Standard-Bearers for Excellence

By Kelly Brooks-Staub

At a schoolwide award ceremony on May 2, staff members Marie Davidson, Jackie Oliver, Amanda Pflaumer, John Shearin, and Jennifer Calhoun were recognized for achieve-ment with School of Nursing Dean’s Awards. Through a program initiated by Dean Martha N. Hill, PhD, RN, FAAN, the awards are given to outstanding employees who “exemplify the school’s values” and “set a standard of excellence in the workplace.”

At the same ceremony, faculty members Janice Hoffman, PhD, RN, and Cynda Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN, were named the 2007 recipients of the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Awards.

Hoffman, who received the Baccalaureate Excellence in Teaching Award, “is the ultimate teacher,” according to students who nominated her. Her achievement stems from her devotion to nursing education, which is the focus of her research and her area of nursing expertise. One nominator noted, “She is more than a teacher—she is a mentor, a counselor, and a friend.”

Associate professor Cynda Rushton received the Graduate Excellence in Teaching Award. A nationally recognized expert in bioethics and palliative care, Rushton guides graduate students in learning how to deal with the unique ethical issues that arise in nursing practice. Her classes on nursing ethics “often made me see the case in another light,” said one graduate student nominator, adding, “She is enthusiastic about the field of ethics and that shows to the students.”