Contact: Susan Lamontagne
(631) 899-3825 or
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A New Jersey nurse who has made extraordinary efforts to improve care for people with neurological impairments will be recognized as one of the 10 recipients of the new Breakthrough Leaders in Nursing award created by the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a joint initiative of AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Maria Torchia LoGrippo, PhD, MSN, RN, who teaches nursing at Rutgers and Seton Hall universities, works to expand care for low-income, ethnically diverse populations in urban and rural settings.

“We can only expand care if we build trust between providers and patients, and that means providing care where people are,” said LoGrippo, who started her nursing career at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health. After stints coordinating neurological care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York, LoGrippo focused on teaching the next generation of nurses. She also works with the New Jersey Action Coalition and is currently pursuing a Post Doctorate at Rutgers University through her work on the Academic Progression project, which encourages nurses to pursue higher education.

The Campaign for Action created the 2014 Breakthrough Leaders in Nursing award to celebrate nurse leadership and the importance of efforts by nurses to improve health and health care. The award recipients have worked to help victims of sexual assault, medically fragile children, neurologically impaired individuals, and low-incom e women in rural areas, among others. Their work is helping to improve the quality of medical care in Vermont, prevent bedsores and reduce Medicaid costs in Texas, and recruit minority nursing students in Wisconsin, to name a few.

“Maria works tirelessly to improve the quality of health care in New Jersey and nursing education,” said Edna Cadmus, clinical professor, specialty director, leadership tracks, Rutgers University. “This award recognizes the incredible progress Maria’s leadership has made for the people of New Jersey.”

Learn about the other recipients.