Mary Wingert

Mary Wingert, MSN, BSN, RN, CPN, is honored to be awarded the 2026 Francine Bono-Neri Scholarship from Nurses Educational Funds, which supports scholarship in human trafficking, intimate partner violence, and related areas. She is a PhD candidate in Nursing Science at the University of Washington School of Nursing, where her dissertation, Preventing Intimate Partner Violence in Alaska: Exploring the Role of Public Health Nurses in Addressing Risk and Protective Factors, examines how public health nurses can address upstream social, economic, and structural determinants of violence. She is also completing graduate certificates in Population Health Equity and Psychometrics and Applied Analytics.

Mary earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Washington. Her nursing career began in pediatric acute care, first as a clinical nurse in the pediatric float pool at Duke University Hospital and later as a pediatric intensive care travel nurse across the United States. She is currently an ambulatory nurse in the Department of Neurosurgery at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Mary was drawn to nursing by the opportunity to combine close clinical relationships with advocacy for children and families facing complex health needs. Her pediatric nursing practice showed her that health outcomes are shaped not only by clinical care, but also by family resources, trauma, safety, community context, and access to services. Those experiences motivated her to pursue doctoral training so she could move from improving care after harm occurs toward developing evidence to prevent harm before it begins.

At Seattle Children’s, Mary has led nurse-driven research supported by two intramural grants from the Center for Pediatric Nursing Research. Her projects have focused on improving the transition from pediatric to adult care and examining sociodemographic factors associated with referral for pediatric epilepsy surgery evaluation. In her doctoral work, she contributes to a National Institute of Nursing Research-funded study that supports public health nurses in Alaska to implement intimate partner violence prevention strategies. She has disseminated her work through peer-reviewed presentations at national meetings, including the American Public Health Association, AcademyHealth, and the Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research.

After completing her PhD, Mary plans to pursue postdoctoral training and establish an independent research program that connects her clinical practice in pediatrics with her doctoral research on violence prevention. She aims to develop, evaluate, and implement prevention strategies that support nurses and communities in addressing violence across the lifespan. Receiving the Francine Bono-Neri Scholarship is a meaningful affirmation of Mary’s commitment to prevention-focused nursing research. It supports her continued development as a nurse scientist dedicated to improving the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities.