Dean Davidson: Welcome to Spring

The newness of spring always brings energy and excitement, but this year may top the charts for renewed hope. Even amid the extraordinary challenges of the past year, our students have continued to excel, faculty have led the way in equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and alumni across the world are helping to treat patients and advocate for evidence-based practice. I am incredibly proud of how our school has persevered, and this issue of Johns Hopkins Nursing is just a glimpse into the exciting future ahead.

In “Promise Fulfilled: A New Pinkard,” you will get a glimpse inside the glass façade of our newly renovated Pinkard Building and be dazzled by sun-flooded research, learning, study, and work areas designed to foster innovation and collaboration.

In “Diversity Is a Living Thing,” we showcase how inclusion and a culture of integration have become centr­­­­al to the mission of our school. From alumni like Athena Ford, addressing the gap in LGBTQI-specific nursing content, to Research Program Manager Sandra Panchalingam, whose volunteerism earned her the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award, we embrace the uniqueness of every individual while realizing that it’s our humanity that ties us all together in the nursing profession.

Elsewhere, you will meet Sharon Trivino, new associate dean for Development and Alumni Relations; read a letter about the year in COVID care from Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Deborah Baker; and learn about our master’s programs’ No. 1 U.S. News ranking for 2022. (Our DNP is now No. 2 nationally.)

As many of you know, this will be the final issue I will get to introduce as dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. I want to thank each and every one of you for supporting our school and allowing me the incredible honor of being part of this community. I am proud of all of you and our achievements. The future is bright, and you can be sure that Zoom will bring us all together again soon.

Until then, be safe and well, and enjoy the new issue of Johns Hopkins Nursing.

Patricia DavidsonPatricia M. Davidson
PhD, MEd, RN, FAAN
Dean, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing