Jennifer J. Edwards, M.S., R.N., C.H.S.E.

Jennifer Edwards is the director for clinical simulation and an assistant clinical professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. In these roles, she leads the Healthy Communities course and skills training sessions for the Master’s Entry Program in Nursing. She also partners with staff and faculty throughout the school in the development and delivery of simulations and supports the implementation of simulation best practices, working in collaboration with the health sciences simulation team and colleagues at the School of Medicine.  

Edwards joined the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing five years ago as a nurse on a randomized control trial testing a model that incorporated mobile health technology and nurse health coaching to improve health for people with diabetes. She then spent four years as the clinical nurse education manager for the health education grants team. In this role, she oversaw the development and implementation of education activities for grant-funded programs focused on interprofessional practice and primary care for health science students, residents, clinical staff and faculty. She continues to work with this team in her role as the associate director of the Public Health Nursing: Empowering Nurses, Teaching Rural Care Using Simulation Training (PHN ENTRUST), a Health Resources and Services Administration-funded program focused on preparing prelicensure nursing students for community and public health practice using simulation.

Edwards work ties strongly with her clinical and academic interests which include interprofessional, patient-centered care and health equity with a focus on community-based and rural health care. She is also very interested in the role of simulation in education and is certified as a health care simulation educator through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. She has presented at several national and international conferences, including the Western Institute of Nursing, the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education conference and the International Meeting of Simulation in Healthcare.

Prior to joining the school, Edwards was the director of clinical services at a rural Federally Qualified Health Center, has experience as a case manager in both acute and primary care, and as a nurse providing clinical care in outdoor education settings and pediatric acute care.

Edwards earned a Bachelor of Nursing Degree from the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and a Master of Science in Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis.

Contact Information: Phone: 916-734-5415  | Email: jjedwards@ucdavis.edu