Welcome to the Yale School of Nursing (YSN), where we educate the nurses and midwives who will create “better health for all people.” 

You are reading this at a time of great challenge for healthcare and higher education. I am proud to lead a school of nursing that is focused on helping people gain and maintain wellness through the advancement and deployment of evidence-based science. As astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson said, “The good thing about science is that it’s true, whether or not you believe in it.”  

When it comes to challenges, nurses are natural leaders. Our profession is about meeting a never-ending set of challenging situations—clinical, logistical, managerial, and policy-centered. Nurses often work in demanding and stressful circumstances, where they are called on to improvise and find solutions as novel situations arise.  

As a school of nursing, YSN is committed to educating nurse-leaders, who are prepared to be capable, innovative, and creative clinicians, researchers, executives, managers, policy makers, and educators. The future of nursing—and healthcare—is being shaped every day at YSN. 

Following the facts is one reason that nursing is consistently cited as America’s most trusted profession. Another reason is that we combine evidence-based practice with compassion. Nursing is both art and science. Properly combined, they promote wellness. 

To that end, we are launching the Center for Aging Well, led by internationally renowned researcher Dr. Miia Kivipelto. The center will bring together global leaders in research on wellness across the lifespan to deepen our understanding of how to prevent as well as treat illness. The center’s researchers will be looking at the social determinants of health and developing policies that provide cost-effective solutions for gaining and sustaining wellness.  

In addition, under YSN’s new Office of Nursing Impact, we are unifying three critical units—Planetary Health and Global Engagement, the Simulation Center, and the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging—to foster alignment, synergy, and cross-pollination across all efforts that advance nursing’s local, global, and technological impact.  

This reenvisioning strengthens and sharpens our local and global engagement. It is a bold step towards building a more robust infrastructure to support faculty in deepening their connections with the community, which is essential for innovation and achieving our goals. This initiative reflects our strong commitment to amplifying faculty and student scholarship and to expanding partnerships with clinical organizations, community institutions, corporations, and foundations.  

Our vision is global. We know and understand that health and wellness are not isolated to boundaries on a map. YSN is developing links to nursing and other institutions around the world so we can learn from each other, collaborate, and increase our understanding of how health and wellness is viewed and addressed in different places with different circumstances. 

There are many issues and challenges in global healthcare. Solving those issues and meeting those challenges is a task that needs input and dedication from nurses everywhere. YSN is fostering that dynamic. I invite you to join the effort to create better health for all people. 

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