Marjory Gordon, nsg pioneer, NANDA-I Obit

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Marjory Gordon, Ph.D., RN, FNI, FAAN

Dr. Marjory Gordon died on April 29, 2015, in Boston, Massachusetts (USA). Gordon earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees from Hunter College, City University of New York and a doctoral degree from Boston College.

In 1982, she became the first president of NANDA, the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association. She was principal investigator on research projects involving nursing process and nursing diagnoses, and co-director of a U.S. Public Health Service Grant to improve nurses' diagnostic and ethical reasoning. Gordon was Professor Emerita at Boston College, where she spent 23 years on the faculty of the Cornell School of Nursing. She was a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and in 2009 was honored by being named as a Living Legend of the Academy. In 2008, Gordon received the Mentor's Award from NANDA-International; she was among the members of the inaugural class of NANDA International Fellows inducted in 2012. She also received the Massachusetts Nurses Association Education Award; Japanese Society for Nursing Diagnosis' Distinguished Service Award, and the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses Living Legend Award, among other awards too numerous to mention.

Sr. Callista Roy,

(

) of Gordon at the American Academy of Nursing's Living Legend awards ceremony: "She began this work [of creating a common nursing language] when computers were just starting. And, now this is the basis for the nursing component of the electronic medical record. I think she's a role model for all us. She is constantly raising the standards and the clarity of nursing diagnosis so as to give nursing a voice and visibility in health care." She called Gordon a "perfect candidate" for the Living Legend award because her work "that started 40 years ago is even more relevant today. Nursing as a discipline is stronger in the U.S. and around the world because of her efforts."

Her role in our association was critical – as its first president, chair of its Diagnosis Development Committee, a board member – and as an ever present voice for standardized nursing diagnoses that would support clinical decision making. The fact that she insisted on diagnostic criteria to support that critical thinking – before the introduction of technology or electronic health records – is a testament to her vision as well as her awareness of the need for accuracy in diagnosis to drive quality, safe patient care.