Sonja Meiers, PhD, APRN, CNS, PHN, AGCNS-BC, Professor and Chair of the Department of Graduate Nursing at Winona State University, has been selected to join the American Academy of Nursing’s 2020 Class of Fellows. Meiers will be inducted into this distinguished group of international nurse leaders at a virtual ceremony streamed live on YouTube at 4:30 PM on October 31, 2020 as part of the AAN’s annual Transforming Health, Driving Policy conference.
“Receiving this fellowship is very meaningful to me because I am being acknowledged by my peers in the profession that I love,” says Professor Meiers. “It also means being honored for my work as an international family nursing scholar and leader.” Advancing the nursing profession for the public good at both the local and global levels has been a central part of Meiers’ career as both a healthcare professional and as an educator. “I am ethically obligated as a nurse to understand the needs of patients, families, and communities and to do everything that I can to meet those needs within the parameters of healthcare,” she says.
Prof. Meiers was nominated as an AAN Fellow by her colleagues and was accepted following a competitive, rigorous application process focused on her contributions to advance the public’s health. Though the induction ceremony will be held virtually this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Meiers says she is looking forward to the opportunity to come together with nurses from other areas and to learn more about the work and research of the Fellows she will be joining.
Meiers says she is honored to be joining this distinguished group of nurses and sees it as a great opportunity to continue to serve her role as a nurse educator leader on a global scale. “I am privileged to have the skills and ability to respond to the needs of the community,” says Meiers. “It is my driving force to use the gifts I’ve been given from nursing education to serve the needs of the community.”
The 2020 Induction Ceremony will be streamed live on YouTube on Saturday, October 31 at 4:30 PM. For more information, visit academypolicyconference.com/induction-ceremony.
For more information on this story or to arrange interviews with faculty and students, please contact Joe Hammes at joseph.hammes@winona.edu or 507.280.5049.
