Award Recipients and Distinctions 2006

Award Recipients and Distinctions 2005

Award Recipients and Distinctions 2004

2004 Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing

Joanne Cannon RN, MS

Manchester Health Department

Deborah Buxton-Morris RN, MS

New London Health Department

Additional information can be found at http://www.vnascc.org/nightingale_awards.htm

Connecticut Department of Higher Education’s Community Service Award for 2004

Dr. Linda L. Strong

Assistant Professor of Nursing at Sacred Heart University

Dr. Strong was recognized and honored for her role in establishing the St. Charles/Sacred Heart University Health and Wellness Center in Bridgeport, CT. The Center, located at 391 Ogden Street, on Bridgeport’s East Side, offers a range of free health screening tests and health education services. Since its founding in 2001, the Center has served more than 2,000 area residents and has provided an opportunity for clinical, service-learning and internship services for Sacred Heart University nursing students.

Connecticut Nurses’ Association: Josephine Dolan Award for Outstanding Contributions to Nursing Practice

Ruth Knollmueller, RN, Phd

This is one of the highest honors that the nursing community in Connecticut can give one of its own.

Ruth was cited for her contributions to public health nursing and home care. Over the span of her career she helped develop the nurse practitioner role, the nursing role in the (then) emerging home care specialty and the overall agenda for public health nursing in this country.

Ruth brings an extensive background in public health nursing and home care with experience as a public health nurse, clinical supervisor, administrator, clinical specialist, consultant and educator. She has held numerous faculty positions in Connecticut and nationally. In addition Ruth headed the Division of Education at the National Center for Homecare Education and Research in New York City and helped to set up and initially headed the Department of Education at the John D. Thompson Institute at the Connecticut Hospice.

Among her many accomplishments:

·         She helped established at Yale University the first family nurse practitioner (NP) program in Connecticut and the first NP program in the state to be based in a graduate program.

·         She helped to establish the American Nurses’ Association’s (ANA) Council of Primary Care Nursing and co-authored ANA’s first scope of practice statement and standards of practice for adult and family nurse practitioners.

·         She studied the preparation for community health nursing practice in baccalaureate programs across the country for APHA and has provided extensive consultation to schools on public health nursing in the curriculum.

·         She was one of the first to identify the clinical supervisor role as one of the most critical clinical roles in public health and home care, analogous to the "head nurse" or “nurse manager role in in-patient care.

Ruth is a recognized leader in public health nursing and home care nationally. She is frequently sought out by professional organizations and state and federal agencies for her assistance in public health and home care issues and by schools of nursing for community nursing curriculum development. Ruth has held numerous state and national offices and chairing or serving on committees and task forces in many state and national organizations.

Ruth is a prolific writer and has authored or co-authored over 50 articles and four books, two of which received the American Journal of Nursing’s prestigious “Book of the Year” Award (in 1992 and in 2001). In 1983 she helped to establish the journal, Public Health Nursing, a landmark publication for public health nursing as a nursing specialty.  

In her “retirement” Ruth continues to seek out new avenues in public health. Currently, she works in an environmental health role at the Quinnipiack Valley Health District in Hamden, CT.

Ruth serves as an outstanding role model for both professionals and students alike. She is a trusted friend and colleague to many of us in CAPHN. She was instrumental in the successful formation and recognition of our (then) fledgling organization of which Ruth proudly described herself as “den mother.”

Award Recipients and Distinctions 2003

Monica Rak, RN, BSN

State Department of Public Health

Department of Public Health

Nurse of the Year

Joanne Cannon RN, MS

Manchester Health Department

CT Nurses Association Presidents Award