Editor’s note: McKnight’s Home Care, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News are profiling the McKnight’s 2023 Women of Distinction honorees daily from July 5 to Aug. 15. For additional McKnight’s Women of Distinction content, visit this page.

Genevieve Gipson, RN, BS Ed, MS Ed, was the founder and director of the Career Nurse Assistants Programs Inc., also known as the National Network of Career Nursing Assistants. Career Nurse Assistants Programs is a not-for-profit educational organization promoting recognition, education, research, advocacy and peer support development for nursing assistants and other direct-care workers in long-term care settings. 

Gipson was instrumental in the creation of the annual nationwide observance of Nurse Assistants’ Week and Career Nurse Assistant Day, celebrated in Ohio since 1978 and nationally since 1985. She served as project director of the LongTerm Care Education and Training Center/Nursing Home Training Center at the University of Akron from 1977 to 1989. 

Gipson continued to teach trainers and direct the daily operations of this organization until she passed away in March, after she had been selected as a Women of Distinction honoree. 

For more than 40 years, Gipson’s mission was to improve the care provided to older adults and disabled citizens by improving the work life and skill base of nursing assistants.

Even aged more than 80 years, Gipson still was passionate about caring for our nation’s elders by empowering, training and validating nursing assistants. Gipson was a pioneer who dedicated her entire career—and more than 15 years beyond retirement age—toward improving the quality of care in the nation’s nursing homes and assisted living communities. 

Gipson testified before Congress on behalf of caregivers and older adults, helping to write the laws that govern daily long-term care operations.

In an industry dedicated to older adults, Gipson was a unique combination of both elder and caregiver. She never saw herself as someone who should be looking back on a life well-lived. She always had work to do, students to teach and a difference to make. Her colleagues considered her an amazing example of the wisdom and value that elders have to contribute to their communities and the world. 

The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Home Care, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. PointClickCare is the Diamond sponsor of this year’s program. PharMerica is the Silver sponsor. Additional sponsors include American HealthTech, Healthcare Services Group, Omnicare, Sentrics and ShiftKey.

Visit this web page to see lists of honorees from 2023 and previous years.