School of Nursing

June 19, 2023

Juneteenth, Principles, and Striving

It is a fact of American history that we have a holiday — Juneteenth — celebrating the end of something that never should have begun, and something that remains as indelible evidence of a failure to fully deliver on the ideals put forth in the country’s founding documents. That slavery ever became an accepted part…


May 1, 2023

The Many Roles of Nurses

May is Nurses Month. It’s one of 12 months every year when we should see, acknowledge, and be grateful for the more than four million nurses in this country who provide care that is capable, competent, crucial—and often times, lifesaving. One of the unique aspects of the University of Washington School of Nursing is our…


April 25, 2023

US News & World Report Rankings

Today, US News & World Report issued its annual rankings of nursing schools. The University of Washington School of Nursing was ranked: #1 among public schools with Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) #3 overall of schools with Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) #1 among public schools with Master’s (MSN) #4 overall of schools with Master’s…


March 8, 2023

International Women’s Day 2023

As we celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, let us be inspired by the women in all fields – and especially, in our case, the field of nursing – throughout the ages and across the globe, who have changed our world for the better. International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8th…


February 16, 2023

Responding to disaster as a global community

The unbelievable devastation of the 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has brought a collective sadness to the world. More than 40,000 people have been confirmed dead and the toll continues to rise. What can we do in times like these? We can honor their lives and recognize their loss. We can pause to…


February 14, 2023

Nursing Our Hearts

The human heart has been on my mind lately. When our hearts are heavy or burdened with stress, we feel those effects physically. Yet, when we are moving, nourishing, and caring for ourselves, we often feel the joy and uplift in mood that comes from that as well. There is a wondrous relationship between caring…


February 10, 2023

Honor Black History with me – today and every day

This is Black History Month. It honors a part of U.S. history that is four hundred years strong. The history of Black people in what is now the United States of America predates the nation itself. It is a history fraught with undeniable inequity and cruelty. Yet, it is also a history to be marveled…


January 30, 2023

Grieving the life and loss of Tyre Nichols: A call to collective action

There is a visceral tragedy to the fact that just days before Black History Month begins, we are once again witness to brutality and lack of humanity directed at a Black person. We soon will again proclaim support of Black and African Americans, but celebrating accomplishments and drawing attention to Black excellence can be exploitative…


January 16, 2023

Take a Minute | Action and Reflection for the Principles of Dr. King

As we celebrate the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, I invite you to take a minute today and think about the values and principles for which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood, and the ways in which you can live by and for those values. Dr. King was an advocate for equity. He believed…


Cultivating Community | A Tribute to the Memory and Legacy of Dr. King

We are honored to welcome everyone to a vibrant digital experience “Cultivating a Beloved Community Mindset to Transform Unjust Systems” on behalf of UW Medicine and all the UW Health Sciences. Together, we are proud to support this annual celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. where we recognize not only one of the…


November 11, 2022

Veterans Day 2022

An often-forgotten underserved population that faces inequitable access to healthcare is military veterans.  In theory, veterans should be well-served by access to care through 170 VA medical centers and more than 1,000 outpatient facilities that provide healthcare to more than nine million people annually.   The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is entrusted with caring for military…


October 28, 2022

Congratulations to our 2021-2022 Clinical Preceptors of the Year

Educating a nurse requires not only classroom instruction, but also clinical experience. For the latter, a nurse-in-training is overseen by an experienced nurse—a preceptor. Preceptors do much more than provide clinical guidance. Both directly and indirectly, they help nurses understand how to be effective, efficient, and compassionate providers of care. They are a vital link…


October 13, 2022

The Queen Silvia Nursing Award (QSNA)

The Queen Silvia Nursing Award (QSNA) is internationally recognized as one of the highest honors bestowed upon nurses and nursing students in the field of dementia care. The award, originating in Sweden, acknowledges awardees’ commitment to fostering compassionate and innovative nursing care for older adults, particularly those living with dementia. The QSNA is far more than a…


October 7, 2022

Joint Statement on the 2022 Iran Protests from the University of Washington Schools of Nursing, Public Health, Social Work, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry

