UNIVERSITY OF pennsylvania, SCHOOL OF NURSING
WHO Collaborating Centre for nursing and midwifery leadership
WEBSITE

DIRECTORS
Dr. Antonia Villarruel, Dean
Dr. Eileen Lake, Associate Director

STAFF
Dr. Nancy Biller, Assistant Dean

At PAHO/WHO’s request, support PAHO/WHO’s efforts to increase knowledge and understanding of maternal health and mortality.

At PAHO/WHO’s request, support PAHO/WHO to build capacity in nursing education.

Under PAHO/WHO’s leadership, support PAHO/WHO to strengthen nursing education. 

ANNUAL REPORT 20201

Penn Nursing – Proud of 33 years of WHOCC Service

    • Increasing workforce capacity to improve maternal health in Nicaragua and other countries.
    • Building workforce capacity in maternal child health at Schools of Nursing in Nicaragua.
    • Implementation of recommendations of “Formación doctoral en enfermería en América Latina y el Caribe” (OPS/OMS, 2017).
    • Education development in English-speaking Caribbean countries.
    • Research development.
    • Vietnam: Vin University BSN Development: https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/global-health/global-partnerships/vingroup-penn-alliance/.
    • Chile: RN4Cast-Chile: CHOPR (Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing) Researchers in partnership with scientists and colleagues from the Universidad de los Andes (University of the Andes) in Santiago, Chile, and three other top Chilean nursing schools study healthcare workforce and quality outcomes in Chile (https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/chopr/rn4cast/).
    • Europe: Magnet4Europe: Led by KU Leuven, Belgium, and the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in the US, this €4 Million Grant from the EU’s Horizon 2020 Program to Improve Mental Health and Well-being of Health Professionals and Patient Safety supports the International Partnership of some of the World’s Leading Universities (https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/chopr/magnet4europe/).
    • November 20, 2020: Organized by Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and the Penn School of Nursing, the “Expanding Scope of Practice After Covid-19” conference brought together 15 top experts in every aspect of restrictive state scope of practice laws for APRNs and other health professionals (https://ldi.upenn.edu/expanding-scope-practice-after-covid-19).
    • March 25, 2021: “A Good Provider is One Who Leaves: Global Migration & Nursing” – : Dean Villarruel and author Jason DeParle, along with experts Barbara Nichols and Michelle Leighton discuss Nursing and global migration (https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/calendar/view/event/date/20210325/event_id/3604)

ANNUAL REPORT 2020

Penn Nursing showcases the powerful work nurses do each day, leading the way in nursing science

    • The PhD Nursing Education Summit at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing was held on October 10 and 11, 2019. This two-day meeting focused on the advancement, re-envisioning, and reaffirmation of doctoral nursing in North and South America. This international gathering of leaders and experts in nursing research and practice, forwarded recommendations for the growth and continued success of PhD nursing education throughout the Americas.
    • We have had several planning conversations with PAHO to work on nursing education development in English-speaking Caribbean countries and Suriname. Site visits are being considered.
    • We have had numerous exchanges with PAHO Nicaragua and nursing leadership there. Curricular materials are being shared and evaluated to identify opportunities for helping to increase nursing workforce capacity to improve maternal health in Nicaragua.
    • Dean Villarruel provided a special webinar on BSN education curricular standards in support of PAHO efforts in Nicaragua- November 15, 2019 and the recording is available on our website (link).
    • October 10-11, 2019: We hosted the PhD summit described above (link)
    • We hosted a 2-day annual meeting of PANMCC (Pan American Network of Nursing and Midwifery Collaboration Centers on October 8 and 9, 2019.
    1. Penn Medicine and Penn Nursing have launched a formal alliance with the Vingroup, an enterprise that encompasses a newly formed private not-for-profit university project, VinUni, as well as the largest and leading private health service provider in Vietnam, Vinmec in an effort to improve health care and to create new undergraduate and graduate medical training programs in Vietnam. The partnership will focus initially on the establishment of medical and nursing schools within VinUni, and on the enhancement of graduate medical education and health care programs within the Vinmec Health Care System. Together, Penn Medicine and Penn Nursing will also work to develop the undergraduate curriculum and align faculty and institutional support structures to establish high caliber educational and training programs.
    2. Dr. Linda H. Aiken, Professor and Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is Co-Lead on Magnet4Europe. Magnet4Europe will implement an evidence-based intervention based on the successful Magnet Recognition Program, a voluntary hospital designation for nursing care excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. A total of sixty hospitals from Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, and Sweden will receive a full-blown redesign of their workplaces, supported by one to one twinning with an experienced Magnet recognized hospital and an annual learning collaborative.

