faculty profile

S. Brian Widmar PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, CCRN, CNE, FAANP, FCCM

Assistant Dean for Academics, Advanced Nursing Practice
Associate Professor

Bio

Brian Widmar is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and is the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner specialty Academic Director. He is also the Assistant Dean for Academics for Advanced Nursing Practice. He is a certified Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with a clinical background in cardiothoracic critical care, his expertise being in the care management of patients with advanced heart failure, cardiothoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support device therapy. He has volunteered extensively for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and is a former Board Member at Large of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. His professional service efforts focus on advocacy for and advancement of nurse practitioner education and practice.

Education

PhD, Vanderbilt University
MSN, University of Alabama at Birmingham
BSN, University of Alabama at Birmingham
AS, Jefferson State Community College

Current Research/Scholarly Interests

Quality of life after ventricular assist device implantation
Patient and family-centered care and self-care education in cardiothoracic transplant and ventricular assist device patient populations

Academic Interests

Advanced Health Assessment and Clinical Reasoning
Advanced Cardiovascular Nursing
Advanced Critical Care Nursing
Procedural training for nurse practitioners
Professional practice transition for new nurse practitioners

Representative Publications

Journals

Shifrin, M.M., Widmar, S.B., & Ashby, N.E. (2019). Adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner student and pre-licensure registered nurse student perceptions of intradisciplinary, high-fidelity rapid response team simulations. Clinical Simulation in Nursing 26, 32-37.

Casida, J., Abshire, M., Widmar, S.B., Combs, P., Freeman, R., & Bass, L. (2019). Nurses' competence in caring for hospitalized patients with ventricular assist devices. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing 38 (1), 38-49.

Cardy, C., Ardisson, K.M., & Widmar, S.B. (2018). Atrial fibrillation clinical decision aid for emergency medicine providers: An initiative to improve quality healthcare outcomes in adults with new-onset atrial fibrillation. Heart and Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care,
47(4), 314-321.

Hande, K., Parish, A. L., Cook, C., Glassford, M.A., Pitts, C.J., Richmond, A., Widmar, S.B., Brame, C. & Kennedy, B. (2018). Junior faculty teaching fellowship: A model to support nursing education development. Nurse Educator, 43(2).

Shifrin, M.M., & Widmar, S.B. (2016). Platelet inhibitors. Nursing Clinics of North America, 51(1), 29-43.

Widmar, S.B., Dietrich, M.S., & Minnick, A.F. (2014). How self-care education in ventricular assist device programs is organized and provided: A national study. Heart and Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care, 43(1), 25-31.

Amba, K.T., Hardin, S., Hravnak, M., Kierol-Andrews, L., McGowan, C., Wadas, T. & Widmar, B. (2012). Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Scope and Standards Task Force. In Bell, L. (Ed.) AACN Scope and Standards for Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Practice. American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Book Chapters

Widmar, S.B., & Steanson, K. (2023). The Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. Hamric and Hanson's Advanced Practice Nursing: An Integrative Approach (7th ed.). New York: Elsevier.

Hravnak, M., Guttendorf, J., Kleinpell, R.M., Widmar, S.B., & Magdic, K.S. (2018). The Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. Hamric and Hanson's Advanced Practice Nursing: An Integrative Approach (6th ed.). New York: Elsevier.

Widmar, S. B. (2017). Ventricular Assist Devices. In Fitzpatrick, Alfes, & Hickman (Eds.) A Guide to Mastery in Clinical Nursing: The Comprehensive Reference. New York: Springer.

Widmar, S. B. (2017). Heart Transplantation. In Fitzpatrick, Alfes, & Hickman (Eds.) A Guide to Mastery in Clinical Nursing: The Comprehensive Reference. New York: Springer.

Widmar, S. B. (2016). Pericarditis: Post-operative CABG. In Burns & Delgado (Eds.) Acute and Critical Care Nursing: Cases in Diagnostic Reasoning. McGraw-Hill.

Representative Presentations

Madden, M., Storzer, D., Thurman, P., Prewitt, E., Widmar, S.B., & Bennett, A.M. (2019). Advanced Practice Institute-Dedicated Procedural Cadaver Lab. National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Casida, J., Combs, P., Abshire, M., Widmar, B., Freeman, R., & Bass, L. (2018). A National Study of Bedside RN VAD Care Competencies. 64th ASAIO Conference, Washington, D.C.

Combs, P., Widmar, B, Casida, J. (2018). Qualitative Analysis: Bedside Nurses? Perceived Challenges of VAD Patient Care. 64th ASAIO Conference, Washington, D.C.

Widmar, S.B., Broyhill, B., & Meissen, H. (2018). Nurse Practitioner Critical Care Fellowship Programs. National Teaching Institute, American Association of Critical Care Nurses

Ashby, N.A., Shifrin, M. M., & Widmar, S.B. (2018). AGACNP Student Perceptions of Intradisciplinary High-Fidelity RRT Simulations. 18th International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH).

Shifrin, M.M., Ashby, N. A., & Widmar, S.B. (2018). Nursing Student Perceptions of Intradisciplinary High-Fidelity RRT Simulations. 18th International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH).

Shifrin, M. M., & Widmar, S.B. (2016). Cardiovascular Indications for Platelet Inhibitors in the Adult. American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) Annual Conference.

Shifrin, M.M., Widmar, S.B., Ashby, N.A. & Nelson, J. (2016). Breaking Bad News: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Simulation-Based Communication Training in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Intensivist Students. Poster presented at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Annual Conference.

Reviewer

AACN Advanced Critical Care
Journal of Nursing Scholarship
Heart and Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation

Professional Organizations

American Association of Critical Care Nurses
American Association of Nurse Practitioners
American Association of Heart Failure Nurses
National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties
Sigma Theta Tau, Iota and Nu Chapters
Society of Critical Care Medicine

Honors/Awards

Fellow, AACN-Wharton Executive Leadership Program, American Association of Colleges of Nursing/Wharton, 2022
Fellow, American College of Critical Care Medicine, 2022
Recipient, University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Nursing Top 70 Visionary Leader, 2020
Fellow, Elevating Leaders in Academic Nursing (ELAN), American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2019
Fellow, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, June 2017
Recipient, Dean Sarah Archer Award for Excellence in Teaching, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, August 2014.
Recipient, "Tradition Meets Innovation" Award for Faculty, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, May 2014
Junior Faculty Teaching Fellowship, Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University, 2013-2014
Recipient, Rising Stars of Research and Scholarship Award, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. 2011