Peg Mastal, PhD, MSN, RN, Past President of AAACN, was presented with the Founders Award for Epsilon Zeta, the Sigma chapter at George Mason University. Sigma, an international honor society of nursing that strives to support and empower nurse leaders, honored Mastal for her leadership in the field of outpatient nursing.
The Epsilon Zeta Board was impressed with Mastal's professional resume, which highlighted her role in developing the conceptual framework for ambulatory care nursing, the leadership and contributing roles she filled in AAACN, and the articles she published in professional publications, including ViewPoint and Nursing Economic$ . Mastal also co-presented a session at the 2019 Sigma Annual Research Conference on the development of AAACN's conceptual framework.
AAACN is well-respected in the profession as the leader of ambulatory care nursing, the Epsilon Zeta Board shared with Mastal, and they wanted to acknowledge her contributions to the development of the nursing specialty, and AAACN as a professional organization.
Mastal is a charter member of the George Mason University Sigma chapter, established in 1980, as well as a longtime member of AAACN, which she joined in 1993. The Epsilon Zeta chapter recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, where Mastal was honored.
In addition to serving as AAACN's president in 1999-2000, Mastal has chaired a variety of AAACN Task Forces, including the original RN Role Position Paper Task Force, the Ambulatory Definition Task Force, and the Scope and Standards of Practice for Professional Telehealth Nursing and Scope and Standards of Practice for Professional Ambulatory Care Nursing revision Task Forces.
Mastal has also served on the RN Role Position Paper Revision and Nurse Sensitive Indicator Task Forces, as well as the Scope and Standards of Practice for Registered Nurses in Care Coordination and Transition Management Task Force. She has also authored chapters for the two most recent editions of the Core Curriculum for Ambulatory Care Nursing as well as written for ViewPoint and Nursing Economic$.
Mastal has attended and presented at many AAACN conferences, and was the recipient of the 2010 Above and Beyond Award.
"AAACN's members, leaders, volunteers, and staff thank Peg for her many years of service and for being one of the most powerful and influential voices in ambulatory care nursing," AAACN President Anne Jessie said. "We congratulate her and look forward to advancing our specialty into the future with her expertise and guidance."