Five faculty members from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) have been selected as fellows of the American Academy of Nursing and were scheduled to be inducted in October. These honorees will join the 2017 class who were selected for their significant contributions to nursing, health care, and policy.
Patricia Davidson, PhD, MEd, RN, FAAN, dean of JHSON, tells Newswise.com, “These faculty are aspiring leaders whose contributions to education, palliative care, mental health, acute care, and community health are evident across disciplines and among patient outcomes. They well represent the innovation and excellence of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, and we are proud of their accomplishments.”
Teresa Brockie, PhD, RN, a member of the White Clay Nation from Fort Belknap, Montana. Her nursing career focuses on achieving health equity through community-based prevention and intervention of suicide, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences among vulnerable populations.
Valerie Cotter, DrNP, AGPCNP-BC, FAANP, an expert in dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and aging. She was also recently named a Sojourns Scholar by the Cambria Health Foundation and will receive funding to develop an advance care planning education program for primary care providers.
Rita D’Aoust, PhD, ANP-BC, CNE, FAANP, FNAP, associate dean of teaching and learning, who leads the development and implementation of innovative teaching and learning strategies for JHSON. She is an expert in interprofessional education, military and veteran health care and education, the creation of innovative academic-service partnerships for older adults, and providing access to care for vulnerable populations.
Vinciya Pandian, PhD, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, is internationally known for her work in tracheostomy and quality of life in mechanically ventilated patients. She has also served as director of practice, education, and research for the Johns Hopkins Airway Program.
Susan Renda, DNP, ANP-BC, CDE, FNAP, is a certified diabetes educator and an assistant professor at JHSON. She leads initiatives to improve access to diabetes care and delivering culturally competent patient care.
The American Academy of Nursing is made up of over 2,500 fellows representing the areas of education, management, practice, policy, and research. To learn more about the JHSON Academy of Nursing Fellows, visit here.
173 nursing professionals in the world were selected for the honor in 2017, representing the nation’s foremost health care thought leaders. Selection criteria for AAN fellows includes evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care, and a nursing career that influences health policies and health care delivery for Americans.
Scannell-Desch is a retired colonel in the US Air Force Nurse Corps and a former flight nurse who served on active duty across the world from 1972 to 1997. She joined the Rutgers Nursing faculty in January 2016 following a 25-year military career and 15-year teaching career at other universities. During her time in the military, Scannell-Desch held a number of leadership positions including command nurse executive at the US Air Force headquarters at the Pentagon where she directed nursing policy and practice for Air Force Reserve nursing personnel worldwide.
To learn more about Scannell-Desch and her induction as an American Academy of Nursing Fellow, visit here.
The National Academies of Practice, a national interprofessional organization advising on health care delivery in the US, recently inducted Nancy Pontes, an assistant professor in the Rutgers School of Nursing-Camden, as a Fellow. Pontes was inducted into the prestigious fellowship during an annual conference in March, where she was also distinguished as a fellow of the Nursing Academy.
Pontes’ expertise is in family health, the delivery of care, and the social determinants of health and well-being in youth and families. She was the 2013 recipient of the New Jersey College Health Association’s Honorary Nursing Excellence Award in College Health. Pontes has also published research in several health-related journals and presented her findings at conferences nationwide.
As a member of the Rutgers School of Nursing-Camden since 2015, Pontes teaches undergraduate courses in Community Health Nursing/Global Health and Wellness and Health Assessment, and graduate courses in Advanced Health and Physical Assessment. Pontes is also the primary investigator on a $600,000 grant from the US Department of Education International and Foreign Language office which seeks to strengthen Spanish language skills among students and faculty.
Pontes received her bachelor of science in nursing degree from Pensacola Christian College in 1985, her master of science in nursing degree from the University of Florida in 1994, and her PhD in nursing from Columbia University in 2003. She previously served as assistant vice president for health and wellness at Rowan University and practice director and nurse practitioner at New York University’s Division of Nursing and the University of Florida’s College of Medicine prior to beginning her position with Rutgers.
To learn more about Pontes’ nursing background and Fellow recognition with the National Academies of Practice, visit here.
The program selects experienced executive leaders in nursing education and practice who have held positions for over five years. Selected participants are prepared to become champions for change who design and implement strategies for innovation and meeting the demands of nursing education and health care. Over the course of the one-year program, participants will work with peers and experts across the country on issues of leadership and organizational systems.
Robinson is a noted scholar in nursing care for the elderly. She was named the founding dean of the Rutgers School of Nursing-Camden in 2012 and has since been committed to preparing nurses to deliver top patient care while advancing nursing and health science. The relatively new nursing school has Robinson to thank for its impressive growth which includes the addition of a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program and graduate certificate program in wound ostomy continence nursing, and the merger of two nursing programs into the Rutgers-Camden program.
After her starting her nursing career with a bachelor’s degree in nursing from William Paterson University, Robinson went on to earn a master’s degree in community health nursing from Rutgers-Newark and a PhD in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. Robinson is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), co-founded the NJ End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium, and served on the Governor’s Advisory Council on Elder Care and the New Jersey Commission on Aging, amongst several other achievements.
To learn more about Robinson’s nursing background and achievements, visit here.
Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD, MPH – Viola MacInnes/Independence Professor of Nursing, a Professor of Epidemiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Executive Director of the Center for Public Health Initiatives
Leah Moran, MSN, RN – Nurse Manager for the Cardiac Intermediate Care Unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
The fellowship is intended to support nursing faculty by developing an intellectual foundation in innovation methodology and gaining expertise in testing new approaches to health care delivery and improved patient outcomes. Formally launched this month, the fellowship is a collaboration between Penn Nursing, Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Care Innovation (CHCI), and the Penn Health System Department of Nursing.
Innovation Fellows are expected to learn new techniques for testing ideas faster at lower costs, enabling them to drive change in health care at local, state, and national levels. Fostering multidisciplinary collaboration, fellows will work directly with designers, developers, and innovation specialists over the course of a semester. Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, says,
“Nurses are natural innovators. The opportunity to embed Fellows within the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation provides opportunities to not only learn different approaches – but also to provide patient and family perspectives to on-going work within the Center.”
