Nursing Professor Wins Book of the Year Award

The second edition of “Nurses Making Policy: From Bedside to Boardroom,” edited by Margarete Lieb Zalon, Ph.D., R.N., A.C.N.S.-B.C., F.A.A.N., professor of nursing and director of the University’s online master of science in health informatics program, Rebecca M. Patton, D.N.P., R.N., C.N.O.R., F.A.A.N., and Ruth Ludwick, Ph.D., R.N.-B.C., A.P.R.N.-C.N.S., F.A.A.N., won second place in the History and Public Policy category of the 2019 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards.

 The American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards is an esteemed and prestigious competition in which the best in nursing publishing are chosen by a panel of judges who are experienced and well-established in the healthcare community. Awards are given for first, second, and third places across 20 categories. 2019 marked the 50th year of the awards.

The second edition of “Nurses Making Policy” explores the nurse’s integral role in facilitating health policy change and advocating for the patient, both in the hospital and in the larger political system. The editors have donated all their royalties from both editions of the book to the Washington Fellowship Fund at the American Nurses Foundation, which is the philanthropic entity of American Nurses Association. The Washington Fellowships Fund is focused on getting nurses a seat at the highest-policy making tables and maximizing nurses’ participation on Capitol Hill committees.

Dr. Zalon, who has been a member of Scranton’s faculty since 1988, was inducted as an American Academy of Nursing Fellow in 2010 in part for her positive influence on health care policy and delivery. Her leadership legacy includes grassroots advocacy, progressive program design, execution and outcomes in state and national nursing organizations focused on establishing practice and education policy, and building research funding capacity.

Dr. Zalon has authored book chapters, as well as articles published in numerous scholarly journals and other professional publications. She has also made research and health policy presentations at the local, state, national and international levels. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Zalon serves on the American Academy of Nursing’s Acute and Critical Care Expert Panel, and is the president of the Nursing Foundation of Pennsylvania. She is a past chair of the American Nurses Foundation, a former board member of the American Nurses Association, past vice-president of the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and a past president of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association.

Dr. Zalon is a recipient of the Duke University School of Nursing Distinguished Alumna Award, the PSNA Distinguished Nurse Award and a Leahy Fellowship at The University of Scranton. She also received the University’s Excellence in Graduate Teaching Faculty Senate Award in 2017.

Dr. Zalon received her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her master’s and Ph.D. in nursing from New York University.