ANA to Induct Dr. Hattie M. Bessent Into The Hall of Fame
Honor Will be Bestowed During the 2008 ANA Biennial House of Delegates
The American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Committee on Honorary Awards recently inducted Hattie M. Bessent, EdD, MSN, RN, FAAN into the Hall of Fame as part of its 2008 Biennial House of Delegates meeting in Washington, DC on June 26, 2008.
Bessent has been the recipient of many firsts as an African-American woman, and has achieved many educational milestones that distinguished her from her peers.
Recognized as a nursing pioneer for all ethnic minorities, in several studies conducted for the ANA, Bessent has documented significant barriers for members of minority groups of cultural, educational and financial nature.
“Leadership is a driving force in the accomplishments of any organization,” said ANA President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR. “By helping to educate generations of nurses, Dr. Bessent has helped to inspire women of all walks of life.”
Bessent has been the recipient of several prestigious grants used to educate hundreds of nurses. By educating generations of nurses, Dr. Bessent has helped to reduce health disparities that are often responsible for high rates of mortality and disability among people of color. The Leadership Enhancement and Development Project (Project LEAD), is one of her many projects used to educate minority and administrative minority faculty to assume leadership positions in colleges and universities throughout the country.
Bessent’s research has been published in some of the leading nursing journals in the world. Her findings have been presented at many conferences throughout the United States and abroad.
For more than 15 years, Dr. Bessent’s creative and forceful leadership was brought to the MFP (known as the Ethnic Minority Fellowship Program (EMFP). She was able to make a case for the EMFP support among many private and public funding agencies by clearly articulating its mission, goals, and objectives. The program was highly successful and respected under her leadership. Perhaps her legacy can best be described as a total commitment to the EMFP, nurturing it day by day and investing her time and energy in each of the Fellows, whom she envisioned as dynamic professionals, making unique contributions to humanity. She reached across disciplinary lines and obtained funding for leadership training opportunities, intending to educate all mental health professionals. During her tenure, the legislative internship program was elevated to its highest echelon.
In addition, she has received numerous honors, including: induction into the American
Academy of Nursing; a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association and an honorary member of the Royal College of Nursing (United Kingdom).
Established in 1976, the Hall of Fame Award recognizes the life long commitment of individual nurses to the field of nursing and their impact on the health and/or social history of the United States. Among all the awards presented by the American Nurses Association (ANA), induction into the Hall of Fame represents the pinnacle of nursing achievement.
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