Each year at the ANPD Aspire Convention, ANPD presents prestigious awards recognizing members who have demonstrated excellence in nursing professional development. We are pleased to celebrate the following 2024 ANPD award recipients who were recently honored at the 2024 Aspire Convention, April 9-12, in Chicago.
Congratulations to the following recipients!
Marlene Kramer Lifetime Achievement Award
This award is the most prestigious ANPD award. In 2016, the ANPD Board of Directors established this award to recognize individuals who have had an enduring impact on our practice specialty and organization. The lifetime achievement award was first awarded to Dr. Marlene Kramer in 2017 and has been named in her honor.
Donna Wright, MS, RN, NPD-BC
Donna is a nurse and professional development specialist with Creative Healthcare Management in Minneapolis. She has degrees in Nursing, Family Sociology, and Adult Education. She has worked with many health care organizations to help them create meaningful, effective programs that support professional development and competency assessment for all departments.
Donna is the author of the book, The Ultimate Guide to Competency Assessment in Healthcare – which has been translated into Japanese, and is being used throughout Japan. Her other competency book is: The Competency Assessment Field Guide. She is also one of the co-authors of two national award winning books, Relationship-Based Care: A model for transforming practice and Advancing Relationship-Base Cultures.
Donna received her degrees from the University of Minnesota. She has worked in both staff and leadership roles. Her experiences have taken her around the globe to a variety of health care settings including rural Africa. Donna is a member and past president of the ANPD and is a recipient of their “Promoting Excellence in Consultation” award. Donna is known for her energy and refreshing approach to education and learning.
Belinda E. Puetz Award
This award encompasses excellence in NPD. This excellence is shown through the recipient’s creativity, productivity, exemplary leadership qualities, and efficiency. This award is named in memory of dedicated NNSDO/ANPD volunteer Belinda E. Puetz.
Shannon Wells, MSN, RN, CEN, NPD-BC
Shannon Wells serves as the inaugural Director of Professional Development & Education at the Clinical Practices of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the ambulatory entities at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Shannon brings over 24 years of nursing & leadership expertise across the continuum as well as academic and workforce development experience. Shannon received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Georgetown University in 2000 and completed her Master of Science in Nursing Education and Faculty Role from Drexel University in 2012. She received a Certificate in Healthcare Simulation from Drexel University in 2014, a Certificate in Yellow Belt in 2019, a Certificate in Six Sigma Green Belt from Villanova University in 2021 and maintains specialty certification in Emergency Nursing and Nursing Professional Development.
Change Agent Award
The NPD practitioner actively works to transform processes through inspiration, initiation, adoption, and sustainment to change using project management and improvement processes at one of the following levels: patient care unit, education department, and organization.
Alisha Updike, MS, RN, PMGT-BC, NPD-BC
Alisha Updike is a Nursing Professional Development Specialist Lead for Clinical Education in Advocate Health’s centralized Nursing Education and Professional Development department. With a master’s in nursing (Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist), Alisha brings over 13 years of experience in nursing leadership, clinical education, nursing professional development, academia, project management, and adult acute care delivery. Her team at Advocate Health is known for innovation, consistently finding novel ways to engage modern learners in bridging skill gaps and ensuring education is appropriately deployed without being a panacea for non-education issues.
Beyond Advocate Health, Alisha has contributed her expertise to the ANPD Convention Content Planning Committee and served as a mentor in the ANPD EBP Academy as well as the Leadership Academy. She is a prolific disseminator of her work, having presented at the ANPD Annual Convention twice, along with various regional and organizational platforms, and was recently published in the Journal of Nursing Administration.
Mentor Award
The NPD practitioner advances the profession by contributing to the professional development of others and supporting lifelong learning as individuals develop across practice, professional and educational settings.
Emmika Elkin, MSN, RN, OCN, NPDA-BC®
Emmika is a distinguished Nursing Professional Development Specialist with UCSF Health's ambulatory cancer services. Her commitment to professional development is evident in her extensive involvement in advancing the specialty from both within and external to her role at UCSF.
