Two University of Iowa College of Nursing programs received national recognition from the American Academy of Nursing for their innovation in nursing on Thursday. The UI became the first program to receive two Edge Runners awards in the same year. 

The designation was awarded to the College of Nursing’s Simulation in Motion – Iowa program and its Iowa Online Nurse Residency Program. The Edge Runners award is given to innovative and transformative healthcare initiatives. The UI’s awards were two of five awarded to nursing programs across the country.  

“The Academy is thrilled to designate these models of care as Edge Runners,” said Academy President Linda D. Scott. “Research and innovation are priorities of the Academy, and each Edge Runner model demonstrates how nurses are enhancing care, improving outcomes, and addressing important health challenges.”

This is the first year an Iowa nursing program has been chosen for the Edge Runners award, and the first time in academy history that two models from the same school have been recognized in the same year. 

College of Nursing Dean Julie Zerwic said that she is incredibly excited that the University of Iowa gets the distinction of being the first program to win two Edge Runners awards from the American Academy of Nursing. 

“They’re very prestigious, and to get one would be incredible,” Zerwic said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. “But for us to get two programs acknowledged in the same year is just such an amazing recognition of the work that these faculty are doing.”

The SIM-Iowa program is a mobile simulation lab that helps train first responders and nurses across Iowa in common, high-stress scenarios like seizures, heart attacks, trauma, or delivery complications. The program brings a state-of-the-art mobile simulation lab to communities across Iowa at no charge to bridge the gap for continued education for rural communities. 

Professor Cormac O’Sullivan said that these medical emergencies often go better when providers have practiced for them, and it helps keep the situation from creating too much stress when they do happen.

“It’s a real nice thing,” O’Sullivan said of winning the national award. “We created SIM-Iowa to help serve the people of the state of Iowa, and I didn’t even know the award existed at the time. We had no intention of ever applying for the awards, and then I was notified that there would be a possibility, and they would like us to submit for it.” 

The Iowa Online Nurse Residency Program helps remedy common areas of weakness in new nurses with online content geared toward rural and underserved settings and is available nationwide to new nurses.

Program director Nicole Weathers said the award acknowledges the hard work they’ve done to transform the journey for newly graduated nurses who don’t have the normal supports that nurses at large health systems do. 

“[This designation] is both humbling and deeply affirming,” Weathers said in a statement Thursday. “ It validates the vision, collaboration, and unwavering commitment our team has poured into the program. Most importantly, it reinforces that innovative nursing solutions can start small, continually evolve, and create lasting impact far beyond what was ever imagined.”