LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rosalie Mainous, PhD, ARNP, NNP-BC, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Research at the University of Louisville School of Nursing, is one of 20 recipients of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation® (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellowship focused on expanding the role of nurses to lead change in the U.S. health care system.
Now in its 12th year, the three-year fellowship program provides extensive leadership development for nurses in executive roles in public or community health, science and research, corporate health, academia, government or military health service. Fellows remain in their current positions while they receive training, mentoring and the opportunity to implement innovative health care strategies in their communities.
As part of the fellowship, Mainous will have an opportunity to design and implement a leadership project. She plans to focus on decreasing birth defects in the thirteen state Appalachian region.
“I am honored and excited to have this opportunity. I have long been committed to the prevention of birth defects and to the care and treatment of those infants born with a birth defect. I look forward to developing a project that impacts educational competencies and subsequent health care delivery in Appalachia,” Mainous said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every 33 babies born each year in the United States has some form of birth defect which is the leading cause of death in infants. Mainous has spent much of her career studying and teaching in this area. She is an associate faculty in the Birth Defects Center within the UofL School of Dentistry.
“Nurses provide a unique perspective in the health care system, understanding both the patient experience and the way policies and procedures affect health outcomes,” said Marilyn P. Chow, DNSc, RN, FAAN, the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows national program director. “We are thrilled to have Dr. Mainous join the 2009 group of fellows. The experience will enable her to bring new skills and resources to improve healthcare in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond.”
The fellowship is supported through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and matching funds from the UofL School of Nursing.
For more about the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program visit: www.enfp-info.org.