The MGH Institute’s Board of Trustees chair is lauded for overseeing hospital designations of excellence in nursing, and for her lifetime of contributions to the nursing field.

It’s been a busy year for Dr. Jeanette Ives Erickson when it comes to well-deserved recognition for her exceptional 50-year career. 

Just months after being recognized by the American Red Cross and the American Academy of Nursing, the MGH Institute Board of Trustees chair added another accolade to her long list: recipient of the Margretta Madden Styles Presidents Award. 

Named after Margretta Madden Styles, deemed the mother of nurse credentialing who spearheaded a certified set of nursing standards, the award was bestowed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to recognize the contributions Ives Erickson has made during her career, and for her work in overseeing Magnet designations of hospitals. Magnet designations are essentially the gold standard for nursing excellence because it sets the bar on patient outcome measurement, and how a hospital thinks about innovation, exemplary professional practice, and transformational leadership.

“Jeanette never wavers from her focus on evolving models of care to align with current systems of care,” said Rhonda Anderson, the AANC’s president, to a crowd of more than 11,000 attendees during its annual conference. “Her strong professional influence in the areas of credentialing, Magnet cultures, interprofessional teams, and exceptional patient outcomes continues to shape and support the professional practice of nursing.”
 

Two women smile on stage and hold a glass award
Dr. Jeanette Ives Erickson (right) receiving Margretta Madden Styles Presidents Award from American Nurses Credentialing Center President Rhonda Anderson

After Ives Erickson was welcomed with a standing ovation, she told the crowd how blessed she has been. 

“As a nurse I have had a rich and rewarding career, and from my nursing career I have also benefitted from long-term relationships and many life lessons,” said Ives Erickson, currently Chief Nurse Emerita at Massachusetts General Hospital and a 2011 graduate of the IHP’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program. “It was at Mass General that I was truly connected with my values, my love of nursing and especially those we care for. The first honor as a nurse is to care for patients and families.”

Erickson currently serves as chair of the ANCC Commission on Magnet Recognition, which recognized during Ives Erickson’s tenure as chair of the Commission, Mass General Brigham entities Spaulding Cape Cod, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute into the Magnet recognition program which has identified only 9% of U.S. hospitals as exemplary places for nurses to practice. Mass General, where Ives Erickson was chief nurse for 21 years, was the first hospital in the Commonwealth to receive a Magnet designation. That started a chain-effect. 

“I think we inspired other hospitals to come forward,” she said. “We spent a fair amount of time after we were designated hosting area meetings, talking about the journey, and it was after that when many hospitals followed suit.”

Earlier this spring, Ives Erickson was named a Nursing Hero by the American Red Cross for her work at Boston Hope. During the early days of the pandemic, she was asked to be the co-medical and operations director of the new 1,000-bed field hospital set up at the Boston Convention Center to treat overflow Covid-19 patients that area hospitals could not accommodate.

And this past weekend in Washington, D.C., lves Erickson was named a “Living Legend” by the American Academy of Nursing – the highest honor from the world’s most prestigious nursing association.

“When Jeanette gets out here, I know what she’ll say,” said the ANCC’s Anderson to the crowd just before introducing Ives Erickson as the award winner. “Jeanette will say, ‘I’m not a hero. I’m not a legend,’ but don’t you believe a word of it. A prolific author and truly transformational leader, she richly deserves the ANCC President’s Award.” 

Ives Erickson said she was honored and humbled with the recognition. 

“It really is a privilege to be a nurse, a profession like no other,” said Ives Erickson. “We play an essential role in society by being advocates including the promotion of good health and wellness. We are educators, we are clinicians, we are leaders, and we are the backbone of the healthcare system.” 

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