Three Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Nurses Named Fellows to the American Academy of Nursing
Children's Hospital Los AngelesLorenzo Benet, 323-361-4823
Three Children’s Hospital Los Angeles nurses were chosen as Fellows to the prestigious American Academy of Nursing (AAN).
Selected for the Fellowship were Nancy Blake, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, CCRN, patient care services director in Critical Care Services at Children’s Hospital; Rita Secola, PhD, RN, CPON, the hospital’s patient care services director in the Hematology-Oncology division; and Nancy Pike, PhD, RN, CPNP-AC, FNP-BC, FAHA.
"This is one of the most prominent honors in the field of nursing and emblematic of our excellent patient care services at Children's Hospital," says Mary Dee Hacker, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Hacker is also a Fellow in the Academy. "Ten nurses from California were selected to this year's class, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles was the only freestanding California pediatric medical facility to have three nurses named to this select group of patient care professionals."
Fellows are selected based on their outstanding nursing contributions and their drive to continually help reform America’s health care system and support the Academy’s goals. The induction ceremony for the new class of 172 Fellows will be held Oct. 19, 2013, in Washington, D.C., during the 40 annual Meeting & Conference.
Blake, Pike and Secola had to meet strict Academy requirements and undergo a rigorous application process. Criteria for admission requires current membership in a state nurses association that holds membership in the American Nurses Association (ANA) and specific evidence of the individual’s exceptional national or international contributions to the advancement of nursing. Two current fellows in good standing of the Academy must sponsor each applicant; the applications then undergo rigorous review by the Fellowship Selection Committee. Each applicant must obtain approval by consensus of the 18-member committee. With the inductions of Blake, Pike and Secola, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles now has six Fellows in the AAN.
During Blake’s 20-year career at Children’s Hospital, she has continuously made Children’s Hospital a better place through her hard work and dedication, Hacker says. Blake has served as director of Critical Care and Medical-Surgical Services, as well as assistant nurse and then nurse manager in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, including the area of emergency preparedness. She also received a Leadership Excellence Award in 2006 from the Association of California Nurse Leaders and was twice nominated for the NurseWeek Magazine Nurse Excellence Award. Blake participated in the National Consensus Conference in Pediatric Disaster Preparedness in 2003 and sat on the board of directors of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses from 2003 to 2006. She also served as emergency coordinator and worked with the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency to ensure Children’s Hospital was ready to respond to a rush of patients following a major emergency.
Blake, who resides in Valencia, received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mount St. Mary’s College and her master’s degree and doctorate in nursing administration from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
In Secola’s 17-year nursing career at Children’s Hospital, she has served 15 years as a Hematology-Oncology bone marrow transplant clinical manager and for the past two years as the division’s patient care services director. She was elected as the president of the Association for Pediatric Oncology Nurses (APHON), serving from 2006 to 2008, and she was a finalist for the California Nurse Excellence awards in 2010 and 2011 in the category of leading and advancing the profession. While a doctoral candidate at UCLA School of Nursing, Secola received scholarships and grants for her research from such organizations as the Oncology Nursing Society and the American Cancer Society. She also earned the APHON 2010 Casey Hooke Distinguished Service Award, the organization’s most prestigious leadership honor.
In addition to earning a doctorate from UCLA, Secola, who lives in West Los Angeles, received a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Carlow College in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Pike is a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and an assistant professor at the UCLA School of Nursing. A skilled clinician, researcher, educator and nursing leader, Pike has worked as a PNP in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery for more than 15 years and has been published in more than 30 medical and nursing journals. She also holds the chair of the Pediatric Subcommittee in the Council of Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing of the American Heart Association (AHA), where she serves as a Fellow. In addition, she has earned prestigious nursing awards from Pennsylvania State University, the Society of Pediatric Nursing and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners Los Angeles Chapter.
Pike holds both a doctorate and master’s degree from the UCLA School of Nursing and a bachelor’s of science degree from Penn State.
“I congratulate all of the new Fellows and look forward to honoring their accomplishments and welcoming them into the Academy,” says Academy president Joanne Disch, PhD, RN, FAAN.
The American Academy of Nursing’s stated purpose is to “serve the public and nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis and dissemination of nursing knowledge.” The Fellows of the Academy are nursing’s best; they are “leaders in education, management, practice and research.”
The Academy is composed of more than 2,000 nurse leaders in education, management, practice, policy and research. The Academy Fellows include hospital and government administrators, college deans and renowned scientific researchers. With this new class, Fellows will represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 19 countries.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital on the West Coast and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
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