Rhetaugh G. Dumas, vice provost for health affairs, has received the Hall of Fame President’s Award from the National Women’s Hall of Fame “for achievements that are leading women into the 21st century.”
The Hall of Fame noted that throughout her career, Dumas has “pioneered significant advances in nursing education and research that are having a lasting impact in efforts to improve access to and the quality of health care for all Americans.”
Dumas was the first person in any field to design and conduct clinical trials in nursing.
“Devoted to testing the effectiveness of selected nursing interventions on the welfare of patients,” the Hall of Fame noted, “she established the precedent for the conduct of nursing studies that fit the definition of ‘clinical trials’ more than 30 years ago.
“Throughout her career, she has continued to make significant contributions toward advances in nursing scholarship, charting the course of scientific developments in nursing that we are witnessing today, and those that are yet to come—as nurse scientists heed her urging to expand the use of clinical trials in the future.
“In the face of the growing movement to ensure access, improve quality and control costs of health care for all Americans,” the Hall of Fame added, “the example that Dumas has provided puts nursing in a particularly favorable fashion to meet the demands of the emerging health care systems of the 21st century.”
