The 2024 ARP President’s & Merit Awards

Dr. Crowson has contributed to the ARP through membership on the Registries and Health Information Technology Committee, Quality Measures Subcommittee and Abstract Oversight Committee. She has also served numerous times as an abstract reviewer, abstract category lead, session moderator and task force member, and has presented at Stats Bootcamp sessions. Dr. Crowson is an associate editor of the Journal of Rheumatology and a member of the editorial board for Arthritis Care & Research.

Ms. Ruffing

Distinguished Clinician Award

The Distinguished Clinician Award is presented to an ARP member who is engaged in clinical practice and demonstrates outstanding clinical expertise in arthritis and rheumatic diseases. Victoria Ruffing, RN-BC, director of patient education and director of nursing for the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, Baltimore, and adjunct faculty for the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, was this year’s recipient.

Ms. Ruffing has served in the field of rheumatology for 24 years. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 1979, and her RN from Harford Community College, Bel Air, Md., in 1991.

Under Ms. Ruffing’s leadership, the Scope and Standards for Rheumatology Nursing were developed, allowing rheumatology nursing to be recognized as a specialty by the American Nurses Association. She has had a long interest in education for rheumatology professionals and has been one of the course directors since 2005 of the annual Johns Hopkins Advances in Rheumatic Diseases continuing medical education course. She was one of the editors of the textbook, Clinical Care in the Rheumatic Diseases, 3rd edition, published by the ACR in 2006.

In 2007, Ms. Ruffing became a founding member of the Rheumatology Nurses Society, where she served as president for eight years. She developed the Nurses Tool Kit, which included protocols for administration of biologic agents and practice management. She served as editor for the first edition of Core Curriculum for Rheumatology Nursing. More recently, Ms. Ruffing served for six years as an associate editor of the ACR publication The Rheumatologist.

Ms. Ruffing has been an essential member of the Johns Hopkins rheumatology faculty, with a major teaching role for fellows, sharing her knowledge of biologic administration and safety, and how to speak with patients about their illnesses in terms they understand. This has been a very important role for which she is highly sought for ongoing advice to trainees. She has mentored nurses new to rheumatology across the country, as well as a contingent of nurses from Hong Kong.