International Awards for Nursing Excellence

It is truly an honor to receive this award. I have been very fortunate to work with exceptional nurse leaders in multiple Schools of Nursing and their passion for advancing the mission of Sigma is contagious.

Since 2013, Jane Marie Kirschling has served as dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing and director of interprofessional education at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She previously held faculty positions at the University of Kentucky, University of Southern Maine, University of Rochester, and Oregon Health Science University. A member of Pi Chapter, Kirschling chaired the Sigma Foundation Board (2003-2005), co-chaired the International Advisory Council of Chief Nursing Officers and Deans (2007-2009), and is a Virginia Henderson Fellow and Billye Brown Fellow. From 2012-2014, she served as President of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Board. Kirschling is an alumna of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Executive Fellows Program. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Viterbo College and her Master of Science in Nursing and PhD degrees from the Indiana University School of Nursing.

I am so honored and humbled to receive this award.  My involvement in the Delta Xi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International has truly enhanced my practice as a nurse leader through scholarship, philanthropy and networking.  I truly believe the best way to affect change is to lead by example.

After graduating magna cum laude from Case Western Reserve University with her BSN in 2008, Tracy began her career at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus in Cardiothoracic ICU, specializing in heart/lung transplant and cardiac assist devices.  Additionally, she has held several part-time positions to enhance her experience in nursing, including adjunct clinical faculty for Cuyahoga Community College.  This spring Tracy received her MSN, with a specialization as an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, at Kent State University College of Nursing.  Prior to graduating, Tracy accepted a position at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center as a Heart Failure ICU NP.  She is very active in her chapter, Delta Xi.  Following her 2016-2017 term as Student Leadership Intern, Tracy will transition into the Webmaster/Publicity chair position. Tracy is passionate and committed to the promotion of global health and wellness and believes, “the best way to affect change is to lead by example”.