The International Transplant Nursing Society (ITNS) announced the recipient of this year’s Nursing Excellence Award: our Penn colleague, heart transplant nurse practitioner, Maria Molina!
This special recognition is awarded annually and honors the unique role that transplant nurses play throughout the complex and often challenging continuum of care required for a successful transplant.
Maria was selected because her career exemplifies the ITNS mission of promoting excellence in transplant clinical nursing. Nominations for Maria to receive this prestigious award highlighted her dedication to patient care, education and research, as well as her outstanding leadership qualities. One nomination from a colleague praised her vision of developing methods to synthesize theories in ways that are most useful to practice and guiding clinical outcomes.
In addition to providing excellent patient care for heart transplant patients at Penn, Maria has worked in collaboration with the American Nursing Association, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the American Association of Critical Care to develop guidelines that shape cardiovascular nursing practice in the United States.
Donna Chojnowski MSN, CRNP, director of Clinical Operations Advanced Cardiac Care at the Penn Heart and Vascular Center praised the ITNS for recognizing Maria’s accomplishments and contributions.
“Despite the full-time challenges of her role as a transplant nurse practitioner, and the rigor required to maintain clinical expertise, Maria has made significant educational and research strides,” says Donna. “These ongoing accomplishments identify Maria as a leader in transplant nursing.”
Over the course of her career, Maria has contributed to more than 30 research abstracts. This year, she submitted research that garnered the ITNS 2015 Best Research Abstract Award. In addition to these important personal accomplishments, she currently serves as a resource for transplant nurses throughout the greater Philadelphia area in her role as the director of Professional Development for the Delaware Valley Chapter of the ITNS.
Congratulations, Nurse Molina, and best of luck in your future endeavors. We are so proud of you!