The PA State Nurses Association (PSNA) honored Ruth McDermott-Levy, PhD, RN, with its 2011 Nurse as Global Citizen Award during its annual Awards Ceremony held October 27, 2011 at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Dr. McDermott-Levy is an assistant professor at Villanova University College of Nursing.
Dr. McDermott-Levy is part of Villanova University’s interdisciplinary telehealth team that is working to improve health in remote areas of Nicaragua. She works with nursing students to bring improved health to underprivileged areas. She has also joined nursing students in efforts to improve knowledge of water-borne illness while on educational service trips to Nicaragua. As an advisor for undergraduate Omani nursing students, she has traveled to the Sultanate of Oman and conducted research on the experiences of Omani nursing students. In Pennsylvania, she accompanies her students as they practice community health in inner city schools, and teaches how social and economic disparities lead to health disparities. Her work has also extended to Philadelphia’s Arab immigrant population where she educates immigrants on obtaining healthcare in the U.S. and methods to promote health.
Dr. McDermott-Levy speaks nationally in the immigrant population’s inequality of healthcare services. Her passion for environmental health has led her to Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. where she advocated for cleaner air and water. Additionally, Dr. McDermott-Levy chairs the PSNA Environmental Health Committee where she co-authors Nurses for a Green Keystone and participates in PSNA environmental events.
“Dr. McDermott-Levy is a visionary global nurse educator. In addition to her hands-on health care across the globe, she is passionate about environmental health and leads other nurses in advocating for cleaner air and water,” states PSNA Chief Executive Officer Betsy M. Snook, MEd, BSN, RN. “Dr. McDermott-Levy has earned a place of honor along with more than 295 past PSNA award recipients.”
