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Greeting from the 2008 Annual Assembly sponsored by HPNA and AAHPM
in progress at the Tampa Bay Convention Center, Tampa, Florida!

More than 300 participants took advantage of the 7 HPNA pre-conference workshops yesterday and over 2,000 participants join us for the educational sessions about to commence. 

At the Opening Plenary Session this morning, Jane Sidwell, President of the HPNA Board of Directors, made the following announcement:

“Good morning! As President of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, I am honored to add our words of welcome to this outstanding group. We are pleased to see so many of our colleagues gathered together for what promises to be an outstanding conference.

The HPNA Board of Directors would like to announce the winner of our more prestigious award – the Leading the Way Award. The winner this year is Dr. Jeanne Quint Benoliel, DNSc, RN, FAAN.

Dr. Jeanne Quint Benoliel graduated from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in San Francisco, served in the United States Army Nurse Corp., received her B.S. from Oregon State University, her Master’s from the University of California, Los Angeles and her DNSc from the University of California, San Francisco. According to the write up on Dr. Benoliel as the 2004 Washington State Nurses Association Hall of Fame Inductee, Dr. Benoliel “focused much of her research on how one learns to live with chronic illness and what it is like to live with a terminal illness. She studied the concept of identity in the face of impending death, the conspiracy of silence that often surrounds the dying patient, and how illness affects the caregiver.” She was the first to bring in the family in terms of the unit of care. She was well ahead of her time.

Her commitment to the care of the dying began with her work with Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. She continued her work at Washington State studying patterns of communication and behaviors of the terminally ill. As a result of her studies, Dr. Benoliel was able to document that the care for the dying destroyed quality of life in their final moments, was misdirected and expensive secondary to the flurry of invasive activities noted at that time. She has taught courses, written extensively and conducted many workshops on end of life care.

Dr. Benoliel was the first nurse president of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement. She is recognized as one of the founders in the field of hospice and palliative care.

Dr. Benoliel has received numerous awards for teaching and research such as the honorary degrees from the University of San Diego, University of Pennsylvania and Yale. She was bestowed with the title of “Living Legend” by the American Academy of Nursing, an understatement for sure. Through her work and teaching, she has transformed nursing care for the dying as well as shaped the field of palliative and hospice care. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Jeanne Quint Benoliel, 2008 HPNA Leading the Way award winner.” 


HPNA's Distinguished Career Achievement Award

On Friday, February 1, Elizabeth (Betty) Davies, RN, PhD, FAAN will be awarded HPNA’s Distinguished Career Achievement Award.

Dr. Elizabeth (Betty) Davies is the current Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Health Care Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing. Dr. Davies has focused her research on the care of families with life-threatening illnesses and bereavement in families, especially in siblings following death from cancer. She has written numerous publications including “Fading Away: The experience of transition in families with terminal illness” and “Shadows in the Sun: Experiences of sibling bereavement in childhood”.

Currently her work funded by NINR is examining Chinese and Latino families in pediatric palliative care. She is also studying fatigue in children with cancer.

Dr. Davies has committed to developing pediatric palliative care. With this goal in mind, Dr. Davies has been involved in numerous projects pertaining to pediatric palliative care including serving on the advisory board of the Pediatric ELNEC. She is also vice-president of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement. She has received numerous honors and awards in the US and Canada and is widely published. HPNA is proud to award the 2008 HPNA Distinguished Career Achievement Award to Dr. Elizabeth (Betty) Davies.