SNAPSHOT 2024
AND BACHELOR’S MASTER’S
U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
What do you do when you need to be heard?
Linda
A. McCauley 79MN, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN
Dean and Professor Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Across the years, I’ve witnessed many ways to be heard. When in a large crowd or across a big classroom, you may look for the nearest microphone. Cheerleaders use megaphones to fire up a crowd. You cup your hands to call out to your children to meet the school bus or come in from the yard. In each of these moments, the goal is the same: amplify the message and inspire action.
We’re in a season of amplification at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. We’re looking at the nursing profession — its needs and incredible opportunities — and focusing on making the most significant impact. We are challenging the status quo and aiming higher.
We’re thrilled and proud to be home to the nation’s No. 1 BSN and master’s degree programs and in the top five of nursing schools in NIH funding. Achieving these milestones took vision, wisdom, heart, and a lot of teamwork. But we’re not stopping there. We will continue to ask big questions, break new ground, and pursue innovation to address the most pressing challenges in health care. Alongside our colleagues, partners and supporters across the country, we will continue to amplify the difference we make for patients and communities everywhere.
We hope you enjoy this report, which provides a snapshot of our work together. It’s a privilege to be with you on this journey — turning our collective expertise into a healthier future for all.
With appreciation,
Who We Are FALL 2024
BSN PROGRAM AND MASTER’S PROGRAM, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
ENROLLMENT
FACULTY-STAFF
493 Faculty*
13 Post-Doctoral Fellows
169 Staff
* Ranked voting faculty, senior clinical instructors, and clinical instructors
NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR NURSING CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
IN TWO CATEGORIES:
PROMOTING PEDAGOGICAL EXPERTISE OF FACULTY
ENHANCING STUDENT LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT »
342 BSN/Distance-Accelerated BSN (DABSN)
448 MN
308 MSN and Post-Master’s Certificate (PMC)
26 Perfusion (P)
274 DNP
37 PhD
1,435 Total
STUDENTS FROM HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS
(FY23-24)
Increasing the Supply of Nurses
ENROLLMENT GROWTH (Five-Year Enrollment Trend)
WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS
1,500 1,700
24.8%
TARGET ENROLLMENT
Preparing Students for Specific Areas of Need
5 FULD PALLIATIVE CARE FELLOWS
Awarded to students interested in becoming palliative care nurse leaders
8 BLAKE SCHOLARS
30 VETERANS AFFAIRS NURSING ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIP SCHOLARS (VANAP)
Awarded to students interested in working with U.S. Veterans as nurses and nurse practitioners
Awarded to nurse practitioners with an interest in child and adolescent behavioral and mental health to pursue a post-graduate certificate in psychiatric mental health nursing
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough (center) spends a few moments with VANAP Scholars and other students during a March visit to the school.
Supporting Nursing Professionals
8
CONVERSATIONS FROM THE EDGE WEBINAR EPISODES
Together with Emory Healthcare, we produce a webinar series with topics that bring nursing leaders together to explore the profession’s unknown edges. It is now in its second season.
17,588
EMORY NURSING EXPERIENCE ENROLLMENTS (FY23-24)
We work with Emory Healthcare to provide continuing education for nurses across the nation.
AMPLIFICATION IN ACTION
In May, we signed a partnership with Oglethorpe University, creating a streamlined pipeline for their bachelor’s degree graduates to enter our Master of Nursing program. Oglethorpe joins Spelman College and Agnes Scott College as collaborators in this effort with Atlantaarea colleges and universities to bolster the nursing workforce. In the school’s oldest partnership with Spelman, 100% of students who participated were employed after graduation, and 14% returned for graduate studies.
3 GEORGIA NURSING WORKFORCE CENTER REPORTS
We partner with the Georgia Nursing Leadership Coalition to house this center, which uses data and community building to tell and actively shape the story of nursing in Georgia. The center is completing its first year of work.
35
NELL FELLOWS
We award this fellowship to recent School of Nursing alumni and Emory Healthcare clinical staff nurses for continued nursing education.
ENROLLMENT BY GEOGRAPHIC REGION RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY
Jacqui Martinez 25BSN
Senior, Traditional BSN Program
Jacqueline “Jacqui” Martinez is a senior in the traditional BSN program and the director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging for the Emory Student Nurses Association. A new position, the role serves as a resource for BSN students from historically marginalized identity groups.
“My job is to promote an environment where students from different identities feel welcome, heard and uplifted and know that their voices matter,” says Martinez, a first-generation Latina student from Chicago. Among the initiatives she is starting is a biweekly community safe space meeting where students from diverse communities discuss personal and academic challenges and ways to navigate a professional degree program.
