NLN Honors Peg E. Daw NLN Certification Star Award Winners

NLN Honors Peg E. Daw NLN Certification Star Award Winners

Two Recipients Will Be Honored during NLN Education Summit in Washington, DC, September 23-25

Washington, DC — In a quest to promote lifelong learning, faculty development and excellence in nursing education, the National League for Nursing created the Peg E. Daw NLN Certification Star Award: Honoring the Pursuit of Excellence & Advancement of Nurse Educator Certifications in 2023. In each annual award cycle, two award winners are designated: one an individual and the other, an organization or program. Both awardees have exemplified the pursuit of excellence and advancement of certifications in nursing through their stories of success and significant contributions to the certifications landscape.

The National League for Nursing honors this year’s NLN Certification Star Award winners:

Steven Palazzo, PhD, MN, RN, CNE, ANEF — Individual Certification Star Award

Steven Palazzo designed and facilitated the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) Initiative at the Florida State University College of Nursing. The initiative seeks to strengthen teaching excellence, advance evidence-based pedagogy, and cultivate a lasting culture of certification. This comprehensive, year-long program combines structured workshops, individualized mentorship, collaborative learning, and examination preparation. Outcomes of the program include an increase in NLN CNE® certified faculty, high completion rates of the year-long workshop series, and the program’s continuation as an ongoing faculty development initiative.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing — Organization Certification Star Award

The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing first developed and implemented its Certified Nurse Educator program in 2016. Initially developed as a continuing education offering to support faculty interested in certification, the program has since grown into a comprehensive strategy that integrates the NLN Core Competencies for Academic Nurse Educators and certification process into its institutional culture. The program includes:

• Incorporation into faculty development/promotion plans
• Best Practices in Nursing Education- CNE review
• Exam preparation resources
• Attainment recognition
  

Outcomes include an increase in CNE® certified faculty and high ratings for the CNE® review workshop. Future plans for the program are to create durable learning materials to allow for digital access to workshop material and create “on demand” exam preparation resources for faculty.

“We are delighted to present Dr. Palazzo and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing with their well-earned honors at the 2026 NLN Education Summit next month. This outstanding achievement reflects their significant impact on nursing education through their advocacy and adoption of certification as a way for faculty to promote excellence in nursing education and pursue professional career advancement,” said NLN Chair Yolanda VanRiel, PhD, RN, MEDSURG-BC, OCN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, chair of the Department of Nursing, North Carolina Central University and patient placement coordinator at First Health of the Carolinas-Moore Regional Hospital.

“There are multiple ways for individuals and organizations to strive for and demonstrate a pursuit of excellence in an embrace of certifications in nursing education. Our two Certification Star Award winners, Dr. Palazzo and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, both showcase the vision and spirit of Dr. Daw, in whose memory we bestow the award, in their distinctive individual and institutional achievements on behalf of certifications in nursing,” said NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.

Named in memory of its first recipient, Peg E. Daw, DNP, RN, BC, CNE, FAAN, awarded posthumously, the NLN Certification Star Award honors a true leader in nursing education. Before her death in December 2022, Dr. Daw led an initiative in Maryland to increase the number of NLN Certified Nurse Educators in the state through formal recognition and financial incentives.

Beyond her involvement with NLN Certification, Dr. Daw was celebrated as a savvy innovator in seeking ways to expand the nursing education workforce. From 2010 through 2022, serving as the Nurse Support Program (NSP) II grant administrator at the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), Dr. Daw changed the structure of educational financial support in her home state of Maryland by marshaling the resources of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, the MHEC, and the Maryland Deans and Directors of Schools of Nursing to create a statewide lattice of educational NSP grants. These included nine different types of continuous nurse educator grants, academic-practice partnerships, and statewide resources grants totaling over $200 million and funded through 2025.

For more information about the Peg E. Daw NLN Certification Star Award, visit NLN.org.