By Laura Gasque
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Associate Professor Linda Harrington, PhD, DNP, RN, NI-BC, UXC, FHIMSS, FAMIA, is the recipient of the 2025 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career. The award recognizes extraordinary professional contributions and is named after past AACN president and former UAB School of Nursing faculty member and alumna Marguerite Kinney Handlin, DNSc, RN, FAAN (BSN 1961, MSN 1967).
“It is quite humbling to receive an honor for visionary leadership and it can only be described as an amazing alignment of the stars, receiving the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award while joining the UAB School of Nursing faculty,” Harrington said.
Kinney Handlin presented her with the honor during the 2025 National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition in New Orleans in May.
“It made the award all the more special to receive it from Dr. Kinney with Dean Shirey present,” Harrington said. “Dr. Kinney shared with me that four UAB alumni have served as president of AACN, the largest specialty nursing organization in the world—more presidents than any other school. The ties between this award, AACN, and UAB School of Nursing are strong. I feel very blessed to be here.”
Harrington is an international expert in the field of informatics with a focus on interactive design and a specialized interest in artificial intelligence. She has held leadership roles in large health care systems, including Vice President for Advancing Nursing Practice at Baylor Health Care System and Vice President and Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Catholic Health Initiatives.
Harrington served a three-year term on the AACN Board of Directors, followed by serving as chair-elect and then chair of the AACN Certification Corporation board. Harrington was named a fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association, where she also received an AMIA Leadership Award. She also is a fellow of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.
Marguerite R. Kinney Handlin, DNSc, RN, FAAN is Professor Emeritus at the UAB School of Nursing and a nationally recognized expert in cardiovascular surgical nursing. An award-winning researcher, Kinney Handlin has studied the risk factors for premenopausal African American women, the quality-of-life issues for cardiac patients as well as the professional nursing care as perceived by critically ill patients. During her career she was instrumental in establishing initiatives that showcase better patient outcomes through the demonstration of efficacy of health care when nursing and medicine work as colleagues. Her awards and honors are numerous and include the UAB President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and induction into the Alabama Nursing Hall of Fame, was honored by the American Heart Association as one of four Pillars in the Field of Cardiovascular Nursing and presented with their Katharine A. Lembright Award for Excellence in Research. A noted author, she served as editor of Focus on Critical Care for many years and editor-in-chief for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ publication Clinical Reference for Critical-Care Nursing and Andreoli’s Comprehensive Cardiac Care. She was named the UABSON Distinguished Alumni Award recipient in 2000.
In 1997, AACN established the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career to recognize outstanding careers in nursing.