Two Northwest educators have recently been honored for their work, with both selected to receive a prestigious award from a pool of statewide nominees.

Dr. Erin Harrington and Kelly Grace, Northwest Nursing instructors, recently received the Faculty Development Award from the Mississippi Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (MOADN) at the organization’s annual conference, held virtually this year on April 16.

Harrington and Grace were nominated by Northwest’s Department of Nursing, and were selected for the award out of all Associate Degree Nursing programs in the state. Both instructors said they would use their award money to pay for their Certified Nursing Educator (CNE) exams.

“I say to my students all the time that amazing nurses are built on solid foundations, and I want to be a part of that foundation,” Grace said. “My goal is to create good, safe and empathetic nurses.”“I am so excited to have received this award,”

Grace is a native of Sledge, and now lives in the Longtown area of Panola County.

Harrington is a native of Senatobia, and now lives in Hernando.

According to Lacy Gentry, director of Nursing Instruction at Northwest, the CNE was created to establish nursing education as a specialty area of practice and create a means for faculty to demonstrate their expertise in this role.

“The Department of Nursing is elated these two wonderful educators were selected for this prestigious award,” Gentry said. “They will sit for the Certified Nurse Educator exam in the near future, and will be able to add these credentials to their curricula vitae. By attaining this CNE distinction, the knowledge these ladies acquire will continue to enhance the quality of our Nursing program. The Department of Nursing congratulates Ms. Grace and Dr. Harrington, and appreciates their dedication as it serves to enrich the lives of Nursing students and improve the outcomes of the RN-ADN program at Northwest.”

For more information about Northwest’s Nursing programs, visit northwestms.edu/healthsciences.