Norma Martinez Rogers, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor of nursing in UT Health San Antonio’s School of Nursing, has received the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Sustainability in Nursing Education Lectureship Award.
The award is sponsored by Nurse.com by OnCourse Learning.
“The AACN is dedicated to ensuring our nursing workforce mirrors today’s patient population,” said Patrick Sheahan, president and CEO of Nurse.com and OnCourse Learning. “This award shines a light on nursing educators who are successfully carrying out that mission.”
Dr. Martinez Rogers was honored March 21 as the award’s 2017 winner. She received the award on the final day of the AACN’s Spring Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
“This authenticates the work I have been doing in this area for over 20 years,” Dr. Martinez Rogers said. “It is an honor because my peers and colleagues are the ones who have recognized me as a leader of cultural diversity and inclusion.”
Dr. Martinez Rogers is the founder of Juntos Podemos (Together We Can), a peer-to-peer mentoring program for nursing students that assists with retention. She said 98 percent of the students in the program are academically successful.
“My proudest moment is that once the project was initiated and implemented, it became a student-driven program,” she said. “As a matter of fact, students still contact me about their accomplishments, advancement in nursing education and work in the community.”
In 2013, Dr. Martinez Rogers founded the Cultural Inclusion Institute, which hosts conferences to help healthcare professionals understand how those affected by social determinants of health can be valued, respected and supported.
Thanks to Nurse.com’s financial support, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing created the award in July 2014 and presented it for the first time in 2015.
The award recognizes outstanding contributions by an individual or a group that demonstrate one or more of the following traits: influencing others; role modeling; continual learning; cultivating diverse teams; risk taking; accountability for diversity; and inclusion and external leadership engagement.