Known for her visionary leadership, advocacy, and political expertise throughout her 60-plus-year career, Barbara Nichols has been a nurse leader and executive, impacting the nursing profession through organizational leadership, policymaking, and partnership with leaders across healthcare professions all while breaking racial and gender barriers. With that in mind, Nichols will be the first-ever recipient of the Canary Savage Girardeau Award for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, presented by The University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing.
Nichols started her nursing career in 1959, during a period in which many hospitals still followed segregation. At 85 years of age, she continues to pursue her passion of addressing the need for racial and ethnic inclusion in the nursing profession as an independent consultant.
“In creating this award, it is our intent to celebrate individuals who have greatly impacted the needs of those whose health status or social condition leaves them vulnerable or places them at risk,” says Dr. Dean Linda D. Scott in a press release. “The Canary Savage Girardeau Award for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion will highlight exceptional leaders in health care who have made outstanding contributions through their research, diverse interprofessional perspectives, work to support vulnerable populations, or those who have enhanced community engagement or access to resources that promote health and well-being.”
This award is named in honor of Canary Savage Girardeau, who is the first African-American alumnus from the University’s School of Nursing. Nichols’ contributions to health care through her career, the challenges she has overcome, and the numerous trails she blazed are similar to the path forged by Canary Savage Girardeau, according to a press release from the UW–Madison School of Nursing, and both have dedicated their professional expertise and service commitments to building healthier communities while persevering and thriving in roles where they met and advanced health needs for many decades.
Similarly to Girardeau, Nichols’s career is filled with many firsts, as she has broken existing racial and gender barriers in Wisconsin’s healthcare systems. Notably, she was elected president of both the Wisconsin Nurses Association and the American Nurses Association (ANA) In addition, she was appointed secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing, where she collaborated to create changes to the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act. She has also published more than 200 manuscripts on nursing and health and she was inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame in 2022. Nichols will also receive a prestigious lifetime achievement award from the Academy at its October 2023 health policy conference.
The Canary Savage Girardeau Award for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion will be presented to Nichols on Tuesday, Oct. 24, during the School of Nursing’s Investiture Ceremony.
