Dr. Marie-Louise Luiking qualified as an ICU nurse & then qualified as one of the first Nurse Practitioners in Critical Care in the Netherlands. For her research & implementation studies on the intensive care, she received the Frontiers in Critical Care Medicine Investigator Award in Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2008 & the Sigma Research Utilization Award in Indianapolis, USA 2009. For her master’s thesis she received a commendation from the institute as the best thesis 2005. Dr Luiking as a pioneer, advocate for patients & fellow colleagues was elected to the hospital ethics committee as the first nurse among 2.435 nurses working at the hospital. Dr Luiking’s PhD published thesis has undertaken research on nurses’ participation & nurses’ professional clinical autonomy when preparing to implement an innovation on an Intensive care unit (ICU).
Since 2018 she is an executive board member of the International Philosophy of Nursing Society (IPONS). She has served two elected terms as the president of the Sigma Rho Chi at Large, the Dutch chapter. She was the recipient of the Ethel Palmer Clarke Founders Award in 2017. Dr Luiking has also served three elected terms as the regional coordinator for the European region of the Sigma. In 2021 she was conferred as a Fellow of the Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland. Since May 2025 she was conferred as a Fellow of the European Specialist Nurse Organisation (ESNO). Since December 2024 co-chair of the International Council of Nurses Health Policy subgroup. Dr Luiking runs 4 research lines voluntarily in Europe predominately with nurse researchers, educationalist & clinical practice nurses.
As past President of a chapter & past Sigma European Regional coordinator (RC) of both a successful chapter and region, it has been paramount to connecting Sigma members across national & international boundaries. This has been pivotal to the success of Sigma in Europe since 2017. Instilling ownership of membership has meant changing their perspective on the identity in which the members see their membership. Empowering nurse leaders to own their society & to work with other members to transform healthcare at the bedside, in education & research is now the heart of the European strategic plan. As Sigma’s ERC (2017-2021, 2023-2025) Luiking has been seminal in introducing social media platforms, PhD & master’s virtual connect conferences, quarterly newsletters & guided to date 6 Regional Conferences to the region to engage & connect with Sigma members & potential new members. Luiking extended the remit of the three required regional committees to reflect the ambition of the members & has implemented another five committees to extend our Sigma work in Europe. Together with implementing the first regional Sigma European website.
For the biennium 2025-2027 it will be crucial to Sigma Europe to develop further our digital landscape, as this has become integral to how our Sigma European region communicates and engages with our members and the broader audience, ultimately becoming more visible and relevant for nurses and midwives in Europe in the future.