Penn Nursing

09/02/2026

Good sleep is essential to good health.

Join on September 23 at 12 p.m. ET for Sleep Well, Live Well: Creating Better Sleep Health Together, featuring Penn Nursing faculty member Dr. Alexa Watach.

Dr. Watach will join a conversation on advancing sleep health and improving well-being—and why better sleep is an important part of living well. Register today: https://bit.ly/4gyUhxk

08/31/2026

On the final day of National Breastfeeding Month, we celebrate the researchers, advocates, clinicians and families advancing breastfeeding support and human milk care.

Join us November 2 from 5–6 p.m. ET for a special virtual conversation with Dr. Diane L. Spatz, Nu’86, GNu’89, GR’95, Penn Nursing’s 2026 Outstanding Alumni Award recipient and a nationally and internationally recognized leader in human milk and breastfeeding research.

Hear Dr. Spatz share insights from her groundbreaking work supporting mothers, infants and families through research, innovation and advocacy.

📅 November 2 | 5–6 p.m. ET
💻 Virtual event

Register: https://bit.ly/4ivx95x

08/28/2026

Celebrating Penn Nursing leaders named to the 2026 American Academy of Nursing Fellows! 🎉

We’re proud to celebrate Amy Jo Lisanti, PhD, RN, CCNS, FAHA, Research Assistant Professor at Penn Nursing, and K. Jane Muir, PhD, MSHP, RN, FNP-BC, Assistant Professor at Penn Nursing and Senior Fellow at CHOPR and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, on being named 2026 Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. Their work reflects the breadth and impact of nursing scholarship, from advancing family-centered care for children with congenital heart disease to improving health equity, workforce well-being, and outcomes for patients and nurses in high-stress settings.

We’re also especially proud to recognize Eileen Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN, (pictured far right) a Penn Nursing alumna and Professor Emerita of Scholarly Practice and Clinician-Educator at Penn Nursing, who has been named an American Academy of Nursing Living Legend.

Congratulations to Amy Jo, Jane, Eileen, and all of our Penn Nursing alumni and colleagues recognized among the 2026 Fellows. Their leadership and scholarship continue to advance the nursing profession and improve health and health care. Learn more and see the full list of Penn Nursing alumni and affiliated colleagues recognized: https://bit.ly/4wYZwNd

08/26/2026

Aesthetic injectables are in high demand, but training in medical aesthetics remains loosely regulated. Penn Nursing is partnering with Inject With Lex to help change that by providing licensed nurses and other medical professionals with access to high-quality, evidence-based education in clinical aesthetic injectables.

“We are pleased to offer a nurse-led continuing education opportunity that educates providers to deliver aesthetic injectables safely and effectively,” says Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing. “Our new collaboration with LexRx is critical for further professionalizing this growing field.”

The new program combines two didactic sessions with required, in-person, skills-based clinical training on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Participants will integrate evidence-based theory with supervised, hands-on learning led by nationally recognized aesthetic injectables expert Alexa Nicholls Costa, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, CEO and founder of LexRx, Inject With Lex and LexLab.

To learn more about fall classes and to register: https://bit.ly/4cbyFWC

Sign up for nurse injector training courses with Inject With Lex. Get certifications with our virtual and hands-on injection training programs.

08/11/2026

In 2025, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses deposited its historical archives with the Barbara Bates Center, making it one of the largest specialty nursing archives in the world. As Bates at 40 continues, we’re highlighting milestones that show how the Center has grown into a national steward of nursing history. Through archives, exhibitions, fellowships, and scholarship, the Bates Center continues to preserve nursing history and share its impact with new generations.

08/10/2026

A new journey begins at Penn Nursing!

Penn Nursing and Justine Hudgins, DNP, RN, AGACNP-BC, Master of Professional Nursing Program Director, welcomed the newest class of MPN students to the Penn Nursing community.

We’re excited to see all that these students will learn, accomplish, and contribute as they take this next step toward careers in nursing and healthcare. Learn more about our Master of Professional Nursing program: https://bit.ly/4dDOYNa

08/10/2026

How do chronic stress, trauma, and violence shape health across a lifetime—and what can healthcare do differently?

In a new guest editorial in Research in Nursing & Health, Penn Nursing faculty Carmen Alvarez, PhD, CRNP, CNM, FAAN, and Sara F. Jacoby, PhD, MPH, MSN, FAAN, examine the profound effects of adversity on physical health and well-being while introducing a special issue featuring 16 empirical studies on trauma, resilience, and healing.

The editorial calls for system-wide change, including trauma-informed care, policies that address structural inequities, and sustainable support for clinicians. It also highlights how a life-course approach to research, education, practice, and policy can help reduce health disparities and strengthen communities.

Congratulations to Drs. Alvarez and Jacoby, their editorial co-authors, and Penn Nursing's Eileen Lake, PhD, RN, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief of Research in Nursing & Health, for advancing this important conversation.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3RU8Xih

Carmen Alvarez, PhD, CRNP, CNM, FAAN, and Sara F. Jacoby, PhD, MPH, MSN, FAAN, from Penn Nursing's Department of Family and Community Health, have co-au...

08/06/2026

As we recognize World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month, we celebrate the research, leadership, and mentorship of Dr. Diane Spatz, an internationally recognized expert in human milk and lactation.
Dr. Spatz is advancing evidence-based breastfeeding care while mentoring the next generation of nurse scientists whose work is shaping maternal and infant health worldwide.
Recent publications from her research team include:
Nicole Conover published an integrative review examining the use of pasteurized donor human milk for healthy infants, emphasizing the importance of protecting maternal milk supply when supplementation is needed during the hospital stay.
Lakshmi Markonda and Dr. Spatz published the first integrative review exploring breastfeeding practices among Indian-born mothers who have immigrated to the United States, highlighting how cultural traditions intersect with the process of navigating a new healthcare system.
Holiday Solly, Dr. Rebecca Clark, and Dr. Spatz published the first integrative review examining how magnesium sulfate treatment for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy affects breastfeeding outcomes. Their findings underscore the need for enhanced lactation support to help mothers successfully establish breastfeeding.
At Penn Nursing, research doesn't just advance science—it improves care for mothers, infants, and families while preparing the next generation of nursing leaders to make a global impact. Read more: https://bit.ly/45u82IR

08/06/2026

The conversation about the nursing workforce is evolving, and so is the evidence. While headlines often focus on a nursing shortage, new reporting highlights a more complex challenge: retaining experienced nurses at the bedside.

Penn Nursing's Karen Lasater is helping reshape this national conversation through research showing that improving nurse retention requires addressing workplace conditions, staffing, and support—not simply increasing the number of nurses entering the profession.

"We're really putting a lot of money into building a pipeline for nursing, but if nurses are leaving after a year or two of getting into employment, the problem isn't so much a pipeline problem as a leaking gas tank."

Professor Lasater's work underscores why creating healthy work environments is essential to strengthening the nursing workforce and ensuring high-quality patient care. We're proud to see her expertise informing this important national discussion. Read more: https://bit.ly/4xarDcD

The U.S. may have less of a shortage of licensed nurses than a shortage of nurses who are willing to work in bedside jobs that have become increasingly demanding.

08/04/2026

By 2025, the Bates Center had awarded more than 100 fellowships through the Lillian Sholtis Brunner Fellowship, the Alice Fisher Society Fellowship, and the Karen Buhler-Wilkerson Faculty Research Fellowship.

This milestone is part of Bates at 40, a celebration of the many ways the Center has supported research, discovery, and new scholarship over four decades. Through archives, exhibitions, fellowships, and scholarship, the Bates Center continues to preserve nursing history and share its impact with new generations.