Providence College names inaugural Nursing Department Chair in new nursing school

Providence College (PC) announced today that it has selected Nancy Meedzan, DNP, RN, CNE, NEA-BC as the Inaugural Nursing Department Chair in the College’s new School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Dr. Meedzan, who is currently a professor and dean of the Cummings School of Nursing at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, will begin her tenure at PC on July 1. Dr. Meedzan will also be appointed to the faculty as a professor of nursing. 

“I am thrilled that Dr. Meedzan has accepted our offer to become the inaugural chair of the Department of Nursing in our new School of Nursing and Health Sciences,” said Providence College President Fr. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. “Nancy is a proven professional with the practice and scholarly experience that aligns perfectly with the vision we have for our school. We are very much looking forward to her joining us in July and welcoming her back to Rhode Island.” 

“Dr. Meedzan personifies the characteristics we hoped to find in the person to fill this critical role,” said Kyle J. McInnis, Sc.D., dean of PC’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences. “She is a proven leader with vast clinical knowledge and a demonstrated commitment to high-quality nursing education in the context of interdisciplinary academic environments focused on the holistic development of students – exactly what we offer here at PC.” 

 Under Dr. Meedzan’s leadership, the Cummings School has seen increases in enrollment, degree programs offered, and success rates on the national nursing licensing examination. She currently serves as president of the Massachusetts Association of Colleges of Nursing, an organization comprising all the deans of the commonwealth’s nursing programs, and she serves as an evaluator for the New England Commission of Higher Education. 

“I am honored and excited to be leading the new nursing program at Providence College and joining the Friar community,” said Dr. Meedzan. “Rhode Island has a very special place in my heart; it is my home state, and I couldn’t imagine a better way of returning home. My vision for the Providence College nursing program will be a commitment to academic excellence and providing nursing students with practical experiences across all spheres of care and globally. The nursing curriculum, combined with the liberal arts core embedded in the Catholic and Dominican tradition, will ensure nursing students are prepared for practice with immediate impact as healers and leaders in providing patient care. I am confident that PC’s nursing program will be recognized with distinction in Rhode Island and nationally.” 

After graduating from Boston College in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing, Dr. Meedzan began a nearly 20-year nursing career that involved working at several Rhode Island and Massachusetts hospitals and other medical facilities. Her academic career began at Endicott, where she was appointed an adjunct faculty member in 2004. She became an assistant professor in 2006 and advanced through the faculty ranks, becoming dean in 2019. Dr. Meedzan has also taught at North Shore Community College, Northern Essex Community College, and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University. She earned a master’s degree in nursing at Salem State University in 1999 and a doctorate in nursing practice degree from Regis College in 2012. 

 At Endicott, Dr. Meedzan has taught 18 different nursing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

 A committed scholar whose primary interest is in global health, Dr. Meedzan is currently co-investigator of an international study of the impact of COVID-19 on patients living with HIV. She is the co-editor of the textbook Global Health Nursing in the 21^st Century, and she has taken students on short-term immersion experiences to places such as Guatemala, South Africa, and the Dominican Republic to study the delivery of compassionate nursing care in places challenged to provide healthcare resources. 

PC’s first nursing students will begin studies in August. 

Founded in 1917, Providence College is the only college or university in the United States administered by the Dominican Friars. The Catholic, liberal arts college has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 4,100 students and offers degrees in 56 academic majors. Since 1997, Providence College consistently has been ranked among the top five regional universities in the North according to U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges.”  

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