Features

“The role of data science and technology continues to grow exponentially in health care delivery,” says School of Nursing Dean Pamela Jeffries, PhD, FAAN, ANEF, FSSH, the Valere Potter Distinguished Professor of Nursing. “New methods and discovery have the potential to impact large groups of patients, health care providers and health systems. You only need to look at the role data has played in forecasting and tracking the pandemic to see its value.”  Read More

When U.S. Navy nurse Stacey Rokas, MSN’22, filled out her application to Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, she was in South Korea, embedded with the U.S. Marines on a training exercise with an international joint force. She was the officer in charge of medical care.  Read More

Erin Miller, one of only two pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE-P) in the state of Florida, is on a mission to encourage more nurses to dedicate their careers to helping child sexual abuse survivors feel “brave and safe.” Read More

Certified nurse-midwives from three top universities have teamed up to improve pregnancy outcomes for Black women by creating a specialized training program for doulas, persons who support birthing mothers and families. Read More

When Frank and Ethel Battle moved to Nashville from Louisiana to start a new chapter as newlyweds, neither knew that the move would set Ethel on a path that not only changed her focus as a nurse but would also lead to expanded psychiatric care for thousands of American veterans. Read More

Dishes clink and the delicious smell of stir fry fills the air as a small group of nursing students laugh and talk with residents at an Urban Housing Solutions community center. Vanderbilt University School of Nursing students are there to demonstrate food preparation techniques and healthy recipes for local senior citizens, as part of an Enhancement of Community and Population Health course series. Read More

For many people, hospitals are uncomfortable places where reminders of illness and injury are at every turn. But for Pamela R. Jeffries, PhD, FAAN, ANEF, FSSH, visits to a large hospital in Indianapolis as a teenager were fascinating, even inspiring, experiences. Among the earliest influences on her career path in nursing education and innovation was witnessing the hospital staff’s dedication to patient care. Read More

Walk into any modern hospital room and you’ll find as much precisely calibrated equipment as in the cockpit of a 787, machines capable of monitoring and recording just about every known biological function. It’s often nurses who utilize this ever-more sophisticated technology, drawing on real-time data to help treat patients and collaborate with the health care team in making diagnoses or charting a path for care. Read More

The pandemic affected all nursing professionals. Vanderbilt School of Nursing faculty pivoted to teach students in virtual settings, spearheaded clinical innovations such as expanded telehealth and nurse-on-call programs, studied pandemic responses and best practices, and provided leadership locally, regionally, nationally and globally. They also continued scholarly and research activities. The following pages represent select accomplishments by VUSN nurse scientists, educators and leaders in the academic and scientific arenas from the past year. Read More

There are key differences between acute and chronic illnesses—one is associated with conditions that occur suddenly but eventually dissipate, while the other’s symptoms are long lasting and worsen over time. But together they make up one of the School of Nursing’s signature areas of research, with faculty united around the idea of improving the lives of patients through creative thinking and problem solving. Read More