2018 Hall of Fame Inductees

Dr. Marie Louise Fitzpatrick was a visionary leader and champion for the nursing profession. Prior to her passing in August 2017, Dr. Fitzpatrick was passionate about international health care and nursing education.

Dr. Fitzpatrick was the Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor of the College of Nursing at Villanova University – a position she had held since 1978. She expanded the College’s academic programs by initiating master’s and doctoral programs, as well as an accelerated BSN program for second-degree students. During her tenure, the College was repeatedly recognized by the National League of Nursing (NLN) as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education.

Active in higher education accreditation since 1972, Dr. Fitzpatrick served as an accreditation visitor for the Middle States Association, NLN and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. Some of her other leadership roles included: serving as a member of the External Advisory Committee for the Rafic Hariri School of Nursing at the University of Beirut and the Radnor Township (PA) Board of Health; sitting on boards for the American Association of Colleges, the Mercy Health System, NLN and Nurses Educational Funds, Inc.; and serving as chair of the Cabinet of Nursing Education for the American Nurses Association. Dr. Fitzpatrick was also a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurses and acted as a consultant to numerous schools of nursing and health agencies in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Fitzpatrick’s research preparation and publications were in the area of nursing history, education and public health. Her book publications include The National Organization for Pubic Nursing, Development of a Practice Field and Prologue to Professionalism, and co-authorship on Nursing in Society. Dr. Fitzpatrick was the recipient of several honors and awards, some of the most notable include the Global Citizen Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania Nurses Association, the Award for Outstanding Leadership in Nursing from NNL, and being name one of the 25 Distinguished Women Leaders in the Philadelphia Area in 2008.

In December 2017, Villanova announced the naming of the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, in her honor. In recognition of her commitment to promoting education for students in countries around the world, she also has two scholarships in her name.

Dr. Fitzpatrick embodied the spirit of what it means to be a nurse and she is remembered as a pioneer in her field.

Dr. Barbara Drew’s cardiovascular nursing research has brought valuable improvements to patient care and nursing scholarship. Her 30 years of research and publication work, focused on cardiac monitoring, has led to major changes in the clinical care of patients with heart disease.

The primary goal of Dr. Drew’s research has been to improve electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring and clinical practices in hospital, pre-hospital, and home settings for more accurate diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial ischemia, and prolonged QT syndrome.  Her research has shaped the development of commercial cardiac monitors, including the introduction of multi-lead ECG monitoring, ST-segment and QT interval monitoring, and strategies to reduce clinical alarm fatigue. Drew’s studies, which have been consistently funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, have changed cardiac monitoring technology, clinical guidelines, and care practices.

Dr. Drew was the first nurse and first woman to serve as President of the International Society for Computerized Electrocardiology (ISCE). She served as chair of the American Heart Association’s writing group that published the first practice standards for ECG monitoring in hospital settings.  To ensure its adoption, she recruited a number of scientific societies, including the Association of Critical Care Nurses, the American Heart Association, and ISCE to endorse and disseminate the practice standards.

Dr. Drew has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to furthering excellence in nursing science. In her work with organizations, she has often moved them toward more productive interdisciplinary goals and to the adoption of clinical guidelines that reflect nursing research and the concerns of clinical nurses. She has trained three generations of PhD nurses who practice around the world; she considers this education and mentorship her most important contribution.

As a ANA/California member, Dr. Drew has been honored with numerous awards recognizing her contributions to nursing, including: the Nahm Award from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing, recognizing an outstanding contribution to nursing science and research; the American Heart Association’s Lembright Lecture Award for achievement in cardiovascular nursing; the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Distinguished Research Award Lecture; and the National Institute for Nursing Research Director’s Lecture. Drew was the first nurse to be awarded the American Heart Association’s Distinguished Scientist Award. 

Drew is also an emeritus Clinical Professor of Medicine in the cardiology division of the UCSF School of Medicine, where she taught clinical electrocardiography to medical students and residents for 15 years. She is a member of the ANA Council of Nurse Researchers. Her work continues to provide significant benefits to nursing and to patient care.