Brief Bio

Dr. Edwards is Associate Chief Nursing Officer for Education at the Duke University Health System. In addition, she serves as an Associate Consulting Professor with the Duke University School of Nursing. Dr. Edwards is the Deputy Director of the Duke Area Health Education Center (AHEC), an affiliate of the North Carolina AHEC Centers Program.

Dr. Edwards is currently serving as the Chair of the North Carolina Board of Nursing. She is a 2007 Health Research Education Trust Fellow in Cultural Competence and a 2007 Fellow of the Advisory Board Company after completing the two-year Academy Fellowship. Dr. Edwards also serves as a Commissioner for the International Association of Education & Training.

Academic Program Affiliations

Education

Professional Certifications

Research Interests

Clinical Interests

Dr. Edwards' clinical interests include health careers, transition to practice, nurse manager stress, and health disparities.

Awards and Honors

• 2010 Juanita Long Award, Beta Epsilon Chapter, Sigma Theta Tau

• 2010 Hallmarks of a Healthy Workplace, North Carolina Nurses Association

• 2006 Cultural Competence Leadership Fellow, Health Research Educational Trust, American Hospital Association

• 2005 Executive Leadership Fellow, The Academy Fellowship (TAF), The Advisory Board, Washington, DC

• 2000 inducted, Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society

• 2000 Who's Who in American Nursing, The Society for Nursing Professionals

• 1997 Great 100 in Nursing North Carolina

Areas of Expertise

• Nursing and Health Care Leadership
• Nursing Education

Representative Publications

• 2011 -- Pubmed # 22085611 Emory, S. L., Silva, S. G., Christopher, E. J., Edwards, P. B., Wahl, L. E. Stepping to stability and fall prevention in adult psychiatric patients. J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv. December, 2011; 49(12); 30-6

• 2010 -- Pubmed # 20508422 Long, S. R., Edwards, P. B. Podcasting: making waves in millennial education. J Nurses Staff Dev. May-Jun, 2010; 26(3); 96-101; quiz 102-3

• 2009 -- Pubmed # 19616191 Porter, G., Edwards, P. B., Granger, B. B. Stagnant perceptions of nursing among high school students: results of a shadowing intervention study. J Prof Nurs. October 8, 2009; 25(4); 227-33

• 2002 -- Edwards, P. B., Puetz, B., Aucoin, J. Health system staff development. In Conversations in nursing professional development, edited by Puetz, B. and Aucoin, J. 2002; pp. 49-58. Pensacola, FL: Pohl Publishing.

Grant Funding (selected)

• Interprofessional Fellowship Project: A Team-Based Transition to Practice Partnership Targeting Health Science Graduates in Rural Communities  
  Health Resources and Service Administration
  1UD7-HP25044-01-00
  09/2012-06/2015
  Role: Project Director
  Project Goal: To create an innovative, nurse-led transition to practice fellowship culminating in an evidence based project that supports the collaborative practice of a diverse interprofessional (IP) team (Nursing,Pharmacy, Respiratory Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Radiology/Imaging) of health science graduates delivering team-based patient care in rural communities and targeting specific patient outcomes.

• The Duke TEAM (Training, Educating And Mobile)  
  Health Resources and Service Administration
  1D76-HP20537-01-00
  09/2010-08/2011
  

• The Duke University Nursing Education Program  
  Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA)
  D09-HP09345-01
  07/2008-06/2011
  Role: Project Director
  Project Goal: To expand and strengthen the current program to prepare Nursing Education Faculty at Duke University School of Nursing by: 1. Expanding minority enrollment in the program through the recruitment, enrollment, retention and graduation of 05 additional students in the 01 and 02 years and 7 students in the 03 year. 2. The development of salient, innovative coursework in the areas of clinical and educational technologies to enhance the current course of study, 3. Refining the educational delivery model by focusing on a blended approach of traditional, distance-based and simulation methodologies and infusing and strengthening graduates’ competencies in the arenas of clinical knowledge, leadership, and cultural competence within the nursing faculty role.

• Model States Grant (Health Careers Program)  
  Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA)
  07/2008-06/2011
  Role: Local PI for Duke
  Project Goal: To direct a Health Careers program at the City of Medicine Academy in Durham, NC. Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) are academic and community partnerships that provide health career recruitment programs for K-12 students and increase access to health care in medically underserved areas. AHECs address health care workforce issues by exposing students to health care career opportunities that they otherwise would not have encountered, establishing community-based training sites for students in service-learning and clinical capacities, providing continuing education programs for health care professionals, and evaluating the needs of underserved communities.

• MSN Specialty in Nursing Education Outreach MSN Program  
  The Duke Endowment and Duke University School of Nursing Office of Research Affairs
  07/2004-06/2007
  Role: Co-PI
  SRAHEC: Distance Education support for Core Courses for MSN in Nursing Education. Project Goal: To extend an online (off campus) degree with a specialty in nursing education to nurses in rural Southeastern North Carolina, including tuition support.

• MSN Specialty in Nursing Education Outreach MSN Program  
  The Duke Endowment and Duke University School of Nursing Office of Research Affairs
  07/2001-06/2004
  Role: Co-PI
  SRAHEC: Distance Education support for Core Courses for MSN in Nursing Education. Project Goal: To extend an online (off campus) degree with a specialty in nursing education to nurses in rural Southeastern North Carolina, including tuition support.