Nursing faculty inducted as fellows in National Academies of Practice
Binghamton University Decker School of Nursing Assistant Professor Judith Quaranta ’79, MS ’98, PhD ’13, and Director of Graduate Programs Nicole Rouhana, MS ’95, PhD ’11, were inducted as fellows in the National Academies of Practice (NAP) during the NAP 2017 Annual Meeting & Forum, March 17-18 in Philadelphia.
Founded in 1981, NAP is a nonprofit organization representing 14 healthcare professions that advise healthcare policy makers in the federal government. Membership in the NAP is extended to practitioners who have excelled in their profession and are dedicated to furthering practice, scholarship and policy in support of interprofessional care.
“It’s a privilege to be accepted into the National Academies of Practice,” Quaranta says. “I am confident I will be able to contribute to and advance the mission and vision of NAP through scholarship and practice.”
A pediatric nurse who specializes in working with children with asthma, Quaranta joined the DSON faculty in 1998. She incorporates interprofessional care into her practice, teaching and scholarship, including implementing interprofessional educational experiences for undergraduate and graduate nursing students and partnering with a wide range of healthcare professionals throughout the community to impact health outcomes for children with asthma.
Quaranta’s commitment to interprofessional education (IPE) and practice extends beyond her focus on asthma. She has established relationships with members of other healthcare disciplines to promote and enhance healthcare and health status to individuals, families and groups, working closely with Binghamton’s Social Work Department and Graduate School of Education to address the needs of grandparent-headed households in raising their grandchildren. Further, she is an active member of the University’s Interprofessional Education Curriculum and Assessment Committee, which is integrating IPE into Binghamton’s curricula.
“Dean Mario Ortiz precedes Judy and me as a NAP member, and Vicky Rizzo [chair of Binghamton University’s Social Work Department within the College of Community and Public Affairs] was also chosen this year,” Rouhana says. “I’m proud and extremely honored to be included in such a distinguished and influential group of healthcare professionals.”
Rouhana is a nurse practitioner and nurse-midwife who joined the DSON faculty in 2013. For 30 years she has been caring for vulnerable women and children in disadvantaged communities. She has developed and maintains interprofessional collaborations with other healthcare providers and members of the community, with the goal of providing patient-centered care.
In addition, Rouhana is a founding member of Binghamton’s Interprofessional Education Curriculum and Assessment Committee, composed of members from nursing, pharmacy and social work. The group has developed curricula and clinical experiences that will provide opportunities for graduate students from these three disciplines to learn with and about each other. The IPE courses begin in the fall.
“Combining my interest in IPE and years of caring for the underserved, I look forward to contributing to the development of a new generation of healthcare providers who demonstrate mutual respect and collaborative relationships to improve the health outcomes of people in rural New York state,” Rouhana says.