University of Michigan School of Nursing

Barbara L. Brush

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Dr. Barbara Bursh - University of Michgan School of Nursing faculty

Barbara L. Brush, PhD, ANP-BC, FAAN

Associate Professor
Division of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction (Division II)
Room 3304

University of Michigan School of Nursing
400 North Ingalls Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5482

Telephone: (734) 763-3218
Fax: (734) 647-0351

Scholarly Expertise / Activity

Interests:

  • Family homelessness
  • Nurse migration
  • Nursing history and policy
  • Community-academic partnership development and research
  • Nurse workforce

The author of two books, over fifty peer-reviewed journal articles, and numerous book chapters, Dr. Brush has focused her research on nursing care quality issues, particularly among vulnerable, community-based, and older adult populations. An advanced practice nurse (APN) and proponent of interdisciplinary primary care practice, she created one of the nation’s first clinical practice models utilizing nurse practitioners and ministers to care for homeless men in transitional settings. She has also been part of a longstanding team of researchers exploring best practice models in nursing homes and how APNs can provide vital services. Her current research in Detroit, again using a team approach with nurses, social workers, paraprofessionals, and community advisors, further addresses the health and social needs of homeless families.

A nurse historian, Dr. Brush's scholarship also examines controversial subjects in nursing, including racial segregation and immigration policy. For over twenty years, she has explored American healthcare institutions' short-term use of foreign trained nurses to stem staff shortages and the long-term implications of doing so, both at the national and global level. This work has informed policy, been the impetus behind her involvement on numerous intra and interdisciplinary think tanks on health workforce, and is the subject of an upcoming historiography in progress, Sending for Nurses: Importing Care to U.S. Hospitals.

Current Research Grants and Programs:

  • "Voices from the Street: Exploring Homeless African American Women's Lived Experiences," The Sisters Fund Small Grant Award, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, UM, PI
  • "Engaging the Community in Health Care Research: Creating a Community-Academic Partnership," Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) and the Michigan Center for Health Interventions (MICHIN), UM , PI

Teaching

Dr. Brush co-coordinates the Family Nurse Practitioner Graduate Program and teaches clinical management of acute and chronic health conditions to first year adult and family nurse practitioner and nurse midwifery students (N566 and N666). A practicing nurse practitioner, she brings her real world, contemporary advanced practice skills to the classroom and into her work with master's students on their N699 research projects. Dr. Brush also teaches at the undergraduate and doctoral levels. She regularly lectures in the senior community health course (N456), supervises Honors Projects, and participates as chair or member on several doctoral dissertation committees. In 2007, she taught an Honor Seminar in International Health and Nursing in which she shared her international work on global nurse migration and its implications for the public health of both donor and receiving nations. Most recently the Teacher of Record for the doctoral student's first year doctoral course (N801: Directed Study in the Development of Nursing Science), Dr. Brush values critical thinking and the development and use of evidence to enhance the quality of nursing care at all levels of the educational spectrum and across institutional and community settings.

Affiliations / Service

  • Expert Reviewer, Bureau of Health Professions, Enforcement Section, State of Michigan, 2010-present
  • Member, Leadership Council, Robert Wood Johnson, 2009-2010
  • Member, Sigma Theta Tau International Advisory Council on Policy, 2008-2011
  • Planning Committee, Health Affairs 2007 "Narrative Matters Conference," 2007
  • Member, Nursing Workforce Diversity Task Force, New York Academy of Medicine, 2006-2007
  • Editorial Board, Policy, Politics, and Nursing Practice, 2006-present
  • Chair, Christy Awards Committee, American Association for the History of Nursing, 2007-2009

Notable Awards / Honors

  • Mae Edna Doyle Teacher of the Year, University of Michigan School of Nursing, 2010
  • Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award, Sigma Theta Tau, 2007
  • Helene Fuld Leadership for Academic Nursing Program Award, 2005
  • Health Affairs Top 25 Most Read Authors, 2005-2008
  • Fellow, American Academy of Nursing, 1999

Education

  • PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1994
  • MSN, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1982
  • BSN, Southeastern Massachusetts University, North Dartmouth, MA, 1979

Publication Highlights

  • Brush, B.L., Kirk, K., Gultekin, L. & Baiardi, J.M. (in press, 2011). Overcoming: A concept analysis. Nursing Forum, 346(3).
  • Gultekin, L., Brush, B.L., Baiardi, J.M., & Kirk, K. (in press, 2011). Voices from the street: Understanding the lived experiences of homeless African American mothers. Journal of Community Practice.
  • Brush, B.L., Baiardi, J.M., & Lapides, S. (2011). Moving toward synergy: Lessons learned in developing and sustaining community/academic partnerships. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 5(1):27-34.
  • Brush, B.L. (2010). ‘The potent lever of toil’: Nursing development and exportation in post- colonial Philippines. American Journal of Public Health, 100(9):1572-81.
  • McGinnis, S.L., Brush, B.L., & Moore, J. (2010) . Cultural similarity, cultural competence, and nurse workforce diversity. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 32(7):894-909.
  • Baiardi, J.M., Brush, B.L., & Lapides, S. (2010). Common issues, different approaches: Strategies for community/academic partnership development. Nursing Inquiry, 17(4):289-296.
  • Seong, J.G., Brush, B.L., & Padilla, B.I. (2010). Bridging the language gap in primary care. The American Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 14(6):23-34.
  • Capezuti, E. & Brush, B.L. (2009). Implementing geriatric care models: What are we waiting for? Geriatric Nursing, 30(3): 204-206.
  • Capezuti, E. & Brush, B.L. (2009). Nursing observation: Essential or substitutable? Geriatric Nursing, 29(5): 350-1.
  • Capezuti, E., Brush, B.L., Lane, S.,Rabinowitz, H.U., & Secic, M. (2009). Bed-exit alarm effectiveness. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 49(1): 27-31.
  • Brush, B.L. (2008). Global nurse migration today. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 40(1): 20-25.
  • Capezuti, E., Brush, B.L., Won, R.M., Wagner, L. & Lawson, W.T. (2008). Least restrictive or least understood?: Waist restraints, provider practices, and the risk for harm. Journal of Aging and Health Policy, 20(3): 305-322.
  • Capezuti, E., Wagner, L., Brush, B.L., Boltz, M., Renz, S. & Secic, M. (2008). Bed and toilet heights as potential environmental risk factors. Clinical Nursing Research, 17(1), 50-66.
  • Brush, B.L. & Sochalski, J. (2007). International nurse migration: Lessons from the Philippines. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 8(1), 37-46.
  • Polsky, D., Ross, S., Brush, B.L., & Sochalski, J. & (2007). Foreign-trained nurses: 10-year trends in skills and country of origin. American Journal of Public Health, 97(5): 895-899.

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