College of Nursing 2002 Alumni Merit Award Recipient
Elizabeth A. Walker, D.N.Sc., RN, BA’76
A desire to help people is the ambition of many nurses. But for Elizabeth A. Walker, it was a desire to help people help themselves that inspired her career in diabetes research.
Liz received her bachelor of science in nursing degree from Creighton in 1976. When her husband's career prompted a move to New Haven, Connecticut, she became a visiting nurse and found herself teaching diabetic patients the importance of managing their own health care. In her quest to discover what motivates patients to do this, Liz earned a doctorate of nursing science, focusing on human behavioral science, from The Catholic University of America School of Nursing.
Liz now is an associate professor of medicine and a behavioral researcher at the Diabetes Research and Training Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York. She teaches practitioners how to motivate their patients to manage their diabetes and live longer, healthier lives.
The American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Diabetes Educators have benefited from Liz' involvement for more than 15 years. She served as ADA's national president of health care and education in 1999. She travels widely promoting diabetes education and treatment programs to physicians and patients. Her published works in professional journals and publications are abundant.
According to nominator Dr. Eugene Selk, "Liz is a model of a person who has devoted her life to others. She is an extraordinarily kind, gentle, brilliant and deeply caring person."
For her dedication to her profession and to her patients, Creighton University proudly confers upon Elizabeth A. Walker the 2002 School of Nursing Alumni Merit Award.