Beth Ann Swan '80
The incredible view that Beth Ann Swan '80 BSN, MSN, Ph.D., RN, FAAN commands from her current post as the associate dean and vice president for academic practice partnerships and the Charles P. and Peggy Evans Endowed Distinguished Professor in Simulation and Innovation at the Emory University School of Nursing in Atlanta could not be more contrary to her vantage point as an undergraduate student at Holy Family University. She also serves as the co-director of the University's Woodruff Health Sciences Center Interprofessional Education and Clinical Practice Office.
"I was the fainter," Swan quipped as she recalled her time in Dr. Andrea Hollingsworth's maternity rotation at Holy Family. "I fainted day one, day two, day three and finally she said, 'You are not going to pass this course unless you can stay vertical for at least 10 minutes in this rotation.' They even thought I was having seizures, but I brought the comic relief every week at Frankford-Torresdale Hospital."
Swan will be among 23 nationwide inductees into the prestigious Academy of Nursing Education during a ceremony at the National League for Nursing (NLN) Summit on September 30, 2023, in Washington, DC., though her daughter's wedding will prevent her from being in the spotlight. "I told my daughter 'You are ruining my life by getting married'," she joked.
The rise of the good-natured and down-to-earth Swan, a Northeast Philadelphia native and firstgeneration college student, from that hospital floor to the heights she now enjoys is the stuff of Hollywood movies – think Rocky.
"I would have never left Philadelphia in 2020 if it wasn't for this opportunity at the Emory University School of Nursing," she said. "It has really been an honor and a privilege, and I just feel like I am here with this unprecedented opportunity at the number one nursing school in the country. For me, it is just a dream.
"I love Holy Family University and I took so much away from my time there – a love of learning, curiosity and perseverance," Swan said. "I have stayed in touch with many of the Sisters. My experiences have always stayed with me. When I was at Thomas Jefferson University (where she was a professor and Dean) our celebration was always Rocky. We achieved some goals; we ran up the Art Museum steps.
We did something else; we got our picture taken in the South Philly Italian Market. If you would have told me when I entered Holy Family University that I would be doing all this, I would have said, 'No, I'm going to be working at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on an orthopedic floor, and that's where I am going to be my whole life.' It comes back to that perseverance and the 'eye of the tiger.' I always bring Rocky with me."
Swan has called upon that Philadelphia grit to develop into a reflective and participatory leader, a visionary and a luminary, like those she has long admired and respected and is now joining in the Academy of Nursing Education.
"Most of all, I think I have carved out this niche of being a change agent," she said.
At Emory, Swan is leading a lot of forwardthinking around simulation, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. She is involved with "Project NeLL," a powerful suite of apps for teaching, learning, and practicing nursing data science. The technology provides a search data repository that aids nurses in finding innovative solutions. She is using virtual reality to train nurses about care transitions, social determinants of health and what patients find when they get home after a hospitalization.
"I call it the 'black box of care coordination'," she said. "Someone goes to the hospital and then every domino falls. We just haven't been able to crack that nut to say, 'what's it going to take when I am leaving the hospital? Am I going to have a safe care transition? Am I going to be left alone to coordinate my own care? My mother's care? My spouse's care? My children's care? 'We need to be sure that every person has the same support and care around their care coordinators and their care transitions."
Swan also is ensuring that the wisdom, experience and expertise that she has amassed over five decades of a truly accomplished career is shared out with the next generation of nurses. "I'm not sure you can be a nurse without compassion, but you also have to be knowledgeable," she said. "Nursing is hard work, but it is also rewarding work. Ask a lot of questions. You need to be open to the infinite possibilities that exist in nursing. I tell students that they need to find joy in their work.
They need to take time for themselves, practice selfcare and embrace change. And above all else, when we are out in the work place, we need to find common ground. I think we saw during the pandemic the importance of that spirit of finding common ground in the worst possible situation."
And as Swan can attest, it is always wise to bring a little Rocky with you.
"If we know anything about nursing, it's that it is constantly changing. You have to be willing to go for that ride."
Or that run up those iconic Art Museum steps. The view is spectacular from there.