2021 AHNA Holistic Nurse of The Year
Deborah McElligott, DNP, ANP-BC, AHN-BC, HWNC-BC, CDE, is a board-certified Holistic Nurse Practitioner and the Integrative Health and Wellness Coach at the Center for Wellness and Integrative Medicine, part of Katz Institute for Women’s Health, at Northwell Health. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra –Northwell mentoring both medical students (through the Healer Art Program) and nurses (through the Integrative Nurse Coaching Program). Deborah is Lecture Faculty with the International Nurse Coach Association/Integrative Nurse Coach Academy, and a member of the Research team. Her nursing career spans over 40 years (30 with Northwell) with experience in Cardiac Surgery, Integrative Medicine, Administration and Education.
Deborah has practiced in both acute and out-patient settings with her most recent focus on health promotion, wellness and healing via integrative coaching. In her current role, she develops and conducts trainings and programs to meet the needs of Northwell patients, employees and the community. These include health and wellbeing education and integrative coaching, a focus on comfort management with chronic diseases, and expanding the skills of employees who wish to become certified or trained in Integrative Therapies.
She has received numerous grants and has developed and facilitated grant funded programs for diverse communities in the NY area. These programs include the Heart Smart Program to reduce risk factors for heart disease, the Heart Smart Program for women with breast cancer, tai chi easy 4 week series, an integrative program (reflexology, acupuncture & tai chi easy ) for radiation oncology patients and a year-long Integrative Certificate program for Advanced Clinical Providers at Northwell . This program is now in its second cohort.
Deborah is a co chapter leader for AHNA LI Chapter of Holistic Nurses and Chairperson of the AHNA Practice Committee.
Deborah has been the primary investigator in research studies involving imagery, massage, and three studies focusing on health promotion and wellness. She has published these studies, papers and book chapters on topics including self-care, reflection, integrative assessment, coaching, reflexology and healing. A frequent speaker in the community, faith -based and professional organizations and health systems, she has presented the results of her research both nationally and internationally.
Deborah’s formal education included various outstanding universities. She received her BSN from Hunter –Bellevue, her MA from NYU, her Post Masters NP from SUNY Stonybrook and her DNP from Case Western Reserve University. She is a Certified Diabetes Educator and also holds certifications in AMMA Massage, Reflexology, Integrative Imagery, Reiki, and as an Urban Zen Integrative Therapist. Long Island has always been her home, and she enjoys living in a beach community with her family.