National & Statewide Awards

2026

 

UVA Health University Medical Center’s Dea Mahanes Earns National 2026 ANA DAISY® Award for Nursing Ethics in Leadership

Congratulations to the UVA Health University Medical Center nurse leader who's been honored with the national 2026 American Nurses Association (ANA) DAISY Award for Nursing Ethics in Leadership at the 2026 Ethics of Caring National Nursing Ethics Conference. On April 17 in Los Angeles — Dea Mahanes, DNP, APRN, CCNS, CCRN, CNRN, HEC-C, FNCS, APP-CNS for neuro-critical and neuro-intermediate care, received this national award that recognizes a nurse leader supporting professionals whose compassion and clinical practice demonstrate the importance of human values and ethics in nursing as defined in the ANA's Center for Ethics and Human Rights Code of Ethics for Nurses — and The DAISY Foundation’s focus on extraordinary, compassionate care.

VCSQI Collaborator of the Year

Congratulations to Nancy Fauber, MSN, RN, who has earned the Virginia Cardiac Services Quality Initiative (VCSQI) Collaborator of the Year award for 2025, recognizing an individual who exemplifies the spirit of collaboration in advancing the VCSQI/VHAC mission to improve cardiac care and patient outcomes. Her nominators note that she fosters collaboration across multidisciplinary teams to identify barriers and implement effective solutions. Additionally, she champions a culture of continuous improvement while recognizing and elevating excellence in patient care.

 

UVA Health Clinical Nurse Specialists NACNS Awards

Congratulations to Kim Elgin and Kristi Kimpel Wilkins who were both honored with national recognition by the NACNS! See more information about their awards in the following Connect article.

Kim Elgin, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, PCCN, CMSRN, FCNS, FAAN, won the Brenda Lyon Leadership Award, which is her second time winning this award.  This is given to someone who demonstrated extraordinary leadership to elevate the CNS role and advance the work of NACNS.  This past year, Kim worked on updated standards and guidelines outlining the CNS role, including educational preparation, core competencies, how it fits within the interprofessional team, and outcomes associated with the role.  This work was presented and adopted at the NACNS meeting.

Kristi Kimpel Wilkins, MSN, APRN, CCNS, CCRN, won the Evidence-Based Practice/Quality Improvement Award for her work as part of the coalitions reducing hospital-acquired infections in the hospital.  This award recognizes excellence in implementation of EBP to produce measurable quality results.  Kristi has worked as part of the interprofessional team to make significant strides in the reduction of CLABSI and CAUTI at UVA through initiatives like vascular access protocols, creation of microlearning education modules, and updating guidelines for appropriate medications that are safe to give through peripheral access versus central access.

 

 

Edited by: Deborah Curtis (dsc9u) Updated: May 7, 2026