On May 29, Nursing Dean Marilyn Wideman retired from Purdue University Global after accumulating a legacy of notable achievements during her tenure.
Wideman’s accomplishments while leading the online university range from rewriting the Master of Science in Nursing program—which gained the program a 10-year full accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education—to executing a series of plans that have elevated Purdue Global NCLEX scores to a level that is consistently above the national average.
Marilyn Wideman has retired as Dean of the Purdue University Global School of Nursing
Dean Wideman also played a key role in a number of other innovations at the Purdue Global School of Nursing. Her efforts led to the introduction of a number of new programs, including:
A two-step Bachelor of Science in Nursing that permits students to complete their BSN degree in less time as they take bachelor-level courses as part of the associate nursing degree program.
The joint Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Business Administration in collaboration with Jeffrey Buck, dean of the School of Business and IT
An MSN nurse practitioner specialty in adult-gerontology acute care
Purdue Global Chancellor Frank Dooley lauded Wideman’s contributions, saying, “The work she accomplished will continue to benefit our students, which is ever so important during these challenging times, especially for health care professionals. Marilyn has laid the important groundwork for us to forge ahead as educators.”
On June 1, Purdue Global inducted Melissa Burdi, associate dean of undergraduate programs, as the new Dean of the School of Nursing. Burdi paid tribute to her predecessor, noting, “It is an honor and a privilege to carry on the work that Marilyn has started… Marilyn was a transformational leader who had a gift to be able to relate to both our team and students. She pushed us to be the best versions of ourselves.”
With regard to the future, Dean Burdi commented, “We have embraced the opportunity to address a significant amount of positive disruption as a result of recent pandemic events and will continue to respond to this evolving landscape with agility and speed. Creating an exceptional experience and positioning our students for success in meeting their goals remains our top priority.”
For further details on this story, visit the Purdue University newsroom.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has announced the appointment of Susan Bakewell-Sachs, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean and vice president for nursing affairs at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Nursing as Chair of the AACN Board of Directors.
During her two-year tenure as Board Chair, Dr. Bakewell-Sachs says she plans to “support coalition building and AACN’s leadership around addressing faculty and workforce needs, building inclusive learning environments, and accelerating the move to competency-based education to improve practice, research, and education.”
Known nationally both as a scholar and as a clinical expert in the
care of premature infants, Dr. Bakewell-Sachs has previously taken
the lead
in
a number of key
positions in
faculty and advocacy.
Among
her previous roles, she has served as director
of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) New Jersey Nursing
Initiative, chair of the New Jersey Association of Baccalaureate and
Higher Degree Programs, member of the March of Dimes National Nursing
Advisory Council, and on the steering committee of the Oregon Action
Coalition. Dr. Bakewell-Sachs was an RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow,
Cohort 2007, where her leadership development project focused on
strategic effectiveness and nursing education.
Upon her appointment by the AACN, she stated, “As Board Chair, I
look forward to working collaboratively to continue AACN’s lead role
in academic nursing during this extraordinary time and to supporting
nurse leaders across the country. AACN will remain a catalyst for
excellence and innovation in nursing education, research, and
practice,” said Dr. Bakewell-Sachs. “I am fully committed
to working with my fellow Board members to advocate for quality
nursing education and research while amplifying the impact AACN has
on improving the nation’s health and health care.”
For further details on the 2020 AACN Board of Directors and
Nominating Committee, visit the AACN
website.
Taylor is one of 100 new members of
the National Academy of Medicine, one of the most respected achievements in the
health field. Recipients will be employed or funded by a department or agency
in hopes of making discoveries that will advance US society.
Taylor’s research is focused
on how social factors contribute to health disparities among minorities. Her
research on how environmental factors can affect blood pressure among black
people has been especially noted.
Taylor tells nyunews.com, “It is a great honor being the only faculty member in the College of Nursing to receive this. The National Academy of Medicine is known for their body of brilliant experts in the field.”
This is not Taylor’s first
major achievement. She was also awarded the Presidential
Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by Barack Obama in 2017.
To learn more about NYU Nursing
professor Jacquelyn Taylor’s appointment to the National Academy of Medicine for
her work in health disparities research, visit here.
Enriquez’s new role will require managing operations and providing leadership in execution of the graduate nursing program, which is known for its educational excellence, cutting-edge curricula, and distinguished faculty. She will also collaborate with other RCoN program directors and the Dean to promote academic excellence and assure nursing students achieve success in pursuing their professional goals.
Dr. Enriquez began her nursing career in 1985, performing clinical roles in several areas, including infectious diseases. She most recently served as associate professor at the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing in Columbia, MO, from 2012 to 2019. Her experience includes nursing leadership, clinical excellence, patient experience, quality/risk management, infection prevention, and nursing education.