ANNUAL REPORT 2019

Penn Nursing WHOCC 30th Anniversary

For TOR1: “Collaborate to promote maternal health and reduce maternal mortality in the Region,” Dr. Kimberly Trout, Mamie Guidera, and Nancy Biller have had multiple communications via email with Dr. Mark Cantrell, the new PAHO/WHO Office in Nicaragua Advisor for Maternal Health and Mortality Reduction. In October, 2018 Dr. Cantrell requested remote assistance for a workshop planned using a certain model of pregnant manikin. We put him in touch with our Simulation Center experts but they had no knowledge of their particular manikin model. Most recently, Dr. Cantrell has proposed a June, 2019 visit by our Midwifery faculty to meet with the Network of Deans of Schools and National Director of Nursing for the Ministry of Health to discuss curriculum and competencies. He would also like us to conduct an assessment of teaching and teaching needs to improve maternal health. Finally he requests a workshop for obstetrical nurses. We are assessing availability of financial and personnel resources for such a visit.

For TOR2: “Collaborate with PAHO/WHO to develop leadership in nursing education,” we have accomplished the following:

    1. In the fall of 2018, our WHOCC distributed a survey in English and Spanish to more than 100 representatives of WHOCCs and Schools of Nursing in our region. The survey consisted of four simple questions regarding priorities for doctoral nursing education development or advancement and nursing research leadership. Analysis of results is informing our plans for Webinars and an in-person event, all designed to meet the needs of our colleagues in the areas of education and research.
    2. We have begun planning for our first webinars, which we will schedule before the end of May, 2019.
    3. We are working on plans for a two-day event on Thursday, October 10 and Friday, October 11, 2019 Thursday’s meeting, “Advancing PhD Nursing Education in the Americas,” will offer an opportunity to discuss and learn about innovations and strategies in PhD Nursing education. The day’s proceedings will be structured around advancing the recommendations from the WHO / PAHO report Formación doctoral en enfermerí­a en América Latina y el Caribe, focusing especially on doctoral nursing education development and advancement. Friday’s meeting, “Re-Envisioning PhD Programs of the Future,” will allow participants to learn about innovations and challenges in PhD Nursing education facing universities in the US. We will continue to meet in breakout sessions to further discuss and reflect on implementing PhD Nursing programs in the Latin American and Caribbean region

For TOR3: “Collaborate with PAHO/WHO to develop leadership in nursing research,” we have accomplished the following:

    1. Our WHOCC Director, Dr. Antonia Villarruel, gave a presentation on November 6, 2018 at the Coloquio Panamericano de Investigación en Enfermería in Havana, Cuba, entitled “Doctoral Training in Nursing and the Development of Scientific Research.” The presentation summarized the contributions, innovations, and challenges that affect doctoral education in the United States. This included a definition of what exactly PhD Nursing education is, and the different ways that US nursing schools go about implementing programs. This was followed by an overview of national priorities (including NINR recommendations and the 2010 IOM report on the need for more PhD-prepared nurses). Finally, the Dean touched on recent trends (in both education and research science), and gave some examples from our own recent PhD alumni.
    2. Dr Eileen Lake, our WHOCC Associate Director, was an invited panelist at the 2nd International Conference on Scientific Communication in Nursing held the 6th and 7th of November 2018 in Havana, Cuba. She presented in Spanish in a session entitled “Networks and Databases: importance for the visibility and dissemination of scientific knowledge of Nursing.”
    3. Dr. Lake is in the planning stage for a webinar in Spanish on research publication ethics.
    • Nancy Biller, serving as Treasurer for PANMCC, the Pan American Network of Nursing and Midwifery Collaborating Centers, handled all logistics for the annual meeting held in Havana, Cuba on November 6.
    • Penn Nursing’s WHOCC will host a very exciting two-day event on Thursday, October 10 and Friday, October 11, 2019 as part of our continuing work as a WHO Collaborating Center dedicated to nursing and midwifery leadership in research and education in the PAHO region. Thursday’s meeting, “Advancing PhD Nursing Education in the Americas,” will offer an opportunity to discuss and learn about innovations and strategies in PhD Nursing education. The day’s proceedings will be structured around advancing the recommendations from the WHO / PAHO report Formación doctoral en enfermería en América Latina y el Caribe, focusing especially on doctoral nursing education development and advancement. Friday’s meeting, “Re-Envisioning PhD Programs of the Future,” will allow participants to learn about innovations and challenges in PhD Nursing education facing universities in the US. We will continue to meet in breakout sessions to further discuss and reflect on implementing PhD Nursing programs in the Latin American and Caribbean region.