UC Davis nursing school adds new dean focused on faculty practice, workforce development

Dean Stephen J. Cavanagh announced the appointment of Deb Bakerjian as interim associate dean of practice at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis.

In this role, Bakerjian provides oversight of clinical faculty practice development and implementation and UC Davis Health and community strategic partnerships and advocacy. She’ll also assist with interprofessional practice and clinical partnerships and strategies for the school’s contribution to the Healthy Aging Clinic.

“Dr. Bakerjian brings nearly three decades of experience as an advanced practice provider, interprofessional team builder and educator and a policy advocate for the nursing profession,” Cavanagh said. “In this new role, she advances the school’s clinical mission and serves as a catalyst for the development and refinement of new models of care delivery and for the development of future clinical nurse practitioners and leaders hoping to innovate the profession.”

Bakerjian is also charged with leading the Faculty Practice Planning Task Force to develop and implement a faculty practice plan, as well as mentoring and developing the clinician faculty.

“I am both thrilled and humbled to be appointed to this new role for the school,” Bakerjian said. “This is an incredibly exciting time in the school’s development, as we place more emphasis on clinical practice and pursue a faculty practice strategy that is consistent with the new strategic goal. 

Bakerjian said during her first year she’ll focus on listening and engaging with clinical faculty. She’ll also collaborate with the school’s clinician educators to standardize and improve processes and workflows within the Healthy Aging Clinic to ensure the success of faculty and students as well as high-quality patient outcomes.

Bakerjian is the principal investigator and director for three grant projects focused on interprofessional, team-based primary care education for family nurse practitioner, physician assistant and medical students as well as nurse practitioner and medical residents. She is the co-chair of the Clinical Delivery Committee for the UC Davis Health Healthy Aging Initiative. 

Her research aims to improve the quality of care for aging populations. Her research focuses on patient safety and quality improvement practices in long-term care, particularly nursing homes, as well as interprofessional education and collaborative practice in primary care. She is specifically interested in the roles of nurse practitioners and physician assistants as members of the interprofessional team.

Bakerjian is active in both state and national organizations associated with the care of older adults. She is chair of the board of directors for HealthImpact, the California Nursing Workforce Center. She serves on the National Quality Forum’s Skilled Nursing Facility Technical Expert Panel for Serious Reportable Events and Common Formats. She is on the Governance and Transitions of Care committees for AMDA—The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care and is the vice-chair elect of the Health Sciences section of the Gerontological Society of America.

She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, the Western Academy of Nursing, and the Gerontological Society of America.