GW Nursing Magazine 2014

New ADN to
BSN/MSN
Pathway in
Nurse Coaching
and Leadership
Access to health care is improving
for millions of Americans. For many
patients, nurses are their primary health care
contact when dealing with chronic illnesses
and conditions.
“Nurses who learn coaching skills can
more effectively engage their patients,” says
Assistant Professor Mayri Sagady Leslie,
EdD, MSN, CNM.
The School of Nursing is moving quickly
to better prepare nurses to fill this need,
and recently opened a Master of Science
in Nursing (MSN) nurse coaching and
leadership option designed for Associate
Degree in Nursing (ADN) nurses.
Structured for both recent ADN graduates
and experienced ADN nurses, this pathway
helps ADN nurses become more marketable
and exceptional caregivers as advanced
practice nurses—providing enhanced career
options and job security, helping hospitals
achieve “Magnet” status, and improving
health care in their communities.
The new nurse coaching and leadership
option is part of the school’s ADN to
BSN/MSN pathway opportunity. This threeyear,
part-time online academic offering
allows students to continue working while
completing coursework online and clinical
preceptorships in their local communities,
with mentoring from the faculty. Students
enter as ADN-prepared nurses, earn their
BSN in the fall of their second year, and
in the spring of their second year enter
the MSN nurse coaching and leadership
component of the curriculum. The first
cohort began this fall.
“It’s important to prepare nurses as
coaches because a critical nursing role is
to educate patients so they can empower
themselves to better health,” says Assistant
Professor Kate Driscoll Malliarakis, PhD, RN,
CNP, MAC.
The nature of illness in this country,
specifically chronic illnesses, means there
is a need for coaching in the case of many
patients. Weight loss is one area in which
a good coach may help a patient achieve
success. Chronic illnesses such as diabetes
and Crohn’s disease also require attention
to many facets of a patient’s life, from diet to
medication to exercise.
“Learning specific coaching techniques
will enable the nurses in this program to
better help patients effect change in their
lives at a different level than the average
nurse,” says Dr. Malliarakis. “Coaching helps
the patient focus holistically on themselves
toward improvement in their condition.”
BEST
ONLINE PROGRAMS
GRAD NURSING
2014
GW SON Earns
Top Ratings
The GW School of Nursing once again
ranked among the nation’s top nursing
schools in U.S. News & World Report.
GW’s online MSN program ranked fourth
out of more than 130 programs nationwide.
Overall, GW was recognized as one of the
top 50 schools of nursing in the nation,
placing SON in the top 10 percent of ranked
nursing schools in the United States and
in the top 7 percent of the more than 730
schools offering undergraduate and/or
graduate nursing degree programs.
“This national recognition illustrates our
commitment to meeting nurses’ demand
for flexible, rigorous, and creative learning
opportunities,” says Dean Jean Johnson,
PhD, RN, FAAN.
ADN to BSN students and residents
Tsion Abebe, Amy Sandagger, and
Julianna O’Brien at GW Hospital.
nursing.gwu.edu 3