2012 international new Fellows - American Academy of Nursing

76
2012
nEW FEllOWs
The centerpiece of Ms. Wadsworth’s contributions is organizational transformation related to
patient safety and shared governance. She translates knowledge into executive practice to
improve patient care and nursing work, serves as an “expert guide” and a benchmark for action
for nurse leaders across the country.
Ms. Wadsworth received her BSN from Russell Sage College, her MSN from Old Dominion
University, and an MBA from LaSalle University. She successfully completed the Johnson &
Johnson/ Wharton Fellows Program for Nurse Executives at the University of Pennsylvania
in June 2007 and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Patient Safety Officer Executive
Development Program in Cambridge in September 2008. Ms. Wadsworth is presently a 2009
Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow.
patti RagER zUzElO, EDD, Rn, aCns-bC, anp-bC
Patti Rager Zuzelo is Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at La Salle University
School of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Dr. Zuzelo is acknowledged as an expert educator, researcher, and advanced practice nurse
leader. Her research addresses questions that are intriguing to nurses and pertinent to practice
including studies addressing moral distress, technology, caring, and violence. These projects
have provided opportunities for many nurses of varying educational backgrounds to publish or
present. She was awarded the 2007 Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished
Teaching by La Salle University where she serves as a tenured Professor of Nursing. She has
held a research appointment with Einstein Healthcare Network since 2002 and received the
network’s 2005 Shared Governance Award. She has been recognized with the 2006 Nurse
Researcher Nightingale Award of Pennsylvania and by Kappa Delta Chapter, Sigma Theta
Tau International with Excellence in Nursing Research Awards in 2002, 2004, and 2010.
Responding to a dearth of uniquely CNS-focused practice and education resources, Dr. Zuzelo
wrote The Clinical Nurse Specialist Handbook. Now in its second edition, it was recognized
with the 2007 AJN Book of the Year Award in the Advanced Practice Nursing Category,
is recommended as a certification examination preparatory book by the American Nurses
Credentialing Center, and is used in many graduate programs nationally and internationally.
Dr. Zuzelo has served as President, National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, is an
appointee to the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist
examination content expert panel and, most recently, to the Strategic Advisory Group for
Quality and Safety Education for Nurses Phase IV.
Rhode island
patRiCia bURbanK, Dns, Rn
Patricia Burbank is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Rhode Island.
Dr. Burbank’s research and writing spans the areas of health behavior change; improving the
health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) elders; changing attitudes toward older
adults; and theory development. As the sole nurse scientist working with an interprofessional
team, they tested a stage-based, health behavior change model, the Transtheoretical Model,
to improve exercise behaviors of older adults with results supporting the use of this model with
older adults. Her co-edited book, Promoting Exercise among Older Adults: Interventions with
the Transtheoretical Model, has been translated into Japanese. Dr. Burbank’s further efforts to
increase physical activity resulted in the invention of a small wearable electronic device that
provides individualized recorded instructions for increasing physical activity. Collaborating
with a bioengineering professor, they patented the device and current research is underway
testing the prototype.
Dr. Burbank’s research with LGBT older adults has included a state-wide needs assessment.
Her award winning book, Vulnerable Older Adults: Issues and Strategies, includes two chapters
on LGBT elders. Her efforts have resulted in the integration of gerontology and LGBT content
into nursing curricula, development of a stand-alone gerontological nursing course, and
spearheading a new doctor of nursing practice program, supported by three J.A. Hartford
Foundation grants and a HRSA grant.