Nancy Smith, University of Hawaii-Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene associate professor, has won a top national teaching award. UH nursing professor
wins prestigious national
teaching awardBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comShe received the 2001 Outstanding Nurse Practitioner Educator Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.
It's the first time a UH nursing professor has won the prestigious award, said Rosanne Harrigan, dean of the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene.
"She is an excellent teacher," Harrigan said, noting Smith also received an award this year from the school's graduate students. "I think it's rather significant that she is recognized both nationally and locally."
Smith formerly was project director and program coordinator for the Primary Health Care of Families and Individuals Program at the University of Colorado. She has been at UH since 1999 on nine-month appointments, returning to Denver in the summers and working for UH long-distance, Harrigan said.
She has a three-year federal grant that supports a masters level program to prepare advanced practice nurses to work with vulnerable populations in rural areas. The project's goal is to improve primary care services in Hawaii and increase the number of advanced practice registered nurses in the state.
Only one faculty member is selected from among more than 350 nurse practitioner programs for the national nurse practitioner educator award.
She has educated about 500 nurse practitioner students in the past 18 years, emphasizing service to the community. Her theme: "Seeing the situation from the patient's perspective."
Ka Leo O Hawaii
University of Hawaii
