JoAnn Reavis Maklebust, DNP, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, AOCN, FAAN, the former co-editor-in-chief of Advances in Skin & Wound Care, sadly lost her valiant fight against chronic renal failure on November 16, 2014. She was 80.
JoAnn was a consummate friend, mentor, teacher, and role model for all of those with whom she came in contact, regardless of their station in life. JoAnn was the quintessential clinician, educator, researcher, author, speaker, policy maker, leader, and an iconic presence in the wound care field at many levels.
She was an international expert on wound care, coauthoring 3 nursing textbooks with her colleague, Mary Sieggreen, MSN, RN, CS, NP, CVN, publishing more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, and speaking at conferences. For our journal, JoAnn most recently authored a special article to commemorate the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel's (NPUAP's) 25th anniversary, which coincided with our silver anniversary. She was a founding member of the NPUAP and was its public policy chairperson for 9 years.
JoAnn also consulted with numerous congressional and governmental officials as an advocate for Medicare and Medicaid coverage of pressure ulcer treatment. In 1995, JoAnn was selected as co-editor-in-chief of this journal (then called Advances in Wound Care), along with David Margolis, MD, PhD. They served as coeditors for 2.5 years. During their tenure as co-editors, they enhanced the peer-review process and broadened the scope of the journal to include wounds other than pressure ulcers.
"I have always viewed JoAnn as one of the kindest people that I have ever known. She was always willing to share with me her insights on the care of patients with chronic wounds. She was very helpful in helping me establish my career. I will always be indebted to her. I wish her family well, and I am very thankful that I got to know JoAnn and work with her," Dr Margolis said.
A Michigan native, JoAnn was a founding member and first president of the Michigan Nursing Diagnosis Association. During her career, she was the recipient of 26 professional nursing awards including the Kosiak Award for Excellence in Pressure Ulcer Education, Research, and Clinical Practice and the Nightingale Award for Advanced Practice Nursing. In 2013, a Lifetime Achievement Award to be given in her name by the NPUAP was established. JoAnn was a winner of this journal's annual Roberta S. Abruzzese Publishing Award, along with Morris A. Magnan, PhD, RN, for their article, "Multisite Web-Based Training in Using the Braden Scale to Predict Pressure Sore Risk." The article was published in the March 2008 issue of Advances in Skin & Wound Care.
JoAnn's resiliency as a person and professional was honed at the young age of 13, when she contracted polio, which was complicated by scoliosis. She endured a complete spinal fusion and was placed in a full body cast for 2 years. Although physicians said she would probably never walk again, JoAnn's sheer determination combined with a great deal of nursing support helped her achieve a full recovery. She graduated from Redford High School in Detroit, Michigan, in 1952, and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on a 4-year Ford Motor Company Regents Scholarship. In 1956, JoAnn graduated from the University of Michigan's School of Nursing.
On April 20, 1956, JoAnn married her high school sweetheart, Eric Thomas Maklebust, who was a paratrooper in the famed 82nd Airborne Division at Ft Bragg, North Carolina. She began her nursing career with the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fayetteville, North Carolina. When the family returned to Michigan, JoAnn's next job was as an industrial nurse at the General Motors Corvair Plant at Willow Run, and then she began a 10-year stint teaching nursing at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn. During this time, JoAnn acquired her master's degree in nursing at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and became a clinical nurse specialist at the Detroit Medical Center. She joined the staff of the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit in 2006 and retired from there in 2014, culminating a nursing career of 58 years.
JoAnn was the quintessential lifelong learner. At age 78, despite a failing transplanted kidney and the loss of sight in one eye, she decided to pursue an online doctorate from Maryville University in St Louis, Missouri. With the guidance of her friend and colleague, Dr Magnan, she graduated in August 2014 with a doctor of nursing practice degree at the age of 80.
Surviving to cherish her memory is her loving and supportive family, including Tom, her husband of 58 years; their 3 sons, David, Doug, and Rick; and grandson Tyler. And, of course, the national and international wound care community will long remember JoAnn's many contributions to pressure ulcer prevention and management and advanced wound care.
Advances in Skin & Wound Care will miss our colleague and friend.
Richard "Sal" Salcido, MD, EdD