New award honors nurses as leaders in interprofessional health care teams

As a veteran critical care nurse and dean of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, Joan Vitello-Cicciu, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAHA, FAAN, is passionate about the role of nurses as leaders and transformational change agents in health care settings. It’s a belief she shared with her late husband, Gerald (Jerry) Cicciu, an innovator in medical device sales and development who worked closely with hospitals and medical practices for close to 50 years.

“Jerry supported nurses throughout his career, and was always thinking way ahead into the future,” said Joan, who is also a professor of nursing and the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair in Nursing. 

The couple first met in a surgical intensive care unit, where Jerry was educating Joan about a cardiac assist device. Joan was immediately struck by his respect for the leadership role of nurses, along with his visionary, entrepreneurial spirit. Their relationship blossomed into a second marriage for both, and together they built a blended family and partnership that lasted almost 40 years, until Jerry’s death in 2021. 

Now, a new award established by Joan in Jerry’s name will recognize an outstanding master's level nursing student at UMass Chan Medical School who has demonstrated leadership skills within an interprofessional context. Specifically, the award will recognize students who have gone above and beyond in fostering collaboration, communication and innovation across diverse health care and academic disciplines.

Promoting interprofessional collaboration

Joan was an early advocate for interprofessional collaboration in health care, recognizing that successful cooperation among teams representing a wide range of disciplines—nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social workers, dieticians, physical therapists, occupational therapists—is a cornerstone of excellent patient care.  

She observes that nurses, who are trained to keep patient care at the center of their work, are critical to fostering effective health care teams, a dynamic that Jerry also respected from his perspective in the medical device industry. 

“As nurses, we look at patients through a holistic lens and emphasize prevention and wellness wherever we can, not just treatment,” Joan said. “For example, physical therapists can give us invaluable information about how to move patients, while occupational therapists can tell us what activities of daily living they need to master before going home.”

Joan acknowledges the challenges to interprofessional collaboration, noting that nurses and other health care professionals are sometimes hesitant to speak up in front of physicians. “It’s essential that the entire team really values the perspective of everyone else. A high performing health care team is rooted in trust and respect.”

Distinctiveness of Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing

As the only nursing school in Massachusetts that is part of a medical school, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing is uniquely positioned to promote interprofessional education. UMass Chan nursing programs are designed to train students who will flourish as leaders on interdisciplinary health care teams and include skill building in areas that are key to successful collaboration, such as conflict resolution and sharing feedback. 

A prime example of UMass Chan’s interprofessional educational ecosystem in action is the Medical School’s Vaccine Corps, a large-scale volunteer effort that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic to deliver vaccines to populations across Central Massachusetts. Students from the Tan Chinfgen Graduate School of Nursing trained nearly 500 medical students from the T.H. Chan School of Medicine in how to administer injections, while students from the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences also volunteered their services—with more than 95,000 vaccine doses administered at a critical stage in the pandemic. 

Another key factor that sets UMass Chan apart? “We value people who are pursuing nursing as a second career,” Joan said. “Many of our students have had careers in other professions and make a very deliberate choice to pursue nursing later in life, which they do with passion. Our student body is incredible.”

Reflecting on her career, Joan emphasizes the critical role of UMass Chan in training nurses who develop the leadership qualities needed to provide compassionate, patient-centered care in today’s challenging environment.

“I’m honored, privileged and very proud to be the dean of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing,” she said. “Of my 48 years in nursing, this has been the pinnacle of my career. Through this position, I’m able to influence the future of what a patient deserves in a clinical nurse, a nurse leader, a nurse practitioner and a nurse scientist.” 

In many ways, the Cicciu Nursing Excellence in Interprofessional Leadership Award encapsulates the spirit of graduate nursing education at UMass Chan. Awardees will receive funding for professional development and learning opportunities, experiences that both Jerry and Joan deeply valued. 

As Joan puts it, “I’m a nurse first. A leader second. And a learner always.”