Dr. Mezey’s transformative work to improve the care of older adults is evidenced through her roles spearheading major initiatives, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Teaching Nursing Home Program (TNHP) and the HIGN. TNHP innovatively coupled nursing schools with nursing homes and demonstrated sustained benefits to nursing home residents by partnering skills of nursing home staff and administrators with faculty from an academic institution to ultimately improve care. The findings from TNHP led to a federal policy change whereby nurse practitioners were granted direct reimbursement by Medicare Part B, ultimately changing the status of advanced practice registered nurses as independent providers. Dr. Mezey established HIGN to improve the quality of care for older adults. Under her leadership, landmark programs and materials, including evidence-based geriatric nursing practice protocols, a summer research institute, and other training efforts flourished and continue to be utilized today, such as the Nurse Competence in Aging, a national initiative to assure specialty nurses are prepared in geriatrics. 

 

In partnership with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), she was co-director in the development of the national standards for Gerontological Nurse Practitioner education. Dr. Mezey went on to direct AACN’s Geriatric Nursing Education Consortium, which involved over half the BSN programs nationally in a three-year project to strengthen their geriatric curricula. Additionally, Dr. Mezey was a Founding Director of Nurses Improving HealthSystems to the Elderly (NICHE™), an initiative involving over 700 hospitals nationwide. She has written or edited 16 books and written over 70 articles on topics related to geriatrics. Her seminal work, Health Assessment of the Older Individual, helped cement the field of geriatric nursing. Dr. Mezey’s The Evidence-Based Geriatric Nursing Protocols for Best Practice, now in its 7th edition, has become a staple for geriatric nursing and used by health professionals across health settings. Since the first edition, chapters have been added to incorporate principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, supporting empowered work environments, innovative approaches to support age-friendly care, serious mental illness, and end-of-life care.

 

Dr. Mezey regularly collaborated with leading organizations, including the National Commission on Nursing, National League for Nursing, Secretary’s Commission on Nursing- Department of Health and Human Services, United Hospital Fund, The John A. Hartford Foundation, and the National Institute of Health’s Integrative Conference on End-of-Life Research. She has received the most prestigious awards from the Gerontological Society of America, including the Donald P. Kent Award and Doris Schwartz Award. Dr. Mezey was also honored for her pioneering work and distinguished life-time achievements by the American Geriatrics Society (Nascher-Manning Award) and named Gerontological Nurse of the Year by the American Nurses Association. Dr. Mezey was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1981. She is also a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the New York Academy of Medicine.