Mass NAPNAP Chapter Tribute to Ann Coleman Stadtler, DNP, RN, CPNP
1943 - 2020
The Massachusetts NAPNAP Chapter is deeply saddened to share with you the passing of Ann Coleman Stadtler, DNP, RN, CPNP, on July 25, 2020. Many PNPs and other practitioners locally as well as from all over the United States and the world have had the amazing opportunity to learn and/or work alongside Ann over the years. Many call her not only a colleague, but also a dear friend. Ann was the quintessential example of a nurse practitioner and was a mentor and pioneer in embracing and modeling what pediatric focused APRNs bring to family-centered care.
Ann graduated from Bay View Academy in 1961 and Boston College School of Nursing in 1965. She received her graduate degree from Catholic University in 1980, starting her career as a PNP. Ann encouraged everyone to “never stop learning”. She was awarded her Doctor of Nursing degree from Northeastern University in 2012. Ann worked tirelessly and selflessly throughout the years by continuously breaking the glass ceiling in a physician- dominated healthcare community to achieve her goals and practice her passion of delivering exceptional pediatric nursing care to all. Ann exemplified what it means to be a nurse and a nurse practitioner- not only as a clinician devoting so much time and energy to her pediatric patients and their families, but also as a public health advocate, teacher, preceptor, colleague, and mentor to so many who know her.
Ann held various leadership roles at Boston Children’s Hospital and was a founding faculty member of Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC) working alongside Dr. T. Berry Brazelton to create the first professional developmental program offered by the Center- trialing them with nurses in Boston, MA, and in other cities across the country. Those initial programs transformed into the development of the Touchpoints Site Network- a network bringing organizations together who practice Touchpoints, while sharing knowledge and strategies for family-centered care and engagement. For over 20 years Ann served as the Director of BTC, led its professional developmental program, and continued to work with Brazelton Institute until her retirement in 2018. At BTC, Ann trained and mentored thousands of practitioners not only nationwide, but also worldwide. Ann also is known for her work in creating a program at Boston Children’s Hospital called the “Toilet School”, which was a group treatment approach for children with delays in toileting- it became a nationally recognized model. Ann was the recipient of numerous honors during her extensive and memorable career as a PNP, including being the recipient of the T. Berry Brazelton Outstanding Leader Award in its inaugural year. She went on to continue to be recognized and was honored as the Massachusetts March of Dimes Nurse Practitioner of the Year, the recipient of the Wong Hock Boon Professorship from Singapore University Hospital, and the Boston Children’s Hospital Mel Levine Award and the That’s the Spirit Award. In 2012, she was the recipient of the Alumna of the Year from Bay View Academy, and most recently was recognized by NAPNAP with the Loretta C. Ford Outstanding Fellow Award in 2016.
The Massachusetts NAPNAP community remembers Ann for all of her accolades, contributions, and self-less giving to our profession, patients and families. All who knew her were immediately captivated by her kindness, confidence, intelligence, wisdom, and devotion to the work that she loved and cherished. She was a mentor to many pediatric focused APRNs regionally and nationally. We will certainly miss seeing her not only at the National NAPNAP Conference gatherings, but also at our local MA NAPNAP Chapter events, in which Ann had graciously agreed to speak to our members about her work, most recently at our MA NAPNAP Symposium in 2015. What so many of us will remember was her sincere interest in others- she cared so deeply and was interested in the lives of not only her patients and their families, but also in the lives of her colleagues, friends, and loved ones. A smile on her face always, a kind and compassionate word to be offered to so many. Ann was a true and rare gem in this world. In a recent tribute to her life, Ann’s colleagues in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital shared, “Ann lived a life of professional and personal selflessness”. Ann was certainly an inspirational figure to us all and we are so privileged to have known her, learned from her, worked with her, and benefited from her passionate dedication to her life’s work as a pediatric nurse practitioner. Please stay tuned for more information about a Massachusetts NAPNAP Chapter scholarship that will be created in her name.
A part of Ann’s obituary reads “Ann would hope you would remember not her passing and fight with cancer, but rather her contributions to each of our lives and she would hope that you will do an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness for some other individual and think of her” . We express our sincere condolences to her family- her husband of 55 years, John Jr, and their children John III, Kevin Sr, and Catherine, along with their grandchildren and entire family. Our prayers, thoughts, and love are with her family, friends, and all those who knew her well. The Mass NAPNAP Chapter, NAPNAP, and the pediatric healthcare community has lost a truly remarkable colleague and dear friend.
-Massachusetts NAPNAP Board