By Pareasa Rahimi
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Family, Community and Health Systems Loretta T. Lee, PhD, CRNP, FNP-BC, CNE, FNAP, FADLN (MSN 1991, PhD 2012), has been selected as a team leader for the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation.
NLN CNEA team leaders work to ensure programs meet high standards in nursing education by supervising evaluators’ reviews of an institution’s curriculum, faculty qualifications, clinical practices and student outcomes to confirm that the program prepares competent, skilled nurses who are ready to enter the health care field. The review process involves detailed on-site assessments, interviews with faculty, students and administrators, and resources and facilities. As the nation's first nursing association, NLN is dedicated to promoting excellence in nursing education, with the NLN CNEA contributing to this mission by accrediting schools and colleges of nursing across 33 states.
Lee will leverage her two decades of nurse educator experience to provide constructive feedback and recommendations to novice and experienced site evaluators for best practices during an accreditation visit, helping them to continuously enhance the quality of their evaluation skills of schools of nursing.
“Serving as a site evaluator is rewarding and impactful,” Lee said. “The UABSON is a flagship nursing program that sets the standard for excellence in nursing education, research and clinical practice. Faculty and staff are committed to developing the next generation of nurse leaders through an innovative curriculum, state-of-the-art simulation lab and strong partnerships with top health care organizations. My experience as a nurse educator at the UABSON has prepared me to evaluate and identify quality schools of nursing and become a leader in the accreditation process for vocational and professional nursing programs to support the development of a qualified, diverse nursing workforce. I am inspired by the impact our work has on the future of nursing.”
Lee has served as a site evaluator and NLN CNEA Standards Committee member since 2022. In 2022, she was selected for the NLN LEAD program, a prestigious leadership development program for nurse educators, which is one of two tracks in the NLN Leadership Institute. She also was named a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice in March 2024.