In addition to this new position, the school supports identifyspecific student organizations such as the Emory Black Nursing Student Organization and the newly formed Emory Latinx Nursing Association, as well as diversity-specific events and initiatives throughout the year.
Martinez is confident that these measures have an impact.
“The biggest thing that many students from underserved or historically marginalized groups experience is imposter syndrome, feeling that where you are is not where you should be and you’re not capable enough,” she says. “Students may face challenges like this along the way, but there is so much support you can receive. These efforts tell students, ‘You can do it. You're empowered here, and here are the resources that you may need to get to where you want to be.’”
WHAT MARTINEZ IS AMPLIFYING: She believes
empowering diverse students to study and practice nursing uniquely benefits diverse patients and communities. “When we graduate and enter the field, more patients will see nurses that look like them, and that presence will make a difference,” she says.
“These efforts tell students, ‘You can do it. You’re empowered here.’”
AMPLIFY
STUDENT PREPARATION
SIMULATION (FY23-24)
78,618
LEARNER CONTACT HOURS
6,270
SIMULATION HOURS
CLINICAL PLACEMENTS (FY23-24)
1,341 PRECEPTORS
258 CLINICAL INSTRUCTORS
AMPLIFICATION IN ACTION
30 HIGH-FIDELITY SIMULATION MANIKINS
NCLEX PASS RATES (2024)
925 CLINICAL PLACEMENT SITES
This fall, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare granted Provisional Accreditation to our simulation program, housed at the Emory Nursing Learning Center. Society for Simulation in Healthcare accreditation is the gold standard in simulation and signifies excellence in curriculum design, faculty development, learner assessment, and continuous quality improvement.
School of Nursing simulation team
Student Scholarship
AMPLIFICATION IN ACTION
BSN HONORS STUDENTS
Honors student Andrea Castellano 25BSN recently showcased her work at the Science Gallery Atlanta’s “Resilient Earth” exhibition, contributing to the “Girasoles Market: Realities Behind the Shelf” exhibit alongside Dean Linda McCauley and Assistant Professor Roxana Chicas. The exhibit describes the environmental health challenges faced by farmworkers.
11
WOODRUFF SCHOLARS
Awarded to select undergraduates as the signature scholarship of the Emory Scholars Program
During the fall, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) honored two faculty members from the School of Nursing. Dean Linda McCauley 79MN, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN (above), received the David Rall Medal, given to an Academy member for above-andbeyond leadership and commitment as a study committee chair. Assistant Professor Roxana Chicas 16BSN 20PhD, RN, FAAN, was selected to participate in the American Academy of Nursing Fellowship, part of the NAM Fellowships program. She is one of seven health professionals across various disciplines chosen for the program.
BSN/MN STUDENTS INDUCTED INTO THE SIGMA THETA TAU INTERNATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY OF NURSING (Summer 2023-Spring 2024)
New Sigma Theta Tau inductees celebrate with chapter Vice President and Assistant Professor Elizabeth Woods 19DNP, MSN, RN (front row, third from right).
Faculty Scholarship
65
FACULTY HOLDING DISTINGUISHED FELLOWSHIPS
28
FACULTY HOLDING TWO OR MORE DISTINGUISHED FELLOWSHIPS
10
SIGMA THETA TAU INTERNATIONAL
RESEARCHER HALL OF FAME MEMBERS
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NURSING FELLOWS
Carrie McDermott, PhD, RN, APRN, ACNS-BC, FAAN
Yang,
2024 honorees also include PhD student Renée Byfield, MS, RN, FNP, C-EFM, FAAN; 2023-2024 Visiting Scholar Adrianna Nava, PhD, MPA, MSN, RN, FAAN; Emory Healthcare employee David Reinhart, DNP, MBA, RN, NCOR, FAAN; and alumnus Daniel J. Smith 18BSN 20MSN 21PhD, AGPCNP-BC, CNE, FAAN.
