NEW YORK NURSE: September 2007
Honorary Recognition, the association’s highest award, will be presented to Madeline Naegle, RN, PhD, FAAN. The award is given only to individuals who have “been deemed to have rendered distinguished service to the nursing profession.”
Naegle, a former president of NYSNA, has made her mark, nationally and internationally, in the realm of psychiatric nursing. She has held teaching positions since completing her master’s degree, and conducted a private nurse psychotherapist practice since 1980. Naegle was instrumental in establishing the subspecialty of addictions nursing and in developing standards for that practice within psychiatric-mental health nursing. Her dedication to raising awareness of nurse impairment led to the establishment of the Journal of Addictions Nursing.
Naegle’s work influenced the American Nurses Association and other leading organizations to address the impact of impaired practice on nurses, patients, and the nursing profession. She was awarded a 1995 Fulbright Fellowship and spent six months at the Malta Institute of Health Care, where she revised the curriculum related to psychiatric-mental health nursing.
Naegle chaired the NYSNA Committee on Impaired Nursing Practice from 1987 to 1989. She held the office of NYSNA president from 1989 to 1991, and later served as a member of the Committee on the Standardization of Nursing Education.
One colleague stated, “Dr. Naegle has carried her message of hope about addiction, substance abuse, and impaired professional practice throughout the United States and multiple international venues. There are few nurse leaders who currently excel in such a wide sphere of influence as she does.”