2018 in Auburn, Alabama.
John Beard, MBA, JD, Alacare Home Health & Hospice Chairman/President and longtime member of the UAB School of Nursing Board of Visitors, received ASNA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his rich career history of supporting nurses on the front lines of care.
In 2015, Beard influenced Alacare’s pledge to establish the Alacare Home Health & Hospice Nursing Skills Suite in the UAB School of Nursing’s newly opened building expansion in honor of his younger sister, Susan B. Brouillette, MPH, MBA, Alacare’s Chief Executive Officer.
Constance Smith Hendricks, PhD, RN, FAAN, received the Lillian Holland Harvey Award, which is awarded to an ASNA member who has made significant contributions to fostering transcultural relations, promoting advancement of minority groups or upgrading health care services to underserved populations. Hendricks is dean of the School of Nursing and Allied Health at Tuskegee University and received the UAB School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007. She is a two-time graduate of the School, earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degrees in 1974 and 1981, respectively. In 2016, she established the Dr. Constance Smith Hendricks Endowed Scholarship in Nursing together with family and friends to support deserving UAB School of Nursing students.
Essie Parker, MSN, RN, received the Louise Barksdale Outstanding Nursing Practice Award, which is awarded to the winner of the statewide ASNA Citation of Nursing Excellence award. Parker earned her MSN from the UAB School of Nursing in 1994.
Azita Amiri, PhD, RN, received the Outstanding Advocate of the Year Award, which is awarded to an individual who actively supports ASNA and is directly involved in promoting nursing and healthcare issues in Alabama. Amiri is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and earned her BSN, MSN and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing degrees from the UAB School of Nursing in 2010, 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Marsha Adams, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, received the Outstanding Nursing Administrator Award for Academe, which is given to an ASNA member who is in administration of a school/college of nursing and demonstrates outstanding performance. Adams is dean of the UAH College of Nursing and earned her BSN, MSN, and PhD degrees from the UAB School of Nursing in 1977, 1983 and 1992, respectively.
Terri Poe, DNP, RN, NE-BC, received the Outstanding Nursing Administrator Award for Service, which is given to an ASNA member who is in administration of a health care organization and demonstrates outstanding performance. Poe is Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President at UAB Hospital and earned her BSN and DNP degrees from the UAB School of Nursing in 1986 and 2013, respectively.
Mary Beth Bodin, DNP, CRNP, NNP-BC, received the Outstanding Retired Nurse Award, which is awarded to an ASNA member who is retired from employment as a nurse and has made significant contributions to nursing and health following retirement. Her nursing career includes more than 30 years of clinical experience in neonatal intensive-care units and more than a decade as UAB School of Nursing faculty. She earned her MSN and DNP degrees from the School in 1985 and 2009, respectively.
Two UAB School of Nursing students have also recently been recognized by ASNA. Emily Markwell, MSN, RN, a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner specialty track student, and Rachel Wells, MSN, RN, CNL, a PhD student, were awarded scholarships from the organization’s foundation.
Markwell earned her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from the UAB School of Nursing in 2018. She was recognized at the UAB Honors Convocation for being named Outstanding MSN Student Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.
Wells earned her MSN from the UAB School of Nursing as part of the School’s Accelerated Master’s in Nursing Pathway (AMNP) in 2010. Through the AMNP, she competed the School’s Clinical Nurse Leader specialty track, No. 7 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.