57
PREVIOUS FACULTY HONOREES
Jinbing Bai, Brenda J. Baker, Susan Nehiley Brasher, Deborah Bruner, Christina Calamaro, Nicole Carlson, Sharon Vanairsdale Carrasco, Rasheeta DeVedra Chandler, Roxana Chicas, Jeannie P. Cimiotti, Desiree Clement, Carolyn Kay Clevenger, Sharron M. Close, Calli Cook, John Cranmer, Jo Ann Dalton*, Colleen DiIorio*, Dorothy Doughty*, Elizabeth Downes, Sandra B. Dunbar, Sara Edwards*, Rowena Elliott, Dian Downing Evans*, Erin Poe Ferranti, Rebecca Ann Gary, Deena Gilland, Nicholas Giordano, Linda Grabbe*, Jill B. Hamilton, Marcia Holstad*, Bonnie Jennings*, Dorothy H. Jordan, Maureen Kelley*, Ursula Ann Kelly, Laura P. Kimble, Kristy K. Martyn, Linda McCauley, Shawana Moore, Patricia Jean Moreland, Lisa Muirhead, Rose Murphree, Kelly Wiltse Nicely, Victoria Pak, Ann E. Rogers, Susan Shapiro*, Lynn Sibley*, Roy L. Simpson, Mi-Kyung Song, Ora Strickland*, Beth Ann Swan, Lisa Marie Thompson, Jessica Wells, Judy Wold*, Kathryn A. Wood, Canhua Xiao, Katherine Aylward Yeager*, Weihua Zhang
* Emeritus Faculty
Glenna Brewster, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAAN
Quyen Phan 03MSN, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAAN
Ethan Cicero, PhD, RN, FAAN
Courtney Pitts, DNP, MPH, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Irene
PhD, RN, FAAN
NEW FACULTY HONOREES
AMPLIFICATION PROFILE — SCHOLARSHIP
Renée Byfield RN, FNP, C-EFM, FAAN
PhD Student, New Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
Childbirth still gives Renée Byfield “goosebumps.”
“I have a deep love and appreciation for the miracle of childbirth,” says Byfield, the first PhD student at the School of Nursing to be named a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. “You’re supporting a family at one of their most vulnerable moments and helping them to the other side.”
Appreciating the duality of perinatal care –miraculous and normal, intimate and clinical, joyous and serious – Byfield has participated in many aspects of the maternal-child specialty. Early in her career, she worked in labor and delivery and then nursing education. She went on to hold leadership roles in academia, patient safety, simulation-based education and program development, and nurse management, ultimately shifting her focus to addressing perinatal disparities. She became program director of the Institute for Perinatal Quality Improvement’s SPEAK UP Against Racism Program, a curriculum reaching governments, health care facilities, and educational institutions in 42 states.
As Byfield’s career progressed, she realized she needed to hone her research skills to propel her work. “I realized I needed to cultivate a researcher’s mindset,” she says. “I participated in research, but I wanted to understand the underpinnings of its philosophy and processes so I could lead it.”
In 2023, she entered the School of Nursing’s PhD program and became a National Institutes of Health T32 Pre-Doctoral Training Scholar. She researches the use of health information technology to better
understand how biophysiological markers such as heart rate variability can provide insight into the mental well-being of pregnant and postpartum women, particularly in underrepresented populations with higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality.
WHAT BYFIELD IS AMPLIFYING: She wants her research to address perinatal health disparities, particularly those affecting marginalized communities. Through her research and leadership, she emphasizes transforming research into actionable solutions that improve care for mothers, babies and families. Ultimately, Byfield wants her work to amplify equitable health care. “By addressing the needs of the most vulnerable, we create better outcomes for all,” she says.
“By addressing the needs of the most vulnerable, we create better outcomes for all.”
AMPLIFY
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
LILLIAN CARTER CENTER SERVICE
LEARNING (Fall 2023-Summer 2024)
313
STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
4,322
CLINICAL/COMMUNITY HOURS
4,866
CLIENTS SERVED
$2.9M
HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP GRANTS (FY24)
14
COMMUNITY PARTNERS USING THE EMORY NURSING LEARNING CENTER FOR TRAINING AND EVENTS
Immersion trips allow students to get hands-on clinical experience while serving communities across the U.S. and world. This group of Master of Nursing students served in Eleuthera, Bahamas, last summer.
