The 2025 inductees into the Academy of Emergency Nursing all carry with them prolific accomplishments and undeniably significant contributions to the specialty, but they each represent something more personally and professionally.
As part of Wednesday’s annual induction ceremony and dinner, AEN Chair Deena Brecher, MSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, ACNS-BC, FAEN, spoke glowingly about the newest Fellows making a profound difference to emergency nursing itself, but far beyond it, as well.
“This group of inductees represents the diverse and impactful work happening in emergency nursing today. Their accomplishments span a wide range of areas, from developing innovative training to prepare nurses for global disaster response to creating tools that improve patient safety in the emergency department,” Brecher told the audience filled with Fellows who span the academy’s 21-year history. “We also celebrate those who have advanced trauma systems and amplified the voice of emergency nurses on interprofessional teams.”
Recognized for her work as an international leader who advocates for enhanced global disaster preparedness, Jamla Rizek, DNP, MBA, RN, CEN, CPEN, NHDP-BC, NRP, FAEN, emphasized her resilience and a network of people who believed in her for reaching the heights of her career. Pride flowed as she had the honor of being the first hijabi to be inducted.
Academy of Emergency Nursing Chair Deena Brecher inducted Jamla Rizek as a Fellow for advocating for enhanced global disaster preparedness.
Tania Strout, PhD, MS, RN, FAEN, who noted she is one of the few Native Americans to become a Fellow, listed off a who’s who of mentors and researchers among Academy members who have supported her career in research. Academy Chair-elect Andi Foley, DNP, APRN-CNS, EMT, CEN, FAEN, highlighted Strout’s work with the implementation outcomes associated with the Agitation Severity Index as an example of how Strout’s work to identify gaps in evidence and create new research is changing patient care.
Making an impact on the global stage in Canada, Dawn Peta, BN, RN, ENC(C), FAEN, uses an innovative approach to domestic violence screening and created an inclusive simulation-based emergency care program to support rural health care providers. She’s also been a fierce advocate for emergency nursing issues and the importance of giving all ED nurses a strong voice globally to speak to those issues. Peta thanked “the village,” which has been with her since she first found her “ENA family” after attending her first General Assembly.
Linda Laskowski Jones, MS, APRN, CEN, ACNS-BC, NEA-BC, NREMT, FAAN, FAEN, has seemingly done it all as an educator, speaker, author, nurse leader and active contributor to several professional groups, including 30 years as an ENA member. Through education, quality assessment and advocacy, she committed herself to helping ED nurses deliver the right care in the right time in every situation. She thanked all the ED nurses who taught her what it took to be an ED nurse — and the “few ED nurses” who showed her what it wasn’t.
Inducted posthumously, Anna Mae Erickson, RN, FAEN, “spoke up for nurses when they were to be seen and not heard,” said Roger Casey, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, FAEN, who nominated Erickson. Presenting Erickson with Washington’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021 represented the highlight of his nursing career.
Erickson’s prolific contributions included, among many things, her years in the Army Nurse Corps in the 1940s, the creation of the Mr. Yuk poison control program and founding the Rural Nurse Organization in 1989. She also served as the 1975-76 president of the Emergency Department Nurses Association, ENA’s original name.
Read more about all of the AEN inductees on the Hall of Honor website.