Dr. Marcia Petrini, M.P.A, Ph.D., MS, BSN, is truly a global nurse. She has for over 50 years, throughout her distinguished career, contributed to human capital development in various countries around the world. These contributions have impacted global health policy, nursing workforce development, and specific program and faculty development. Dr. Petrini’s knowledge and skill in understanding program resource needs, strong curriculum expertise, and excellence as a faculty member have, since the late sixties, contributed to her ability to build expert faculty teams and assist them in human capacity development. Across the decades, her impacts in this area of human capital development touched such countries as the United States of America, Iran, Samoa, Japan, and Egypt, where she led teams of faculty in their own professional development and then in the groundbreaking work of developing undergraduate and graduate programs in nursing, at the university level. She was a Dean of nursing in the USA, China, and Iran, and in each of these decanal roles she led in the development and enhancement of undergraduate and graduate nursing education. Dr. Petrini’s experience in other global centers and expertise in scanning ecosystems, leading teams, and shaping programs and policy enabled successful approaches to population health through a sound primary care system. In all her work, Dr. Petrini has used principles of change management, collaborative partnerships, adult education, leadership, and strategic planning and often worked with Ministries of Health, the Chinese Nurses Association, World Health Organization, Project Hope, and key university nursing and administrative stakeholders.
Dr. Petrini has led by example as well, publishing close to 150 books, chapters, and articles often in partnership with those she is teaching and mentoring. She is a popular speaker and presenter contributing over 200 invited and peer-reviewed presentations at various international forums. Dr. Petrini has received honors and awards for her contributions in the USA, Samoa, and China, including a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the Friendship Award from the Chinese government, the first and only nurse to receive this award. Dr. Marcia Petrini is the most deserving candidate for this illustrious global award.
Dr. Petrini’s initial response to COVID-19 included the dissemination of research related to information about wearing masks. Two articles on the research have been published in the Journal of Nursing and Health Science and one in the International Nursing Review. The one article has been translated into several Chinese media outlets. She also made many cloth face coverings with sewn-in filters to be worn to promote the slow down of the virus. They have been given to others, one boutique is already selling them. The masks can be worn over N95 masks. They have a nose bar and soft ear holders that are adjustable to cover the face from the bridge of the nose to below the chin and from the hairline to hairline to provide proper fitting.
Dr. Petrini has not been on the frontlines but has spent time educating many about how to care for themselves, proper protection to slow down spread, use of face coverings, hand sanitizers, diet, and rest. Her leadership has included the mentoring of the nurses in other countries and their professional development and promotion of safe practices in their countries.