Dean of Nursing jobs in Massachusetts

Leadership Profile

Dean, School of Nursing

The MGH Institute of Health Professions (IHP), an independent, interprofessional graduate school founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and the only degree-granting member of the Mass General Brigham health system, invites applications for the position of Dean of its School of Nursing (SON). The faculty and staff of the SON are a strong and dynamic community of educators, scholars, clinicians, and administrators dedicated to excellence in research, clinical care, and nursing education. The school community also embraces principles and practices of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Nursing students learn to provide holistic person-centered care, delivered in team-based environments and in a diverse and rapidly changing society.

This role presents a unique leadership opportunity, as the successful candidate will lead a school nestled within a world-class integrated health system that is renowned for delivering exceptional patient care, leading innovative research, and serving as the teaching hospitals for Harvard Medical School. The IHP School of Nursing is defined by its close connection with Mass General Hospital and other members and affiliate organizations within the health system. This unique positioning paves the way for the successful candidate to design and implement program and initiatives that lead to transformative advancements in education, research, and service.

Opportunities

After over fifty years as a clinician, health care administrator, policy advocate, and educational leader, Professor Ken White is retiring as Dean of the SON. Dean White further strengthened the school's relationship with Mass General Hospital to enhance clinical placements, provide scholarships, and expand the number of SON graduates joining the Mass General clinical family across the hospital's many care units. Under his leadership, the school also designed an innovative pilot program to prepare nurses for the Martha's Vineyard Hospital, a rurally located member of the Mass General Brigham health system. He also advanced a healthy community initiative committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. In 2023, the National League for Nursing named the IHP School of Nursing a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education.

The next Dean of Nursing is positioned to build on prior successes and develop an aspirational vision for the school and support the IHP's latest strategic plan. In particular, a new leader would have the opportunity to:

• Develop a vision for the future of nursing education and research and implement a plan for achieving it.
• Demonstrate commitment to advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) initiatives including the recruitment of faculty and staff members from minoritized groups and mutually beneficial relationships with community organizations.
• Strengthen academic-clinical partnerships to expand the quality and quantity of experiential placements for learners.
• Promote community and wellbeing among faculty and staff and advocate for sufficient resources for them to fulfill their responsibilities.
• Leverage interprofessional collaboration to reduce silos and increase efficiency.
• Nurture nursing research, catalyze research teams, and provide professional development for all faculty members.
• Diversify revenue sources through enrollment management, philanthropic giving, and/or external grants.

Boston

The IHP campus occupies 180,000 square feet across seven buildings in the historic Charlestown Navy Yard, set along the beautiful Charlestown waterfront and overlooking downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is a nexus for higher education, healthcare, and technology industries, boasting three dozen colleges and universities and twelve teaching hospitals within its metropolitan area. For the last two years, WalletHub, a personal finance publication, has ranked Massachusetts first among all 50 states in key indicators of livability. Conde Nast Traveler recently ranked Boston as one of the world's top 30 greatest cities and the 6 th best big city to live in the United States.

Mass General Brigham

The IHP proudly continues the legacy of the Boston Training School for Nurses, founded in

1873 at Mass General Hospital. By the time of the IHP's founding in 1977, the training school was the oldest continuously operating diploma nursing school in the United States. When Mass General Hospital formed a partnership with a cross-town academic health center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, the IHP became the sole degree-granting entity in an integrated healthcare system. The system has since expanded to include Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, numerous community hospitals, a health insurance plan, home healthcare services, diagnostic centers, community practices, and more. Now named after its founding institutions and home to 80,000 employees, the Mass General Brigham system is the largest private employer in Massachusetts. Mass General Brigham is also the largest hospital system-based research enterprise in America with an annual research budget of $2.5 billion. The School of Nursing's position within this leading health system affords unparalleled opportunities for academic-practice partnerships, research collaborations, and workforce development initiatives.

