NONPF Module Two - Curriculum Design

Dr. Pamela Biernacki is an associate professor at Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies, where she also serves as the program director for the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program. She has been a certified family nurse practitioner since 2000 and is active in clinical practice. Dr. Biernacki has been educating nurses and nurse practitioners for over three decades, and she has served in several academic leadership roles.   Dr. Biernacki received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland and her Master of Science in Nursing (FNP concentration) from Old Dominion University. She received her Doctor of Nursing Practice with a Post-Master’s Certificate in Nursing Education from Duke University.  Dr. Biernacki’s scholarly interests focus on inter-professional collaborative practice (IPCP) in primary care.  She led a multidisciplinary team in the redesign of workflow in the primary care setting; the purpose was to improve T2DM quality metrics, patient satisfaction, and efficiency by redesigning workflow to use all members of the team to their highest level of education. Further, she is a member of the project team on the $2.6 million HRSA project Primary Care Improved Outcomes with Nurses in Expanded and Evolving Roles (PIONEER), where NPs and RNs are key members of the IPCP team. Dr. Biernacki has been an invited speaker for national conferences regarding the role of RNs in primary care.  In addition, Dr. Biernacki’s scholarly interests related to academics focus on curriculum development for NP education, particularly related to competency-based NP education and Inter-professional Education. She has spoken national on these topics. 

Dr. Robin Arends is the APRN Program Director and Clinical Associate Professor at South Dakota State University. She obtained her BSN at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, IA. After working as a registered nurse in Critical Care, she earned her Masters and Doctor of Nursing Practice from South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD.  After seeing the increased need for mental health services, she returned to obtain a post-graduate certificate in psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner from South Dakota State University. She is currently, dually certified as a family practice and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Her practice includes caring for acute and chronic health conditions to residents of Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Facilities. Dr. Arends has over 10 years of experience in curriculum development, delivery, revision, and evaluation for nurse practitioner students at both the master’s and doctoral level. She has undergone training in academic assessment and has published on bridging institutional and accreditation standards. She is the current chair off the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties Curricular Leadership Committee and has presented on nurse practitioner curriculum methods and topics at both the national and international level. 

I am skilled in curriculum mapping that begins with purposeful alignment between broad program objectives and detailed assignment objectives. I have  mentored dozens of novice and skilled faculty from various programs as they navigated curriculum and course re-design.

Dr. Leonie DeClerk has over 14 years experience as a faculty member at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. As Director of the Doctor of Nursing  Program she led development, implementation, evaluation of the post-BSN to DNP NP curriculum. She has developed and taught numerous courses in the MNSc and DNP programs. She provides mentorship for new faculty and advises students. She works closely with other departments to ensure legal compliance and facilitate student success.