On March 14, Sarah Watts was inducted as a Distinguished Scholar and Fellow into the Nursing Academy of the National Academies of Practice (NAP) for 2024.
An assistant professor at Auburn University College of Nursing, Sarah Watts, PhD, RN, was honored for her work in transforming interprofessional healthcare. According to NAP, nursing shares with all health care disciplines a primary commitment toward the ideal of health for all. The complex nature of today's health issues and health care systems require nurses to work collaboratively with other disciplines to achieve desired outcomes.
Watts received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in nursing from Samford University and her doctoral degree from Mercer University. She started teaching at Auburn University in 2015.
Watts has served as the lead or co-lead for multiple funded research and outreach projects focusing on interprofessional education (IPE), including using an interprofessional approach to improve the health and wellbeing of Hispanic women and children. She has presented her work related to IPE at national and international conferences, two of which received awards for excellence, and published in multiple peer-reviewed journals. She has served as a champion for IPE across Auburn University. With a team of colleagues, she has organized and coordinated events and obtained funding to formalize the IPE program. Because of the collaborative efforts among Watts and other faculty across campus, the IPE team was selected for the Auburn University President’s Outstanding Collaborative Units Award. Watts continues to serve as an active member of several professional and community organizations at the local and national levels.
NAP is a non-profit organization founded in 1981 to advise governmental bodies on our healthcare system. Distinguished practitioners and scholars are elected by their peers from multiple different health professions to join the only interprofessional group of healthcare practitioners and scholars dedicated to supporting affordable, accessible, coordinated quality healthcare for all. NAP firmly believes that close collaboration and coordination of different healthcare professions, aligned through a common vision, can advocate for patients and model excellence in interprofessional and preventive care. NAP is dedicated to lifelong learning from, with, and among different healthcare professions to promote and preserve health and well-being for society.
