In keeping with national recommendations to improve nursing education and practice and help nurses become well-positioned to lead change and advance healthcare, the University Of Florida College Of Nursing and the UF Health system’s division of nursing will collaborate more closely in education, analysis and patient care, UF Health president David S. Guzick, MD, PhD, declared in April.
As part of this collaboration, both Anna McDaniel, PhD, RN, dean of the College of Nursing and Irene Alexaitis, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer and vice chairman of patient care services at UF Health Shands Hospital, will now hold positions and active roles within the wellness system and college, respectively. Aside from serving as dean, McDaniel will serve as the UF Health assistant vice chairman of academic practice partnerships and Alexaitis will serve as the College of Nursing associate dean of academic-practice partnerships. Moreover, nursing positions at UF Health are being created that combine obligations for teaching in the College of Nursing and active practice at UF Health Shands Hospital and other UF Health faculty office sites.
“I am pleased that our academic, research and clinical tasks in nursing will continue to forge strong partnerships through an established academic-practice collaboration,” said Guzick, senior vice chairman for health affairs and president of UF Health. “Strengthening the relationships between education, research and patient care is in maintaining with our overall strategic goal of putting patients at the center of everything we do.”
Joint appointments in the college and UF Health features will allow the college to better fulfill the academic needs of learners in the college’s academic programs, assist with UF Health nurse employment and preservation and enhance the link between clinical practice and nursing education. In addition, plans include exploring ways to offer advanced academic possibilities for nurses in UF Health facilities and aligning both organizations’ strategic goals and activities.
“We are pleased to further enhance the partnership between our college and UF Health and we are excited about many upcoming possibilities this will provide our nurses and faculty,” McDaniel said. “This move brings us back full circle to our pioneering culture as our founding dean Dorothy M. Smith was one of the earliest nursing leaders to completely incorporate nursing education, practice and research. By working more closely with UF Health, it confirms that we are teaching the next generation of nursing professionals completely prepared to fulfill the needs of our medical care system.”