2021 Nurse of the Year
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
The Black Nurses Association of Greater Washington DC Area Inc. The Forth First Annual Salute to the Black Nurse of the Year and Scholarship Awards Virtual Luncheon. The COVID-19 Pandemic Response: Implications for Communities of Color. Barbara Hatcher, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN Speaker. Dr Yonnette Thomas Speaker. Reed V Tuckerson, MD, FACP Speaker. 2021 Black Nurse of the Year Honoree Meedie Bardonille, BSN, RN, PCCN-K, FNC. To purchase tickets visit http://bit.ly/39G3F0S or contact peachpie1936@gmail.com or lois846302@gmail.com. March 6 2021 from 10am – 2pm. For additional information contact bnaofgwdca@gmail.com.
2020 Nurse of the Year
Sharon Lewis, DHA, RN-BC, CPM Interim Senior Deputy Director Department of Health Health Regulation and Licensing Administration Dr. Sharon Lewis is the Interim Senior Deputy Director at the Department of Health, Health Regulation and Licensing Administration (HRLA). She is responsible for the oversight of 19 professional boards, 49 health professions, Food Safety for over 5,000 establishments, Rodent and Vector Control, Animal Services, Pharmaceutical Control, Radiation, Health Care Facilities, Clinical Laboratories, Intermediate Care Facilities, Criminal background check and the Compliance and Investigations Division. Under her leadership, staff of HRLA conducts the survey operations for the licensing and certification of facilities and the licensing of professionals. Dr. Lewis has 30 years of government service. She is a Registered Nurse and has a Doctorate in Health Care Administration. Her doctoral thesis is entitled, PHYSICIANS’ AND CONSUMERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON MEDICAL NECESSITY AND ITS IMPACT ON PATIENT CARE. Dr. Lewis is a Certified Public Manager, and has completed Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, executive program on Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies. She was a clinical investigator for an Infusion Pump study for the Food and Drug Administration and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Patient Safety Improvement Corp. Dr. Lewis is currently pursuing a Certificate in International Health. She is the author of a case study on HIV testing published in a Health Administration Leadership and Management text. Finally, Dr. Lewis is an active participant in various health care provider associations. Quilting is a hobby she enjoys during her spare time. Dr. Lewis’ focus is to foster quality care for the constituents of the District of Columbia that receive health care services from programs that come under her purview as well the licensing of professionals.
2019 Nurse of the Year
Phyllis Sharps, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, is the Elsie M. Lawler Endowed Chair, Associate Dean for Community Programs and Initiatives and Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Dr. Sharps is the director for the Center for Community Innovations and Scholarships, which two community nurse lead managed centers for the School of Nursing (East Baltimore Community Nurse Centers), and the Health and Wellness Program at the Henderson Hopkins Partnership School. She has published numerous articles on improving the reproductive health, reducing violence among African American women. Her practice and research examines the consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) against pregnant and parenting women, specifically, the effects of IPV on the physical and mental health of pregnant women, infants and very young children. She has been the principal investigator for $3.5 M 5 year research grant funded by NINR, Domestic Violence Enhanced Home Visitation – DOVE, which tested a public health nurse home visit intervention to reduce effects of IPV among pregnant women and their newborns. Currently she is the principal investigator for a second 5-year NIH/NCID $4.2 M grant “Perinatal Nurse Home Visitation Enhanced with mHealth”, which tests the use of computer tablets for screening and intervening for IPV in the home. Most recently, Dr. Sharps received a 2 year, $1.2M grant from the Health Services Resources Administration (HRSA), “Advanced Nurse Education Workforce (ANEW)”, which provides scholarships to primary care nurse practitioner students preparing to work in underserved areas with underserved populations. In 2009, Dr. Sharps gave testimony before the U.S. Congress, including then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, on the need to reform health care to provide better access to evidence-based nursing practice for pregnant women and new mothers. Other important policy initiatives informed by contributions from her multidisciplinary research teams have resulted in appointments to the Institute of Medicine (now National Academy of Medicine) Board on Military and Veterans Health and the IOM Committees on the Qualifications of Professionals Providing Mental Health Counseling Services under TRICARE. Appointment to the veterans’ health committee was in recognition of her work as a nurse in the military, her women’s health expertise, and her study of abuse during pregnancy in military women.
Dr. Sharps is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a 2013 inductee into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society and 2015 recipient of the Visionary Pioneer Award from the University Of Maryland School Of Nursing. She received her BSN from University of Maryland School of Nursing, MS (Maternal and Child Health) from University of Delaware School of Nursing and her doctorate from the University Of Maryland School Of Nursing. She also completed a fellowship in adolescent health at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine.
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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 20th 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.”
2015 Nurse of the Year
Crystal L. Scott MSN, RN-BC
Crystal Scott, MSN, RN-BC, graduated from Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn, New York where she received her Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) training and certification.
She attended Howard University earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. Recognizing the importance of education, Crystal enrolled in George Mason University earning a MSN, with honors.
Crystal began her professional career as a staff RN at Howard University Hospital. She later transferred to the Washington Hospital Center (WHC) and practiced in various nursing departments including high-risk obstetrics, intensive care nursery, orthopedics, cardiac transplant and oncology. In 2005, Crystal was recognized as the Washington Hospital Center Nurse of the Year. As her career advanced, she held various leadership and management positions at Washington Hospital Center, including Assistant Nurse Manager and Interim Director of the Medical-Surgery Telemetry Department. The President of WHC recognized Crystal for her role in achieving milestones in the Magnet program for the hospital.
Throughout her career, Crystal excelled in various staff positions at Providence Hospital prior to her assuming the position of Geriatric Nurse Educator at Carroll Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Crystal played an integral role in the implementation of an integrated Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system that resulted in Carroll Manor becoming the first long-term care facility in Washington, D.C. to utilize an electronic medical record system.
She was the first RN at Carroll Manor to become board certified in gerontology. She was instrumental and oversaw educational study sessions for RNs and LPNs obtaining national certification in gerontology. Carroll Manor was the first long-term care facility in the Nation to graduate a class of LPNs certified in gerontology. She created and implemented an advanced training program for Certified Nursing Assistants, specializing in dementia and end of life care. Crystal served as Program Coordinator for the Pathway to Excellence Magnet program. In July 2014, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) awarded Carroll Manor the Pathway to Excellence designation, making it the fourth nursing home in the country to receive this prestigious honor. In the nursing community, she is well known for her constant professionalism and knowledge of evidence based practice.
Crystal designed a company making educational programs accessible to health care workers across the continuum, by building and enhancing competence through best practices, education, experience, theory and research. She is the President of Quality Resource Management, LLC.
Crystal is also the President of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, Gamma Beta Chapter, Howard University. She is an active member of the Black Nurses Association of Greater Washington DC Area Inc. and serves on several committees. Crystal is very active in her community and church. She participates in volunteer and outreach activities for women, youth and older adults.
Crystal is married to Paul Scott and the proud mother of two sons, Paul and Michael and a beautiful daughter, Victoria.
