2023 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Nursing Award
The Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Nursing, established in 2022, honor nurses in the United States for their exceptional end-of-life patient care. These awards are divided into two categories: one recognizes a nurse providing superior care in a hospital setting, while the other is awarded to a nurse excelling in hospice and home care environments.
September 2023
2023 Award Recipient: Frances T. McCarthy, MS, RNC-NIC, CPLC. McCarthy, a clinical coordinator of the Neonatal Comfort Care Program at New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of Columbia University.
The Neonatal Comfort Care Program is dedicated to offering support to pregnant women carrying babies with life-limiting diagnoses who choose to continue their pregnancies.
With a 40-year tenure primarily as a NICU bedside nurse, McCarthy has established herself as an international speaker on perinatal palliative nursing care. McCarthy is recognized for her exceptional family-centered care in serious childhood illness contexts. Certified in Perinatal Loss Care by the Hospice and Palliative Care Credentialing Center, McCarthy has also collaborated with Dr. Elvira Parravicini on a chapter in the "Handbook of Perinatal and Neonatal Palliative Care."
2023 Ilene Beal Courageous Provider Award
Launched in late 2018, the Ilene Beal Courageous Provider Award is an annual award recognizing a pediatric provider who delivers outstanding family-centered care amidst serious childhood illnesses. Recipients of this award are distinguished by their compassion, empathy, and dedication to supporting families through challenging stages of the illness journey. Additionally, awardees must exhibit a commitment to collaborative practice with fellow pediatric specialists.
August 2023
2023 Award Recipient: Frances T. McCarthy, MS, RNC-NIC, Clinical Coordinator, Neonatal Comfort Care Program Columbia University Irving Medical Center/ New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital New York, NY.
A neonatal specialist, Frances McCarthy sometimes has the difficult task of preparing parents both for their child’s birth and death. A patient family reflected on the profound impact of her “listening to goals and priorities, validating them, and providing critical emotional safety” in the face of extraordinarily difficult decisions.
