August 26, 2009 — Coral Gables — Rosa Gonzalez-Guarda, Ph.D., M.S.N., M.P.H., R.N., C.P.H., assistant professor School of Nursing and Health Studies, has been selected to participate in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Committee on the Future of Nursing. The new initiative aims at finding solutions to the issues facing the profession as well as ways to improve healthcare for all Americans.
The committee will evaluate challenges to the nursing-profession, such as the nursing shortage and lack of educational capacity for nurses, and propose innovative educational models to help the expansion of nursing education and delivery of care. The new initiative will also examine ways to reduce costs, improve access to health systems and the quality of patient care. The findings will be presented in the fall of 2010 providing a “blue print for action” intended to affect public policy for healthcare at the local, state and federal levels.
The IOM/RWJF committee is led by Donna E. Shalala, Ph.D., president of the University of Miami, who served as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, from 1993-2001. Joining Gonzalez-Guarda on the committee is a distinguished group of researchers, clinicians, academicians and leaders of industry and non-profit organizations from around the nation.
“I feel honored to be able to work alongside leaders in nursing, public health and health care delivery to help shape the future of nursing in the U.S.,” said Gonzalez-Guarda. “The participation on this committee provides me with a unique opportunity to study critical issues affecting both the nursing profession and public health and to collaborate with the other committee members to make unbiased and evidence-informed recommendations that will hopefully impact policy and practice.”
Gonzalez-Guarda is an assistant professor at the UM School of Nursing and Health Studies where she is co-investigator of several research projects, including: “SEPA II: HIV Prevention Intervention Reducing Health Disparities among Hispanic Women,” and “Project VIDA (Violence, Intimate Relationships, and Drugs among Latinos).” She is also the principal investigator of a study exploring the cultural factors that may serve as common risk or protective factors for substance abuse, domestic violence and risky sexual behaviors among Hispanics.
In 2008, Gonzalez-Guarda received a Ph.D. from the UM Interdepartmental Program (Nursing, Epidemiology & Psychology). She obtained a M.S.N. (Master of Science in Nursing) in Community Health Nursing from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and a M.P.H.(Master of Public Health) from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2005. Gonzalez-Guarda graduated with a B.S.N. from Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies in 2002.
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About the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies
Established in 1948 as South Florida’s first collegiate nursing program, the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami has a distinguished tradition of preparing nurses to provide compassionate, quality care to local, national and international communities. Nursing students at the undergraduate and graduate levels are educated by renowned scholars and exposed to a broad range of clinical experiences and cutting-edge research. In February 2005, the School expanded its program offerings to include the University of Miami’s Health Science program and changed its name to the School of Nursing and Health Studies. The expanded curriculum includes programs leading to the B.S.N., M.S.N., D.N.P. and Ph.D. degrees as well as the B.S. in Health Science degree. http://www.miami.edu/sonhs
