2016 Nurse of the Year

Pier A. Broadnax, Ph.D., RN,
Nursing Program Director
University of the District of Columbia

Dr. Pier Broadnax is an Associate Professor and Nursing Program Director of the Flagship Nursing Program at the University of the District of Columbia. In addition to this academic appointment, she was formerly the Chairperson of the Undergraduate Nursing Program at Howard University and held a courtesy appointment at Yale University. She also held the position of Visiting Researcher in the School of Nursing, at the Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, Chile. She has held positions in the public and private sector as a Healthcare Administrator. Her practice areas include Adult Health, Quality Management, Correctional Healthcare and School Health. She was a Charter Member of the Mayor’s Health Policy Council for the District of Columbia. As a member of the Ward 8 Health Policy Council and the Health Alliance of Ward 7 in Washington DC, Dr. Broadnax is an active participant in attempting to improve the health of the residents of this area. Her most recent community leadership position is as Co-leader of the District of Columbia Action Coalition, Future of Nursing-Campaign for Action sponsored by AARP and Robert Wood Johnson.

During her doctoral studies Dr. Broadnax, interned in the U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment which was the policy division of Congress. Her primary project concerned the impact of insurance on health outcomes which contributed to the early discussions on increasing access to healthcare coverage for under-served populations.

Dr. Broadnax has served as a researcher and consultant in international leadership development, to include sessions with the World Health Organization and the International Council of Nursing in Geneva, Switzerland as well as with the Royal College of Nursing in London, England. Interactions with these groups served to expand her world view of healthcare and the critical role of nursing in improving health in developing countries and underserved areas of the world. She was invited to present at the 20^th   Anniversary of the Oxford Roundtable at Oxford University in Oxford, England on the topic of obesity in children

Throughout her career, Dr. Broadnax has focused on improving the health of vulnerable populations. Currently, she is working to increase the diversity of the professional nurse workforce by recruiting students from diverse populations and strengthening relationships to community-based care organizations. Last but not by no measure least, Dr. Broadnax led her team to a full eight (8) years of re-affirmation of the nursing program accreditation until 2023.

Dr. Broadnax is a graduate of Winston-Salem State University with a BSN. She then earned a Masters of Science in Advanced Adult Nursing with an Administrative Tract from Hampton University. She was then awarded a Ph.D. in Nursing with an emphasis on Health Policy Development from George Mason University.

In her spare time, Dr. Broadnax enjoys tending to her plants and has begun replicating family recipes, making some adjustments for today’s busy woman. She is never far from her spiritual foundation and seeks to integrate her spirituality in her actions and projects. Her motto is:

” If I can help somebody along my life’s journey, then my living will not have been in vain.”

View our past honorees