Faculty Spotlight
Full Faculty DirectoryMary Jane Williams
Williams has a major leadership role in Connecticut as chair of government relations for the Connecticut Nurses Association. "We're working closely with the state legislature to develop innovative programs that will make it easier to recruit and train new nurses," says Williams.
"We're facing a major crisis in the nursing profession today," says Mary Jane Williams, chair of the department of nursing at the University of Hartford.
"The Unites States will need 800,000 new nurses in the next decade as millions of baby boomers retire. We'll also need thousands of educators to train those nurses to succeed and prosper in a health care system that's becoming more complex every day."
Williams is working diligently inside and outside the University to meet these critical needs.
Williams has a major leadership role in Connecticut as chair of government relations for the Connecticut Nurses Association. "We're working closely with the state legislature to develop innovative programs that will make it easier to recruit and train new nurses," says Williams.
"We're also looking at ways to make it attractive for experienced nurses to become educators so they can pass their knowledge and experience on to the next generation."
Williams is also a powerful voice for the nursing profession on the national level. She has spoken frequently on National Public Radio about the nursing and faculty shortage in the U.S. and offered creative approaches to addressing the looming crisis.
"Nurses are the glue that holds the health care system together," Williams says, "but they rarely get the recognition they deserve or the opportunities for advancement that are available to other professions. We need to change that." "The University of Hartford has wonderful programs to train nurses and nurse educators to be outstanding professionals. We also teach them to be powerful advocates for the entire nursing profession, so they can take care of themselves and their colleagues as well as their patients."
