“Thank you, Nessa. You created a model for palliative care nursing, pioneered that role in an interdisciplinary team, taught us all how to see patients as whole people, and spoke eloquently about the compassion fatigue of nurses and need for self-care and reflection. You brought great meaning to the work now known as palliative nursing. And you did it all in your humble, graceful, and detailed way so that many people who never knew you know very well your voice and its impact on our evolving field.”
– Betty Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN®, CHPN®
The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Foundation (HPNF) recognizes the importance of cultivating and enhancing leadership skills among hospice and palliative care nurses.
The Nessa Coyle Palliative Nursing Leadership Fund was established in 2016 in honor of Nessa Coyle, RN, PhD, FAAN, a pioneer in hospice and palliative care nursing. Its purpose is to develop and support leadership in hospice and palliative nurses from the bedside to the boardroom. The Nessa Coyle Leadership Lecture serves as an inspirational and public platform to bring insight and perspective on leadership from accomplished palliative nursing leaders to colleagues in palliative nursing and other members of the interdisciplinary team.
The inaugural Nessa Coyle Leadership Lecture was held during the 2017 Annual Assembly for Hospice and Palliative Care in Phoenix, Arizona. This lecture is featured each year at the HPNA Annual Conference as a plenary session. The selected presenter of the Nessa Coyle Leadership Lecture is awarded complimentary conference registration, airfare, one night hotel, an award, and a $1,000 honorarium.
Eligibility:
- Be a current member of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA).
- Demonstrate national-level contributions that have advanced and promoted the specialty of palliative nursing, including hospice and palliative care.
- Have a documented record of leadership as a role model and mentor, including championing programs, services, practices, or innovations that strengthen nursing leadership and improve healthcare delivery and/or patient outcomes.
- Possess a minimum of 10 years of significant contributions to the field of palliative nursing; exceptions may be considered for individuals who have made a major seminal contribution.
Preferred Presentation Topics Include:
- Communication in hospice and palliative care
- Clinical ethics involving hospice and palliative care
- Geriatric palliative nursing
The call for applications will open in the fall of 2026.
Nessa Coyle, RN, PhD, FAAN is a pioneer in palliative nursing. Dr. Coyle’s career began in England, before moving to the United States and eventually beginning her 40-year career at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 1969 to 2013.
Dr. Coyle dedicated years to mentoring the first pain specialists and palliative care inter-disciplinary teams. Among her many contributions to the field, Dr. Coyle served as co-editor of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Care Nursing and co-developed the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) curriculum to educate nurses worldwide.
2026: Michelle Webb
2025: Holli Martinez
2024: Komal Murali
2023: Mansara Hassan
2022: Cheryl Thaxton
2021: JoAnne Reifsnyder
2019: Joanne Auger
2018: Mary Ersek
2017: Betty Ferrell