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Emergency Nursing Academy
Inducts Cole
as One of First Fellows
Frank L. Cole, Ph.D., has been inducted into the inaugural group of Fellows of the Academy of Emergency Nursing, one of only four fellows from Texas.
Frank L. Cole, Ph.D.
Cole, who is professor of nursing, assistant dean and chair of the Department of Acute and Continuing Care at The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston, was inducted this fall at the Annual Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Meeting in Nashville, Tenn.
His selection to the Academy of Emergency Nursing was based on his “substantial, significant, and enduring contributions to emergency nursing, including his visionary leadership to the Emergency Nurses Association.”
Cole also received an award of honor from the Texas Nurse Practitioners in recognition of his “outstanding contribution and commitment to the education of advanced practice nurses.” The award was presented in September at the 17th Annual Texas Nurse Practitioners Conference in Houston.
Cole and colleague Elda Ramirez conceptualized, developed and implemented the Emergency Care Graduate Nursing Program at the UT School of Nursing in 1994. Today the program has 26 students enrolled in three options: Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP), Clinical Nurse Specialist and Post-Master’s Certificate. Ramirez succeeded Cole as director of the ENP program in 2003, when Cole was appointed assistant dean.
Over the 11 years since the program was founded, Cole has seen many changes to the program and practice of emergency care. “Initially the program and the ENP graduates were an unheard of entity, and we started with only one site (Memorial Hermann Hospital) that would allow ENP students to gain clinical experiences,” he said. “Today we are the model program on which other programs in the nation are based, our graduates are highly sought after for their knowledge and skill, and we have over 40 clinical training sites.“
Over time as graduates proved their abilities, they moved from taking care of only simple non-emergency patients to caring for those with life-threatening conditions that require invasive interventions to treat and stabilize the patient. Some of our graduates are the sole providers of health care in rural emergency departments in Texas, while others work at Level 1 Trauma Centers and at community-based emergency departments,” he said.
Cole, a certified emergency nurse and family nurse practitioner, has served as chair of the ENA Annual Meeting Committee, Advanced Practice Nursing Committee and National Research Committee. He has been a member of the Scientific Review Committee for Research, Professional Development Vision Council, Center for Emergency Nursing Research Work Group, the Learning and Using New Approaches to Research Group 1 and 2, and Advanced Practice Certification Work Group. He also has been a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Emergency Nursing.
By Ina Fried, Public Affairs