SAN ANTONIO (Nov. 17, 2009) — Eileen T. Breslin, Ph.D., R.N., dean of the School of Nursing, is The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio’s newest fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Fellowship in the AAN is one of the highest honors in the nursing profession.
Dean Breslin, the Dr. Patty L. Hawken Endowed Professor in the Department of Family Nursing Care, was inducted Nov. 7 during the academy’s 26th annual meeting and conference in Atlanta, Ga.
The dean began her career as a registered nurse in obstetrics and gynecology in Arizona, where she spent the first 17 years of her career providing care in underserved areas, similar to the UT Health Science Center’s mission of service in South Texas. During that time she also entered academia as a teaching assistant at the University of Arizona, and rose through the ranks at Northern Arizona University as an assistant, associate and full professor, then chair of the Department of Nursing from 1989 through 1998.
In 1998 she became dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she led a number of major initiatives that were firsts in the state, including the initiation of a Doctorate in Nursing Practice, a clinical nurse leader master’s degree and a dual Master of Science/Master of Public Health degree.
Since joining the Health Science Center in April 2008, Dean Breslin has focused on addressing the national nursing shortage, updating and improving the School of Nursing curricula, laying the groundwork to offer a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and improving the quality of care in South Texas through evidence-based practice.
Counting Dean Breslin, 15 members of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio School of Nursing are active AAN fellows.
“Academy fellowship is one the highest honors a nursing leader can receive,” she said. “I am proud to be a member of a group of such national distinction. And to have 14 other faculty members as fellows speaks very highly of our School of Nursing.”
In a press release announcing the names of the new fellows, AAN President Pam Mitchell, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, said, “The academy is comprised of many of the nation’s top nursing executives, policymakers, scholars, researchers and practitioners. Being selected as an academy fellow is an important recognition of one’s contributions to nursing and health care.”
Selection criteria include evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care. Each nominee must be sponsored by two current academy fellows. Selection is based, in part, on the extent to which nominees’ nursing careers influence health policies for the benefit of all Americans.
The Health Science Center’s academy fellows include:
• Kay Avant, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor and chair of the Department of Family Nursing Care and holder of the Roger L. and Laura D. Zeller Professorship in Nursing (in memory of Doris L. Heizer, RN)
• Margaret Brackley, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor in the Department of Family Nursing Care and director of the nurse practitioner program
• Carrie Jo Braden, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, associate dean for research and professor in the Department of Chronic Nursing Care, the Hugh Roy Cullen Professor of Nursing and professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology
• Eileen Breslin, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing and the Dr. Patty L. Hawken Endowed Professor in the Department of Family Nursing Care
• Nancy Girard, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, clinical associate professor in the Department of Acute Nursing Care
• Barbara Holtzclaw, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor emeritus in the Department of Chronic Nursing Care
• Sharon Lewis, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor and holder of the Berneice Castella Distinguished Professorship in Aging Research in the Department of Acute Nursing Care, and professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology
• Mary Ann Matteson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor emeritus in the Department of Family Nursing Care
• Mickey Parsons, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor in the Department of Acute Nursing Care and coordinator of the graduate administrative program
• Carol Reineck, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, associate professor and chair of the Department of Acute Nursing Care, and holder of the Amy Shelton & V.H. McNutt Professorship in honor of nurses of the Armed Forces
• Beverly Robinson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, associate dean for graduate nursing, director of doctoral studies, professor and the Lillie Cranz Cullen Professor of Nursing in the Department of Chronic Nursing Care
• Norma Martinez Rogers, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, professor/clinical in the Department of Family Nursing Care and president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses
• Kathleen Stevens, Ed.D., RN, ANEF, FAAN, professor in the Department of Acute Nursing Care and founding director of the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice
• Joseph Schmelz, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, associate professor/research in the Department of Acute Nursing Care and director of the Health Science Center’s Institutional Review Board
• Margaret Anne Woodtli, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, visiting professor in the Department of Chronic Nursing Care
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the leading research institutions in Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $753.4 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $16.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $37 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 26,750 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.