21
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Addiction Alliance of Georgia
Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia)
Cabin Creek (West Virginia)
CenterWell (Georgia)
CerviCusco (Peru)
East End (St. Thomas)
Embrace-Friends of Refugees (Clarkston, Georgia)
Farm Worker Family Health Program (Moultrie, Georgia)
Foundation for Peace (Haiti and Dominican Republic)
Georgia
Department of Health District
8-2 (Southwest Georgia)
Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center (St. Croix)
Living Proof Recovery (Rome, Georgia)
New Horizons (Rome, Georgia)
One Eleuthera Foundation (Eleuthera, Bahamas)
Peace Corps
Selian Lutheran Hospital (Tanzania)
Southeast Detox (Rome, Georgia)
Universidad de Yucatan (Mexico)
University of Rwanda
Visiting Nurse Health Service (Georgia)
Yonsei University (South Korea)
AMPLIFICATION IN ACTION
In August, Rosemary Macuch 24MSN, RN, (front row, second from right) went on a student immersion trip to Peru, working with classmates and the staff of the CerviCusco non-profit health clinic. As she traveled to remote mountain communities doing pap smears and screening exams, she witnessed the power of community and the dedication of local health professionals. “It was an honor to be a part of their mission to make health screening tests accessible to all,” Macuch says. “I learned so much from the incredible people there, and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity.” Macuch plans to use her experience in the women’s health/ gender-related MSN program, including the immersion trip, to fuel her career as a women’s health nurse practitioner.
FELLOWSHIPS
8
FULD SERVICE LEARNING FELLOWS
Awarded to Accelerated MN Pathway to MSN students with a special commitment to social responsibility
2 COVERDELL FELLOWS
Awarded to students who served as Peace Corps volunteers and continue to work with underserved communities
25
CONWAY SCHOLARS
Awarded to BSN students with knowledge of or experience with migrant farmworker health (see page 24)
Fuld Service Learning Fellows gather with faculty and staff leaders at the beginning of the fall semester.
$18.1M
TOTAL NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH FUNDING (FY24)*
RESEARCH DISCOVERY
The school is currently No. 3 among U.S. nursing schools in NIH funding. The school has been in the top five for 10 consecutive years.
RESEARCH PROPOSALS SUBMITTED
GROWTH OVER FIVE YEARS
RESEARCH HUBS AMPLIFICATION IN ACTION
• Aging Studies
• Artificial Intelligence/Data Science
• Cardiovascular, Brain and Biomarkers
• Natural Disasters and Environmental and Climate Science
• Oncology
• Pain
• Women’s Health
In late September and early October, residents in Rockdale County, Georgia –an Atlanta suburb – faced nightly shelterin-place orders as local authorities managed the aftermath of a fire at a chemical plant. The situation raised serious concerns from community members about indoor and outdoor air quality and short- and longterm health impacts. In response, faculty member and reproductive and children’s environmental health researcher Abby Mutic 19PhD, MSN, CNM, appeared on an Atlanta TV station, sharing about the potential health effects of chemical plumes on the eyes, nose, and respiratory system and ways to protect children and families.
* Estimate of FY24 funding
Mi-Kyung Song PhD,
RN, FAAN
Ken Hepburn
PhD
Professors and Researchers
“Having a serious chronic illness is rarely one person’s experience,” says Mi-Kyung Song, a palliative care researcher and professor at the School of Nursing.
That reality is a driving force for researchers who study family caregiving at the School of Nursing. Among them is Song, who leads the Center for Nursing Excellence in Palliative Care, and Ken Hepburn, a professor and researcher who, with Molly Perkins, PhD, co-leads the Roybal Center for Dementia Caregiving Mastery. Both centers are housed within the school.
Hepburn and Perkins recently received a $5.8 million National Institute on Aging (NIA) P30 grant renewal to fund the Roybal Center’s work, which supports researchers developing behavioral interventions that help caregivers become more proficient and confident. Song just received a $5.5 million NIA R01 grant to study informal caregiving networks of persons living with dementia, one of the first studies to focus on multiple caregivers beyond primary caregivers. The grants continue a research trajectory for both researchers at the intersection of palliative care, chronic illness management, and caregiving.
Hepburn says the need for this research is clear. The aging population in the U.S. will continue to grow through 2050 with an increasing need for caregiver support. With dementia alone, the population will increase from 8-9 million to an estimated 16 million.
“The reality is that families, whether it is with people living with dementia or other chronic conditions, are the health care system for the older population,” Hepburn says. “The formal health care system doesn’t manage day-to-day life; families and friends do.”
WHAT HEPBURN AND SONG ARE AMPLIFYING: Song and Hepburn are among researchers studying the effect of serious chronic illness on patients and caregivers. Other researchers in the school are engaged in related areas, including long-term care, living alone, insomnia, caregiving for a second time, motherdaughter caregiving dynamics, and couples living with mild cognitive impairment. “Moving forward, research about patient and family caregiver experiences will continue to inform nursing and other fields in health sciences,” Song says. “Medical advances can only do so much. Healing doesn’t happen without improving the human experience. That’s where nursing stands out.”
“The formal health care system doesn’t manage day-to-day life; families and friends do.”
