Daniels receives Friend of Nursing Award

Karla Ross, president of the Purdue chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, and President Mitch Daniels. (Photo by Ed Lausch) Download image

Sigma Theta Tau, the international honor society of nursing, on Friday (April 14) honored President Mitch Daniels with its Friend of Nursing Award.

The award was presented during an event attended by several hundred students, faculty, alumni and nurse practitioners as part of the Helen R. Johnson Leadership Conference in Purdue Memorial Union. The Friend of Nursing Award is the highest honor Sigma Theta Tau bestows on an individual who serves as an advocate for nurses and the nursing profession who is not a nurse but works to promote the profession of nursing. 

Daniels has been an ambassador for Purdue’s School of Nursing through his work to institute a doctoral degree program, which will begin in the fall of 2017, and to expand undergraduate enrollment to double number of nurses graduating from the University with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. He speaks regularly about the impact Purdue nurses are making and has demonstrated an appreciation for nurse practitioner graduates who meet the primary health care needs of those in rural and underserved communities. As Indiana governor, Daniels also was an advocate for expanding the range of services that nurses can provide.

“The fact that President Daniels values what nurses do makes a difference,” says Pam Aaltonen, associate head of the School of Nursing. “You could see the students sitting up straighter in their chairs as he spoke while accepting the award.”

Writer: Tim Doty, 765-496-2571, doty2@purdue.edu

Source: Pam Aaltonen, 765-494-4041, aaltonen@purdue.edu