When vaccination efforts began in January, SONHS clinical faculty were among the first in the area to step up and receive the shot. Faculty, students, and alumni also assisted with COVID-19, SONHS testing and vaccination efforts, such as Jackson Health System’s massive community vaccination initiative.
In-person classes, clinicals, and simulation continued throughout the spring, summer, and fall 2021 semesters, producing more than 600 Class of 2021 graduates from seven different degree programs in nursing, public health, and health science.
The School was named #30 in Newsweek’s February 2021 article “Best 50 Colleges of Nursing in America” and came in at a ranking of 31 in U.S. News and World Report’s inaugural ranking of undergraduate nursing programs, well ahead of its peer schools in the area.
National honors for SONHS faculty in 2021 included inductions into the National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Nursing, and American Association of Nurse Practitioners. In January, SONHS Dean and Professor Cindy L. Munro was announced as a member of the National Institute of Nursing Research’s National Advisory Council for Nursing Research, which provides recommendations on the direction and support of the nursing, biomedical, social, and behavioral research that forms the evidence base for nursing practice.
Among the school’s many research-related awards in 2021 was a $3.05 million grant from the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health to conduct an effectiveness implementation trial for eHealth Familias Unidas for Mental Health, an online mental health intervention for Latinx youth and their families, in the primary care setting. In addition, SONHS faculty were tapped to contribute to the NIH’s Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities, working to address health disparities in the LGBT and Latinx South Florida community.
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) granted the School a 10-year accreditation renewal, through June 2031, for the baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and post-graduate APRN certificate program.
In addition, SONHS launched three new BSN-DNP tracks for registered nurses interested in becoming doctorally prepared Family Nurse Practitioners, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioners, or Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioners.
In November, during Alumni Weekend and Homecoming, the University of Miami and President Julio Frenk publicly kicked off Ever Brighter: The Campaign for Our Next Century, during which SONHS’ priorities were unveiled on the campaign website.
In international developments, the School announced its four-year redesignation as a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Nursing Human Resources Development and Patient Safety. In addition, the school solidified new international partnerships, including with the Universidad de Costa Rica’s Center for Tropical Disease Research (CIET), sent supplies to Haiti following the earthquake, and conducted a blend of virtual and in-person nursing, education, and research initiatives with partners in Guyana, Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Jamaica, among other nations.
On the simulation front, the School announced the rebranding of its 5-story, 41,000-square-foot simulation hospital as S.H.A.R.E.™, which stands for Simulation Hospital Advancing Research and Education (@umiamishare) and developed mixed-reality applications for familiarizing nurse anesthesia students with the operating room environment.
Faculty launched an award-winning simulation-based human trafficking awareness curriculum that has trained over 200 nursing students to date and piloted two different telehealth-based initiatives to support family caregivers and improve health outcomes.
Promoting the pillar of Education for Life, SONHS hosted a dozen lectures in 2021, addressing simulation in translational science, diversity in the workplace, Latino health disparities, human trafficking awareness, and more. Most guests were still virtual but among the in-person visitors were two former U.S. Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar and Donna Shalala. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Azar said after touring S.H.A.R.E.™. “It is wonderful to see the University of Miami harness this great technology. The nursing students leave here ready to take care of patients in the real world.”
Vimeo: SONHS Year In Review 2021 (vimeo.com)
