TONL Excellence in Leadership Award Recipient Announced

Dr. Valerie Kiper

Dr. Valerie Kiper, DNP, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, is the recipient of the 2020 TONL Excellence in Leadership Award. TONL is pleased to be able to include Dr. Kiper to the list of distinguished leaders who have served TONL and the nursing profession.

 The Excellence in Leadership Award is given each year to a TONL Member who provides a mechanism for the interchange of ideas and dissemination of information regarding nursing practice and legislative issues. The recipient promotes education and other professional activities through serving as a role model and mentor as well as sharing their knowledge through presentations, seminars, publications, etc.

 Dr. Valerie Kiper has been in nursing for 41 years serving the Texas Panhandle healthcare community. Dr. Kiper is an Associate Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Nursing in Lubbock, Texas. Prior to her transition to academia in 2016, Dr. Kiper held various executive and nursing leadership roles with a long tenure as Chief Nursing Officer at Northwest Texas Healthcare System in Amarillo, Texas. Additionally, she served as the Corporate Director for Accreditation and Regulatory Services for Universal Health Services.

Valerie received a diploma in nursing from the Northwest Texas Hospital School of Nursing in Amarillo, Texas and both a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, and a Master of Science in Nursing degree from West Texas State University (WTAMU) in Canyon, Texas, and she received a Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Executive Leadership from Texas Tech University.

Dr. Kiper has been actively involved in TONL for over 20 years serving in board positions as President and Secretary. She is actively involved and volunteers on several local community and professional boards. She was instrumental in founding the Panhandle Great 25 Nurses event, which promotes recognition of outstanding nurses in the Texas Panhandle, which also assists to provide scholarship funding for nursing education in the Texas Panhandle. Dr. Kiper previously received the TTUHSC Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Executive Leadership and was recently appointed to serve as a board member on TTUHSC’s inaugural President’s Advisory Council.

Dr. Kiper has provided several local, state and national presentations on various nursing leadership/leadership development, and accreditation/regulatory readiness topics throughout her 41- year career. Her recent publications in Nursing Management, The Journal of Professional Nursing, Nurse Educator and Nursing Made Incredibly Easy includes: “Role Transition from Chief Nursing Officer to Nursing Faculty”; “Translating Leadership into Safe Nursing Practice”; “Assessing the Physical Assessment Skills of RNs in an Online BSN Program”; “Navigating a Role Transition: Using Your Nursing Leadership Skills in a New Career Chapter"; and “Nurses Improving the Health of their Communities.”

Dr. Kiper was recognized at the Texas Hospital Association 2021 Virtual Annual Conference and will also be recognized at the upcoming TONL 2021 Virtual Conference to be held April 28-30, 2021.

Congratulations to Dr. Kiper on this well deserved recognition.