AONL Names Patricia Yoder-Wise Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

The American Organization for Nursing Leadership announced Patricia S. Yoder-Wise as the 2025 recipient of its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors an AONL member recognized by the nursing community as a significant leader in the nursing profession who has served AONL in an important leadership capacity. AONL will honor Yoder-Wise March 31 at the AONL annual conference in Boston.

Yoder-Wise is a renowned nurse leader, educator, author and editor. During her influential career spanning four decades, she has held formal leadership positions in hospitals and schools of nursing. She is currently dean and professor emerita at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing and president of The Wise Group. She is also a co-founder of The National Collaborative for Transition to Practice and The Nurses Legacy Institute, where she serves as vice-president.

Yoder-Wise has an extensive history of volunteer leadership roles. She is past president of the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing, the National League for Nursing, the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the Texas Nurses Association. She served as treasurer of the American Academy of Nursing and first vice president and secretary of the American Nurses Association.

A recipient of numerous honors and awards, the Texas Nurses Association honored Yoder-Wise with its Leaders Legacy Award. The Ohio State University College of Nursing named her among the 100 Transformers in Nursing and Healthcare. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, the Academy of Nursing Education and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. Yoder-Wise is board certified as nurse executive advanced with the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Yoder-Wise has a EdD in education from Texas Tech University, a master’s degree in nursing from Wayne State University, Detroit and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from The Ohio State University, Columbus.

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About the American Organization for Nursing Leadership
As the national professional organization of more than 12,000 nurse leaders, the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) is the voice of nursing leadership. Our membership encompasses nurse leaders working in hospitals, health systems, academia and other care settings across the care continuum. Since 1967, the organization has led the field of nursing leadership through professional development, advocacy and research that advances nursing leadership practice and patient care. AONL is an affiliate of the American Hospital Association. For more information, visit AONL.org/AONL.