Griffin, Hesselrode appointed to interim nursing school posts
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Nursing education and health care veterans Elaine Griffin and Mary Hesselrode have been appointed to interim leadership positions in Lipscomb University’s School of Nursing, Provost W. Craig Bledsoe announced today, Jan. 4.
Griffin, vice provost at Lipscomb University, has been appointed interim executive associate dean of the School of Nursing, housed in the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. Hesselrode, a member of Lipscomb’s nursing faculty, has been named interim associate dean in the school.
Currently, Griffin directs quality improvement and accreditation activity for Lipscomb as the leader of the provost’s office strategic planning team. She provides university-wide educational programs for continuous quality improvement processes for assessment both academically and operationally, leads process improvement teams, manages the reaffirmation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is the university liaison with that organization and other accrediting bodies. In addition to her nursing degree, Griffin holds a Master of Health Care Administration, a Master of Business Administration and a doctorate in health services and social change. She is also a fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives.
Griffin has authored numerous articles with topics ranging from providing cost-effective care to working collaboratively with physicians, health care executives, managers, and employees. She served as an inaugural board member for Health Care Executive Forum of Middle Tennessee and is a past program chairman for the organization. She served as adjunct clinical professor in the Department of Nursing at the University of Cincinnati and was professor of business at Harding University prior to her work at Lipscomb.
In 2010, Hesselrode joined the Lipscomb faculty when the nursing program transitioned from the Lipscomb/Vanderbilt Partnership to a stand-alone school in the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. She was instrumental in designing and implementing the new Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum, and she has chaired both the curriculum committee and academic progression committee of Lipscomb’s School of Nursing. She received her Doctor of Education from Lipscomb in December.
Hesselrode graduated from Harding University’s School of Nursing and earned her master’s as a family nurse practitioner from Texas Women’s University in Dallas. She has also worked in private practice at Baylor University Medical Center and, in addition to her faculty appointment at Lipscomb, currently serves as a nurse practitioner at Brentwood Family Care Center in Brentwood, Tennessee. A registered nurse, Hesselrode is an American Association of Nurse Practitioners board certified family nurse practitioner and holds a basic life support for health care providers certification from the American Heart Association.
The appointments were made following the announcement on Jan. 4 that Beth Youngblood will step down as executive associate dean of the School of Nursing at the end of the academic year in May to pursue other professional opportunities. Youngblood will be on sabbatical during the spring semester.
“Dr. Youngblood has been a strong force, exceptional professional and decided talent in guiding the School of Nursing and will be missed,” said Bledsoe. “We are thankful for her deep love for the nursing profession, for Lipscomb and for what she has accomplished during her time here.”
Under Youngblood’s leadership, Lipscomb’s School of Nursing moved into a new academic building with significant new instructional opportunities through such innovations as the patient simulation lab, the first of its caliber in the area; enrollment grew by over 100 additional students; nursing faculty more than doubled; and the school had a significant increase in adjunct faculty and clinical experience opportunities.
Griffin and Hesselrode will lead the School of Nursing during the search for Youngblood’s successor.
Lipscomb’s School of Nursing offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. It is also a member of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. In 2012, the school moved into a 24,800-square-foot Nursing and Health Sciences Center. The $8.5 million facility traditional classroom learning as well as the teaching of assessment skills in a dedicated laboratory and treatment skills in a 16-bed unit which simulates a hospital environment. The Health Simulation Lab features 19 computerized mannequins that can display symptoms of a range of illnesses and wounds, in an authentic hospital-like setting. For more information visit nursing.lipscomb.edu.