Eligibility and Nomination Requirements

Nominees must be a nurse-physician pair (or team of 2 nurses, 2 doctors) who are working collaboratively to deliver humanistic patient care.

No self-nominations will be accepted.
Nominees do not need to be from the same institution.

How and When to Nominate

Nominators will describe the nominees’ work through an online nomination form.

Nominators will submit:

Nomination Narrative (1,000 words or fewer): Describe how the nominees collectively meet the award criteria, including:
- Contributions to Humanism: How their joint work advances humanism in healthcare through compassion, empathy, respect, dignity, and person-centered care.
- Lasting Impact: How their work has affected individuals and created lasting institutional, organizational, or systemic change. Include measurable outcomes whenever possible.
- Individual Humanism: How each nominee demonstrates compassion, empathy, respect, sensitivity, and appreciation for others.
Collaboration Statement (1,000 words or fewer): Describe what makes the nominees’ partnership distinctive and essential, including:
- Each nominee’s unique role and complementary expertise.
- How their partnership enhances patient care.
- How their collaborative work differs from their individual accomplishments.
- Why their teamwork is essential to their success.
Influence Beyond the Immediate Team (500 words or fewer): Describe how the nominees’ collaboration has influenced others beyond their immediate team. Examples may include:
- Other departments or institutions
- Professional or community organizations
- Policy or systems change
- Educational programs
- Mentorship and leadership development
- Replication or dissemination of their model
CVs: A CV for each nominee.
Letter of Support: An additional letter of support from an institutional or departmental leader may be included but is not required.
Optional — New This Year: Nominee Statement: Applicants may include a combined statement from the nominees of 300 words or fewer describing:
- Why they believe they warrant selection for the award.
- How they collectively fulfill the goals of the award.
This optional statement gives nominees an opportunity to share their perspective on the significance of their work, their partnership, and the humanistic values that guide their collaboration.

Selection Criteria and Process

Nominations will be evaluated by the following selection criteria:

Nominees, through their joint work, have made significant contributions to humanism in healthcare.
Nominees’ joint work has impacted a significant number of individuals, and created lasting institutional/systemic change in how care is administered.
Nominees individually maintain a high level of compassion and empathy, including respect, sensitivity, and appreciation for others.

The AACN and the Gold Foundation will include outside experts to support the review process and make recommendations to an internal review team. Nominations will be reviewed according to the stated selection criteria.

The Gold Foundation champions humanism in healthcare, which we define as clinically excellent care that is kind, safe, and trustworthy. Honorees are expected to reflect these values in daily practice and to continuously strive to be exemplars of humanism in healthcare.