June 18, 2008 —Pamela Cipriano, chief clinical officer and chief nursing officer of the University of Virginia Medical Center, has been recognized for her nursing leadership by the American Nurses Association.
 
Cipriano will receive the ANA's Distinguished Member Award at its biennial House of Delegates meeting in Washington, D.C. on June 28. She is one of just 13 nurses around the country slated to receive an award.
 
Cipriano has served on numerous committees and as an officer of the ANA. In 2006, she was appointed editor-in-chief of its new official journal, American Nurse Today. The ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses through its 54 constituent member associations. Cipriano has been active with the organization at the state and national level for more than 30 years, since her days as a nursing diploma student at the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
"Pam is a thoughtful leader, a wonderful mentor and a powerful advocate for nursing," wrote Barbara A. Blakeney, immediate past president of the ANA, in a recommendation letter for the award. "She is clearly willing to look to the future and envision what the world of clinical practice might look like 20 to 30 to 40 years from now and is willing to think creatively to better prepare the profession for the future."
 
As chief clinical officer and chief nursing officer at U.Va., Cipriano oversees more than 3,000 employees and is also a clinical associate professor at the U.Va. School of Nursing. In 2006, she led the hospital to achieving "magnet" recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, an indicator of nursing excellence bestowed upon just 5 percent of U.S. hospitals.
 
"I am honored to be receiving this award," Cipriano said. "I'm also grateful to the many ANA leaders who were mentors and helped me grow throughout my professional career."