ALUMNI IMPACT
CLASS OF 2024*
149 BSN/DistanceAccelerated BSN (DABSN)
337 MN
145 MSN and Post-Master’s Certificate (PMC)
38 DNP
7 PhD
676 Total
* 3 Graduations: December 2023, May 2024, August 2024
GRADUATION AWARD RECIPIENTS
11,793
The following students received awards for outstanding achievement at our 2023-2024 graduation ceremonies:
DECEMBER 2023
DABSN: Kelly Miller 23BSN
DNP: Charmaine Stotler 20MSN 23DNP, APRN, FNP-C, ENP-C
MN: Marie-Chantal Zorblewu 23MN
MSN: Joshua Lehrer 22MN 23MSN, APRN, FNP-C
MAY 2024
BSN: Roxanne Chou 22OX 24BSN
DABSN: Brandie Huffman 24BSN, ACSM-EP
MN: Mimi Place 24MN
PhD: Paula Tucker 10MSN 24PhD, DNP, FNP-BC, ENP-C, FAANP
AUGUST 2024
CRNA: Eric Combs 24DNP
DABSN: Jessica Baumgardner 24BSN
MN Pathway: Katelyn Priebe 24MN
Dean Linda McCauley (left) presents DABSN graduate Jessica Baumgardner with her award at the August graduation ceremony.
AMPLIFICATION IN ACTION: ANSLEY RIEDEL 13BSN, RN
Nursing has always been on Ansley Riedel’s mind. She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at age 10 months, and her first memories included the nurses who cared for her. “I adored my nurses, and many of them became our extended family,” Riedel says. “I attribute my positive experience as a patient to my nurses who helped me feel safe, secure and respected.” As a teenager, those memories played a big role when she made college and career decisions. She became an Emory student, earning a BSN, and immediately went to work for the hospital that cared for her: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She started as a nurse on the Transplant Stepdown Unit and is now the clinical nurse coordinator for liver transplants. “As a coordinator, it gives me great joy to help families in their most challenging times and guide them through the transplant process,” Riedel says.
FUNDRAISING (FY24)
$5.1M AMOUNT RAISED
SCHOLARSHIPS (Fall 2024)
$10.7M
DISTRIBUTED IN SCHOLARSHIPS
78
78% STUDENTS RECEIVING NEEDBASED GRANTS
2036 CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
$51.3M RAISED FOR SCHOOL OF NURSING (September 2024)
TRANSFORMATIVE GIVING
2,429 DONORS
1,682 SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED
1,090 STUDENTS SUPPORTED
AMPLIFICATION IN ACTION: BEDFORD FALLS FOUNDATION
The Bedford Falls Foundation has awarded the School of Nursing $1 million over four years to support scholarships for BSN students. The first cohort of 25 Conway Scholars was selected this fall, each receiving $10,000 toward educational expenses. “Our foundation recognizes the vital role nursing professionals play in health and well-being,” says Elizabeth Carrott Minnigh, executive director of the foundation. “We are pleased to partner with Emory in this work to support their students and strengthen the nursing workforce.” The Bedford Falls Foundation is a private foundation started by Carlyle Group Co-founder and Co-chairman William E. “Bill” Conway Jr. and his late wife, Joanne, that supports nursing education.
41 LETTIE PATE WHITEHEAD SCHOLARS
Awarded to undergraduate and graduate students interested in the health professions at the School of Nursing and other Emory health professional schools
William E. “Bill” Conway Jr., co-founder and co-chairman of the Bedford Falls Foundation
SNAPSHOT 2024
The 2024 Snapshot is published by the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, a component of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University. © 2024
Dean and Professor
Linda A. McCauley 79MN, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN
Associate Dean and Chief of Staff
Tricia Benson 86MN
Senior Director of Communications and Marketing/Snapshot Editor
Melanie Kieve
Director of Communications and Marketing
Lauren Powers
Communications Specialist
Kennedy Gooden
Art and Creative Director
Erica Endicott
Photography Contributors
Paul Beezley, Brandon Clifton, Jenni Girtman, Kennedy Gooden, Lauren
Liz Photo, Ted Pio Roda Photography, The Recording Service, Parker Clayton Smith, Paul Ward Photography
NELL HODGSON WOODRUFF SCHOOL OF NURSING
EMORY UNIVERSITY
(404) 727-7980
nursingquestions@emory.edu
nursing.emory.edu
@emorynursing
Instagram @emory_nursing
@emorynursing
LINKEDIN-IN @school/nell-hodgson-woodruffschool-of-nursing-at-emory-university