Beth Bolick Selected for Prestigious Executive Nurse Fellow Program

Beth Bolick, DNP, PNP-BC,
CPNP-AC, CCRN

Congratulations to Beth Bolick, DNP, PNP-BC, CPNP-AC, CCRN, who has been named one of only 20 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows for 2012.  Bolick, coordinator of the Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program (AC PNP) at Rush University College of Nursing, joins a select group of nurse leaders chosen to participate in this three-year leadership development program.   Bolick joins more than 200 nurse leaders that have participated in this exceptional leadership development program since it began in 1998.  According to a press release from RWJF, the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program strengthens the leadership capacity of nurses who aspire to shape healthcare locally and nationally.  Bolick, and her colleagues selected for this prestigious program will receive coaching, education and support to strengthen their ability to lead teams and organizations that are improving our nation’s health and healthcare. 

“Beth Bolick is a world-class leader, innovator, and advocate in the advancement of pediatric nurses and healthcare.  I am thrilled that she has been selected for the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow program.  She has worked hard for this opportunity and I know she will take full advantage of the program and will continue to be an integral leader in the improvement of our nation’s health and healthcare.  Beth is a close friend and I value my relationship with her and Rush University College of Nursing.” – Jill Gilliland, President and CEO of Melnic Consulting Group

Bolick joined Rush University in 1995 to design and implement the AC PNP program, which now ranks 5th for Pediatric Nurse Practitioner programs in U.S. News & World Report.  Bolick was a nurse practitioner in Rush University Medical Center's pediatric intensive care unit for more than ten years. Prior to that, she was the clinical educator and interim nurse manager of the Emergency Department at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago (now the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago), and began her career in pediatrics at the Milwaukee Children's Hospital (now the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin).

Bolick is a member of the project team for the state of Illinois Emergency Medical Services for Children, and helped make the program the model for facility recognition for pediatric centers nationwide. She has worked with the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board to design and implement the national certification examination for AC PNPs, and is active in practice analysis and examination item writing. Bolick collaborated with the Emergency Nurses Association to provide the Emergency Nurses Pediatric Course, and was the chairperson for the organization's pediatric committee. She is on the Professional Issues Committee of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and co-edited the recently published text, Pediatric Acute Care: A Guide for Interprofessional Practice. More than 200 contributors from across the United States and Canada representing more than 20 disciplines came together for the work.  Bolick recently led a writing team of AC PNP academic program directors and employers in preparing two articles The Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner: Curriculum Overview and Matching Nurse Practitioner Education and Certification to Pediatric Acute Care Population Need: Recommendations for Employers. 

Executive Nurse Fellows hold senior leadership positions and continue in their current positions during their fellowships.  Each fellow will develop, plan and implement a new initiative to improve health care delivery in her or his community.

The Executive Nurse Fellows (ENF) program is located at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), and co-directed by: Linda Cronenwett, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Beerstecher Blackwell Term Professor and former dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and David Altman, PhD, executive vice president of Research, Innovation and Product Development at CCL.

For more information about the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program visit:  www.ExecutiveNurseFellows.org.
Reference:  RWJF News Release on August 7, 2012

To learn more about Pediatric Nursing Programs and jobs visit Melnic Consulting Group or contact: Jill Gilliland 800-886-7906 jill@melnic.com