Dear Colleagues:
This month Ann Hurley, DNSc, MS, RN, retires from her full time position as executive director of the Center for Excellence in Nursing Practice. We celebrate her contributions to the department of nursing and to the nurses of BWH as she transitions to nurse scientist emeritus to continue her research here at Brigham and Women’s. This milestone for Ann signifies a milestone for BWH nursing as we transition from the Center for Excellence in Nursing Practice to the new Center for Nursing Excellence.
The Center for Nursing Excellence will serve as the hub for the department of nursing, merging education, research and professional development to support practice. The new Center for Nursing Excellence will house the resources to enrich practice and provide support to nurses to continue their own professional growth.
Through the new center, a simulation program will open this fall creating an opportunity for nurses and other clinicians to gain experience safely in a simulated clinical environment. In addition, special emphasis will be placed on extending partnerships with academic nursing programs. In the face of a shortage of both direct care nurses and nursing faculty, the new Center for Nursing Excellence will establish creative partnerships with schools of nursing to enable our nurses to continue their education as well as fulfill our responsibility as a nursing community to develop the next generation of nursing professionals.
From the simulation lab to our expanded academic partnerships with schools of nursing, the new center will put nurses in touch with the leaders in nursing theory, practice and innovation within and outside BWH. Look for more on this new center in the October issue of BWH Nurse.
As a Department of Nursing, we are in transition. As we travel through these transitions, we celebrate all that was good as we move to creating new beginnings.
Sincerely,
Mairead Hickey, PhD, RN
Chief Nursing Officer and
Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services