Rutgers Nurse receives March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Award

The March of Dimes New Jersey chapter is pleased to announce that Jackson resident Felesia Bowen from Rutgers University in Newark received the 2015 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Award in the Research category.

Through Nurse of the Year Awards, the March of Dimes recognizes nurses who demonstrate exceptional patient care, compassion, and service. Whether serving as a health care provider, educator, researcher, or chapter volunteer/advisor, these nurses have played a critical role in improving the health of New Jersey’s mothers and babies. Nurse of the Year Awards celebrate the nursing profession and creates awareness of the recent strides made in this growing field.

Felesia Bowen, Ph.D., R.N., A.P.N. is the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Endowed Chair in Pediatric Community Nursing at Rutgers School of Nursing. She is noted for her work at a children’s hospital in the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology. The hospital is located in an urban area where many of the children have uncontrolled asthma. At the time, asthma was one of the main reasons for pediatric admissions to the pediatric intensive care unit and inpatient unit. It was noticed that many of the children had repeat admission and the parents were not aware of asthma signs and symptoms or the pathology of asthma. Bowen worked with a group of key stakeholders from the inpatient unit, pediatric clinic, pediatric pharmacy and ED to develop a standardized discharge form for asthma patients that included medications and instructions on how to manage symptom exacerbations. She helped educate the physicians, nurses, new residents and fellows on how to use the form. The form was used uniformly throughout the hospital and clinics. After six months, pediatric admissions to the PICU for severe acerbation were down.

“We could not do the work of the March of Dimes without the passion and commitment of our nurses. This is our opportunity to show them how special they truly are,” said Allie Hall, Central Division Executive Director, New Jersey Chapter of the March of Dimes.

More than 196 nurses were nominated in 19 different award categories. New Jersey award recipients were announced at a special awards gala held on November 18, 2015 at Pines Manor in Edison, which had a record attendance of over 500 people. At the event there were 115 finalists which represented 48 hospitals and healthcare facilities. The event raised over $90,000 to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.