The International Family Nursing Association Awards recognize and celebrate IFNA members who provide outstanding contributions to transform health for families worldwide and advance the nursing of families. Seven awards in 4 categories will be presented to chosen recipients at the 13th International Family Nursing Conference in Pamplona, Spain in June 2017. The IFNA Awards Committee, chaired by Dr. Norma Krumwiede, with members from 5 countries, oversees the development and selection process of these awards.
One of the recipients of the IFNA Excellence in Family Nursing Award in 2015 was Dr. Nancy Moules from the University of Calgary. A professor in the Faculty of Nursing, Dr. Moules also holds the Kids Cancer Care Foundation Chair in Child and Family Cancer Care. She is the editor of the Journal of Applied Hermeneutics and co-founder of the Canadian Hermeneutic Institute. Her research areas are hermeneutics, pediatric oncology, grief, and family. Dr. Moules is a Psychosocial Oncology Research Training mentor and a member of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology and the Children’s Oncology Group. She has received teaching excellence awards, including the University of Calgary Teaching Excellence in Graduate Supervision, and two CARNA Research Excellence awards (Research 2011; Education, 2015). In 2012, she was the recipient of the CNA Order of Merit for Nursing Education and the CASN 2015 Excellence in Nursing Education. She held a Killam Annual Professorship from 2012–2013 and was admitted to the Order of the University of Calgary in 2013.
Dr. Moules describes her experience in receiving the IFNA Excellence in Family Nursing Award as follows:
In 2015, I received one of the IFNA Excellence in Family Nursing Awards, following being nominated by Dr. Lorraine Wright. It was such an honor to be nominated, and then to be recognized by IFNA as having made a contribution to family nursing. To stand in the presence of the other award winners in Odense, Denmark was a very humbling experience that marked my career as one of the most memorable events that acknowledged my scholarship, achievements, and most importantly how I may have made a difference to families in their suffering with illness, in my case with childhood cancer. This award was recognized by my home academic institution and was announced within my Faculty as well as across the University. Often the work we do goes unnoticed, and we do not do it for notoriety – – we do it for families. However, when a peer, or in my case, when an leader in family nursing and a former teacher and mentor takes the time to articulate their perception of another’s work, it is very meaningful and gratifying. I believe that we need to notice and celebrate each other, to award the work we often do quietly, and to bring it to the attention of others. I am most grateful for receiving this award and to be even regarded in the company of the other nominees and award recipients. Thank you IFNA (and Dr. Loraine Wright!).
The IFNA Awards initiative continues a tradition of honoring outstanding colleagues in our family nursing community. The Journal of Family Nursing (Dr. Janice M. Bell, Founding Editor) first conceived of these family nursing awards in 2005. Between 2005–2011, 37 colleagues in our family nursing community were honored for their distinguished and innovative contributions that advanced the nursing of families in the world [Read more].
To nominate a colleague for one of the IFNA Awards, you may find more information here. The deadline for nominations is January 30, 2017.
Joel G. Anderson, PhD, CHTP, is an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee College of Nursing and a member of the IFNA Communications Committee. His research focuses on support of family caregivers and persons with dementia. He uses social media as one way of examining the family caregiving experience. You can follow him on Twitter at @JoelAndersonPhD.
