Professors Mary Wakefield and Carol Taylor (GRD ’97) from the School of Nursing and Health Studies will be honored by the American Academy of Nursing this month for their accomplishments and contributions to the field of nursing.

Wakefield, who previously served in leadership at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will be recognized as a Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing, the highest distinction conferred by the AAN. Wakefield joined the NHS faculty in 2017 as a visiting professor.

The Living Legend honor is a remarkable accomplishment, President of the American Academy of Nursing Karen Cox wrote in a July 30 news release.

“The leaders selected in this year’s class of Living Legends are highly acclaimed, longtime Fellows whose accomplishments to health and wellness are profound and sustained,” Cox said.

Wakefield, who is a visiting distinguished professor in the practice of health care at Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin, was honored alongside four other distinguished nurses from institutions including Lehman College of the City University of New York and the University of Washington. Wakefield feels privileged to be recognized by such a qualified group of nursing professionals, she said in an interview with The Hoya. 

“They are some of the most stellar nurse-researchers in the country. They are nurses who are chief executive officers of hospitals and other health care facilities. They are deans of some of our schools of nursing across the country and outstanding educators and outstanding clinicians,” Wakefield said.

At Georgetown, Wakefield advises students on research and career paths in health policy, conducts executive programs on nursing and guest lectures in undergraduate and graduate classes.

Sharing her experiences in lectures and discussion at Georgetown as a visiting professor since 2017 has been a rewarding experience for Wakefield.

“Most of the role has been lecturing across a wide variety of health-related courses, bringing to those classes the experience and expertise that I have as a nurse who has worked extensively in health policy at the federal level,” Wakefield said.

Taylor, an ethicist and professor of advanced nursing practice, will be inducted as an AAN fellow in October.

Induction as a fellow in the AAN recognizes Taylor’s research in the field of nursing as well as her commitment to teaching, according to Interim Dean of the NHS Carole Roan Gresenz.

“Dr. Taylor is highly regarded on and off Georgetown’s campus as a reflective and knowledgeable ethicist and educator,” Gresenz said in a news release. “Her fellowship in the academy honors her many contributions, and we celebrate her achievement and are grateful to call her a colleague.”

Taylor’s research focuses on nursing ethics and she is well known for a textbook she co-edited, “Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Person-Centered Care.” She joins 10 other Georgetown faculty who are fellows in the academy.

The AAN, composed of more than 2,700 fellows, is a professional organization that drives health practice standards and supports policy-related initiatives. The academy publishes a bimonthly journal on new developments in nursing practice and hosts a yearly policy conference.

Cox praised the work of the fellow inductees and their major contributions to the organization, according to a news release.

“I am proud to welcome this incredible class of leaders to the American Academy of Nursing,“ Cox said. “Their amazing accomplishments have changed health and health care across the country and around the globe.”

Both Wakefield and Taylor have conducted research in the health care field, specifically focusing on policy and decision-making. The future of research and policy in the health care field looks optimistic, but there are significant problems that face policymakers, Wakefield said.

“The issues are clearly about affordability of health care for people who are still standing on the outside of health care access and unable to afford it or unable to find affordable insurance coverage,” Wakefield said. “We’ve had a lot of improvement in terms of getting people access to insurance, but there are still segments of the population where affordability is a challenge.”