Duke University School of Nursing Scholar Dr. Marilyn Oermann to be Honored with

the Elizabeth Russell Belford Award for Excellence in Education

from Sigma Theta Tau International

Durham, NC…Dr. Marilyn Oermann, director of evaluation and education research at Duke University School of Nursing is the recipient of the Elizabeth Russell Belford Award for Excellence in Education by the Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), the honor society of nursing. The award, named in honor of one of the five founding members of STTI, is awarded every two years and pays tribute to excellence in teaching, significant contributions toward advancing the science of nursing and influencing the professional practice and public image of nursing.

Dr. Oermann’s career has been devoted to developing concepts of evaluation, clinical teaching, and teaching in nursing. Through her many books, articles, and speeches, she has guided how nurse educators teach and evaluate student learning.

“Marilyn Oermann is an internationally respected nurse scholar whose personal scholarship and extensive mentoring of others has strengthened the field of nursing. We are proud that she is a member of our school community and congratulate her on this honor,” said Dr. Catherine Gilliss, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean and Vice Chancellor for Nursing Affairs, Helene Fuld Health Trust Professor of Nursing at Duke University School of Nursing.

Dr. Oermann, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, came to Duke in July 2013 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was the Frances Hill Fox Term Distinguished Professor and Chair of Adult and Geriatric Health in the School of Nursing. Dr. Oermann’s scholarship focuses on nursing education, with an emphasis on both teaching and evaluation in nursing. With funding from the National League for Nursing and Laerdal Medical, she recently completed a multisite study on the effects of monthly practice on nursing students’ CPR psychomotor skill performance.

She is currently completing a feasibility study on the use of simulation for high stakes testing. Dr. Oermann is the author or co-author of 15 books (several of which won national awards), more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and a wide variety of other publications. Her current books include Evaluation and Testing in Nursing Education (4th ed., 2013), Writing for Publication in Nursing (2nd ed., 2010), Clinical Teaching Strategies in Nursing (3rd ed., 2010) and Teaching in Nursing and Role of the Educator: The Complete Guide to Best Practice in Teaching, Evaluation, and Curriculum Development (in press).

Dr. Oermann is the editor of the Journal of Nursing Care Quality and Nurse Author & Editor. She is past editor of the Annual Review of Nursing Education, and edited six volumes of that series. She lectures widely on writing for publication and nursing education topics.

She earned her PhD and MSNEd at the University of Pittsburgh, and has received Distinguished Alumni Awards from both the School of Nursing and the School of Education. She also received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Pennsylvania State University School of Nursing, where she earned her BSN. Dr. Oermann was the first Mary Killeen Endowed Visiting Scholar at Arizona State University, and has held a number of other visiting faculty positions.

She is a Fellow of the National League of Nursing Academy of Nursing Education and American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Oermann has extensive administrative experience and has evaluated nursing programs in her administrative roles and also as a consultant to schools of nursing. At the national level Dr. Oermann has served in many leadership roles for the National League for Nursing, including Chair of the Evaluation and Learning Advisory Council and member of the NLN Foundation for Nursing Education Review Panel.

She is currently a member of the NLN Strategic Steering Committee, and has also served as a member of two NLN Think Tanks (Nursing Education Priorities, Simulation for High Stakes Testing), the NLN Research Grants Review Committee, and the NLN Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Nursing Education.

Dr. Oermann will receive the award during the 42nd Biennial Convention for STTI on Nov. 16 to 20 in Indianapolis.