AACN-Gold Interprofessional Humanism in Healthcare Award

Eligibility and Nomination Requirements

Nominees must be a nurse-physician pair (or team of 2 nurses, 2 doctors) who are working collaboratively to deliver humanistic patient care.

  • No self-nominations will be accepted.
  • Nominees do not need to be from the same institution.

How and When to Nominate
Nominators will describe their nominees’ work through an online nomination form

Nominators will submit:

  • A letter, not to exceed 1,000 words, describing the collaborative work of the nominated nurse-physician pair/team to foster and increase humanism in healthcare. The letter should explicitly address the following 3 points:
    • How have nominees, through their joint work, made significant contributions to humanism in healthcare?
    • How have nominees, through their joint work, impacted a significant number of individuals, and created lasting institutional/systemic change in the way in which care is administered (include impact data if possible).
    • Describe how each nominee individually maintains a high level of compassion and empathy, including respect, sensitivity and appreciation for others.
  • CV for each nominee.
  • An additional letter of support from an institutional or departmental leader may be included, but is not required.

Selection Criteria and Process

Nominations will be evaluated by the following selection criteria:

  • Nominees, through their joint work, have made significant contributions to humanism in healthcare.
  • Nominees’ joint work has impacted a significant number of individuals, and created lasting institutional/systemic change in how care is administered.
  • Nominees individually maintain a high level of compassion and empathy, including respect, sensitivity, and appreciation for others.

The AACN and the Gold Foundation will include outside experts to support the review process and make recommendations to an internal review team. Nominations will be reviewed according to the stated selection criteria.

The Gold Foundation champions humanism in healthcare, which we define as clinically excellent care that is kind, safe, and trustworthy. Honorees are expected to reflect these values in daily practice and to continuously strive to be exemplars of humanism in healthcare.