Debra Giugliano Named to Inaugural Class of SUNY Nursing Simulation Fellowship

Debra Giugliano, a clinical assistant professor in the Stony Brook School of Nursing, was one of 11 people included in the inaugural class of the SUNY Nursing Simulation Fellowship for the 2024-2025 academic year, a key initiative aimed at further advancing SUNY nursing programs in adopting simulation-based education for students.

Announced by State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor John B. King Jr. on October 30, the SUNY Nursing Simulation Fellowship will advance SUNY's effort to prepare more nurses for New York State's health care workforce - a major objective of Governor Kathy Hochul and SUNY.

The Fellowship was developed based on recommendations from the SUNY Future of Health Care Workforce Task Force, a group convened to guide SUNY in addressing the critical health care workforce shortage and the Governor's goal of increasing the health care workforce in New York State by 20%. Following the engagement with over 125 experts across SUNY institutions as well as the health care industry, the Task Force identified four priority areas for short-term action and investment, including fully leveraging nursing simulation.

In May of 2023, Hochul signed legislation permitting nursing students to complete up to one-third of their clinical training through high-quality simulation experiences.

"By making it possible for nursing students to fulfill one-third of their clinical requirements through high-quality simulation, Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State legislature truly took a significant step forward in addressing the health care workforce shortage in New York State," said King. "The SUNY Nursing Simulation Fellowship will prepare more of our extraordinary faculty members to lead efforts on their own campuses and across SUNY to prepare more nurses in order to meet New York State's health care needs.

"The School of Nursing is so excited that Dr. Guigliano has been selected for this inaugural Nursing Simulation Fellowship," said School of Nursing Dean Pat Bruckenthal. "This opportunity will enable Dr. Guigliano to bring our student learning experiences to the forefront of innovation and impact the preparation of our next generation of nurses leaders."

Giugliano is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner and certified pediatric oncology nurse; her clinical specialties include caring for children with cancer and blood disorders in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. She was the recipient of the APON Excellence in Pediatric Oncology Nursing Award, the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing Excellence in Clinical Practice Award, a Village Times Herald Educators of the Year award, the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council Nurse of Excellence in 2010 and the Nan Songer Distinguished APHOES Member Award in 2016. Giuglianoa is also the founder and director of the internationally recognized School Intervention and Reentry Program at Stony Brook Children's Hospital.

In addition to advancing their knowledge and skills in simulation education, Fellows will have the unique opportunity to shape the future of simulation-based learning across the SUNY system. Through their expertise, they will contribute to the development of the SUNY Simulation Shared Resource Library, a central repository of nursing simulation resources that will benefit nursing programs system-wide.