TalkVermont Leaders Win 2025 AACN-Gold Interprofessional Humanism in Healthcare Award

Dr. Stephen Berns and nurse Kacey Boyle are recognized for fostering essential, human-centered conversations with patients at University of Vermont Health.

WASHINGTON, DC, December 22, 2025 – The Arnold P. Gold Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) are pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of the AACN-Gold Interprofessional Humanism in Healthcare Award: Stephen H. Berns, MD, and Kacey Boyle, MSPC, RN, CHPN, who created TalkVermont to foster meaningful and critical conversations with patients and their families around their goals of care.

This prestigious annual award recognizes high-impact collaboration by nurses and physicians that advances humanistic care. Together, Dr. Berns and Ms. Boyle founded TalkVermont in 2018 to address a "conversation gap," in which more than 95 percent of clinicians reported that goals-of-care discussions were important, yet fewer than 20 percent routinely had them.

"Their collaboration has inspired a cultural shift across UVM Health," Jennifer Franzoni, MSW, Network Director of Case Management at University of Vermont (UVM) Health, wrote in her nomination. "Serious illness communication is no longer viewed as the domain of palliative care alone; it is a shared responsibility, supported by a shared language and skill set. This systemic change has improved patient care, strengthened teamwork, and elevated the culture of compassion across the network."

Dr. Berns and Ms. Boyle serve as Director and Associate Director, respectively, of TalkVermont. Ms. Boyle is a Palliative Care Specialist at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Dr. Berns is the Division Chief of Hospice and Palliative Medicine at University of Vermont Health and holds the Holly and Bob Miller Endowed Chair in Palliative Medicine at The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont.

"Humanistic healthcare is built on a strong foundation of trust and open communication between patients, nurses, physicians, and all members of the healthcare team," said Deborah Trautman, PhD, RN, FAAN, President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. "On behalf of academic nursing, we applaud the leaders of TalkVermont for their commitment to compassion, communication, and collaboration, the cornerstones of high-quality patient- and family-centered care."

Dr. Berns and Ms. Boyle will receive their award and present a session at the 2026 Gold Humanism Summit, the Gold Foundation’s national conference, which will be held in Pittsburgh, September 16-18, 2026.

"We are honored to recognize Dr. Stephen Berns and nurse Kacey Boyle for their remarkable work at TalkVermont, fostering greater communication in healthcare. Clinically excellent care that is kind, safe and trustworthy is only possible when we truly communicate," said Kathleen Reeves, MD, FAAP, President and CEO of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation. "Humanism in healthcare does not happen in a silo. It requires collaboration across fields and disciplines, and we need leaders like Dr. Berns and Ms. Boyle who model the way."

TalkVermont has had an enduring impact. Since its creation in 2018, TalkVermont has engaged more than 1,500 trainees and 1,680 practicing healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and others. Ninety-nine percent of participants report that they would recommend the course, and 96 percent plan to change their behavior based on the training, according to Ms. Franzoni.

The Serious Illness Conversation Navigator, a system in the electronic health record that Dr. Berns and Ms. Boyle helped establish, shows the impact of TalkVermont; serious illness conversations have risen by 33 percent for healthcare professionals who have participated in TalkVermont, representing an estimated 40,000 additional conversations across Vermont and New York.

"The combination of person-centered skill development with interprofessional collaboration has changed not just what clinicians say, but how they think about their work," wrote Ms. Franzoni in her award nomination of Dr. Berns and Ms. Boyle. "One graduate reflected, 'It reminded me why I went into medicine… to be present, even when there are no perfect words.' By teaching clinicians across disciplines to listen deeply, ask meaningful questions, and respond with empathy, Dr. Berns and Ms. Boyle restore the human connection at the center of care."

###

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is the leading national nonprofit organization that champions humanism in healthcare, defined as clinically excellent care that is kind, safe, and trustworthy. The Gold Foundation is home of the White Coat Ceremony, Gold Humanism Honor Society, the Gold Humanism Summit, and more programs and tools that create and sustain the human connection in healthcare.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is the national voice for academic nursing representing more than 875 schools of nursing nationwide. AACN establishes quality standards for nursing education, influences the nursing profession to improve health care, and promotes public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research and practice.