The Carole DeMille Achievement Award is awarded to an APIC member who, as a transformational leader, has advanced the practice and profession of infection prevention and control (IPC). The ideal candidate has used proactive activities and strategies throughout the course of their career to move the profession forward.
This award recognizes the ongoing commitment of the recipient to the profession. Individuals who have consistently supported the profession at the national and/or international level are eligible to be nominated for this award. The designated recipient must have made significant contributions to the IPC profession with clear evidence of active involvement in the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
The 2024 submission period is closed.
Check back in mid-2024 for information on APIC’s 2025 Awards program.
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Karen Hoffmann, RN, MS, BSN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA
Karen Hoffmann, RN, MS, BSN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA, is the recipient of the 2023 Carole DeMille Achievement Award. The award is given to an individual who has advanced the practice and profession of infection prevention and control (IPC) through proactive activities, strategies, and leadership.
Hoffmann began her 40+ year IPC career in 1981, holding positions at the Detroit Medical Center (Harper Hospital), the University of Virginia Medical Center, and the University of North Carolina, where she was associate director of the North Carolina Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology (SPICE). During her 23-year tenure with SPICE, she established evidence-based training programs and IPC resources across the healthcare continuum including long-term care, home health, outpatient, and dental practices teaching thousands of new IPs.
An innovative and forward-thinking leader, Hoffmann responded to bioterrorism and chemical threats by developing informational wall charts, creating uniform, color-coded isolation precaution signage, conducting numerous outbreak investigations with national impact on IPC practice, and publishing significant scientific research. For example, her 1989 outbreak investigation led to a survey into endoscope cleaning processes among North Carolina facilities that prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct a nationwide review, which led to increased focus from accrediting organizations on reprocessing medical devices and patient care instruments. Of note, she was the first author on the first meta-analysis published in the Journal of the of American Medical Association (JAMA) evaluating the infection risks of transparent dressings. She was a primary author in revising the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Nursing Home Interpretive Guidance, adding improper cleaning and reuse of glucometers as examples of immediate jeopardy. From 2011 to 2020, she was the first IP consultant contractor for CMS, advocating for comprehensive IPC programs. She also served on the Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology editorial board from 1990 to 2010 and on the Federal Guidelines Institute (FGI) Health Guidelines Revision Committee from 2010 to 2018.
Hoffmann has served APIC in a variety of leadership roles at the chapter and national level, including serving as APIC president in 2019 and chair of the Annual Conference Committee in 2013. Throughout her career, Hoffmann has especially enjoyed mentoring novice IPs and believes that contributions and participation in local APIC chapters are essential in the professional development of IPs.
A widely published and frequent lecturer both nationally and internationally, Hoffman was named Infection Control Today’s first-ever IP Educator of the Year in 2009, was awarded the SHEA Advanced Practice Infection Preventionist Award in 2010, and the Old North State Award for her service to the citizens of North Carolina in 2011.
The Carole DeMille Achievement Award recipient receives a commemorative plaque and $1,000 award check. The recipient also receives complimentary registration, up to four hotel nights, and a travel stipend for airfare and ground transportation (up to $1,000) to APIC’s Annual Conference.
During APIC’s Annual Conference, the recipient receives a 3-5 minute speaking opportunity at a General Session and recognition at APIC’s Leadership Reception Honoring the Carole DeMille Award Recipient. (Recognition details are subject to change.)
- Active in the IPC profession for at least 15 years, with expertise in three or more domains of the current APIC Competency Model (with one of the three domains being infection prevention and control operations).
- Member of APIC for at least 10 years preceding nomination and must be an active or lifetime member for the nomination year.
- Certified in Infection Prevention by the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC) unless certification has lapsed following retirement.
- Qualifying individuals who meet the Award Criteria are eligible to receive the award once in a lifetime.
- Members of APIC’s Award Committee are not eligible for nomination during their term of service.
- Members of APIC’s Board of Directors are not eligible for nomination during their term of service.
- Members of APIC’s Board of Directors can provide a reference letter for a nominee.
The award is presented no more than annually and may not be presented every year.
Professional Commitment
- Sustained activities that directly impact the practice of IPC by contributing in varied ways which may include comprehensive and complex efforts to advance the profession. For example, presentations and research.
Impact
- Demonstrates strategic (forward thinking) leadership – people who recognize/anticipate/lead changes in the field and/or who have developed new ways of thinking or new ways of applying existing knowledge.
- Authors peer-reviewed published articles, guidance documents or position papers to advance the IPC profession and aligns with APIC’s mission in all contributions.
- Provides education and mentoring for development of others in ways that promote the viability and credibility of the profession.
- Contributes national and/or international outreach with recognition that the IPC profession has a global impact.
Recognition
- Recognized leader in their own institution, community, or other industry/professional associations.
- Has served as a National APIC officer, Board member other than officer, or National Committee chair.
- Collaborates with other industry, Federal or State partnerships, Specialty Professional organizations/collaboratives, training, education or employer groups as evidence of nominee’s interdisciplinary contribution.
The nomination for this award includes:
- Online application
- Nominee’s current curriculum vitae
- Nomination letter, including overview of how candidate meets the eligibility (e.g. three or more domains of the current APIC Competency Model) and award criteria.
- Three reference letters
- Detailed description of precisely how the candidate meets the eligibility (e.g. three or more domains of the current APIC Competency Model) and award criteria. Directly address all criteria in each section as appropriate for the nominee.
You are encouraged to provide a thorough response that fully addresses the award criteria. In total, four letters are required.
Year | Name |
---|---|
2022 | Janet P. Haas, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC, FSHEA |
2021 | No recipient |
2020 | Linda Greene |
2019 | Mary Lou Manning |
2018 | Terrie Lee |
2017 | Stephen Streed |
2016 | Georgia Dash |
2015 | Cathryn Murphy |
2014 | Judith English |
2013 | Candace Friedman |
2012 | Ruth Carrico |
2011 | Kathleen Arias |
2010 | Denise Murphy |
2009 | Russell Olmstead |
2008 | Rachel Stricof |
2007 | Loretta Fauerbach |
2006 | Capt. Therasa Horan |
2005 | Judene Bartley |
2004 | Patricia Lynch |
2003 | Carla Alvarado |
2002 | Barbara Russell |
2001 | Gina Pugliese |
2000 | Audrey B. Adams |
1999 William A. Rutala
1998 Rita McCormick
1997 Grace Emori
1996 Elaine Larson
1995 Sonya Burns
1994 Angella Goetz
1993 Julie Garner
1992 Nancy Haberstich
1991 Marjorie Underwood
1990 Maureen Spencer
1989 Barbara Soule
1988 Rosemary Berg
1987 Sally Krause
1986 Jane DeGroot-Kosolcharoen
1985 Elizabeth Pantelick
1984 Marguerite Jackson
1983 Kenneth Buchan
1982 Sandra Pfaff
1981 Karen Axnick
1980 Thomas Merigan