Dean’s Letter

Dear Friends,

I’m very excited to send you this inaugural edition of Nurse IMPACT, the UW School of Nursing Seattle campus e-newsletter. This issue showcases the work that our faculty, students, and alumni do in communities, both local and global.

You’ll read about the persistent determination of one of our alums who never gave up on her dream to become a nurse so she could support patients and families at critical moments in their lives. You’ll learn how three students banned together to run a clinic to serve homeless youth and hear from Nursing students who worked on a large collaborative interdisciplinary project focused on improving the health and living conditions for the Claverito community in Peru.

You’ll discover how one UW Nurse scientist is leading a study to identify ways to best support the mental and physical health of nurses as they face their daily on-the-job stresses. And, finally, you’ll see how home visiting programs are effective at supporting sensitive caregiving to infants and toddlers, making a positive impact on the children’s physiology.

At the UW School of Nursing we are dedicated to eliminating health disparities and achieving health equity for all.  We believe this is critical work because research shows that Americans pay more for health care than most other industrialized countries, yet our health outcomes are far worse.  We know we can do better and we believe that nurses will play a vital role in improving health outcomes for all populations.

To raise awareness about the transformative role that nurses play in addressing health inequity and disparities, we are co-leading the Nursing Now USA initiative and are leading the launch of the Nursing Now Washington initiative. Both of these efforts focus on raising the profile and status of nurses worldwide. We are working with other schools of nursing across the State, health care partners, and the State of Washington to elevate the role that nurses play in achieving health equity and eliminating disparities.

To help us launch the Nursing Now Washington initiative, I have invited Baroness Mary Watkins, who is the alternate chair of the global Nursing Now initiative, to be the Soule lecturer this year and she has accepted. I hope you will join us on Thursday, February 21 at 5:30 pm in the HUB North Ballroom on the Seattle campus to hear from Baroness Watkins as she proposes the solution to America’s health care problem – Nurses.

I’m very proud of the work we do both locally and globally. I’m excited to launch this e-newsletter so that we can provide you with more inspiring stories about our faculty, students, alumni, and staff.

Sincerely,

Azita Emami, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN, FAAN
Robert G. and Jean A. Reid Executive Dean
UW School of Nursing