Kathleen G. Burke, PhD, RN, CENP, FAAN
Nurses play a key role in delivering excellent patient care.
Kathleen Burke ensures that nurses in the Penn Medicine Health System and nursing students at Penn Nursing have the necessary opportunities to develop professionally and build leadership skills. As corporate director of nursing professional development and innovation for the Penn Medicine Health System, Dr. Burke provides strategic leadership for more than 7,000 nurses. Professional development programs range from one of the first nursing residency programs nationwide to a Distinguished Nurse Clinician Academy.
“I highlight the key role of nurses in providing excellent patient care and provide leadership opportunities for nurses and nursing students.”
Education
- PhD, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing , 2001
- MSN , Widener University, 1983
- BSN , Pennsylvania State University , 1976
Teaching
The evidence-based Nursing Residency Program supports new-to-practice nurses during their first 12 months on the job with continuing education, coaching, and support. Each year, up to 300 nurses go through the program, and 90% of them stay in their jobs. Penn’s Nursing Residency program is one of a few accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
The Distinguished Nurse Clinician Academy, launched in 2016, recognizes nurses nominated by their peers who exemplify the highest standards of clinical excellence and professionalism. The distinguished nurses mentor other nurses and participate in professional development programs. Distinguished Nurse Clinician Academy leaders collaborate with the Academy of Masters Clinicians, a similar Penn program for physicians, to promote excellent clinical care system-wide.
Research
Dr. Burke and her team also generate research and best practices on educating nurses in a practice setting. In a recent study, the team used the Delphi consensus-building methodology to identify 186 nursing competencies required to provide safe, high-quality care in today’s current complex health system. Next steps include refining the key competencies and developing professional development programs to help Penn Medicine Health System nurses develop or enhance these competencies.
Opportunities to Learn and Collaborate at Penn Nursing
As assistant dean of clinical nurse learning and innovation at Penn Nursing, Dr. Burke provides strategic leadership in developing innovative learning initiatives to address the practice to education gap and build academic-practice partnerships. Inter-professional teamwork, required for excellent patient care, is a key focus of innovative learning initiatives.
Dr. Burke developed and co-directs along with medical school faculty member Jennifer Myers MD, “Principles and Practice of Healthcare Quality Improvement” (NURS612), the first inter-professional graduate course on this topic. Graduate nursing students and medical students learn the principles and tools of quality improvement and patient safety and work together to solve problems. Faculty from Penn Nursing and the Perelman School of Medicine co-teach the course, which is part of the Nursing and Health Care Administration Graduate Nursing Program.
Students in nursing, pharmacy, medicine, social work, and healthcare administration take another course that Dr. Burke co directs, “Systems Thinking in Patient Safety” (NURS650). Also part of the Nursing and Health Care Administration Graduate Nursing Program, Dr. Burke co-teaches this course with Penn Nursing faculty member Susan K. Keim, MSN, MS, CRNP.
Selected Career Highlights
- Fellow, American Academy of Nursing
- Faculty Advisor and Mentor, Inter-professional Fellowship in Patient Safety, Department of Veteran Affairs
- Faculty Consultant, Quality and Safety in Education
- Certified in Executive Nursing Practice
- Elected Member, Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education board of Directors January 2017
Related News
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Burke to be 2022 Penn Nursing Commencement Speaker
Sheila P. Burke, MPA, BSN, FAAN, an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, will serve as the 2022 Penn Nursing commencement speaker. The May 16, 2022 event at 3:00 PM EST will be the first in-person commencement the School has held in two years.
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Improved indicators needed for SNF/post-acute care
In a new clinical investigation published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Burke, Xu & Ritter examine skilled nursing facility (SNF) outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries with and without a dementia diagnosis. While overall outcomes were similar between groups, cognitive dysfunction at SNF admission was a stronger predictor of outcomes than a diagnosis of dementia. Improved indicators for who will benefit from post-acute care is greatly needed.
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Congratulations to the Class of 2022!
Penn Nursing’s 2022 commencement is in the history books. It was the first in-person graduation held in two years! The graduates, their families, friends, and the Penn Nursing community, gathered at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on May 16, 2022. We celebrated their achievements, their studies, their work, their honors, and we welcomed them among the ranks of the Penn Nursing Alumni.