On a Mission: How Academic Nurse Leaders are Shaping the Future of Health Care
Academic nurse leaders Elizabeth Salt and Jake Higgins are determined to use their knowledge and skills to help other nurses confidently lead health care teams in Kentucky and across the nation.
Their work—in classroom teaching, student mentorship, academic research and health care improvement—exemplifies the exceptional versatility of the academic nurse leader. And as health care demands intensify and technological innovations multiply, it’s clear they and other academic nurse leaders will play central roles in the continuing evolution of health care in the U.S.
Academic nurse leaders like Drs. Salt and Higgins serve as vital links between hospitals and nursing colleges, helping to reform nursing education to meet patient needs. They can also provide health care expertise to communities struggling with complex health and social issues. In addition, they often mentor and instruct nursing students who want to conduct academic research and use their findings to improve health conditions.
“Nurse leaders have multiple functions and roles, but they are almost always people who are problem-solvers, people who want to grow the science of nursing to improve patient care,” says Darlene Welsh, assistant dean of BSN Program Studies, PhD, MSN, RN, FNAP. “It’s a role that is constantly evolving because nursing is constantly evolving—and is crucial to the advancement of our profession.”
For Drs. Salt and Higgins, their diverse clinical and academic roles allow them to provide a unique perspective they hope will inspire their nursing students, colleagues and others to rethink what a nurse can be.
“When people think of the role of nurses, they can have a limiting view,” says Salt, PhD, RN, APRN, chair of UK College of Nursing’s faculty council. “But people are starting to see nurses as trusted partners in improving communities’ health care. They are starting to understand nurses will not just be a part
of the team, they will lead the team.”
Higgins, PhD, RN, CCRN-K, feels an urgency about his work and the work of all nurses in leadership.
“The solutions to improving health care are coming from the front line; they are coming from nurses,” says Dr. Higgins, who also serves as president of the Delta Psi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International. “It surprises me that more people don’t see the importance of listening to nurses and learning from their work with patients. But I believe that is changing; we are on the edge of a major shift.”
A Job Like No Other
When Dr. Higgins got into nursing as an undergraduate student at the University of Kentucky, he quickly realized he wanted to go as far as possible in the field. After graduating with his BSN, he spent five years in the trauma intensive care unit at UK HealthCare and then launched into doctoral studies.
As he progressed, Dr. Higgins realized there was an unmet need in his unit: a nurse who knew how to use data and research to improve patient care. He presented the need to UK HealthCare’s director of Nursing Professional Development, Kathy Isaacs, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, who then named Dr. Higgins as the hospital’s first nurse scientist.
In this role, Dr. Higgins has helped trauma nurses develop several new patient care protocols, including one for trauma patients suffering from alcohol withdrawal.
“It was uncharted waters,” says Dr. Higgins, recalling his early days as a nurse scientist. “There was no job description, let alone anyone to emulate in the role. So, I focused on building relationships with trauma clinical staff and fostering an environment that supported clinical inquiry.”
When Dr. Isaacs witnessed Higgins’ success in the trauma unit, she decided to create more nurse scientist positions in other departments.
"Great leaders have the keen ability to identify problems or needs and then successfully execute solutions to address them. This is exactly what Dr. Higgins exhibited,” said Dr. Issacs. “Thanks to his initiative, we now have nurses intentionally reviewing patient outcome data, vetting best practices and adjusting practice standards. This just goes to show the value of having academic nurse leaders in clinical health care settings and why their role is critical to both the success of the nursing profession and the continuous improvement in patient outcomes.”
Committed to Service
Dr. Salt compares the mission of an academic nurse leader with that of a land grant higher education institution such as the University of Kentucky: to produce research that improves society, to teach and mentor the next generation of leaders, and to serve local citizens and the communities in
which they reside.
“Helping people is at the core of who I am; it goes beyond my nurse leader title,” she says. “I prefer not to think in terms of my title, but what I can give to my community, what I can do to improve the world in which I live.”
For Dr. Salt, working as a nurse leader means dedicating much of her time to training the next generation of nurses. She is the director of the Undergraduate Honors in Nursing Program and serves on the Council for the Advancement of Student Scholarly Activity. Dr. Welsh, who has worked closely with Dr. Salt for years, has high praise for her colleague’s commitment to student academic achievement and for her ability to think big.
“Elizabeth is often an early adoptor, one of the first to grab onto a new mode of thinking or doing,” says Dr. Welsh. “She mentors some of our brightest and most ambitious students, and she doesn’t waste a minute with them—she pushes them and guides them. She has high expectations for them, and they rise to those expectations.”
Dr. Salt relishes opportunities to innovate and think outside the box. When the College faces a complex problem and a group of administrators and academics convene to find a solution, Dr. Salt is often at the table. She is perceived as a deep thinker—someone who will consider all angles of a problem and then look for angles she might have missed.
She also serves on several high-profile boards, including the Citizen Foster Care Review Board in Fayette County, where she lives, and Kentucky’s Child Fatality and Near Fatality External Review Panel.
“We nurses have the training and expertise to be helpful to our communities,” says Dr. Salt. “When I sit on a local board, I am there as a citizen, but I am also there as a nurse. I think it’s important to share my expertise, and I encourage my students to do the same—to take a chair at the table and make their voices heard.”
Looking Ahead
The wide range of health care roles that competent academic nurse leaders can fill is impressive. It is the main reason the demand for these types of professionals will significantly grow in the coming years.
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), which produced a 2022 report on the state of PhD in nursing programs in the U.S, there must be more support for nurses and nursing students considering a doctorate. The report recommends that colleges create streamlined and hybrid programs and expand financial aid access. It also encourages colleges to implement marketing and communication strategies to recruit more men and minorities, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“Preparing more nurses to engage in scientific inquiry and dissemination is essential to advancing the nursing profession and bridging the gaps in health care,” said Dr. Deborah Trautman, AACN president and chief executive officer. “AACN is committed to ... advocating for more resources for PhD programs and ... to creating a more diverse community of nurse scholars.”
Drs. Welsh and Isaacs believe it is vital for organizations like the AACN to encourage nurses to pursue career trajectories outside of traditional roles.
“Nursing is at a very pivotal moment in time,” says Dr. Isaacs. “We have proven during the COVID-19 pandemic how agile nursing can be. Now is the time to push forward to advance our profession, and academic nurse leaders will be at the head of that push. The nurse who understands the academic and clinical setting has the right skill set to empower those in the nursing field and help us all strive for continuous improvement in the outcomes of our patients.”
In the near future, Dr. Welsh sees opportunities for academic nurse leaders to bridge the gap between hospital care and community care, especially as the U.S. population ages. “This is an area where nursing could develop and grow, and academic nurse leaders could lead the way,” she says.
At the College, Drs. Salt and Higgins see opportunities to groom nursing students for exciting futures as academic nurse leaders. When they teach and mentor students, they often discuss their work with them and explain the benefits of a role that allows for career flexibility and wideranging
research project management. Still, Dr. Salt cautions that some students don’t think of pursuing a PhD in nursing because they haven’t encountered many academic nurses. She believes exposure is key to educating students about this career option.
“There’s still work to be done to give nurses and nursing students the confidence to make their voices heard,” says Dr. Salt. “Nurses have the vision, but they still don’t believe it’s their role to advocate. Our communities need nurses who are optimizing their leadership potential.”