Emmika attained NPDA-BC certification in early 2022, subsequently joining the certification's Advisory Board and serving as a Peer Reviewer - a testament to her unwavering commitment to shaping the future of advanced NPD practice.
Leader Award
The NPD practitioner influences the interprofessional practice and learning environments, the NPD specialty, the profession of nursing, and healthcare.
Jenny Harshman, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CPN
Jenny is a nursing professional development leader at Children’s Health in Dallas, Texas. She serves as the Senior Director of Clinical Learning and Patient Education in the Learning and Leadership Institute and has a special interest in how modern learning design impacts outcomes.
Jenny has presented on social learning and redesigning learning methods at national and international conferences. She is a published author and serves as a subject matter expert for leadership in healthcare learning. Jenny was also a finalist for International Manager of the Year for Gallup Inc in 2022.
Learning Facilitator Award
The NPD practitioner uses the educational design process to bridge the knowledge, skills, and/or practice gaps identified through a needs assessment.
Bridget Nuxoll, MSN, RN, PCCN-K, NPD-BC
Bridget graduated from University of Louisville School of Nursing with a BSN in 2005 and from McKendree University in 2015 with an MSN in nursing education. She has been a nurse with UofL Health for 19 years and has been an NPD Specialist in the Office of Professional Practice for the last 11 years as both a clinical educator and professional development coordinator. She oversees programs for the system such as Nurse Residency, the Nursing Professional Development Program, the Nurse Leader Professional Development Program, Nursing Certifications, Certification Reimbursement, Preceptor Training, the Mentor program, and NPD Bootcamp.
Champion for Scientific Inquiry Award
The NPD practitioner promotes the generation and dissemination of new knowledge and evidence to advance NPD practice, guide clinical practice, and improve patient care.
Sandy Phan, DNP, RN, NPDA-BC®, CRRN
Dr. Sandy Phan is a NPD Specialist at the University of California, Davis Health, and Program Manager at Health Impact. She has held key NPD positions at large academic health systems including Stanford Health Care and Veteran Affairs Palo Alto.
Dr. Phan is recognized for her contributions to promoting workplace civility, revamping evidence-based practice programs, and developing nurse leaders. She is a peer reviewer for a chapter in the NPD Core Curriculum and the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development.
Dr. Phan is passionate about creating evidence-based mentorship programs and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to enhance patient outcomes and achieve health equity.
Advocate for NPD Specialty Award
The NPD practitioner actively supports, promotes, and demonstrates nursing professional development as a nursing practice specialty.
Karin Elkins, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, OCN
Karin has been a nurse for over 32 years. She earned her BSN and MSN degrees from The Ohio State University. She began her nursing career in direct care and unit leadership on a surgical oncology unit, then transitioned to Clinical Informatics. For the past 10 years, she has practiced in Nursing Professional Development at Medical University of South Carolina.
Karin is certified in Nursing Professional Development and Oncology Nursing. She currently serves as President of the South Carolina Coastal Affiliate of ANPD.
Partner for Practice Transitions Award
The NPD practitioner supports the transition of nurses and other healthcare team members across learning and practice environments, roles, and professional stages.
Stephanie Al-Adhami, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CAPA
Stephanie is a dual-certified nursing professional development specialist with 10 plus years of clinical and administrative experience in community-focused healthcare settings. She earned her BSN from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and her MSN from University of Maryland in Health Services Leadership and Management with an Education focus.
Stephanie lives in Maryland with her husband and two beautiful children. She currently works as the Nurse Residency Program Manager at Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center in Columbia, Maryland. Stephanie has presented locally and nationally on topics related to new graduate nurse transition to practice and perianesthesia nursing practice. In 2023, she was named a Baltimore Magazine Excellence in Nursing Award winner for her work in nursing education.