By Sarah Morgan Johnson
Four University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing faculty members have been chosen to participate in the National League for Nursing’s LEAD program and Leadership Development for Simulation Educators program. The prestigious one-year initiatives give nurses and nurse educators the opportunity to develop their leadership skills and are part of the NLN Leadership Institute.
Assistant Professor and Faculty Academy Director Cori Heier, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE, NE-BC, Assistant Professor and Interim Assistant Dean for Undergraduate and Prelicensure Education Dana Mitchell, DNP, CRNP, ACNP‐BC, CHFN, CNE (MSN 2005, DNP 2014), and Assistant Professor Bela Patel, DNP, CRNP, NP‐C (MSN 2014, DNP 2019), have all been selected as part of the 2025 LEAD Cohort. Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the RN First Assist Subspecialty Tracie White, DNP, CRNP, ACNP‐BC, CNOR, CRNFA, CHSE (MSN 2010, DNP 2017), will participate in the Leadership Development for Simulation Educators program and is the first UAB School of Nursing faculty member to do so.
Participants of LEAD and Leadership Development for Simulation Educators are selected based on their professional achievements, letters of recommendation and organizational responsibility. Over the course of the LEAD program, nurses in education and practice enhance their leadership skills as they identify goals, study leadership theory, receive one-one-one coaching, implement a leadership project and strategize how to retool their skill sets and experiences to achieve individual and institutional benchmarks. During the Leadership Development for Simulation Educators program, experienced simulation nurse educators learn how to advance simulation initiatives by maximizing their leadership potential. They partake in executive coaching sessions, attend monthly group meetings and retreats and explore the role of simulation in interprofessional education.
Cori Heier, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE, NE-BC
Heier joined the School as Assistant Professor and Director of the Faculty Academy in 2024. After graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from South Dakota State University, she earned her Master of Science in Nursing from American Sentinel College and her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing with an emphasis on education from the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on academic nursing leadership and can be found in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Professional Nursing, Nursing Education Perspectives, Nurse Educator and the Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing.
Dana Mitchell, DNP, CRNP, ACNP‐BC, CHFN, CNE (MSN 2005, DNP 2014)
Mitchell is an Assistant Professor and Interim Assistant Dean for Undergraduate and Prelicensure Education. Before joining the School as faculty in 2015, she worked at UAB Medicine as a nurse practitioner and transplant coordinator for the advanced heart failure and transplant service at UAB Hospital. Her clinical expertise includes critical care nursing and heart failure cardiology. Since moving into her academic role, she broadened her research interests to include undergraduate student engagement and teaching and learning strategies for knowledge retention. Her work can be found in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Nursing Education.
Bela Patel, DNP, CRNP, NP‐C (MSN 2014, DNP 2019)
Patel is an Assistant Professor and maintains a faculty practice at the School’s PATH clinic, which serves uninsured adults with diabetes. She was named a 2023 Outstanding Community Site Mentor by The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship of Alabama for her work with the PATH clinic. Her research interests include indigent population health, diabetes care, diabetes distress, care coordination and innovative teaching strategies. Her scholarly work can be found in peer-reviewed journals, including The Journal for Nurse Practitioner, ADCES in Practice, Professional Case Management and Journal of Community Health Nursing.
Tracie White, DNP, CRNP, ACNP‐BC, CNOR, CRNFA, CHSE (MSN 2010, DNP 2017)
White is an Assistant Professor and is Coordinator of the RN First Assist Subspecialty, as well as Distance Simulation Coordinator. She is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator, and in 2024 she received the Frontline Simulation Champion Excellence Award from the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning along with others from the School’s Office of Technology and Innovation. Her research can be found in peer-reviewed publications, including The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, Perioperative Care and Operating Room Management and Clinical Simulation in Nursing.