Wikipedia

University of Washington School of Nursing

The University of Washington School of Nursing is the nursing school of the University of Washington.

School of Nursing
TypePublic nursing school
Established1945[1]
DeanAzita Emami[2]
Faculty448[3]
Administrative staff
199[3]
Students999[3]
Undergraduates424
Postgraduates575
Location
Seattle
,
Washington
,
United States

47°39′02″N 122°18′33″W / 47.65055556°N 122.30916667°W / 47.65055556; -122.30916667
Campus
Websitenursing.uw.edu
Map

The school offers five degree programs accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education: one bachelors, two masters, and two doctoral.[4] During the 2022–23 school year, 424 undergraduate students and 575 graduate students received instruction from 448 faculty members, including 63 tenure track faculty, 26 professorial faculty, 42 teaching associates, 40 clinical instructors, 40 fellows from the American Academy of Nursing, and 237 adjunct faculty.[3]

History

edit

In the summer of 1918, the University of Washington began offering public health nursing courses in response to the impact of the Spanish flu on Washington's public health infrastructure.[5] In 1921, the university formed the Department of Nursing and appointed Elizabeth Sterling Soule, the state health department's supervisor of public health nursing, as dean.[5] The university began offering a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1923 and was the first university to do so on the West Coast.[5] In 1931, the university began offering clinical training for nurses at Harborview Hospital.[5] The Department of Nursing was renamed the School of Nursing Education in 1934 and in 1945, it became an independent School of Nursing.[1][5] At the time of its founding, it was the West Coast's first nursing school and the second university-affiliated nursing school in the United States.[1] Upon Soule's retirement as the school's first dean in 1950, she was named "The Mother of Nursing in the Pacific Northwest" by Time magazine.[1][5] During Soule's tenure, Soule actively discouraged black students from applying and Lela Duffel was the only black student admitted to the school.[5] In 2001, Dean Nancy Woods publicly acknowledged and apologized for the school's discriminatory past. In 2022, the school renamed the 'Elizabeth Soule Endowed Chair and Lecture' endowment, which had been named in Soule's honor,[5], to the 'School of Nursing Endowed Chair and Lecture for Health Promotion'. In February 2021, the school announced the establishment of the Center for Anti-racism in Nursing,[6][7] and in May 2023 it was renamed the Manning Price Spratlen Center for Anti-Racism & Equity in Nursing.[8][9]

In 1964, Dean Mary Tschudin, Dr. Katherine Hoffman, and Dr. Marjorie Batey developed a nursing research program with grant funding that aimed to define nursing as a research-based discipline.[5][10] Research funding for the school increased from $26,000 per year in 1969 to more than $930,000 in 1976.[10] In 1969, the school was the birthplace of Madeleine Leininger's Primex concept which emphasized the expanded role of nurses in providing primary care and preventative services.[11] Dean Rheba de Tornyay developed the school's first PhD in nursing science in 1977 and the first recipient was Marcia Killien in 1982.[5][10] In the late 1970s, Dr. Betty Giblin established the Sleep Research Laboratory, the first of its kind in the United States.[10]

The school has been top-ranked nationally "in all surveys of schools of nursing conducted since 1984",[4] an unprecedented 27 years without a break.[12] In 2011, U.S. News & World Report rated it in a three-way tie for the top spot with Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania.[13] U.S. News & World Report 2020 Best Nursing Schools: Doctor of Nursing Practice ranked UW fourth in the country.[14]

In 2011, the Seattle Times reported low morale and "internal strife" ... "within the school the situation was also exacerbated by budget cuts. Dean Marla Salmon tendered her resignation in May of the same year. Dr. Azita Emami was named Dean of UW School of Nursing starting July 1, 2013.[15]

In 2020, Premera Blue Cross awarded the University of Washington a $4.7 million grant to establish the Rural Nursing Health Initiative. This initiative places nursing students in rural clinical practices across Washington State.[16][17][18]

Emami left the position in 2023 to become dean of the Yale School of Nursing.[19][20] In 2023, Allison Webel was named interim executive dean, effective August 1, following Emami’s departure.[21][22] In 2024, the University of Washington announced Hilaire Thompson as the next executive dean of the School of Nursing effective August 1, 2024.[23]

