Nash is currently a professor and dean at Georgia Southern University’s Waters College of Health Professions. No stranger to UofL, Nash is a two-time alumna and has spent 17 years employed with the university. She earned a Master of Science in Nursing degree in 1997 and PhD in Nursing in 2010. From 1997 until 2022, she served as an instructor, assistant professor and associate professor at the School of Nursing. Nash also has held a number of leadership positions including: director of practice for international affairs, associate dean of practice and service, assistant vice president of inter-professional practice partnerships on the Health Sciences Center campus and as an executive team member of the .

In 2005, Nash was hired by UofL as the founding director of the , a clinical practice that provides free care to backside workers in the thoroughbred horse racing industry. The clinic offers a full range of primary care services, including mental health. In 2011, Nash developed and implemented the School of Nursing and advanced practice inter-professional education collaboration, which utilizes advanced practice nurse practitioners to guide students in obtaining consultations for medically compromised patients. Additionally, she founded UofL Care Partners, a nursing and dental clinic founded based on results of a needs assessment and in response to the lack of access to care for patients receiving dental care at the School of Dentistry.

She is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. She has received dozens of accolades and awards including recognition as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2021, Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2017 and was a finalist for Business First’s Health Care Hero in 2016.

“We are delighted to bring an accomplished educator and leader back to UofL,” said Provost Gerry Bradley. “Dr. Nash will lead an outstanding School of Nursing to new levels of excellence in the years ahead.”

Nash says becoming dean of the UofL School of Nursing has always been her dream job. Originally from southern Indiana, she considers the Louisville area home, and says she’s had the honor of watching several of her previous students become faculty members and colleagues.

The new nursing dean says her vision for the School of Nursing is “to refine and accelerate every mission area, but with an initial focus on the research mission. I want to help the school really define its areas of distinction.”

“Again and again, Louisville took a chance on me. I was in the second cohort for the master’s degree and the first cohort for my PhD in nursing, and I feel like a pioneer in that way,” Nash said. “When I was hired to start the Kentucky Racing Health services program, they took a chance on someone who had not done something at that level. It means a lot to me that they had faith in my ability, and it’s come full circle now.”

Whitney Nash, PhD, APRN, FAANP, UofL School of Nursing associate dean of practice and service, has been appointed assistant vice president of interprofessional practice partnerships at the .

Nash will be responsible for expanding multidisciplinary practice at the academic health sciences center and forging partnerships with community organizations.

“The future is in interprofessional health education and practice,” Nash said. “Health care providers can no longer afford to practice in silos. Extensive research supports interprofessional education and practice as a mechanism to decrease medical errors and improve patient care.”

Nash will build upon UofL’s existing education and practice programs that incorporate interprofessional health care.

UofL Care Partners, a nurse practitioner-managed primary care clinic housed at the School of Dentistry, opened in 2018 to serve patients at the dental clinic and members of the community with immediate health needs and chronic issues.

The clinic is an outgrowth of an established relationship between the UofL Schools of Dentistry and Nursing, which in 2012 jointly received a $1.1 million federal grant that supported an educational initiative for nursing and dental students to enhance communication between the professions and develop best practices in patient assessment, consultation and management.

Another interprofessional practice site is the Kentucky Racing Health Services Center, a nonprofit clinic run by UofL School of Nursing faculty that has been nationally recognized as an innovative care model. Medical, nursing and dentistry students rotate at the clinic, which serves low-income backside workers of the thoroughbred racing industry.

UofL has translated interprofessional health research into curriculum changes as well.

Faculty members at the UofL School of Medicine developed a national training program to instruct educators at universities across the United States in teaching interprofessional palliative care for patients with cancer. Supported by the National Cancer Institute, the Interdisciplinary Curriculum in Oncology Palliative Care łÉČËÖ±˛Ą has trained thousands of students from social work, medicine, nursing and chaplaincy.

The Interprofessional Curriculum for the Care of Older Adults was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration to develop and evaluate an interdisciplinary geriatric curriculum for medical, nursing, social work, pharmacy, dentistry and law students. The project aims to meet the needs of rural older adults by integrating geriatrics with primary care, maximizing patient and family engagement and transforming the rural health care system.

“Here at UofL we are working to create solutions,” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi. “In our health care landscape where there are too few primary care providers to meet demand, UofL Care Partners offers our dental patients an in-house clinical service solution.”

“UofL is among just a handful of higher education institutions in the United States implementing a dental-nursing collaborative care model clinic, we are proud to be among them,” said T. Gerard Bradley, BDS, MS, Dr.Med.Dent., dean, UofL School of Dentistry.

UofL Care Partners will help create a continuity of care for patients, says Marcia J. Hern, EdD, CNS, RN, dean, UofL School of Nursing.

“The solid future of effective health care will rely on inter-professional teams that best serve the public,” she said.

UofL Care Partners hopes to serve as an urgent care style clinic for patients who need help with issues such as blood pressure or diabetes management.

