The Excitement Is Building

A couple of issues ago, we let you all in on a little non-secret. At Alumni Weekend 2017, we made it official, unveiling brand-new designs for an addition to the school that will bring research collaborators closer together, foster more interprofessional collaboration, and even further enhance the student experience at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Always most important: It will mean better-prepared nurses and improved health care.

We wanted our alumni, who of course are the best ambassadors, mentors, and representatives of what the school is about, to have the first look. If your classmates have not done so already, now we are ready to share the story of our future with you.

The physical details came together a bit late for this issue, but you can find the latest information at building4jhunursing.org. Some parts might look familiar, but more heavy-duty thinking and planning have brought the particulars better into focus. And it’s going to be a stunning space, bright and welcoming to global researchers as well as our colleagues and community in East Baltimore. We are building a better mousetrap, as it were, and fully expect the world to beat a path to that front door.

Of course it isn’t that easy. Construction brings challenges and inconveniences. Planning for them is as essential as how Bolt A fits into Girder C. Campus Operations Manager Sabrina Scarborough recently shared a good reminder for all involved, stressing that “under construction” will be the state of many students’ entire stay with us. This is the memory that they will take away. So we must make sure that their time here is exciting, enriching, and not just thoughts completed between jackhammering. And we will, welcoming them back as alumni one day—as early as 2020—to the “house the nurse did build.”

Independence Chair

Recently, I had the immense pleasure of installing Professor Nancy Glass as the new Independence Chair of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. This is a position from which she will help shape the future of nursing education here and elsewhere. We are thrilled that she would accept the challenge.

A renowned global researcher as well as an esteemed colleague, mentor, and friend, Dr. Glass is also featured in our main package of articles on the importance of global nursing, a cause near and dear to our hearts as well as hers.

Please enjoy the Fall/Winter 2017 issue of Johns Hopkins Nursing, and look for more building details and images in subsequent issues as we move together toward a presence at North Wolfe and McElderry streets that keeps the school at the very forefront of nursing education and research.