Institute for Nursing Honors 10 Who Help Advance Health Care in New Jersey

New Jersey Nurse, Nov/Dec 2004

Among the Institute's initiatives to promote nursing is a unique tribute to New Jersey nurses who make an extraordinary impact on the profession and the community. The program is called Divas and Dons in Nursing. Through its annual Divas and Dons dinner, the Institute calls attention to outstanding achievements of accomplished New Jersey nurses. The dinner is also the Institute's primary annual fundraiser. Proceeds fund scholarships for nursing students and nurses advancing their education. The Institute also provides for quality continuing education programs and grants for nurses involved in research.

"The Institute for Nursing advances the profession of nursing and the communities we serve through scholarship, research and education," said Linda Gural, President of the Institute for Nursing. "Divas and Dons is a key initiative toward accomplishing that mission."

Diva and Don Honorees come from all areas of nursing, including acute care, administration, education, public health and community health. The 2004 Divas and Dons of nursing are:

BARBARA A. BENJAMIN, EdD, RNC is an Associate Professor and the On-site Coordinator of the UMDNJ School of Nursing RN to BSN program located at Rowan University. Dr Benjamin received a Diploma in Nursing from St. Agnes Hospital School of Nursing in Baltimore, MD and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Columbia University in New York City. She attained a Masters of Science Degree from Rutgers the State University with a specialization in Community Health. Her Doctorate in Education is from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. Honors include membership in Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Tau Chapter, the American Academy of Practice and the Professional Education Award from the American Cancer Society.

Dr Benjamin has held various positions during her career including Vice President for Nursing at the Essex County Psychiatric Hospital, Assistant Vice President for Community Health at Clara Maass Medical Center and Director of Staff Development at Meadowland Hospital Medical Center. Her teaching positions have included Rutgers University, New Jersey City University, Bloomfield College, Fairleigh Dickinson University and The Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing.

Funded grants have included $255,000 from the New Jersey State Division of Higher Education for Literacy in the Workplace over a three year period.

Scholarly presentations include presentation to Sigma Theta Tau International in Toronto, American Public Health Association in Indianapolis and New York City, Isabel Stewart Conference, Columbia University in New York City. Dr. Benjamin's publications include A Level of Literacy in the Nurse's Aide Population: Baseline Data for Nursing Staff Development in the Journal of Nursing Staff Development. The title of her dissertation was Relationship between Literacy Skills and Actual and Estimated Job Performance of the Nurse's Aide.

MIRIAM COHEN, MS, RN, APNC. Miriam is a public health nurse with a strong belief in the importance of a vital public health system that is capable of providing population based services to its citizens. As a member of New Jersey's Public Health Council and is its immediate past chair, she works to assure that the vital role of public health nurses in assuring the health of communities is respected and acknowledged. She was the first practicing public health nurse to be appointed to the council. Additionally Miriam is a charter member and first president of the New Jersey Association of Public Health Nurse Administrators Inc.

She established the nursing division of the Middlesex County Public Health Department and served as its nursing supervisor for 13 years. Following that Miriam spent 5 years at the Institute for Nursing providing maternal and child education programs for public health nurses. After working at a Visiting Nurse Association and as a consultant for a medical consulting company she joined New Jersey Primary Care Association in the newly created position of Director of Disaster Planning. In that role she works with the 20 federally qualified health centers assisting them in the development of their terrorism preparedness program. Miriam provided consultant services to the Community Health Care Association of New York State for their disaster preparedness program. A long time member of the adjunct faculty at Rutgers University, she worked with Rutgers University, Central for Professional Development as a consultant role for the nurse bioterror education modules.

GERI L. DICKSON, Ph.D., R.N, is the founder and Executive Director of the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing, Rutgers University College of Nursing. The Center is funded jointly through a public/private partnership between the State of New Jersey and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The legislative mandate describes the Collaborating Center as "an independent nursing Center, which will function as a future-oriented research and development organization to develop and `disseminate objective information, as well as to provide an ongoing strategy for the allocation of State resources directed toward the nursing workforce." The Center's mission builds upon the previous work of Dr. Dickson as the Project Director for the New Jersey Colleagues in Caring: Regional Collaboratives for Nursing Work Force Development, funded jointly by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and New Jersey healthcare stakeholders.