School of Nursing Rings in New Year with Plenty to Celebrate

The Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden closed out 2023 and welcomed 2024 with a host of recent accomplishments to its name. Prior to the New Year, Doctor of Nursing Practice students, faculty, and alumni gathered to celebrate a year of innovation in civic engagement, technology, training, and more.

“Your impact on health care delivery makes it possible for patients of all backgrounds to receive the individualized, equitable, and high-quality care they deserve,” said Donna Nickitas, dean of the School of Nursing, addressing the audience at a reception held on campus.

In honor of National Nurse Practitioner (NP) Week and the school’s ongoing 50th-anniversary celebration, representatives in attendance from the Camden County Board of Commissioners and the Office of United States Congressman Donald Norcross presented the School of Nursing with proclamations recognizing its legacy of excellence and contributions to the health and well-being of the greater Camden community.  

“These proclamations significantly elevate the visibility and credibility of NPs in New Jersey,” Nickitas said. “They symbolize the crucial value nurse practitioners bring to health care and reinforce their significance within the broader health care ecosystem.”

In the past year alone, Doctor of Nursing Practice students and faculty have completed more than 500 physicals across the Camden City School District (CCSD), removing financial and physical burdens that prevent students from obtaining a physical and clearing them to safely participate in sports. In districts like CCSD, where 100 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, athletics can serve as an opportunity equalizer that creates new avenues for students to obtain scholarships and pursue higher education.

This year also saw a $2.5 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support training for nurse practitioner residents completing their clinical hours at primary care sites managed by CompleteCare Health Network. This initiative is part of the school’s ongoing efforts to ease the primary health care crisis in parts of southern New Jersey.

Assistant professor of nursing Jamille Nagtalon-Ramos closed out the year by accepting the 2023 Inspiration in Education Award from the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH)—one of three awards distributed annually across the association’s 12,000+ national membership base. According to the NPWH, the award recognizes Nagtalon-Ramos’s powerful contributions to the education of future clinicians, research of complex issues that harm marginalized communities, and patient visit procedures that set a new standard of patient compliance and care.

“Professor Nagtalon-Ramos is so willing to uplift people, especially those who want to pursue women’s health, and mentor them,” said alumna Samantha Noblejas. Nagtalon-Ramos’s many accomplishments include an extensive body of research on reproductive health disparities in diverse and vulnerable communities, a delegation to the Filipino Young Leaders Program, and her first-ever children’s book.

The School of Nursing–Camden is proud to offer high-quality programs that prepare this vital workforce to improve health outcomes and health care delivery in the community and beyond.  

“Providers of high-quality care reduce health disparities and defend each patient’s right to choose their health care provider,” Nickitas said. “They may not actually wear capes, but rather white coats, making a lifesaving difference every day."