JERI A. MILSTEAD, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, ANA Hall of Fame
Dr. Jeri A. Milstead is an internationally known expert in public policy and the politics of health care. She has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the areas of education, health policy, and nursing. Her sustained activity in the profession has had a huge impact on thousands of practicing nurses, students, the broader profession, and the community where she is recognized as a trailblazer and innovator. In 2020 she was inducted into the American Nurses Association’s Hall of Fame, ANA’s “most prestigious award.”
She is the founding editor and senior author of Milstead’s Health Policy and Politics A Nurses Guide, 7th ed. (2022) that is sold in 22 countries (6 of 7 continents), and Handbook of Nursing Leadership: Creative Skills for a Culture of Safety. She has invited policy chapters in four other nursing textbooks, has published in national and international journals, and was editor-in-chief of The International Nurse from 1995 to 2006 when the publication was retired. Dr. Milstead was a policy advisor in the Washington, DC office of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI), was president of the State Board of Nursing for South Carolina, and held leadership positions in the State Nurses Associations in OH, PA, and SC.
Dr. Milstead holds a PhD in Political Science with majors in public policy and comparative politics from the University of Georgia, an MS in nursing from the Ohio State University (double major as Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Educator), a BS in nursing, cum laude, from OSU, and a diploma from Mt. Carmel Hospital School of Nursing where she is a Distinguished Alumna and served on the Board of Trustees for nine years. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing where she has been active on the Development Committee, Planning Committee for the AAN Policy Conference, and the Expert Panel on Global Nursing and Health where she is co-author of policy briefs on guidelines for cultural competence and expanding the nurse role in responding to global pandemics. She was a founding member of the Nightingale Policy Institute, a virtual gathering of experienced policy nurses in the US. She is nationally board-certified as a Nurse Executive-Advanced by the American Nurses Credentialing Commission. She has been a member of Sigma (formerly Sigma Theta Tau International) since induction at OSU in 1974 and in 2002 was a charter member the first European chapter in The Netherlands.
She is Dean and Professor Emerita, University of Toledo College of Nursing (1998-2008), director of graduate programs at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (1995-1998), and a faculty member at Clemson University, SC (1985-1995). She also is Dean Emerita of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and was the first chair of the AACN Commission on Nurse Certification for the Clinical Nurse Leader. She chaired the Ohio Nurses Association Health Policy Council for four years and currently serves on the HPC and Bylaws committees and on the Mid-Ohio Nurses Association legislation and publications committees. She was a founding member of the Council of Health Care Advocacy, an interprofessional health policy association. She recently developed a health policy course for graduate students at Walden University and was interviewed via video for a cameo presentation for a policy course at Simmons University, Boston. She has worked with doctoral students at Michigan State U. and U. of Central Florida and with baccalaureate (Native American and Mexican-American) students at Heritage U. (Yakima, WA).
From 2005 through 2008 she was appointed by the county commissioners to the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority (responsible for economic development in 23 counties in NW Ohio and oversight of the Port of Toledo) where she served as chair of the Seaport Committee and the Human Resources Committee and was a member of a trade delegation to China in April 2006. She has conducted research or consultation in The Netherlands, Jordan, Nicaragua, and Cuba. In 2020 she worked with nurses in Albania, Croatia, Italy, Panama, Portugal, and Rwanda whose involvement in the policy process in their countries has made a difference. She currently is self-employed as senior consultant for leadership, education, and public policy.
Honors include:
2021 – Woman of Influence in Fayette County (OH).
2020 - ANA Hall of Fame, ANA’s “most prestigious award”
2020 - Honorary Doctor of Laws, Mt. Carmel College of Nursing
2016 - Academic Hall of Fame, Washington Court House (OH) School System
2016 - 20 Outstanding Women in Central Ohio, Sunny 95 radio
2015 - Mildred E. Newton Distinguished Educator, OSU College of Nursing Alumni Society
2014 - Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame
2014 - Transformer of Nursing and Health Care, OSU CON Alumni Society
2013 - Cornelius Leadership Congress, ONA’s “most prestigious” award
2013 - Local Nursing Legend in recognition of “…long-term commitment to the profession of
nursing and the health care of people in Central Ohio.” OSU Medical Heritage Center
2011 - Excellence in Political Action Award 2011, Ohio Nurses Association
2010 - Political Activism Award, Ohio Association of Advanced Practice Nurses
2007 - Career Achievement Award, University of Toledo Health Science Campus
2006 - “Pioneer” in distance education, University of Toledo
2005 - Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, MedCentral College (now Ashland U.)
1996 - Creative Teaching Award for designing and implementing in 1995 the first online course
taught in the first PhD in Nursing program in the world that is offered completely online,
Duquesne University
1988 - Excellence in Nursing Award, Sigma Theta Tau International (now Sigma) Gamma Mu
Chapter, Clemson, SC
1986 - First Search for Excellence Award from the American Nurses Association/SC Nurses
Association