The GSEAA awarded Carol P. Germain, director of nursing program development at the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden, with a Distinguished Service Award in April.
“It’s always good to receive recognition for one’s successful endeavors,” Germain says. “Hopefully, the award will inspire others to achieve their own educational goals.”
The Distinguished Service Award highlights the GSEAA’s commitment to education. It has been awarded since 1959.
“The GSEAA presents this award to those who have distinguished themselves in both service and education and have gone above and beyond their duties. Carol is someone who embodies the award,” says Barbara Whitman, the association’s president.
Germain earned her doctorate with a focus on anthropology of education from Rutgers University in 1978. She is a graduate of the St. Clare Hospital School of Nursing in New York, received her bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University, and her master’s degree from St. John’s University.
She has held faculty appointments at St. John’s University, the Rutgers College of Nursing–Newark, and the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden, and achieved emeritus status from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001.
The GSEAA commended Germain on her numerous and significant contributions to the nursing profession in the areas of nursing practice, education, scholarship, and leadership.
A fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Germain’s expertise in qualitative research has been recognized internationally. She served two terms on the American Nurses Association’s Cabinet on Nursing Research and three terms on the Research Committee of Sigma Theta Tau International, the nursing honor society.
“Trailblazing has permeated every aspect of Dr. Germain’s long and distinguished nursing career,” says Joanne Robinson, dean of the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden. “She has taught generations of nursing students at all levels, from pre-licensure to doctoral, and co-authored one of the seminal texts in medical surgical nursing.”
“Dr. Germain has also been a trailblazer in the area of nursing research,” Robinson adds. “She advocated for the value and rigor of qualitative research at a time when it was considered ‘soft science’ and is credited with the first institutional ethnography of nursing practice, The Cancer Unit: An Ethnography.”
A Mays Landing resident, Germain has been widely published in nursing journals and books and clinical textbooks. She has been a consultant and has made numerous national and international presentations on crucial health issues.
Media Contact: Ed Moorhouse
(856) 225-6759
E-mail: ejmoor@camden.rutgers.edu