Page 30 - SOUTH FLORIDA HOSPITAL NEWS MAY 2021

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New Nursing Consortium of South Florida Leaders

Maria A. Suarez, DNP, MSN, APRN, National Nurses Week: May 6-12

ACNP-BC
Baptist Health South Florida’s Miami Nurses Week is celebrated from May 6-12, 2021, and
Cancer Institute “South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report”
would like to salute nurses across the U.S. and the world.
Dr. Maria A. Suarez is Assistant Vice President of Nursing The following nurses are some of South Florida’s best!
Operations at Baptist Health South Florida’s Miami Cancer
Institute and is President of the Nursing Consortium of
South Florida. Dr. Suarez was previously Assistant Vice Jean Seaver, MSN, RN
President of Advanced Nursing Practice & Academic Affairs at Baptist Health South
Florida and managed the BHSF Scholars Program for several years. Broward Health
Under her direction the Scholars Program, an innovative collaboration between
academic and a clinical partners, grew from producing just a small group of nurse Jean B. Seaver, the Associate Vice President Learning &
graduates annually to one graduating hundreds each year and expanded it to support Development at Broward Health, is the new President-elect of
both entry level and graduate level nursing education. Dr. Suarez was born in Havana, the Nursing Consortium of South Florida. Prior to joining
Cuba and came to Miami when she was two years old. She was first inspired to Broward Health, Seaver was Director of Nursing and Support
become a nurse as a student at Miami Beach Senior High School and she has been a Services/ACNO at Delray Medical Center. She was born in
nurse for more than 30 years. Burlington, Vermont and grew up outside of Boston. She says,
has been an active participant on Nursing Consortium committees since 2007, “I knew I wanted to become a nurse when I was three years old
supporting the growth of Day in the Life of a Nurse™, the Centralized Clinical and went to get my tonsils out.” That early instinct was realized when she graduated
Placement System (CCPS), and other Nursing Consortium initiatives. She says, from Salem State College, Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing.
“Some of the most important things the Consortium does is inspire high school stu- Seaver put herself through school, working all sorts of service jobs from chambermaid to
dents to pursue nursing, links academia to practice, and encourages nurses to get waitress to ice-cream scooper girl at Friendly’s. She later earned a Master of Science in
involved in community engagement by serving on boards. We must also continue fos- Nursing Administration from Florida Atlantic University. She additionally pursued a
tering collaboration between practice and academic institutions to ensure nursing doctorate degree in Educational Leadership. Seaver also holds a Certificate of Training
education is current, to develop advanced practice residency programs, and to and Development from Vanderbilt University. She readily admits, “I really am an advo-
encourage nurses to be educated at the highest level of their profession.” cate for the networking and the learning that comes from participating in the Nursing
Consortium of South Florida ... the sharing and collaboration. The quality of the educa-
tion we put on is really essential to keep our nursing community up to date with current
practices and events … especially coming out of these challenging times.”

W. Jason Dunne, DNP, MN, RN, CNE
Chamberlain University
College of Nursing

Dr. W. Jason Dunne, a leader in nursing education, serves as
Secretary on the Board of Directors of the Nursing Consortium
of South Florida. Dr. Dunne was President of the Miramar
campus of Chamberlain University College of Nursing for the
past five years. This January he was promoted to Senior
Director of Campus Operations for the South Region with
expanded oversight of all the Chamberlain University campuses in Florida and Texas. Dr.
Dunne believes that, "It is important for nurses to be involved in decision making from
the bedside to the board room.” He is also a strong believer in community service and
has served on a variety of voluntary board and advisory positions including the National
League for Nursing Awards Committee, Nurses on Boards Coalition State and National
Integrated Strategies Work Group, and others. As well, he participated in the United Way
- Reading Pals program and Broward School Board – Take Stock in Children Mentorship
program. At an early age, growing up in Canada, he says that his grandparents instilled
in him the importance of giving back to your community. He has been a nurse for 21
years. As an officer on the Nursing Consortium board he will advance new opportunities
for collaboration between leaders in academia and practice. He will also continue to
advocate for programming that exposes youth to nursing careers.

Joanne Masella, EdD, MSN, RN
Nova Southeastern University

Dr. Joanne Masella serves as Treasurer on the Board of
Directors of the Nursing Consortium of South Florida. Dr.
Masella is currently the Assistant Dean for Community
Engagement and Integration at the Nova Southeastern
University Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing. She was
previously Dean and Professor of Nursing at Palm Beach
Atlantic University for 11 years. Dr. Masella was born in
Philadelphia and has been a nurse for 46 years. She started her career as a clinician prior
to moving on to teaching and developing nursing educational programs. As a teacher she
tells students that nursing is both an art and a science. She stresses the value of compas-
sion and love and says patients remember the little things you do, more than your tech-
nical skills. Her car has a bumper sticker that reads “Do Small Things with Great Love”
(Mother Teresa). Dr. Masella shared, “I happen to be a patient myself right now under-
going treatment for breast cancer … experiencing the importance of somebody taking a
moment to say hi, how are you or chat with you.” With the Nursing Consortium she
helped grow Day in the Life of a Nurse™ and other programs. She sees the role of the
Consortium “as essential to marketing the nursing profession, especially to young people
… to gain the next generation of the profession.”

30 May 2021 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News