The University of South Carolina College of Nursing is the recipient of the 2016 AAMN Best School or College of Nursing Award. This award is given for providing a gender diverse and inclusive nursing environment.
BSN Student and Vice President of the College’s AAMN chapter, Martin Mrazeck, attended the 41st AAMN conference in Miami, FL and accepted the award on the College’s behalf.
Dean Jeannette Andrews stated, “The College of Nursing is truly honored to receive this distinguished award from the American Assembly for Men in Nursing. This is the first time our College has received this award, and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to diversity in the nursing workforce and the quality of opportunities for all of our students.”
The AAMN’s mission is to shape the practice, education, research, and leadership for men in nursing and advance men’s health. Their vision is to be the association of choice representing men in nursing and to provide a framework for nurses, as a group, to meet, to discuss and influence factors, which affect men as nurses.
College of Nursing Clinical Associate Professor, Dr. Patrick Hickey stated, “While the USC College of Nursing man not have a large quantity of males in our program (faculty/students), it is the quality of those males in the program that is most important and is what gained us recognition as the AAMN 2016 Best School for Men in Nursing Award.”
At the conference, Dr. Hickey was also awarded the Luther Christmas Award which is given to an individual or individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to nursing that also reflects highly on men in nursing or significantly contributes to AAMN's mission. The award honors a visible, commendable and substantial contribution to nursing and to men in nursing over a period of time. Dr. Hickey says, “I have always maintained that an 'unwritten' rule in Nursing is to give back to our profession and that is something I have been doing since I became a nurse over 40 years ago. Through staff and leadership roles in hospital environments, membership and leadership positions on local, state, and national nursing organizations, medical mission work in Latin America and a teaching role in the USC College of Nursing, I have always 'paid-it-forward' and do so with the intent of investing in our future. It is a great honor to receive this recognition from the American Assembly for Men in Nursing (AAMN) and hope that I can continue to be a role model for Men in Nursing.”
To learn more about the AAMN visit their website http://aamn.org/ .