Awards

Teaching Awards

Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award

Recognizing that teaching is the primary mission at PLU and that excellence in teaching for the SON is core to our mission of educating best-prepared BSN, MSN, and DNP nurses for the State of Washington and nationally, Dean Emeritus Sheila K. Smith established the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award to recognize excellence in teaching and to foster such excellence among the faculty in the PLU SoN.

This recognition is awarded annually at the SoN Scholarship of Nursing Conference. The recipient is recognized through a certificate, a check for $500, and their name and credentials being displayed on the Teaching Award Plaque located in the SoN administrative offices.

The nominee should represent the following criteria:

• Actively pursues the development of current, evidence-based content for the nursing curricula and for her/his area(s) of expertise
• Incorporates practices from the scholarly literature on teaching and nursing education into course and content delivery
• Recognition for significant expertise in an area of specialization
• Engages in the scholarship of teaching through research, publications, conference presentations, or workshops to further advance teaching excellence and expertise
• Demonstrates teaching excellence as characterized by challenging learners intellectually; communicating effectively; and showing a commitment to learning
• Makes substantive and ongoing contributions to the School of Nursing curricula and academic programs

Nomination Process:

• Pacific Lutheran University faculty and staff may nominate a faculty member
• Individuals may nominate only one candidate
• Faculty members may self-nominate
• Any faculty member regardless of tenure or position are eligible
• Nominees will have the option to accept or reject their nomination

Student Awards

SoN faculty help to determine winners for three student awards that are presented during the SoN Recognition Ceremony. These awards include, the Ruth Carlson Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award, the Jessie Alice Gould Masters in Nursing Excellence Award, and the Maria Fulton Gould Doctor of Nursing Practice Excellence Award.

Student awards are named after Maria (Fulton) Gould (1853-1937), Mr. Tom Carlson’s maternal great-grandmother. Jessie Alice (Gould) Smith (1884-1956), is Mr. Carlson’s maternal grandmother. Both Maria and Jessie are listed as nurses in the 1900 US Federal census in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Starting in 1898 and continuing each summer until about 1910, Minneapolis and Saint Paul had typhoid fever outbreaks. In 1900 both Maria and Jessie served as nurses. The Gould family had been exposed to typhoid fever in 1892 when they were in the San Francisco Bay area, intent on emigrating from Manitoba, Canada to USA. They got sidetracked when John and Maria Gould’s only son died of typhoid fever. Maria was hospitalized in Oakland’s Fabriola Hospital[1] for a long time. When she recovered, the family returned to Manitoba. They re-entered the USA in Minnesota in 1898. Maria was born in Nova Scotia, Jessie in Manitoba. Maria and husband John Logan Gould are buried in Tacoma Cemetery. Flowers along bottom of John and Maria’s headstone represent where they lived—may flower (Nova Scotia), prairie crocus (Manitoba), California poppy, purple lady’s slipper (Minnesota), and a rhododendron (Washington state).

Under the direction of the RAP Chair, a call for student nominations is sent out to faculty in the spring (for May graduates) and fall (for December graduates). Once student nominations are received, faculty are asked to vote among a selection of student nominees for each of the awards. The awards are held in secrecy until they are revealed during the SoN Recognition Ceremony by the Dean. Students receive a monetary award as well as having their name engraved on a plaque that hangs in the SoN administrative offices.

The Ruth Carlson Excellence in Clinical Nursing Award

Is awarded to a BSN student at the SoN Recognition Ceremony on the basis of faculty nomination for excellence in clinical performance. The award is provided through the support of the Carlson family in recognition of their mother, Mrs. Ruth Carlson, and her strong values in support of baccalaureate nursing education.

The Jessie Alice Gould Masters in Nursing Excellence Award

This award was first established in May, 2017 by Mr. Tom Carlson. The Jessie Alice Gould Smith Masters in Nursing Excellence Award is awarded to a graduating Master of Science in Nursing student who demonstrates excellence in nursing leadership, practice, service, and scholarship that promotes transformational leadership within complex health systems. Please consider the following criteria in submitting your nomination for this award:

• MSN project demonstrates high-level mastery of an area of nursing practice;
• MSN project has the potential to directly or indirectly influence outcomes related to health care, practice, or policy;
• Exemplifies outstanding leadership;
• Exemplifies outstanding professionalism;
• Exemplifies integrity and fairness in nursing practice;
• Demonstrates responsiveness, positive communication skills, and caring relationships.

The Maria Fulton Gould Doctor of Nursing Practice Excellence Award

The Maria Fulton Gould Doctor of Nursing Practice Excellence Award is awarded to a graduating DNP student who demonstrates exemplary accomplishments as an advance-prepared practitioner-scholar, dedicated to highest quality health outcomes and effective nursing leadership in our nation’s healthcare systems. Please consider the following criteria in submitting your nomination for this award:

• DNP project demonstrates high-level mastery of an area of advanced nursing practice and focuses on the translation of evidence into practice;
• Exemplifies outstanding leadership;
• Exemplifies outstanding professionalism;
• Exemplifies integrity and fairness in nursing practice, scholarship, and leadership;
• Demonstrates responsiveness, positive communication skills, and caring relationships.