Dr. Wilson tells researchcollege.edu, “Dr. Enriquez will help develop graduate programs to meet the changing needs in today’s healthcare environment. She will strengthen RCoN’s current programs and expand our reach beyond Kansas City even more. We look forward to leveraging her exemplary and robust teaching experience in undergraduate and graduate academic nursing programs as we transform health care through heroic leadership.”
RCoN is a fully accredited institution of higher learning with roots in the history of Research Medical Center, part of the HCA Midwest Health network. The college offers flexible graduate nursing programs in a dynamic hospital setting.
To learn more about the Research College of Nursing’s newly appointed graduate program director, Maithe Enriquez, visit here.
Seton Hall University’s College of
Nursing has been nationally recognized as a winner of the inaugural Assessment
and Impact Awards for Nursing Education by Skyfactor
Benchworks, a Macmillan Learning company that provides research-based
program assessments and benchmarking for a variety of programs.
Dean Marie C. Foley, PhD, RN, accepted the award on the college’s behalf at the 2019 American Association of College of Nursing (AACN) Academic Nursing Leadership Conference.
Dean Foley tells shu.edu, “Our undergraduate faculty, led by Dr. Judith Lucas, our associate dean of undergraduate programs and assessment, are dedicated to improving our curricula and, likewise, student retention and outcomes based on relevant data. Skyfactor contributes to our success in making appropriate data-driven changes.”
The
Assessment and Impact Award for Nursing was created to highlight schools of
nursing that are successfully using data to improve their programs, which in
turn helps to retain students and develop more practice-ready nursing
professionals. Benchworks selected the winners by analyzing multi-year
assessment data that identified programs that had the best results or increases
in performance in areas like course interactions and quality of instruction, as
well as through interviewing nursing program administrators. Seton Hall was
selected for its leadership in contemporary healthcare education and blending
scholarship with excellence in nursing practice.
To learn more about Seton
Hall Nursing’s national recognition as a winner of the inaugural Assessment and
Impact Awards for Nursing Education by Skyfactor Benchworks for its commitment
to improving nursing education, visit here.
Job shadowing is a long-standing tradition. High schools often have dedicated shadowing days, during which students can come and spend time with people working in careers that the students find interesting. While a few hours isn’t really enough to know if you like, love, or hate a job, it’s a start.
In healthcare, it can be especially important to spend time shadowing. In fact, PA schools want applicants to have hundreds of hours of documented shadowing time. I’m certain medical schools now want the same. I don’t know about other healthcare fields, such as dentistry, physical therapy, or pharmacy, but I suspect they want to see it as well.
We have created a system where shadowing is expected for acceptance in professional schools even as some hospitals make it very difficult (or impossible) to shadow. In some instances, it’s about concerns over privacy. In others, it’s simply that the number of people who desire to shadow is so large that it’s very difficult to get a time slot. And in others, it’s that there are medical, PA, or nurse practitioner students and residents rotating through the hospitals as part of their graduation requirements. In other words, it’s just dang crowded. As such, high school or even college students, trying to shadow, are at the bottom of the list.
In many career fields, it’s easy enough to shadow. If mom is an attorney, her son or daughter can sit in the courtroom or come to the office. If dad is a plumber, it’s easy enough to tag along and watch (or practice on projects at home). Teachers encourage students to shadow, and assorted business people do as well. Law enforcement often allows ride-along sessions. Even moms or dads in military careers have days when family can come on base and see what life is like in their jobs. I could go on, but the fact remains that from what I’ve seen, it’s much easier to shadow in other fields than in medicine. (If I’m wrong and this is a new trend everywhere, please leave a comment and educate me!)
The problem with medical careers that require graduate degrees is that the path to those schools is long, arduous, and expensive. And they require careful planning, sacrifice, and intentionality to create a resume and application that is more likely to stand out from the others. In this case, it would make so much more sense for shadowing opportunities to be much more available and easy to access.
It’s extraordinarily hard for a student to know if he wants to commit to 14 years of education based on a couple of hours walking around in a clinic. Admittedly, I have had some shadowers who probably got the message pretty quickly. Once I had a university student who followed me in the ED for four hours. At the end, he said, in a fatigued voice, “Don’t you guys ever sit down?” Not the perfect attitude if you really want to go into medicine. (Although maybe he ended up a radiologist with a nice chair in a dark room.)
We need to offer more shadowing, not less. Especially in an era of growing physician shortages in both primary care and specialties. We need to encourage students to pursue careers that have made our lives so rich and meaningful. And we need to urge hospitals, clinics, and offices to make those opportunities available as well.
If
we want good healthcare; heck, if we want healthcare at all, we have to
have physicians, PAs, and all the rest. And in order to have those
essential persons, as it stands, they’ll have to shadow.
Every other job field seems to get it.
It’s time we do too.
Edwin Leap, MD,
is an emergency physician. He practices full-time in a rural community
hospital in South Carolina. He has spent many years practicing in rural
and critical access facilities, including work as a locums provider for
Weatherby Healthcare. He is a writer and blogger. He and his wife have
four children. See more at edwinleap.com.
