Dean's Monthly Communication: July 2007

Message from Dean Woods
There is nothing as certain as change; it's a truism our school clearly exemplifies. The most recent example is our launch of the new Doctor of Nursing Practice program. In January, we admitted our first class of students, all of whom have already earned a master's degree and practiced as advanced practice nurses. Next fall, we will begin welcoming students who have not earned a master's and will be entering the program from a different point in their careers.

At the same time that students are working toward this brand-new degree, our school is thinking about how the DNP will stretch us in new ways.

Some of those effects are fairly straightforward. As the DNP program attracts more interested students, we will find ourselves challenged to determine how best to support them in our new program. Also, we are all working on refining the courses that have been part of the existing master's program that prepares advanced practice nurses. The other effects are revealing themselves over time as we develop and teach some courses for the first time and explore which clinical settings are the best places for our students to conduct their doctoral projects. That exploration helps our school grow in the greater community as we build deeper relationships with our clinical partners to develop opportunities for our DNP students. We'll all benefit from these joint efforts as we see our students' work begin to profoundly change the world of practice.

With all of this activity, it is sometimes easy to lose track of the fact that UW School of Nursing is a national leader in this area. In a recent phone conversation with a representative of a private foundation, we learned that our faculty's writings about the DNP program have provided the most lucid arguments for why a DNP degree is needed and what its curricula should entail.

So as we collectively and individually struggle with all of this change, please know that you are making a difference. You are not only changing nursing education, but also touching the lives of many of Washington state citizens. Indeed, better health care is likely to be one of the most important outcomes of the DNP program.

Thank you to each of you—staff and faculty—for making this important commitment. We could not have made this amazing progress without all of your support!
—Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN


Campaign UW: Creating Futures Update
Big Boost in Support for CENE
On June 14, the SoN hosted a luncheon and open house for alumni and donors interested in our learning lab and the Center for Excellence in Nursing Education (CENE). The event drew more than 30 alumni and friends—ranging from the class of 1938 to a current undergraduate student. Fund-raising efforts for the CENE have already yielded many gifts, the largest of which are the following three endowments, which are being invested to grow in perpetuity:

• Anne and D. Wayne Gittinger Endowed Fund for the CENE


• Betty BSN '45 and James McCurdy Endowed Fund for the CENE. Betty is a member of the Campaign Advisory Board.


• Teri BSN '84 and Keith Oelrich Endowed Fund for the CENE

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