The six health science schools at the University of Washington stand united with the people of Iran. Threats to women’s health, bodily autonomy, and peaceful protests are extremely concerning and we, the deans of the University of Washington’s Schools of Nursing, Public Health, Social Work, Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry recognize that our institutions have a…


July 29, 2022

Making Primary Care a Priority

Despite spending more per person on healthcare than any other country in the world, there are still tens of millions of people in the United States with limited—or no—access to primary care. Primary care is where wellness happens. Ideally, primary care encompasses not just treating illnesses and injuries, but also preventing them. Primary care is…


June 21, 2022

Juneteenth 2022

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The…


May 26, 2022

Congratulations, Graduates!

Commencement is a very exciting time at any time. It is particularly exciting this year, as we celebrate the accomplishments, perseverance, flexibility, and focus of our 2020, 2021, and 2022 graduating classes. I congratulate all of you for having proved, beyond a doubt, that you have what it takes to be superb nurses. Your time…


May 10, 2022

An Injustice by the Justices

If the recently-leaked Supreme Court draft opinion regarding Roe v. Wade becomes final without modification, the constitutional right to abortion access will be denied. States will then have unrestricted ability to wholly or partially deny abortion access. From a nursing perspective, overturning Roe v. Wade is a worst-case outcome. It will undo decades of progress…


April 28, 2022

Nurses, Seen and Unseen – Celebrating Nurses Month

For the third year in a row, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has declared May to be Nurses Month. The theme this year is “Nurses Make a Difference.” Nursing is America’s most trusted profession because many see and recognize the differences nurses make in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Yet most people see only a…


March 29, 2022

The Nation’s Leading Public Nursing School

US News & World Report has once again named the UW School of Nursing America’s leading educator of nurses among public colleges/universities offering Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and master’s programs. We are particularly proud of having sustained our position in the top tier of nursing schools over many years. This speaks to the consistency…


March 8, 2022

Celebrate International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is a global day to celebrate women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements, a day to call for gender equality, and a day to reflect on how we can all #BreakTheBias. This year’s theme is to raise awareness against bias and promote equality. As we actively commit to a more diverse, equitable,…


February 14, 2022

Do a Little Something

Valentine’s Day is a great time to celebrate Heart Health Month. It’s also a good time for all of us to give ourselves a cardio checkup that does not necessarily require a visit to a healthcare provider.  It’s never too early to be proactive about heart health. More than 600,000 people in the U.S. will…


February 1, 2022

Reflecting on Black History Month

During February, we honor Black History Month, a time to acknowledge the achievements of Black Americans and their important roles that have shaped our country’s history. It’s an appropriate time to also reflect on the history of Black nurses in America and the stories of influential people who broke barriers and opened paths for future…


January 14, 2022

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Making the Dream Come True

With all that is going on in our world—our nursing world and the larger world—it is easy for more significant issues to get pushed into the background. We should not let racial justice get pushed anywhere but to the foreground. As we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., we have an opportunity to think about and…


November 23, 2021

Honoring Native American Heritage Month

It is an unfortunate reality that sometimes the joyful event of one person or group is the sorrowful memory and history of another. That is the case for “Thanksgiving,” which for Native American communities marks the beginning of the taking of their lands, deaths of their people, and denigration of their cultures, and experiencing ongoing…


October 22, 2021

Congratulations to our 2020-2021 Clinical Preceptors of the Year!

Clinical preceptors are experienced nursing practitioners who provide clinical supervision and mentorship to nursing students, including those pursuing advanced degrees to practice independently. Preceptors are critical to nursing education, but often they are invisible to anyone outside the nursing profession. Preceptors are mentors and teachers. They are also counselors and sources of inspiration and examples…


September 21, 2021

World Alzheimer’s Day 2021

Today is World Alzheimer’s Day. It is a day to recognize the enormous difficulties faced by not only people with dementia but also the people who care for them—family members and professional caregivers alike. Alzheimer’s and the less-frequent forms of dementia affect an estimated 50 million people around the world. That alone is a staggering…