Massachusetts General Hospital

As the IHP's founder, Mass General Hospital (MGH) provides an exemplary environment for cutting-edge teaching and research along with numerous opportunities to serve and create value for the local and regional communities that our institution serves. The Dean of Nursing has pivotal roles not only in the Institute's School of Nursing but the broader MGH community. The Dean holds important roles within the hospital's nursing leadership as a member of the MGH Chief Nursing Officer Council and serves as the MGH Associate Chief Nurse for Academic Affairs.

MGH Institute of Health Professions

The IHP is a not-for-profit health professions school accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. Approximately 1500 students are enrolled across three schools in post-baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral programs in audiology, genetic counseling, health administration, healthcare data analytics, health professions education, leadership in nursing education, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, rehabilitation sciences, and speech-language pathology. The overall graduation rate for matriculated students in 97%. In addition, nondegree students pursue online science prerequisites and continuing education and professional development.

Students are supported by 260 FTE faculty, staff, and administrators. The operating budget of the IHP is $76.5 million in FY23 with an endowment of $50 million. The research enterprise includes 71 active grants with a total value of $44.6 million. For seven consecutive years, Insight Into Diversity has recognized the IHP with the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award. The Chronicle of Higher Education honored the IHP as a "Great College to Work for" for over a decade.

The IHP has announced an organization-wide anti-racism initiative to think boldly about race and bring together all members of the IHP community to address systemic racial injustice as well as oppression more broadly. The plan seeks to create a supportive and inclusive campus environment and better support the diverse communities the school serves. This initiative complements a commitment from MGB to stand "United Against Racism," which holds leadership accountable for mitigating the harms of racism in patient care, workplace culture, and community health.

School of Nursing

The Dean of Nursing provides strategic, academic, and administrative leadership for the faculty, staff, and students within the School of Nursing. The Dean reports to the Institute's Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Chief Academic Officer. The Dean also serves on senior councils for the IHP, including its Academic Leadership Council, Executive Council, and the Academic and Student Affairs Committee of the IHP's Board of Trustees. The Dean will be guided by the school's mission: "Through excellence in education, research, scholarship, clinical practice, and service, the School of Nursing cultivates a community grounded in social justice, equity, and inclusion to prepare graduates to lead interprofessional, holistic healthcare in a rapidly changing world."

Academic programs

SON offers degrees at the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels as well as certificates and non-degree offerings. In FY23, more than 600 students were enrolled across three degree programs, including the accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (the largest program), the direct-entry master of science in nursing (the second largest), and the doctor of nursing practice. US News & World Report ranks the master's program third in Boston and #61 in the country. The direct-entry master's class of 2025 achieved a 100% first-time pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination. The DNP program is the top-ranked in Boston and #67 in the country. In 2024, SON launched an online master's of science in nursing education for bachelor-prepared nurses. The incoming Dean will have the opportunity to assess all degree and continuing education offerings and determine how best to position the SON for future academic success and strong enrollment.

Faculty and staff

The Dean will be able to rely on the talents of 54 faculty members and 11 staff members. Fifteen current and former faculty have been recognized as Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. Four are distinguished practitioner fellows of the National Academies of Practice. Reporting directly to the Dean include the following:

• Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
• Assistant Dean for Administration
• Assistant Dean for Student Success
• Director of Community Engagement
• Director of the Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Health
• Director of Faculty Development
• Senior Executive Assistant

The school community and Dean are further supported by the Institute's centralized support teams and offices, which includes Development and Alumni Affairs; Enrollment Services; Faculty Affairs; Human Resources; Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Library; Operations and Information Technologies; Research Administration; Strategic Communications; and Student Affairs and Services.

