Elisabeth Howard, M.S.N.,
Nurse-midwife chosen by students for national award
Elisabeth Howard, M.S.N., Certified Nurse Midwife and Coordinator of the West End Women’s Health Center, operated by the Vanderbilt School of Nursing, has been chosen as a recipient of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) Award for Excellence in Teaching.
This marks the second time Howard has received the award. She was nominated by the December 2003 graduates of the Nurse-Midwifery program at VUSN.
“I am honored that the graduates have given me this award. They all exemplify the heart of midwifery; which is to empower women to be true participants in their health care. Mentoring the nurse-midwifery students is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job,” said Howard.
Barbara A. Petersen, Ed.D, Certified Nurse Midwife and Director of the program at VUSN said this is a fitting award for Howard, who is also a current doctoral student at VUSN. “She goes out of her way to help students throughout the entire sequence of our courses,” said Petersen. “Another attribute that Liz shares with students is her dedication to the women and families of the community she serves. She arranges experiences for faculty and students to conduct and teach self-breast examination to large numbers of women, visits local elementary schools to talk to students about careers in nursing, nurse-midwifery and medicine. She is the first one to volunteer to arrange an observation of the VUSN Nurse-Midwifery Faculty Practice for students from other colleges who are interested in nurse-midwifery or nursing,” Petersen added.
The formal award will be presented to her at the ACNM Annual Meeting & Exhibit in New Orleans later this year. Each year Nurse-Midwifery students have the opportunity to choose a faculty member for the ACNM Excellence in Teaching Award.