Academic-Practice Partnerships in Action

Webinar Overview

This Webinar will highlight ten years of an academic-practice partnership between the Boston VA Medical Center and Simmons College. Learn more about this initiative including a six school regional collaboration that parallels the VA Nursing Academy, the development and launch of two dedicated education units, and a new graduate residency program. Projects will be described with tips on how to build and sustain the relationship and partnership initiatives.

This Webinar is hosted by the Academic-Practice Partnership Initiative. For more information on the Academic-Practice Partnership Initiative, visit www.aacn.nche.edu/leading-initiatives/academic-practice-partnerships.

Webinar Speakers

Judy A. Beal, DNSc, RN, FNAP, FAAN
Dean and Professor
School of Nursing and Health Sciences
Simmons College

Dr. Beal has had many leadership roles in her 40 years as a nurse. She currently serves as Professor and Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Simmons College. Dr. Beal has been a leader in nursing education since 1978. As a RWJ Executive Nurse Fellow from 2008-2011, she created a national forum on academic-practice partnership by successfully engaging a national association to identify this issue as a strategic priority. She has served as president, secretary, director and chair in many organizations including: Sigma Theta Tau International, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the Massachusetts Association of Colleges of Nursing (MACN), Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses (MARN), and Yale University Alumni Association. Most recently, she has served as a two term elected board member and is the newly elected secretary of AACN, secretary and vice president of MACN, chair of the MARN Nominations Committee, and co-lead of the RWJF Massachusetts Action Coalition. Dr. Beal is widely published with more than 100 peer reviewed articles. Her well- funded program of research focuses on role development of neonatal nurse practitioners and for the past 15 years on the development of a model of clinical nurse scholars. She is sought after as a regional and national speaker. Dr. Beal is on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing as well as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Nursing, the Journal of Professional Nursing, and Research in Nursing and Health. Dr. Beal is the Vice President of the MA Association of Colleges of Nursing, where she is active in the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s Nursing and Allied Health Initiative. Dr. Beal received her BSN from Skidmore College, her MSN from Yale, and DNSc from Boston University.

Cecilia McVey, BSN, MHA, CNA
Associate Director, Nursing/Patient Service
VA Boston Healthcare System

Cecilia McVey has held progressively responsible leadership positions within VA Nursing Service since beginning her career in 1972. In 1997, she was appointed as Chief, Nursing Service for the former Boston VA Medical Center. Upon the merger of that entity with the West Roxbury division in 1999, she was named Chief, Nursing Service for Integration and subsequently Associate Director for Nursing/Patient Services (ADN/PS) for Boston and West Roxbury. When the Brockton division was reintegrated in June 2000, Mrs. McVey was appointed to her current role of ADN/PS for the entire Boston Healthcare System. In this role, she is accountable for the delivery of nursing care throughout the BHS and the management of nearly 1000 employees at the three main divisions as well as satellite facilities. As a member of the BHS Leadership QUADRAD, she contributes to policy development and decision-making and participates in strategic planning and resource management. Mrs. McVey received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Boston College in 1972, completed a certificate program in Nursing Administration at Clark University in Worcester in 1986, and received her Master of Science in Health Administration from Clark in 1988. She has published several articles in professional journals, and remains certified in Nursing Administration by the American Nurses Association. Her professional memberships include Sigma Theta Tau (National Honor Society of Nursing), the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Association of Registered Nurses, Organization of Nursing Leaders - Massachusetts/Rhode Island, former Vice President of the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs Foundation, the Boston College Nurses Association and the Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs (NOVA), for which she was the National Past President 2008 - 2010. Mrs. McVey currently serves as Co-Chair of the Nurse of the Future Core Competency Committee and was recently appointed to the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) Standards Committee.