Nursing Hot Topics: Creating Your Path as a Change Agent in Today's Healthcare System - Confronting Health Inequity Today

Join ANA-Illinois for our September Nursing Hot Topics. Our September webinar will center around Health Inequity. We encourage participants to prepare questions for our expert speakers. We hope that you will join us for the discussion.

By the very definition of the nursing profession, nurses are expected to act as well-informed advocates, to be able to evaluate complex situations and to create effective solutions that are designed to engage and enlighten those within their area of practice. This presentation is focused on gaining a clear understanding of the ways in which health inequity is damaging all of us, the resources and approaches that can be effective in creating positive and sustainable change, and how to go about designing a path to be a true catalyst. The presentation will provide exemplars of positive change agents and a toolkit for how to address health inequity in multiple settings.   

Speaker: Sheila Anne Burke, DNP, MSN, MBA, RN

Dr. Sheila Burke is a Nurse Executive with more than 20 years of experience in leading nursing education programs from concept to application and through accreditation. Her background includes responsibility for directing and developing nursing education systems that served thousands of students in locations across the country. She has held leadership roles in healthcare administration as well as nursing education. She has extensive experience with boards of nursing and held key roles in programs that were  acquiring state approvals and professional accreditation at the regional, national, and professional level. She has been responsible for leading education teams through curriculum development and instructional design and oversaw projects to integrate new curriculum and evaluation processes with a variety of learning management systems. She has been responsible for the hiring, developing, and directing of deans of nursing in order to facilitate achievement of the institution’s key performance indicators, including NCLEX pass rates and regulatory compliance. She successfully led programs through rapid change during the COVID pandemic while maintaining focus on academic excellence and student support. She has created and collaborated on programs to improve student engagement and the development of innovative clinical education affiliations. She has mentored nursing deans and faculty to achieve advanced leadership skills.  

Dr. Burke has created faculty and staff development programs that fostered achievement of improved faculty performance and student outcomes. She has served as an organizational leader for strategic planning and addressing complex regulatory issues. She has been a leader for initiatives to improve healthy work environments. She has served as a reviewer and co-author for nursing education textbooks and practice standards.

Education: Doctorate degree in Nurse Executive Leadership, Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration, Master’s in Business Administration

Dr. Burke has:

• Led the formation of nursing education programs at the practical, associate, baccalaureate (BSN Generic, Accelerated and RN-BSN programs), masters (including NP) and doctoral (DNP) levels
• Created and implemented nursing simulation education programs that integrated technology, developed student skills, and met all regulatory and accreditation standards
• Developed and implemented new program offerings, working with multiple clinical partners to increase program capacity and graduate placements
• Evaluated existing nursing programs that had not met established standards and implemented action plans to achieve sustainable improvements
• Led the transition of nursing education programs from campus based to online delivery and created multiple hybrid programs that met all accreditation and regulatory standards, including management of faculty training and compliance for multi-state programs
• Created management tracking systems that provided data essential for program evaluation and improvement
• Oversaw deans’ performance of program management to achieve organizational performance quality and compliance targets
• Participated in organizational strategic planning, policy development and design of orientation and dean development programs
• Led multiple programs through applying for and achieving ACEN and/or CCNE accreditation (included site preparation for onsite evaluation visits) including successful attainment of accreditation for on-ground and /or distance BSN, BSN-RN, MSN, and DNP programs
• Worked with deans and faculty teams to adopt and implement new instructional technology (exam management, NCLEX preparation, publisher resources) including designing student engagement plans, evaluation of resources and impact reports