Nursing Professor Receives High Honor in Ceremony at the United Nations
Professor of Nursing Dr. Laura Lucia Hayman, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA, FSBM, FPCNA, was honored by Nurses With Global Impact, Inc. at a ceremony commemorating International Nurses Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on May 12.
Nurses With Global Impact (NWGI) is a global community effort founded by Deb O’Hara Rusckowski, a nurse researcher, educator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, to connect, support, celebrate and share the experiences of nurses performing extraordinary projects and work throughout the world. NWGI annually sponsors the International Nurses Day event at the United Nations to commemorate nursing’s founder, Florence Nightingale’s birth.
NWGI recognizes and honors nurses who exemplify the very best in demonstrated commitment to the highest ideals of nursing education, practice, and leadership throughout the world.
Dr. Hayman, considered an expert in the prevention of childhood obesity and cardiovascular disease, is a professor in UMass Boston's Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences and an adjunct professor in the Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the UMass T.H. Chan School of Medicine in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Dr. Hayman was nominated for this recognition by the Preventive Cardiovascular Nursing Association (PCNA) for her significant role in the creation of the Global Cardiovascular Nursing Leadership Forum (GCNLF) and its mission “...to engage and mobilize an international community of nurse leaders to promote the prevention of CVD and stroke worldwide.”
"I am honored and humbled to receive this award and thank my colleagues from the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association for nominating me and enabling the Global Cardiovascular Nursing Leadership Forum (GCNLF)," Dr. Hayman said. "We (GCNLF) will continue to pursue our goals of advancing nurses as leaders in promoting optimal cardiovascular health across the life course of individuals and families worldwide”
After receiving her MSN in Child Health Nursing and her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development at the University of Pennsylvania, she served on the faculty in the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and in numerous school and university level leadership positions for two decades. Prior to joining UMass Boston in 2007 as associate dean for research in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Hayman held tenured faculty positions at Penn, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and New York University.
Dr. Hayman has authored over 230 manuscripts and book chapters, served on over 50 graduate student doctoral dissertation or thesis committees, given over 150 presentations to audiences in 20 countries and served on numerous national health organization and federal governmental panels and committees including the American Heart Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the World Heart Federation.
Dr. Hayman was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame in 2018 and has received numerous awards and citations for distinguished achievement in teaching, faculty leadership, research and service including the 2023 Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Massachusetts Association of Colleges of Nursing, the Kenneth E. Freedland Founder’s Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) in 2022, The Jessie Gruman Award for Health Engagement in 2021, the AHA National Meritorious Achievement Award (2010), SBM’s C.Tracy Orleans Service Award (2009), the AHA Katharine A. Lembright Research Award (1997) and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Dr. Hayman holds fellowships in the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association (PCNA), the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), and the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM). She is also a member of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research.