Lifetime Achievement in Neonatal Nursing Award
The Lifetime Achievement in Neonatal Nursing Award recognizes an individual’s longstanding commitment to and profound impact on the field of neonatal nursing. This award may be presented to a NANN member, a non-NANN member, a non-nurse, or posthumously.
Applications for the 2025 awards are closed.
Candidates will be able to meet the following criteria:
• Has participated in the publication of materials that have had a profound effect on the direction or practice of neonatal nursing.
• Completed research in the field that has contributed to the advancement of nursing practice in neonatal care or improved outcomes for neonates.
• Has actively worked with other healthcare organizations and the community to improve the quality of neonatal care across the continuum of care.
• Demonstrated outstanding initiative in advancing the education of colleagues, patients, and the public.
Nomination and Selection Process:
Nominations will be submitted by the NANN membership. NANN’s Board of Directors will review the nominations and select the awardee. You may not self-nominate for the Lifetime Achievement in Neonatal Nursing Award.
Recognition and Reimbursement:
The awardee will receive complimentary conference registration, airfare/ground transportation stipend of $600, housing stipend of $500, $250 honorarium, and a trophy at NANN’s Annual Conference.
2025 Recipient:
Kristine A. Karlsen, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC, FAAN
Kristine A. Karlsen, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC, FAAN is a pioneering leader in neonatal nursing whose 45-year career has transformed care for sick newborns worldwide. As a neonatal nurse, transport specialist, educator, and nurse practitioner, Dr. Karlsen has championed safe, evidence-based neonatal stabilization practices. She is best known as the creator and author of the internationally acclaimed S.T.A.B.L.E. Program, the most widely adopted post-resuscitation education program for maternal and neonatal caregivers across 23 interprofessional disciplines. Developed in response to knowledge gaps in rural hospitals, S.T.A.B.L.E. has become a global, evidence-based standard of care that also serves as the post-resuscitation educational template for many state health departments. Recommended by the AAP Section on Transport Medicine, it is embedded in USAID and WHO policy (Survive and Thrive, Essential Newborn Care) and cited in COINN’s UN reports supporting Every Woman Every Child SDG initiatives. Since 1996, S.T.A.B.L.E. has educated over 880,000 perinatal caregivers and thousands of instructors worldwide, with humanitarian materials donated to over 55 resource-limited nations.
Dr. Karlsen’s work has earned honors from NANN, the March of Dimes, AWHONN, and the National Perinatal Association. Inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2019, her visionary leadership continues to impact neonatal care and the lives of countless infants and families.
Past Recipients:
2023 – Suzanne Staebler, DNP NNP-BC FAANP FAAN
2022 – Rita H. Pickler, PhD RN FAAN
2021 – Madge E. Buus-Frank, DNP APRN-BC FAAN
2020 – Debra Brandon, PhD RN CNS FAAN
2019 – Terry Johnson, APN NNP-BC MN CLEC
2019 – Mary Ellen Honeyfield, DNP RN NNP-BC
2018 – Carol Jaeger, DNP RN APRN NNP-BC
2017 – Jacqueline McGrath, PhD RN FNAP FAAN
2016 – Diane L. Spatz, PhD RN-BC FAAN & Frances Strodtbeck, PhD RN NNP-BC FAAN
2015 – Robin L. Bissinger, PhD APRN NNP-BC FAAN
2014 – Carole A. Kenner, PhD RN FAAN & Terri Cavaliere, DNP RN NNP-BC
2011 – Gene Anderson, PhD RN FAAN
2009 – Charles Rait, MSEd BSN RN PNC
2008 – Kara L. Coker, MSN RN
