A world-class city filled with art and culture and an incredible campus that offers cutting edge resources–that’s what students receive at Penn Nursing. And that’s just the start. Penn Nursing and the wider university offer something for everyone, as well as a lifelong community.
Penn Nursing is globally known for educating dynamic nurses—because our School values evidence-based science and health equity. That’s where our expertise lies, whether in research, practice, community health, or beyond. Everything we do upholds a through-line of innovation, encouraging our exceptional students, alumni, and faculty share their knowledge and skills to reshape health care.
Penn Nursing students are bold and unafraid, ready to embrace any challenge that comes their way. Whether you are exploring a career in nursing or interested in advancing your nursing career, a Penn Nursing education will help you meet your goals and become an innovative leader, prepared to change the face of health and wellness.
Penn Nursing is the #1-ranked nursing school in the world. Its highly-ranked programs help develop highly-skilled leaders in health care who are prepared to work alongside communities to tackle issues of health equity and social justice to improve health and wellness for everyone.
Penn Nursing’s rigorous academic curricula are taught by world renowned experts, ensuring that students at every level receive an exceptional Ivy League education. From augmented reality classrooms and clinical simulations to coursework that includes experiential global travel to clinical placements in top notch facilities, a Penn Nursing education prepares our graduates to lead.
Biobehavioral Health Sciences
How can we use what we learn about the lives of patients to improve our ability to care for them? In the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences (BHS) we look at physical, psychosocial, and behavioral health from multiple perspectives, including biological, social, political, and historical.
About the Department
Nancy A. Hodgson, PhD, RN, FAAN Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing Chair, Biobehavioral Health Sciences
Our mission
The mission of the BHS Department is to apply our expertise in conceptual and empirical methodologies to enhance patient care through physical, psychosocial, and behavioral health interventions. The BHS Department faculty use multiple perspectives to advance scientific knowledge, including biological, sociocultural, political, ethical, and historical to our research, practice, and interdisciplinary education. As an underlying framework, the Department is committed to social justice in promoting health equity, diminishing disparities, and upholding the ethical principle of respect for persons in all aspects of patient care, teaching, research, and service.
Finding new solutions
We approach healthcare from all angles, bringing cultural awareness and environmental variables into the patient care discussion. Our teaching methods focus on how biological, behavioral, and sociocultural factors influence health care and patient outcomes.
Biobehavioral Health research is in high demand today and covers such topics as health behaviors, genetics and epigenetics, chronic disease, bioethics, global health, physiological processes, environmental exposures, and health disparities.
Developing healthcare leaders
We mentor and support our community of scholars and strive to develop leaders who use their knowledge to enhance patient care, symptom management, and the health of the public.
A groundbreaking study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), recently published in Innovation in Aging, has shown promising results in improving the quality of life (QOL) and sleep quality in individuals living with memory problems. The research delves into the efficacy of a nonpharmacological approach in a trial known as the Healthy Patterns Sleep Program.
Penn Nursing is a proud sponsor of Malnutrition Awareness Week, September 16-20, 2024! Throughout this time, Penn faculty, staff, students, and alumni can access nutrition and malnutrition related ASPEN webinars at no cost. The various sessions reinforce the significance of nutrition in medical treatment and educate community members on the importance of discussing their nutrition status with their healthcare professionals. Continuing education credits are available through these webinars when you attend them LIVE. Please register using the code MAW-PennNursing.
Penn Nursing to Co-host: The Challenges of Providing Care in Conflict Webinar
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) and the American Nurses Association along with Penn Nursing, the UC Irvine Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, and the Yale School of Nursing are hosting a webinar (September 18; 12:00 PM EST; Virtual) on the impact of conflict and crises on nurses and communities, and what we as a nursing community can do to help. The webinar is FREE. Please register in advance.
New Chair Appointment for Penn Nursing Professor
Salimah H. Meghani, PhD, MBE, RN, FAAN, Professor of Nursing and Palliative Care in Penn Nursing’s Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, has been appointed the Carol E. Ware Professor in Mental Health Nursing. The appointment was effective July 1, 2024.
Unveiling the Brain’s Reward Circuitry
A research team – co-led by Penn Nursing – has made a significant breakthrough in understanding the complex neural circuitry underlying reward and addiction by identifying 34 distinct subtypes of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain region involved in pleasure and motivation. The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports by Nature, offer insights into the diversity of these neurons and their potential roles in substance use disorders.