Research and funded projects

The SON has established a reputation for healthcare workforce development and educational research. Faculty within the school currently hold over $10 million in federal training grants. These projects are advancing critical shortages and skills gaps within the healthcare workforce while expanding care for vulnerable populations. In the HRSA-funded Integrated Healthcare Partnership: Bridging the Behavioral Health Gap grant project, the team has developed longitudinal immersive, team-based clinical experiences for graduate psychiatric nurse practitioner students, who provide care for vulnerable, high need populations in underserved communities in the greater Boston area. In the HRSA-funded Impacting Health in Partnership: Nurses on the Move Towards Health Equity and Climate Justice project, nursing faculty lead interprofessional mobile health services to mitigate health-related consequences of COVID-19, climate change, and environmental health inequities within marginalized populations. In 2023, SON received nearly $6 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to train nurse educators and help address national nursing shortages, making it the only educational institution in New England funded to build up and diversify the nation's nursing pipeline. In this project, more than 220 nurse educators will be trained within the MGB healthcare system and across other academic and healthcare partner institutions within the region. Nursing faculty members also received over $1 million from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to train 140 nurses over two years to provide in-home care for children and adults who require intensive, continuous skilled nursing support in order to remain at home.

Community engagement

The IHP's IMPACT Practice Center, clinical education and pro bono center on campus, houses the Ruth Sleeper Nursing Center for Clinical Education and Wellness. The Nursing Center is a nurse-led screening, referral, education, and support resource for Charlestown and Greater Boston-area residents. Free support services are provided by MGH Institute nurse practitioner students under the supervision of licensed nursing faculty. A mobile van, designed to eliminate transportation-related access to care barriers, enhances the adult primary care services offered through the Sleeper Center by allowing prelicensure and advanced practice nursing students to engage directly with communities at client residences and various community-based sites. The Center for Climate Change, Climate Justice, and Health engages in education, scholarship, and advocacy to lead nurses and other health professionals to address the health effects of climate change.

Finances

The SON's annual operating budget is developed by the SON Dean in consultation with the IHP's administrative leadership. The annual budget and long-range financial planning are aligned with the IHP's strategic goals and are based on enrollment projections, faculty and staff requirements, and strategic initiatives. The Dean also collaborates with the other academic deans and administrative leaders to help establish tuition and fee rates. Tuition and fees are the largest revenue source for the SON, which totaled $26 million in FY23 and was accompanied by over $4.4 million in financial aid, tuition awards, and preceptor educational vouchers. The largest expenses for the school are salary and fringe benefits. The SON is also supported by several endowed funds and other gifts.

Qualifications and personal characteristics

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following competencies, knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Education and licensure

• An earned doctorate from an accredited institution with at least one graduate degree in nursing (Ph.D. is highly desirable).
• Currently licensed or eligible for licensure as a registered nurse in Massachusetts
• Track record of achievement in education, scholarship, and service, which supports appointment as Professor within the SON.

Professional experience

• At least five years of experience as a senior administrative leader in higher education (e.g., dean, associate dean, department chair; leadership role in academic nursing or higher education administration).
• Successful leadership with a record of consistent performance and skilled administration with the ability to steward financial resources, fundraise, lead growth and entrepreneurial pursuits.
• Commitment to a culture of trust, transparency, accountability, and fairness in administration and school governance.
• Effective recruitment, retention, and development of faculty, staff, and students.
• Knowledge of the administrative operations of academic nursing programs.
• Experience in the development and successful implementation of academic programs in nursing and/or other health professions.
• Knowledge of accreditation standards and a track record of successful outcomes with quality assurance for academic nursing programs.
• Familiarity with the U.S. healthcare system and emerging trends, operations, and current issues.

Personal characteristics

• Strategic thinker
• Transparent and persuasive communicator
• Effective collaborator and consensus builder
• Passionate teacher, mentor, and coach
• Skilled organizer who can navigate complex, dynamic environments
• Reflective recipient of critical feedback in the service of continuous quality improvement

Elaine Tagliareni, EdD, RN, CNE, FAAN, Professor and Director of Faculty Development in the School of Nursing ( etagliareni@mghihp.edu ), and Peter Cahn, PhD, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs ( pcahn@mghihp.edu ), are chairing the search and are available to answer questions from potential applicants.

For consideration, please submit a CV and cover letter describing your relevant experience and qualifications and how they would support your success in the Dean role through the MGB careers portal or directly to Jihan Scimemi, executive talent acquisitions partner for Mass General Brigham, at jscimemi1@mgb.org . The search committee will prioritize candidates whose credentials are received by April 15 with an anticipated start date after July 1, 2024.