September 15, 2021

US World News and Report Bachelor of Science in Nursing Rankings

I am pleased to share with you wonderful news: U.S. News & World Report has announced that the University of Washington’s bachelor of science program in nursing (BSN) is tied for #2 as the country’s best program and ranked #1 among public universities. This ranking reflects the excellence of our BSN programs at all three UW campuses. This is an enormous achievement due to the dedication of our…


August 3, 2021

Confronting racism in nursing

It is no longer enough for nurses to be “not racist,” nor is it enough to just publish non-discrimination statements and proclaim a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is time to move from words to action, from debate to engagement, and from “not racism” to antiracism. As the conscience and core of health…


June 17, 2021

Juneteenth 2021

Juneteenth celebrates uncompleted work. Though it is a day dedicated to recognizing the end of slavery in the United States, events of the last year have made it clear to anyone willing to see and hear that we have yet to fulfill the promise of freedom and equal rights for all. Many people think—mistakenly—that Juneteenth…


June 10, 2021

End of 2020-2021 Academic Year

Thank you. Once again, we come to the end of an academic year, but this was a year quite unlike any we’ve experienced before. I thank students, faculty, and staff for their flexibility, collaboration, and commitment because that is what made this year successful. We discovered a way—many ways—to do all that needed to be…


May 28, 2021

The Hatred Pandemic

One of the world’s most difficult and enduring conflicts broke out in military action again as Palestinian and Israeli forces clashed. On both sides, lives were lost, civilians were injured, and homes and businesses were destroyed. But the damage extends far beyond the Middle East. As UW President Ana Mari stated in a recent blog,…


May 27, 2021

George Floyd One Year

A year has passed since the murder of George Floyd. And yesterday, three police officers in Tacoma were charged with the murder of Manual Ellis, a Black man who died just a few weeks before Floyd after being restrained and calling out, “I can’t breathe.” Their deaths represent the profound and persistent problem that manifests…


May 25, 2021

Future of Nursing

The future of nursing and the health of the nation took a major step forward with the recent release of The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. This comprehensive publication from the National Academy of Medicine charts a bold future in which nurses play a lead role in fostering wellness by…


May 12, 2021

Florence Nightingale, Public Health, and the COVID Pandemic

Today is the 201st birthday of Florence Nightingale, who is widely credited with establishing the foundation on which modern nursing has risen. Less often credited is Nightingale’s pioneering use of data to understand and illustrate the impact of hygiene (or lack thereof) on population health. Nightingale’s efforts were pivotal to understanding and presenting the data…


April 28, 2021

Join us as we Celebrate National Nurses Month

Months come and go, especially during a pandemic. But it’s because of the pandemic that National Nurses Month, celebrated in May, is so important this year. Nurses have been at the forefront of the pandemic response since the first U.S. case was identified here in Washington state. Every day, at hospitals across the country, nurses…


April 21, 2021

A Landmark on the Journey

We, along with the nation, watched intently the proceedings from the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. We listened, knowing that the jury’s verdict would be a pivotal moment in history for how our communities and institutions confront racism, as well as an indicator of collective will in our country to keep fighting. While our eyes…


April 6, 2021

Magnuson Scholar 2021

I am pleased to congratulate Tao Zheng, who has been named the 2021 UW School of Nursing Magnuson Scholar. Each of the six Health Sciences schools names one Magnuson Scholar annually. The Magnuson program is funded from a $2 million endowment created by the Warren G. Magnuson Institute for Biomedical Research and Health Professions Training….


March 30, 2021

#1 Where We Stand

We are honored that the UW School of Nursing has been named a leading educator of nurses among public colleges/universities offering graduate programs by US News & World Report. We were ranked #1 among public institutions with Doctor of Nursing Practice programs (#3 overall) and tied for #1 among public schools with master’s degree programs…


March 27, 2021

We are Obligated to Take Action Against Racism

Welcome back to the start of the spring quarter. We have passed into our second year, where COVID has held our attention. It has been a challenging year for everyone, and you’ve all done an admirable job of responding to ever-changing circumstances. However, COVID isn’t our only challenge. In the past few weeks, we have…


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