Mary Auber, DNP, RN
The Madeleva Award for Outstanding Graduate Student
May 17, 2025
The Madeleva Award is the highest award the College confers upon a graduate student. The recipient, selected from the cohort completing advanced degrees, is recognized for scholastic distinction and exceptional achievement. This year’s recipient is from the Doctorate of Nursing Practice program in the Department of Nursing Science.
During her time at Saint Mary’s, this student contributed a great deal of scholarship to the public as well as service to the College. According to her professor in Advanced Reproductive Health, this student was instrumental in identifying that the National Institutes of Health recommended inaccurate guidelines for a women’s health procedure. After notifying the NIH of the policy mistake, she was then added to the list of authors for the amended guidelines. This change in national practice guidelines will have a significant impact for women and will be presented at the Midwest Reproductive Symposium International conference in Chicago in June.
As part of her Doctorate of Nursing Practice innovation project, this student focused her attention on home oxygen fires. Her groundbreaking research will transform the way injuries from home oxygen fires are tracked and addressed within health systems. By identifying significant gaps in coding and data collection, she advocates for a standardized classification system to improve accuracy in electronic health records. This advancement will not only enhance data precision, but also drive meaningful research, inform policy changes, and support the development of targeted interventions to reduce these life-threatening incidents. The impact of her work is already being recognized at a national level, with her findings accepted for dissemination at prestigious nursing conferences including the Midwest Nursing Research Society and Sigma Theta Tau International Congress.
These two examples demonstrate the likelihood her scholarly contributions will have to influence healthcare systems and patient care on a national level. And, they will continue to impact the future of healthcare. Her scholarship, intellect, and leadership make her a truly deserving recipient of the Madeleva Award.
In recognition of her scholastic distinction and exceptional achievement, we are pleased to honor Mary Auber with the 2025 Madeleva Award.