Janice Smith Pigg, 1955,
Pioneer in the field of Rheumatology Nursing

Janice Smith Pigg, Class of 1955, made outstanding contributions during a 28 year career to the nursing care of patients with Rheumatic Diseases as exemplified by numerous publications including books, journal articles, chapters in nursing and medical textbooks. Her research was in nursing interventions, patient education and patient outcomes of people with many forms of arthritis. She was a consultant on rheumatology nursing, team care and patient education contributing to the knowledge of nurses in this country and in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. She received honors from the rheumatology medical community here and abroad. She made over 150 presentations all over the world on topics including rheumatology nursing, arthritis patient education, team care, sexuality and arthritis, research, marketing, and delivery systems. She was an original leader in defining the subspecialty of rheumatology nursing and her groundbreaking contributions are still recognized in being designated as the "grandmother of rheumatology nursing".