Dean's Message

A Letter from Marsha Lewis

Dean Marsha Lewis.

Published September 1, 2019

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Greetings!

Nursing is a dynamic profession, and the UB School of Nursing continues to work toward advancing research, education and practice. We also continue to answer the Institute of Medicine’s call in the Future of Nursing report to prepare nurses for leadership roles and full partnerships with physicians and other health professionals. As a result of these efforts, the school has undergone some exciting changes over the past year, several of which are highlighted in this issue.

Despite being the largest occupation in health care, nurses are vastly underrepresented in and underprepared for leadership positions. Preparing nurses for these leadership positions is critical to transforming our health care system and care delivery.

To increase the number of nurses in leadership and management positions, we are proud to introduce our Advanced Certificate in Nursing Leadership, created and offered in partnership with the UB School of Management. This new program will help nurses develop the leadership, business and executive skills necessary to spearhead change and innovation in a complex and evolving health care environment.

Cultural consciousness is vital to developing strong nurse leaders. Our faculty have worked diligently to develop transformative experiential learning opportunities that provide our students with skills and knowledge that inspire a global perspective. Whether it is an international or local mobile medical mission or the creative implementation of popular culture into a classroom, innovative interprofessional approaches to education and skill-building enhance the student experience, preparing future nurses to work on diverse care teams serving diverse populations.

Finally, our program of research continues to expand with the addition of several new researchers from the fields of nursing, psychology and biostatistics, and our Center for Nursing Research staff have worked diligently to support faculty in securing the most research funding in our School’s history. Most notably, associate professor Grace Dean, PhD, RN, is the primary investigator on our first SON-led R01 grant, “Efficacy of Nurse-Delivered Brief Behavioral Treatment to Self-Manage Insomnia in Cancer Survivors,” a $2.2 million project funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.

Through the pages of this issue, I invite you to explore these and other important initiatives that are helping to shape both the profession and the ever-changing global health care landscape.

As we celebrate these innovations and achievements of the past year, we continue to look toward the future – a future that is exceedingly bright, thanks to our dedicated alumni, students, faculty, staff, community partners, donors and friends.

Sincerely,

Marsha L. Lewis, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dean and Professor