2025 Nursing Awards Recipients
Written by Greg Forbes, UNMC College of Nursing | Published
Lynne Buchanan, PhD, associate professor the UNMC College of Nursing, was named the 2025 Nebraska Nurses Association Outstanding Nurse Educator.
Dr. Buchanan, a 30-year, tenured faculty member, received the award at the NNA Convention’s annual awards breakfast on Oct. 3.
The award honors a nurse whose primary role is in patient education, nursing education, continuing education or staff development and is meant to recognize innovation, expertise and impact as an educator.
“Receiving the Nebraska Nurses Association Outstanding Nurse Educator Award is more than a professional accolade—it’s a powerful affirmation of my work,” Dr. Buchanan said of receiving the award. “It means so much to me that my peers, students, and profession recognize an impact.”
Throughout her tenure as an educator at UNMC, Buchanan has trained graduate nurse practitioner students in nationally recognized telehealth simulation, guided nurse practitioners as the adult gerontology specialty track coordinator and as a past director of the MSN and BSN to DNP program and has overseen students who have contributed to groundbreaking research and publications.
Of all her achievements, Dr. Buchanan said her greatest contribution is mentoring students and seeing them grow into leadership roles.
Aside from three decades of nursing education, Dr. Buchanan is also a longtime member of the NNA and the American Nurses Association. She has served on NNA and ANA committees and tasks forces, even serving as vice-president for the NNA board. Other service includes a spot on the National Organization of Nurse Practitioners Faculties Curriculum Leadership Committee and assisting with implementing a competency-based curriculum for advanced practice nurses.
Dr. Buchanan has spent the majority of her career as a student, nurse and educator in her native Nebraska. She said the chance to positively impact nursing in the state has been an honor, as is earning recognition from the state’s premier nursing association for doing so.
“There is no place like Nebraska and to live here and work in one of the best organizations and states in the nation is just beyond words to describe,” Dr. Buchanan said. “My home is here but my nursing home is here too.”
Dr. Buchanan was one of six UNMC College of Nursing representatives to earn NNA awards at this year's convention.
Lepaine Sharp-McHenry, DNP, dean of the UNMC College of Nursing, was named a 2025 recipient of the NNA Extraordinary Achievement in Nursing Award.
This award focuses on achievement in nursing over a cumulative number of years. It honors a nurse whose career is evidence of significant contributions to nursing at the local, state or national level.
Bailey Hendricks, PhD, Angela Johnson, EdD, Jenna Hesse, EdD, and Elizabeth Rasmussen were selected as 2025 40 Under 40 award recipients from the NNA and the Nebraska Organization of Nursing Leadership.