Elizabeth Speakman Appointed as Co-Director of the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Education

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Dr. Elizabeth Speakman

PHILADELPHIA, PA (03/29/2012)(readMedia)-- Cherry Hill resident and Thomas Jefferson University's School of Nursing Associate Professor Elizabeth Speakman, EdD, RN, CDE, ANEF, has been appointed as Co-Director of the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Education (JCIPE). In her new role, she will co-lead JCIPE to develop and achieve goals; provide direction in planning, implementing and evaluating interprofessional education (IPE) programs; and develop and administer the annual budget to promote growth in IPE.

Founded in 2007, JCIPE is one of the premier interprofessional education centers in the U.S. The center offers trainings and educational opportunities, provides innovative teaching models and evidence-based practices to help support emerging priorities in healthcare. Among Speakman's many responsibilities, she will facilitate an environment that supports interprofessional education by bringing more individuals and programs to JCIPE and recognize the need for full involvement of all Jefferson health professionals in the activities and projects of the center. "This is an opportunity to be part of an initiative that will redesign how future healthcare is delivered," Speakman says. "The opportunity to co-lead such an endeavor is the opportunity of a life time."

Dr. Speakman is nationally recognized as a leader in education as an elected Board of Governor for the National League for Nursing and a Fellow in the Academy of Nursing Education. At Jefferson, she received the Dean's Faculty Achievement Award for excellence in teaching, research and service. Speakman has served on numerous committees within the university, is a consultant on curriculum development and a reviewer for two peer-reviewed publications, Nursing Education Perspectives and International Journal of Nursing Education. In addition, she has delivered over 70 presentations at local, regional and national venues.

Dr. Speakman received the Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Wagner College in New York in 1980. She earned the Master degree in 1985 and Doctorate in Education in 2000 from Columbia University in New York and a Certificate in Healthcare Education from the Harvard-Macy Institute at Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts.

As a nurse educator for 27 years, Dr. Speakman came to the Jefferson School of Nursing in 2003 and served as Assistant Dean of the RN-to-BSN program and most recently as Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Her practice settings include critical care, post-anesthesia care unit, emergency room and community health nursing. Her research interests center on adult higher education, specifically retention and intervention strategies and community health nursing. She is principal investigator on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, New Careers in Nursing grant which to date has funded $380,000 in scholarships for second degree nursing students enrolled in the one-year Facilitated Accelerated Course Track (FACT) program.