By Teresa Hicks
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Associate Professor Shena Gazaway, PhD, RN, CHPN, and Assistant Professor Rachel Wells, PhD, RN, CNL, CHPN (MSN 2009, PhD 2019), have been named 2026 Fellows in Palliative Care Nursing by the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, a national honor recognizing leadership, scholarship and sustained contributions to the field of hospice and palliative nursing.
Established in 1986, HPNA is dedicated to advancing expert care in serious illness through education, leadership development, advocacy and research.
Gazaway and Wells will be recognized at the 2026 HPNA Annual Conference in May in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The annual conference brings together nurses, researchers and clinicians from across the country for professional development, networking and evidence-based education focused on person-centered care. In addition to being inducted as Fellows in Palliative Care Nursing, Gazaway and Wells will be delivering a keynote talk on building networks and community within the palliative care field at the conference.
Both Gazaway and Wells’ programs of research focus on improving the lives of patients and families with serious illness by developing and testing interventions that support communication, decision-making and self-management to improve quality of life and coping.
Through their individual and collaborative programs of research and national leadership, they are contributing and shaping the evidence base that guides best practice within the field of palliative care nursing.
“Being named a Fellow is a personal and professional honor, and I am excited and humbled to join this elite community of dedicated advocates, clinicians and scientists,” Gazaway said. “I am profoundly privileged to have our work recognized within this community and remain dedicated to advancing palliative care science and practice nationally, as we seek to support those living with serious illness and those who care for and support them.”
Their recognition as HPNA Fellows places them among a select group of nurse leaders nationwide who are shaping the future of hospice and palliative care through research, education and clinical innovation.
“Being named a Fellow in Palliative Care Nursing is a profound honor and privilege as I join a community of innovative scientists, expert clinicians and passionate advocates who have pushed our field forward and continue to shape its future,” Wells said. “Not only is this honor a recognition of past work, but it is also a responsibility and call to continue to contribute, lead and expand palliative care for the individuals living with serious illness and their families.”
In 2023, Gazaway and Wells were awarded a $50,000 grant from the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation to pilot-test a community-co-designed coaching intervention to improve pain outcomes in adults with heart failure. Building on this pilot work, they received additional funding in 2025 to expand Project ADAPT-HF (ADdressing Pain through nAvigator-led Palliative care opTimized for Heart Failure) to develop and test a caregiver support intervention, an extension of their initial study aimed at improving palliative care delivery.
In addition, in 2021, Wells was awarded a 5-year K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute of Nursing Research and recently was honored with the HPNA’s 2025 New Investigator Award and the UAB School of Nursing Florence Nightingale Award for Scholarly Work.
In 2023, Gazaway earned a K23 Career Development Award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and has received a Palliative Care Research Cooperative pilot grant. She is also a 2024–2026 Fellow of the American Psychological Association’s Leadership and Education and Advancement Program for Diverse Scholars, a Forge AHEAD Center Scholar, and a UAB School of Nursing Dean Scholar Awardee.