Pam Cipriano Receives DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award

Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean emerita and a research professor of nursing, recently received the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award—an award created to recognize nurses who have devoted their life's work to the compassionate care of others. 

Recipients of this award are nominated for their dedication to nursing through active mentoring, role modeling, advocating for their patients and promoting the positive image of nursing. They serve as a beacon of inspiration to those at all stages of their career and in the various and important roles of nursing.

Read the outstanding things Pam’s colleagues wrote about her ...

• “Pam Cipriano is a leader among leaders. The two traits that I admire most about Pam are her thoughtful and fully informed approach to decision making and her strength in standing firm on the issues imperative to nursing. She is transformative and truly inspirational. I'm fortunate to have had her as a Chief Nursing Office and a Dean.”
• “Dean Cipriano is the most outstanding role model for pinnacle leadership, teamwork and healthy work environment behaviors. These include meaningful recognition, expert communication, effective decision-making, true collaboration, appropriate staffing and truly authentic leadership. This is illustrated throughout her magnificent career and especially with her personal touch with all of her team members. She has guided practice leadership at the national and international levels and the nursing profession is in the most capable hands with her. Truly grateful for her amazing strength and grace. Thank you, Pam!”
• “I couldn't think of a more deserving person for this award. Your competence, grace, humility, and sense of humor are welcomed gifts. All who interact with you learn from you, and I have been fortunate enough to benefit from many interactions! The future of nursing is in good hand with you as our global leader!”
• “You are a great gift to us! Thanks for your effective service and the integrity, humility, gratitude, wisdom, and breadth of vision that infuse it.”
• “A thousand thanks for representing nursing so remarkably well around the world. And thank you for leading our national organization, ANA so ably. And a huge thank you for accepting the interim dean position and honoring your commitment through likely one of the most challenging periods in the history of the UVA School of Nursing (the COVID-19 pandemic). You make all nurses stand a bit taller and prouder. Thank you for a life of service.”
• “Pam’s administrative abilities coupled with her amazing advocacy for nursing has provided guidance and inspiration for our nursing workforce and school.”
• “So many, many, many moments of appreciation to share! Overall, I am so grateful for your steadfast strength, intelligence, and advocacy for nurses and the nursing profession you demonstrate in every situation you find yourself in. Working with you has been a highlight of my career.”
• “What an honor to have the opportunity to learn from you from up close and from ‘afar.’ It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I don't take it for granted. Thank you for continuing to lead nurses in every venue, in every phase and with such strength. I so admire your ability to cut right to the chase. Your kindness and your capacity to lead with such heart are among the many qualities I admire. With sincere appreciation and respect- BEST wishes in your next adventures!”
• “There are leaders who inspire, leaders who develop others, and leaders who translate vision to action. What is most rare is a leader who does all of those things; that leader is Pam. As a staff nurse in graduate school I was curious about workforce issues and nurse retention. When I stumbled across emerging literature about Magnet Recognition, Pam was our Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer. She is an authentic leader who carefully listed to nurses and taught us the power of shared governance in action. Want to be Magnet Nurses and lead the nation? Go for it, she said, and we did. Along the way she taught all of us to challenge traditional thinking, use data to measure nursing impact (the words nurse-sensitive indicators were still totally new!), and to build sustainable systems for nurse recognition and retention. A treasured memory of Pam comes from the day we got the phone call from the American Nurses Credentialing Center informing us of the decision to designation UVA as a Magnet Hospital. Pam had read and edited every single paragraph in the 1,900 pages of documentation demonstrating achievements in patient care, nurse satisfaction, quality improvement, and nursing research. I think she was born with ‘Editor-in-Chief’ superpowers. Remembering our shared joy and gratitude for our team on the day we celebrated years of hard work will forever make me smile. Pam is a rare and treasured mentor and global nurse leader ... just saying ... it might be time for her new address to become 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.” 
• “Some leaders grow into leadership and others are born to be leaders. The latter fits Pam Cipriano like a glove. She was the right leader at the right time to lead nurses through an unprecedented pandemic.”
• “Pam is an inspirational nurse leader who embodies all the qualities that I have looked up to over the past 20 years. I am forever grateful of knowing Pam as the CNO of UVA Health and as the Dean of the School of Nursing. Our paths have crossed several times throughout my nursing journey and I would be forever blessed if our paths crossed again. Thank you, Pam for the dedication and passion that you have put forward to grow the nursing profession nationally and internationally. Your genuine and authentic guidance has modeled the way for the future of nursing.”
• “Pam - you have been AMAZING!! You've been a great nurse to all of us!! You cared for us, you motivated us, you advocated for us, you ensured our safety, promoted our development and lead us through tough times! The epitome of a nurse leader! We are grateful!”
• “Thank you, Dr. Cipriano, for being steadfast in your leadership during the pandemic. We couldn't have made it through such a challenging time without your compassion, support, decision-making skills, and leadership. I wish you all the best on your next adventure!”
• “Thank you, Pam for your leadership at the School of Nursing and to the Profession of Nursing. You have continued to help nurses have a voice in a number of venues, and I have helped the School of Nursing move forward.”
• “Pam is always the voice of reason, wisdom and kindness. What a treasure she has been to nurses in Cville, the USA, and internationally. How fortunate we are to have been planted near her!”
• “Pam's leadership and advocacy for nursing education at UVA has paved the way for greater collaboration between the Medical Center and SON. I personally appreciate Pam's wisdom and guidance in helping encourage nursing leaders to take an active role in our nursing organizations. Thank you, Pam!”
• “Appreciate you more than you will ever know. Your orientation to people and caring for them was so evident during the pandemic. Your wisdom and words were so important to our leadership team at such an important time. Thanks for being a bridge builder and all you have done for UVA Health. Best wishes as you continue to serve on a global scale. I am so grateful for all you have done and continue to do.” 
• “A quick Google search on Pam Cipriano will reveal why she is so deserving of a Daisy lifetime achievement award. Several years of my career were spent working with Pam and watching her lead. During her tenure as CNO, Pam supported the journey to UVA’s initial Magnet designation and secured resources to support the nursing workforce. Returning to UVA as Dean of the School of Nursing, she provided leadership to UVA Health’s response to the COVID pandemic, focusing on support for the health and well-being of the front-line caregivers. She is an unwavering champion for the role of the nurse and the imperative for nurses to lead in all arenas of healthcare delivery, from the bedside to the board room and beyond. Pam is known for her passion, intellect and commitment to high standards for quality care. UVA Nursing and the entire UVA health community has been strengthened by Pam’s leadership.”
• “It was my honor to partner with Pam when she was the CNO. Among her many qualities: intelligent, trustworthy, a good communicator, the one that I admired the most was her integrity. For Pam, patient care was the reason that we had medical centers, and she fought for the care that patients deserved. It was a pleasure to work with her to move the School of Nursing and Medical Center nursing forward.”

… and this is not even the complete list of the wonderful words colleagues had to share about Pam Cipriano. Thank you, Pam, for you years of service and commitment to our patients, students, team members, and community!

*Quotes edited for clarity and length.

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