College of Nursing earns multiple honors at NLN Summit

The College of Nursing -and its faculty- were honored for broad and deep contributions to nursing education at the National League for Nursing's 2017 Education Summit in San Diego, held September 14-16.

During a special honors convocation preceding the President's Gala Reception on Saturday, September 16, the College was formally recognized as once again being named a Center of Excellence (COE) in Nursing Education, a designation from the National League for Nursing (NLN) that it has held continuously since being one of three inaugural COE schools in 2004. This year, the College is a continuing designee in the category "Creating Environments that Advance the Science of Nursing Education." Interim Dean Lesley Perry, PhD, RN (2nd from right in above photo) accepted the award on behalf of the College as faculty joined her on stage.

The College was also acknowledged at the meeting for launching, together with the National League for Nursing’s (NLN) Center for Excellence in the Care of Vulnerable Populations, “Advancing Care Excellence for Persons with Disabilities” (ACE.D), a free program offered online that gives nurse educators the tools they need to teach nursing students proficiency in disability care.

ACE.D is the newest curriculum to be added to NLN’s Advancing Care Excellence (ACE) educational modules, which provide free professional resources for nurse educators nationwide and are easily accessible and downloadable from a dedicated NLN microsite. ACE.D builds from and expands on teaching strategies and materials that have been used successfully to teach Villanova’s nursing students about caring for individuals with disabilities. The program was developed by Professor Suzanne Smeltzer, EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, director of the College’s Office of Nursing Research, along with faculty colleagues Bette Mariani, PhD, RN, ANEF associate professor, and Colleen H. Meakim, MSN, RN, CHSE, ANEF, director of the Simulation and Learning Resource Center.

“The collaboration of Villanova University College of Nursing and NLN has enabled nursing faculty to realize the goal of taking our successful Standardized Patients with Disabilities Project to a national level through ACE.D,” said Dr. Smeltzer. “Using materials based on our teaching strategies, nursing faculty across the country will be able to address disability in their own curricula, which ultimately will improve the health care and health status of people with disabilities.”

NLN fellows Colleen Meakim and Drs. Nancy Sharts-Hopko and Bette Mariani

Also at the meeting, three faculty were inducted into the NLN Academy of Nursing Education which honors outstanding individuals who have made enduring and substantial contributions to nursing education. They were: Dr. Mariani, Colleen Meakim, and Professor Nancy Sharts-Hopko, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF.

Additionally, Dr. Mariani accepted the Ruth Donnelly Corcoran Research Award on behalf of her and Professor Mary Ann Cantrell, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN, director of the PhD program, for the study A Clinical Simulation Program to Increase Graduate Nurses' Clinical Competency and Clinical Judgment in the Practice Setting.

Dr. Mariani and Colleen Meakim delivered a podium presentation Advancing Care Excellence for People with Disabilities through Simulation, ACE.D.