Kathleen R. Stevens, Ed.D., RN, to develop network of UT System researchers
SAN ANTONIO (April 18, 2013) — Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs for The University of Texas System, has appointed nursing researcher Kathleen R. Stevens, Ed.D., RN, FAAN, as the Chancellor’s Health Fellow in Inter-professional Health Delivery Science, effective May 1. Dr. Stevens is a professor in the School of Nursing at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
The purpose of the fellowship is to develop a multi-institutional network of investigators across the UT System in health delivery science and related areas, including implementation science, comparative effectiveness research, and patient-centered outcomes research.
“The network will build on the strengths of the six UT health institutions, including those with National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Awardees, with the goal of building collaborations and activities that will advance the field and take advantage of new funding opportunities,” Dr. Shine said.
Dr. Stevens is a professor in the Department of Health Restoration and Care Systems Management in the School of Nursing at the Health Science Center. She is the founding director of the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice.
Since 2007, she has garnered $9 million to support efforts that advance evidence-based quality improvement through research, education and practice.
Her research emphasizes evidence-based quality improvement and patient safety through knowledge transformation, workforce preparation, and workforce engagement in evidence-based quality improvement.
Dr. Stevens has established national consensus on new skills needed in clinical care and initiated a series of professional development conferences for clinicians, scientists and hospital leaders.
Additionally, she developed the Improvement Science Research Network (ISRN), a national online research laboratory that enables academic and practice associates to conduct improvement research, accelerating the transformation of health care into safe and reliable systems.
In July, she is overseeing the Summer Institutes on Quality Improvement ¬— which is a collaboration of the School of Nursing, the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice and the Improvement Science Research Network. This is the 12th year for the summer institute and the first time it is a cluster of previously individual conferences. Over the past 11 years, approximately 5,000 participants have attended the institute, bringing change to hundreds of institutions.
Dr. Stevens’ work has earned her multiple awards, including fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, fellow of the Academy of Nurse Educators, Texas Nurses Association Nurse of the Year, and National League for Nursing Excellence in Education Research. She received one of the nursing profession’s most prestigious research honors – the Episteme Award – from Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing, for her impact on nursing knowledge.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 28,000 graduates. The $736 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.