Notable people

edit

Notable faculty

edit
  • Kathryn Barnard, discovered role of mother-newborn interactions in early childhood development
  • Madeleine Leininger, dean and nursing theorist
  • Nancy Fugate Woods, dean and former president of the American Academy of Nursing
  • Hilaire Thompson, appointed executive dean of the University of Washington School of Nursing August 2024[23]
  • Eeeseung Byun, Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (2025)[24]
  • M. Rebecca O’Connor, Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (2025)[24]
  • Megan Streur, Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (2025)[24]
  • Katie A. Haerling, Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (2025); University of Washington Tacoma School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership[24]
  • Betty Bekemeier, recipient of the 2025 Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research Welch/Woerner Path-Paver Award[25]
  • Mayumi Anne Willgerodt, editor of The Journal of School Nursing (beginning February 2025)[26][27]

Notable alumni

edit

References

edit
  1. 1 2 3 4 "History of the School | School of Nursing". Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  2. ↑ "Welcome to the UW School of Nursing". Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "2022-2023 FACTS" (PDF). University of Washington School of Nursing. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Accreditation". University of Washington School of Nursing. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "History". University of Washington School of Nursing. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  6. ↑ "UW nursing school creates Center for Antiracism". AP News. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  7. ↑ Ellison, Jake. "To counter health impacts of racism, UW School of Nursing establishing Center for Antiracism in Nursing". UW News. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  8. ↑ "2022-2023 Year in Review". UW School of Nursing. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  9. ↑ "University of Washington names center for Freeman grad". Burleson County Tribune. 2024-02-07. Archived from the original on 2024-02-07. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "History". University of Washington School of Nursing. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "Nursing Through Time 1960-1989". University of Pennsylvania Nursing. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "UW School of Nursing Top-Ranked for Unprecedented 27 Years". University of Washington School of Nursing. March 18, 2011. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Nursing: Ranked in 2011". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Best Nursing Schools: Doctor of Nursing Practice: Ranked in 2019". U.S. News & World Report.
  15. ↑ "University of Washington selects Azita Emami as dean of School of Nursing".
  16. ↑ Holtz, Jackson. "Premera Blue Cross teams with the UW to establish rural nursing program". UW News. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  17. ↑ "Premera Announces $4.7 Million Grant to Create a Rural Nursing Program With UW | Employer | Premera Blue Cross". www.premera.com. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  18. ↑ Wise, Dennis. "Rural nurses wanted; UW partnership helps meet the need". UW Magazine — University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  19. ↑ "Azita Emami named dean of Yale School of Nursing". Yale School of Nursing. 2023-04-03. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  20. ↑ "Azita Emami, PhD, RN, FAAN". Yale School of Nursing. 2023-07-26. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  21. ↑ staff, UW News. "Allison Webel named interim dean of the School of Nursing". UW News. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  22. ↑ "Allison Webel". UCSF School of Nursing. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  23. 1 2 Holtz, Jackson. "UW taps Hilaire Thompson to be next dean of the School of Nursing". UW News. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "7 Washington nurses to be inducted as American Academy of Nursing…". WSNA. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  25. ↑ "FNINR Announces 2025 Award Winners!". www.fninr.org. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  26. ↑ "NASN Names Dr. Mayumi Willgerodt as New Editor of The Journal of School Nursing". www.nasn.org. 2025-01-22. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  27. ↑ "The Journal of School Nursing". SAGE Publications Inc. 2015-10-28. Archived from the original on 2026-02-14. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  28. ↑ "Pamela Mitchell earns Golden Graduate Distinguished Alumna Award for blazing a trail in health care". UW Magazine — University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  29. ↑ "Distinguished Alumni Veteran Award recipient Elizabeth Bridges is a force in military medicine". UW Magazine — University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  30. ↑ "2025 Distinguished Alumni Veteran – Elizabeth Bridges". UW Student Veteran Life. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  31. ↑ "Nursing leader Pam Cipriano honored with UW's top alumni award". UW Magazine — University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  32. ↑ "2022 Gates Volunteer Service Award". Give to the UW. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  33. ↑ "Volunteer gives her all to UW School of Nursing". UW Magazine — University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  34. ↑ writer, Julie Garner is a Columns staff. "Nurse extends a helping hand far beyond the hospital". UW Magazine — University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  35. ↑ "A Seattle woman's dream to bring water to a Nigerian village comes true with some extraordinary help | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=University_of_Washington_School_of_Nursing&oldid=1361685270"