Mercedes Pérez has completed 100 days as dean of the School of Nursing, position which is not strange to her because she already held it for six years, from 2005 to 2011, when it was still a school until it became School. After three years dedicated to teaching and research, she resumed the position as dean, this 2014-2015 being her seventh year at the head of the academic center.

Although this is not unfamiliar territory, the dean acknowledges that School has undergone important changes, as has the nursing profession, which pose "new and exciting challenges". Here she tells us where School Nursing is headed.

How has School Nursing changed?
In its governance. Now the Boards of Directors are made up of academics and managing directors. The figure of the General Manager and the director of development allow you to carry out projects that you could not consider before, such as the internationalization, beyond a exchange of visits from foreign professors, which was done before. Now you can set up international programs. You have a team dedicated to developing and establishing exchanges of teaching and internship through agreements with other academic centers and health institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania, Birmingham City University or the Mayo Clinic. Just like the internationalization, the new governance team contributes to promotion, institutional relations, communication, etc., and all of this benefits our students. 

deadlineAt summary, everything related to the management of the development of the School , , is now possible. This responds to the natural evolution of the University, which has changed and is more than the academy itself to which we professors dedicate ourselves. It now demands other activities at a level for which these professional profiles are necessary.

What are the objectives of School?
Our objectives are linked to those of the University of Navarra itself, paying special attention to the internationalization, the research and the training of the academic staff.

We have already talked about internationalization. Regarding research, the School of Nursing does not have the long research tradition of other centers, due to the lack of a postgraduate program until a few years ago. The research is nourished by the students of doctorate and the lines of research. We used to do research on an ad hoc basis in the world of attendance. Right now we teach a doctoral program and two masters; Master's Degree of internship Advanced and management in Nursing and the Master's Degree in Palliative Care Nursing. We have national and European research projects, and a good scientific production. It can be said that we have already entered a phase in which, with our research, we can contribute to the development of nursing. 

We are also committed to the academic staff: to support its training and development professional, favoring the mobility and the exchange of academic staff international.

What about the students?
The mission statement of the objectives I mentioned before is to have an impact on the students. The international outreach is present with the International Nursing Program and with the possibility of studying and doing internships abroad, such as at the Mayo Clinic Florida (USA), Birmingham City Hospital (UK) or the campus Biomèdico di Roma (Italy).

Regarding the second goal, we want to create in our students a culture of professional improvement and development through the research. Nursing is a very discipline internship , but in the clinical attendance itself there has to be research because, the development of the knowledge has an impact on the care setting and improves the quality of care. We want to broaden the competencies of our students, so that they fit the current demand of the partner-healthcare world. They need to be able to detect and respond to needs, improving their work care with their research.

So, what is society demanding from a nursing professional?
Society is still not asking the nursing professional for everything he/she can give because he/she does not know what his/her competencies are. For example, the Dependency Law, involves a health care training of the family, of the patient himself, Education and health promotion. This is done by a nursing professional, because he/she is the one who cares for the patient and his/her context. Nowadays, care is more demanding than cure, but more has always been invested in curing than in caring. For this reason, the research in Nursing is fundamental to advance in the development of care, mainly because a high percentage of the population has a chronic disease that requires continuous health care that is the responsibility of the nursing professional.

What specific project would you like to implement to support this comprehensive training of the students of the School?
The project we are most excited about now is the creation of a Simulation Center where our students will be able to carry out everything that has to do with care. From the most technical part, venous access or catheterization, to creating various real situations subject: giving bad news, attending to a grieving family, how a nursing professional has to act when doing a home care visit to the elderly or chronically ill. At the Simulation Center, students will acquire the necessary skills to successfully face the many different scenarios they may encounter in their professional future.