“Without management of these type of health issues, patients run the risk of delaying or foregoing their dental treatment,” said Tim Daugherty, D.M.D., associate dean of clinical affairs, School of Dentistry. “If a person went under local anesthetic for a dental procedure and had uncontrolled diabetes, their insulin levels could drop leading to life-threatening problems.”

In 2017, the School of Dentistry wrote nearly 940 medical consults for patients who needed to follow-up with a provider before progressing through their dental treatment. Almost 40-percent of these patients failed to complete the follow-up required for their oral health treatment.

The clinic is an individual room located on the first floor within the patient waiting area. Dental patients, along with others including faculty and staff or community members can make an appointment with UofL Care Partners’ part-time nurse practitioner. In addition to offering chronic disease management, patients can have basic lab work completed or be seen for an acute illness. A nurse practitioner also will work with patients to connect them with a primary care provided or specialist, if needed.

UofL Care Partners is an outgrowth of an existing relationship between the Schools of Dentistry and Nursing who jointly received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2012. The grant supported an educational initiative for nursing and dental students to enhance communication between the professions and develop best practices in patient assessment, consultation and management to improve overall health of patients.

Additionally, DMD students learn from a nurse practitioner who instructs them on completing medical history forms required for all new dental patients as part of the admission process. Dental students also learn how to evaluate whether a patient is healthy enough to complete an exam and subsequent treatment.

“This initiative is a creative demonstration of how nurse practitioners are meeting the needs of patients where they are, and builds on best practices and success at the School of Nursing’s other clinical operation, the Kentucky Racing Health Service Center,” said Whitney Nash, PhD, APRN, FAANP, associate dean of practice and service, UofL School of Nursing.Ěý

Check out video from today’s ribbon cutting ceremony below. .Ěý

Williams Coleman, DNP, APRN, will participate in leadership retreats and distance-based learning, and will spearhead a health leadership project. The yearlong program is a partnership of Duke University Schools of Medicine and Nursing and Johnson & Johnson.

Williams Coleman serves as the nurse practitioner for UofL Care Partners, a new clinical service at the UofL School of Dentistry that will act as an urgent care-style clinic for patients who need help managing chronic illnesses, including diabetes, hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Her leadership project will focus on these patients, who risk delaying or foregoing dental treatment when chronic illnesses are uncontrolled.

“Being part of the Duke-Johnson & Johnson program is an honor,” Williams Coleman said. “I will broaden my management and leadership skills in the primary care setting using an integrated care model to provide care to underserved populations.”

Williams Coleman is the third UofL faculty member chosen for the program. Michelle L. Baxter, a faculty member of the Schools of Dentistry and Nursing, is participating in the current cohort of the program. Whitney Nash, School of Nursing associate dean of practice and service, participated three years ago.

“We are making great strides to transform health care, and this is another example of our innovation,” said Greg Postel, UofL’s interim president.

“UofL is among just a handful of higher education institutions in the United States implementing a dental-nursing collaborative care model clinic, we are proud to be among them,” said T. Gerard Bradley, dean of the UofL School of Dentistry.

UofL Care Partners will help create a continuity of care for patients, adds School of Nursing dean Marcia J. Hern.

“The solid future of effective health care will rely on inter-professional teams that best serve the public,” she said.

The objective of UofL Care Partners is to serve as an urgent care-style clinic for patients who need help with issues such as blood pressure or diabetes management.

“Without management of these type of health issues, patients run the risk of delaying or foregoing their dental treatment,” said Tim Daugherty, interim associate dean of clinical affairs, UofL School of Dentistry. “If a person went under local anesthetic for a dental procedure and had uncontrolled diabetes, their insulin levels could drop leading to life-threatening problems.”

In 2016, the School of Dentistry wrote nearly 900 medical consults for patients who needed to follow-up with a provider before progressing through their dental treatment. Almost 40 percent of these patients failed to complete the follow-up required for their oral health treatment.

Renovation, expected to be completed in early 2018, will convert an area in the School of Dentistry into a patient room. Dental patients, along with others including faculty and staff, can make an appointment with UofL Care Partners’ part-time nurse practitioner. In addition to offering chronic disease management, patients can have basic lab work completed or be seen for an acute illness. A nurse practitioner also will work with patients to connect them with a primary care provided or specialist, if needed.

UofL Care Partners is an outgrowth of an existing relationship between the Schools of Dentistry and Nursing, which jointly received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration in 2012. The grant supported an educational initiative for nursing and dental students to enhance communication between the professions and develop best practices in patient assessment, consultation and management to improve overall health of patients.

Additionally, DMD students learn from a nurse practitioner who instructs them on completing medical history forms required for all new dental patients as part of the admission process. Dental students also learn how to evaluate whether a patient is healthy enough to complete an exam and subsequent treatment.

“This initiative is a creative demonstration of how nurse practitioners are meeting the needs of patients where they are, and builds on best practices and success at the School of Nursing’s other clinical operation, the Kentucky Racing Health Service Center,” said Whitney Nash, associate dean of practice and service, UofL School of Nursing.