VCU news

By Angela Flagg
VCU School of Nursing

Two Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing faculty members will receive one of the most prestigious honors in nursing this fall when they are inducted as fellows into the American Academy of Nursing.

Amy Salisbury, Ph.D., a professor and associate dean for research, scholarship and innovation, and Shelly Smith, DNP, a clinical associate professor and director of graduate clinical programs, are among 225 nurse leaders selected to join the American Academy of Nursing 2021 class of fellows. The inductees will be recognized for their significant contributions to health and health care at the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference, set for Oct. 7-9.

Salisbury and Smith were two of just nine fellows selected from Virginia this year. No other entity in Virginia had more than one fellow selected for induction in 2021.

“I am thrilled to welcome another exceptional class of fellows to the American Academy of Nursing during a momentous time of change and progress in our collective efforts to fulfill the organization’s vision of healthy lives for all people,” said American Academy of Nursing President Eileen Sullivan-Marx, Ph.D. “The academy aims to improve health and achieve health equity through nursing leadership, innovation and science. The academy’s fellows embody our values of equity, diversity and inclusivity, inquiry, integrity and courage, which enable us to achieve new heights of impact that advance health policy across the globe. Congratulations to this dynamic cohort of leaders who bring diverse experience and expertise to the fellowship.” 

The newest fellows represent 38 states, the District of Columbia, and 17 countries. 

Salisbury, a leading nurse scientist and clinician, has contributed significantly to teaching, research and clinical nursing for more than 20 years. She has been published in numerous journals and has presented nationally and internationally. 

Salisbury’s research and clinical interests include neurobehavioral development, fetal and infant development, sleep development and disorders, perinatal and infant mental health, prenatal exposures, autism and child psychopathology. Through her work, she has developed a standardized protocol for fetal neurobehavioral assessment combining ultrasound recorded fetal behaviors and fetal heart rate monitoring, called the Fetal Neurobehavioral Coding System.

Smith, a policy and practice scholar, oversees graduate clinical programs, including the DNP program at VCU School of Nursing. She completed a translational research fellowship in 2018 at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU, where she now oversees the school’s fellowship program. Her fellowship work focused on translating nurse practitioner outcomes research into public policy, which informed Virginia House Bill 793: Nurse practitioners, practice agreements. 

The author of numerous publications, Smith is currently the inaugural Translational Research Fellow in Residence at the Wilder School’s Center for Public Policy. She is also an affiliate scholar to the VCU Langston Center for Innovation in Quality and Safety and serves as the only nurse representative on AcademyHealth’s State Health Research and Policy Interest Group Advisory Committee.

Smith has been recognized with numerous awards, including an honorable mention as one of Virginia Nurses Association’s Virginia’s Top 40 under 40 nurses in 2015, the Donna Campanella Distinguished Nurse Practitioner Award in 2018, the Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners Distinguished Nurse Practitioner Award in 2019, and the 2021 American Association of Nurse Practitioners Virginia State Award for Nurse Practitioner Excellence.

Salisbury and Smith join seven current VCU nursing faculty members who have been recognized as AAN fellows. Read the full release on VCU School of Nursing’s blog.