Professor Acquaviva's Book Earns a First-Prize Nod from AJN
Betty Norman Norris Professor of Nursing Kimberly D. Acquaviva, who penned THE HANDBOOK OF LGBTQIA-INCLUSIVE HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE (Columbia University Press, 2023), earned a first-prize nod from the American Journal of Nursing's "best book of the year awards 2024" list in the category of palliative care and hospice.
AJN judges called Acquaviva's book "groundbreaking" and heralded the skill with which the author "combines clinical expertise with heart-wrenching personal experience" that "creates a powerful contextual frame that resonates deeply." AJN judges also applauded the universality of Acquaviva's messages, which "extend beyond LGBTQIA+-specific care, emphasizing that inclusive practices benefit all patients."
"Groundbreaking."
AJN judge Sarah Rossmassler, of the MGH Institute of Health Professions' School of Nursing, of Prof. Acquaviva's book
"Given that LGBTQIA+ populations often fall through the healthcare cracks, particularly at the end of life, this book is critically important,” said Dean Marianne Baernholdt, the Pew Charitable Trusts Dean and Professor at UVA School of Nursing. “Using her scholarship and lived experience as lessons, Kim shows us how to care not only for LGBTQ+ patients but to tend everyone across the broad arc of all of palliative, hospice, and end-of-life care. I could not be more pleased to see her work earn this well-deserved praise."
A thought leader whose personal story of caring for her late wife, Kathy Brandt, through terminal cancer captivated legions of social media followers for its frank, powerful, human depictions of end-of-life, Acquaviva and her family were the subject of a 2021 New Yorker documentary film, “Documenting Death.”
In 2023, she was awarded a Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation grant to develop an LGBTQIA-inclusive intervention to address sexual pleasure among patients with serious illness, with the aim of developing research on sexual health near the end of life to reduce symptom burden and improve quality of life.
"Using her scholarship and lived experience as lessons, Kim shows us how to care not only for LGBTQ+ patients but to tend everyone across the broad arc of all of palliative, hospice, and end-of-life care. I could not be more pleased to see her work earn
Dean Marianne Baernholdt, the Pew Charitable Trusts Dean and Professor at UVA School of Nursing
In addition to teaching a range of topics to graduate and undergraduate nursing students, Acquaviva is a UVA Provost’s Office faculty fellow, as well as one of UVA’s faculty artificial intelligence advisors who teaches fellow educators about the use of generative AI tools to support teaching and learning. A Fulbright alumna, Acquaviva is also an award-winning author and educator who mentors PhD in nursing students and high-achieving undergraduates selected for the School's popular Distinguished Majors program. A Fellow of the National Academies of Practice, and lauded by the Social Work, Hospice, and Palliative Care Network and Sigma Xi Research Honor Society, Acquaviva joined UVA in 2019 after working as a professor and leader at George Washington School of Nursing.
An often-published scholar in the academic and lay media alike, Acquaviva is also the author of LGBTQ-Inclusive Hospice and Palliative Care: A Practical Guide to Transforming Professional Practice (Columbia University Press: 2017), which also earned the American Journal of Nursing’s Book of the Year Award in the Palliative Care and Hospice category in 2018. She earned a BA in sociology, a master’s in social work, and a PhD in human sexuality education from the University of Pennsylvania, and is an AASECT-certified sexuality educator.
"By promoting LGBTQIA+-inclusive practices, she advocates for systemic improvements that create a more welcoming environment for everyone, potentially elevating the standard of care across the entire hospice and palliative care field," AJN judge Sarah Rossmassler, of the MGH Institute of Health Professions' School of Nursing, wrote.
Each year, the American Journal of Nursing produces a list of the "most valuable texts of 2024," as chosen by their panel of judges, and shares the list as a feature in the January issue.
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