From Nursing Student to Community Advocate: Dominique Zuniga Receives National Recognition

For residents of Summit, Arizona, everyday activities such as getting to school, work, or a healthcare appointment can be affected by deteriorating unpaved roads. During her final semester of nursing school, Dominique Zuniga (’25) helped bring those concerns directly to local decision-makers, demonstrating how nurses can advocate for healthier communities beyond hospital or clinic walls.

For Zuniga, the work was deeply personal. Growing up in Nogales, Arizona, a rural border community, she witnessed firsthand the barriers that restrict access to healthcare, education, and preventive services. Those experiences sparked her passion for population health nursing and inspired her to commit to addressing health disparities through advocacy and service.

That commitment has now earned her national recognition.

Zuniga, who graduated from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in December 2025, has been named the recipient of the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators' (ACHNE) 2026 Outstanding Baccalaureate Student in the Field of Community/Public Health Nursing Award. The national award honors undergraduate nursing students for exceptional achievement, leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and dedication to improving population health through community engagement and evidence-based practice. Zuniga was recognized in early June at the 2026 ACHNE Annual Institute in Spokane, Washington.

“Receiving this award is especially meaningful because it reflects my passion for serving communities and advocating for better population health outcomes,” said Zuniga. “Exposure to community and population health nursing as a student helped me recognize the importance of looking beyond individual patient care to the health of entire communities.”

That perspective guided her work in her Population Health and Community Nursing course at the College of Nursing. During her final semester, Zuniga and her team collaborated with residents of Summit, Arizona, a colonia with a 46% child poverty rate and longstanding environmental health challenges, to identify and address community health concerns.

Through bilingual, community-driven assessments, key informant interviews, and data collection, Zuniga and her team identified deteriorating unpaved roads as a major health and safety concern. Their findings linked poor road conditions to respiratory illness, school absenteeism, employment barriers, vehicle damage, and reduced quality of life for many residents.

The project illustrated a key principle of public health nursing: factors such as transportation, infrastructure, and the environment can significantly influence health outcomes long before an individual enters a healthcare setting.

Rather than ending with a report, the project evolved into a real-world advocacy effort. Zuniga organized her team to present findings, supported by maps, photographs, and resident testimony, to the Pima County Board of Supervisors and the Arizona Board of Regents, amplifying community voices and advocating for sustainable infrastructure improvements. As a direct result of her efforts, Pima County committed to grading the roads three times a year and began seeking funding to pave the main arterial road. These changes are expected to reduce dust-related respiratory illnesses and improve access to schools, workplaces, and essential services.

“Our work demonstrated that nursing advocacy can extend beyond direct patient care and contribute to lasting community change,” Zuniga said. “It was one of the most impactful experiences in my nursing education.”

Zuniga was nominated for the ACHNE award by the college’s Nursing and Health Education Division Chair, Lauren Acosta, PhD, RN, SANE-A, CPH, and was supported by faculty members Julio Loya, PhD, RN; Nancy McGuckin, MPH, MBA, MSN, RN; and Kate Straub, MPH, RM, BSN, RN, NCSN, who observed her leadership and commitment throughout the project.

“Dominique embodies the values at the heart of community and public health nursing,” Acosta said. “She approaches community engagement with humility, curiosity and a genuine commitment to understanding the challenges people face. Her ability to listen, build trust and advocate for meaningful change has left a lasting impression on both community members and faculty.”

Straub described Zuniga as “the future of community and public health nursing, equity-driven, systems-oriented and deeply committed to improving population health through innovative, community-led practice.” She also highlighted Zuniga's ability to build trust with community members, analyze environmental health challenges, and develop innovative solutions that address the root causes of health inequities.

“This achievement reminds me to continue using my role as a nurse to address health disparities, support underserved communities, and improve health outcomes throughout my career,” she said. “I am grateful to have been part of a college dedicated to excellence, service, and community involvement. This award reflects the positive impact the College of Nursing has on its students and the communities they serve.”

Zuniga plans to carry forward the lessons she learned from the Summit project: that meaningful change begins with listening to communities, building partnerships, and exercising leadership to address the conditions that shape public health. Her experience shows that even nursing students can have a lasting impact by combining clinical knowledge with advocacy and community engagement.