NLN Honors 2023 NLN Award Winners

Named Awards Honor Historic Figures in Nursing Education

Washington, DC — The NLN Awards, named for three leading figures in nursing education, will be presented during the 2023 NLN Education Summit at National Harbor near Washington, DC, September 28-30. The annual NLN Awards honor individuals of stature and distinction within nursing education and the wider field of American health care.

NLN Chair Kathleen Poindexter, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, interim associate dean for academic affairs and assistant dean for undergraduate programs and faculty development at Michigan State University in Lansing, said, “These exceptional individuals deserve the National League for Nursing’s highest honors for their distinctive accomplishments and for exhibiting, over a period of many years, leadership in the quest for transformative excellence in nursing education and public health.” 

“The National League for Nursing is proud to recognize these fine leaders who have proven to be selfless in their endeavors to transform nursing education to advance the national and worldwide goals of accessible, equitable, and culturally relevant health care,” said NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN.

The NLN Mary Adelaide Nutting Award

Outstanding Teaching, Leadership, and Commitment to Nursing Education

Demetrius J. Porche, DNS, PhD, APRN, PCC, ANEF, FACHE, FAANP, FAAN

Dean and Professor

Louisiana State University Health-New Orleans School of Nursing

Dr. Demetrius James Porche is professor and dean of Louisiana State University Health - New Orleans School of Nursing. He holds an appointment also in the School of Public Health and School of Graduate Studies at Louisiana State University Health - New Orleans. He received his undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Nicholls State University and his Master of Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Science from Louisiana State University Medical Center. He completed Family Nurse Practitioner post-graduate coursework at Concordia University, Wisconsin. Dr. Porche earned a Doctorate of Philosophy from Capella University in Organization and Management with a specialization in Leadership.

Dr. Porche is certified as a Clinical Specialist in Community Health Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Porche was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Academy of Nursing. He is currently the chief editor of the American Journal of Men’s Health. Dr. Porche currently Chairs the Louisiana Health Works Commission and serves on the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Board of Directors.  

The NLN Isabel Hampton Robb Award

Outstanding Leadership in Clinical Practice, Evidence-Based Practice, and Interprofessional Collaboration

Mary A. Dolansky, PhD, RN, FAAN

Sarah C. Hirsh Endowed Associate Professor, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, and Associate Professor, School of Medicine

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

Dr. Mary Dolansky is the Sarah C. Hirsh Endowed Associate Professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and associate professor at the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Dolansky was the past director of the QSEN Institute that maintained resources for 10 years for nurses worldwide. She was the national advisor for the VA Quality Scholars Fellowship and continues to inspire nurses and interprofessional teams in the quality scholars program at the Cleveland VA.

Her innovation in education includes designing a mobile app to teach quality improvement and spreading a virtual clinic that provides a platform for practicing Age-Friendly 4Ms evidence-based care delivery in 1,100 MinuteClinics in collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Her interprofessional research, leadership and practice change has resulted in over 149 publications that includes many publications with her students and fellows.

The NLN Lillian Wald Humanitarian Award

Audrey Snyder, PhD, RN, FAANP, FAEN, FAAN

Professor and Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Academic Partnerships

University of North Carolina-Greensboro

Dr. Audrey Snyder is a passionate nurse practitioner, educator, and researcher with a PhD in Nursing from the University of Virginia. She is a professor and associate dean for Community Engagement and Academic Partnerships in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro, a nurse practitioner with the Palliative Medicine team at Cone Health, and a member of the NC-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT).

Her experience in disaster preparedness and response includes earthquake response in El Salvador and Haiti, refugee response at the U.S.-Mexico border, and development of disaster resilience in the Caribbean. Most recently she has educated nurses in Moldova as they work with refugees following the invasion of Ukraine and developed Minerva’s Mobile Health, promoting access to care for rural and underserved populations.

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