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Among this year’s American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) Award winners are psychiatric nurses specializing in maternal depression, suicide prevention, veteran care, elderly care, and policy-making.

In advance of the 34th Annual Conference (to be held virtually from September 30-October 4), APNA officials have announced the following 2020 award recipients:

APNA Psychiatric Nurse of the Year: Linda Beeber, PhD, PMHCNS-BC, FAANA Professor and Associate Dean of Nursing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, Dr. Beeber has made notable advances in the treatment of women suffering from maternal depression. APNA officials lauded Dr. Beeber’s achievements, describing her as “Not only an effective leader, but also an inspirational role model for a new generation of clinicians, scholars, and students.”

APNA Award for Distinguished Service: Barbara Limandri, PhD, PMHCNS-BC
Professor Emeritus at Linfield College, Portland, OR, Dr. Limandri is being honored for her career as a scholar, clinician, and teacher who has mentored numerous students on their paths to psychiatric nursing degrees. Among her many achievements, Limandri is known for developing a pioneering suicide prevention training program and course for psychiatric-mental health nurses. The APNA remarks that Dr. Limandri’s “Energy to ‘unselfishly give’ to the psychiatric-mental health nursing profession is remarkable.”

APNA Award for Excellence in Practice—APRN: Michelle Giddings, DNP, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC
Giddings, a private practitioner in Las Vegas., NV, is being honored for “Her strong advocacy, knowledge, and leadership” in the successful campaign to persuade state legislators to permit Nevada’s psychiatric APRNs to perform Competency to Stand Trial evaluations.

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APNA Award for Excellence in Practice—RN: Heather McCormick, BSN, RN-BC, PHN
McCormick, a Clinical Nurse Leader specializing in psychiatric intensive care at the Redwood, CA San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, is being commended as “A key leader in creating structure for a cultural shift in which the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, cultural and age-specific needs, personal dignity, and autonomy of veterans” is supported during their treatment.

APNA Award for Excellence in Leadership—APRN: LTC JoEllen Schimmels, DNP, RN, PMHNP-BC, FAAN
Schimmels, an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, has “written or led the writing and implementation of most policies and standardized processes related to behavioral health nurses…in military medicine.”

APNA Award for Excellence in Leadership—RN: Suzie Marriott, MS, BSN, RN-BC
As Associate Director of Nursing at Stony Brook University Hospital in NY, Marriott played a key role in implementing the “Safe Wards” model and suicide prevention programs in the UK and the US. The APNA also praises her performance at SBUH during the height of the New York pandemic: “Suzie not only worked to contain transmission in her hospital units, but also provided leadership and crisis support to staff on the medical floors impacted by the care of critically ill patients.”

APNA Award for Excellence in Education: Rosalind de Lisser, APRN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC
Citing her eminent “leadership as a clinician educator,” the APNA is recognizing de Lisser, an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco, for her seminal contributions as a designer of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner programs in California and for her work as an outstanding mentor.

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APNA Award for Excellence in Research: Olimpia Paun, PhD, PMHCNS-BC​​ ​​
The award for Paun, a professor and Rush Alumni Nurses Association Chair in Health and Aging at Rush University, Chicago, IL, honors her achievement in building “An innovative program that focuses on the mental health needs of the dementia family caregiver population.”

APNA Award for Innovation – Individual: Georgia L Stevens, PhD, APRN, PMHCNS-BC
The APNA is hailing Dr. Stevens, Director of the DC-based Partners in Aging & Long-term Caregiving, for her outstanding achievement in her region: “Dr. Stevens’ model for discharge planning and continued care coordination for this older adult population across the state of Maryland has resulted in only a 5% re-hospitalization rate over more than 4 decades.”

APNA Award for Innovation – Chapter: APNA Arizona Chapter
The Arizona Chapter is receiving an award nod for their creation of an online book club, The APNA commends their project as “An excellent way to involve and connect chapter members who live many miles apart—and now with safe distancing this online activity is ideal!”

For more details, visit the press release for the APNA 2020 Awards.

Koren Thomas
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