Welcoming Our Visitors

Whenever we have the pleasure of hosting visiting professors here at Penn Nursing, the benefits are exponential. This academic year, we have the distinct honor of welcoming three contemporary giants in nursing scholarship: Dr. Kathleen Dracup, Dr. Mary Elizabeth Mancini, and Dr. Susan Reverby.

Dr. Kathleen Dracup, dean emerita of the UCSF School of Nursing, shares her vast experience in scholarly and interprofessional initiatives. Her professional career spans four decades of leadership in nursing and cardiovascular nurse science. She is internationally recognized for her research in the care of patients with heart disease and its effects on spouses and other family members. I am proud to say that I mentored Kathy and that she, in turn, mentored Penn Nursing's Barbara Riegel, an expert in heart failure and self-care.

Dr. Mary Elizabeth Mancini brings her significant expertise to our new simulation center. She is professor, associate dean and chair for undergraduate nursing programs at the University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing. She holds the Baylor Health Care System Professorship for Healthcare Research. Prior to joining academe, Dr. Mancini was senior vice president for nursing administration and chief nursing officer at Parkland Health and Hospital System.

Dr. Susan Reverby will bring to Penn Nursing her prodigious insights on women’s and gender issues as they relate to health policy. The Marion Butler McLean Professor in the History of Ideas and professor of women's and gender studies at Wellesley College, Dr. Reverby is an historian of American women, medicine, public health, and nursing. Her research on an immoral government medical study in Guatemala between 1946 and 1948 where men and women were given syphilis led to a U.S. government response from the Secretaries of the Departments of State and Health and Human Services and an apology from President Obama to President Colom of Guatemala.

That the visits of these accomplished scholars come on the heels of a new report from the Institute of Medicine on “Continuously Learning Healthcare in America” is fortuitous. The report, developed with Dr. Mary Naylor of Penn Nursing as part of the IOM study committee, details ways to achieve more cost-effective quality care by harnessing existing knowledge and technologies. As our visitors lead seminars, give lectures, and meet with our students and faculty, we all have the opportunity to continuously learn. The benefits pay forward in educational innovations, research initiatives, and more effective patient care.