Welcome to the Yale School of Nursing (YSN).

The end of one thing is often the beginning of another, and so it is with the YSN centennial. Our celebration of that event concludes as this bulletin is being published. But the end of the centennial means it is the beginning of another YSN century of excellence in nursing education, research, and community service.

As I said when the centennial launched, we—all of us, every person at YSN—are stewards of a remarkable tradition of care that brings better health to all people. As former president Salovey wrote in a recent issue of the Yale Alumni Magazine, “The history of nursing in the U.S. is deeply intertwined with the history of the Yale School of Nursing. Founded in 1923 with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, YSN was the first school within a university to offer nurses a full educational experience rather than an apprenticeship program.” We have led from our inception, and we will now lead into the future.

Yale nurses and midwives exemplify the modern profession. The nurses we are educating today will be tomorrow’s primary care clinicians, researchers, policy makers, healthcare executives, advocates, educators, and leaders of non-governmental organizations. They will work locally, nationally, and internationally to not only treat illness but also to promote wellness.

We are the beneficiaries of the past; we are also the envisioners of the future. We can do what we do today in large part because of the nursing educators and their students who have gone before us. While we look back with pride on all that has been accomplished, it is even more important that we look ahead and be intentional about creating the future of healthcare. This means being leaders and advocates. Without leadership and advocacy from nurses, the future will be defined by others. The nursing perspective is unique, important, and essential. We need to be seated at every table where resources are allocated, policies made, and the future shaped.

Our students, alumni, and faculty are creating opportunities that have the promise of making healthcare more accessible and eliminating disparities in health outcomes based on race, socioeconomic status, and place of residence. But reaching that goal requires that we as a profession, and each of us as individuals, decide to be leaders and advocates.

My first year as dean of YSN has been a whirlwind of activity, engagement, listening, and learning. I’ve had the opportunity to speak at length with faculty, students, and staff. This has already resulted in important changes that are creating an environment of inclusivity, participation, and shared decision making.

I’ve heard so many hopes about what we as a school of nursing and we as a profession can and will do. It is now up to us, collectively, to turn those wishes into realities. Some will be easy to accomplish, some more difficult, but none are out of reach.

My first year as dean has also been energizing. I see in everyone I’ve met enormous potential for YSN being a leader in transforming American healthcare from a system that focuses on illness to one that promotes wellness across the entire lifespan.

Azita Emami, Ph.D., M.S.N., B.S.N., R.N.T., RN, FAAN
Dean, Yale School of Nursing
Linda Koch Lorimer Professor of Nursing