Tiffany Whitney, a DNP student in the nurse leader/executive program at the UNMC College of Nursing, will gain new insight to patient safety at a unique workshop later this year.
Whitney was selected for the Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety, a four-day program that connects health care workers passionate about patient safety from across the country aiming to empower them with new ideas and skills to improve care delivery. The workshop, held in Breckenridge, Colorado in June, includes sessions on leadership, quality improvement tools, implementation strategies and more.
Currently the manager of the orthopedic surgical unit at Nebraska Medicine, Whitney said the program aligns with her background of participating in quality-improvement projects throughout her nursing career.
When she heard about the academy, Whitney said, “I knew I wanted to learn more.”
Once she did, she said, “I wanted to be able to experience that and bring back what I’ve learned from health care leaders in our nation.”
Liane Connelly, PhD, associate professor and coordinator of the nurse leader/executive program, encouraged Whitney to apply for the opportunity. Whitney’s skillset and attention to patient safety made her a perfect candidate for the program, Dr. Connelly said.
“Tiffany works every day to advance patient care safety,” she said. “Being selected for this academy is a testament to her ongoing work in this very important area of professional practice.”
Through the program, Whitney has set goals to transform health care delivery, network with health care leaders and spread knowledge she learned at the academy to her colleagues. Collaborating with a network of health care professionals from a wide array of backgrounds while learning knew methodologies and approaches to improving health care delivery and patient safety, she said, will help achieve those goals.
“We know today we’re in a nursing shortage, so we have to adapt to what the future of health care is and (adapt) to the limited nurses we have today,” she said. “Networking with other leaders in the U.S. helps us, as leaders, to help our organization and see how we can adapt initiatives into our organization.
“Being able to bring those ideas back is really important, because it emphasizes that we’re not siloed into just our institution, but we’re part of a bigger health care system, and we can impact all of our patients as a nation.”
Whitney said the opportunity will help build on her current leadership role at Nebraska Medicine. She expects the workshop to help her improve both as a leader and as a health care provider.
“Each time I’m in a leadership position, I’ve wanted to learn more, I’ve wanted to keep building on that,” she said. “I don’t know exactly where I see myself in five to 10 years, but I see myself in a leadership position and one that will impact patient safety.”