Seton Hall University Nurse receives March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Award

The March of Dimes New Jersey chapter is pleased to announce that South Orange resident Marcia Gardner from Seton Hall University in South Orange received the 2015 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Award in the Academic Educator 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.

Marcia Gardner, Ph.D., R.N., C.P.N.P., C.P.N., Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs & Assessment, Seton Hall University, is a certified pediatric nurse and certified pediatric nurse practitioner with a broad child nursing background related to the care of developmentally vulnerable infants and children, and infants and young children with special health care needs. She has been a faculty member in all types of programs from diploma through associate degree, baccalaureate, and doctoral levels over more than a 30 year career in nursing education. She has had the opportunity to write, research, present information, and promote faculty development in support of best practices for clinical teaching. All of these modalities have provided opportunities to share knowledge with nurse educator colleagues, to positively influence teaching skills and knowledge development for new and experienced nurse educators, and to ultimately help to improve the educational experiences of students in nursing programs. She published a book on clinical teaching , which won a Journal of Nursing Education Top Teaching Tool award, which has sold both nationally and internationally in more than twenty-four countries, and been adopted by college and university programs. These examples illustrate her long-standing contributions to, enthusiasm for, and commitment to nursing education and her interest in creating the best possible educational experiences for students in nursing.

“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.