Dr. Susan L. Swanson, Assistant Professor (clinical track) at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and CEO of a healthcare consulting firm. She brings over 40 years of expertise in healthcare, leadership, education, and innovation to her academic role. She has held various roles spanning clinical to executive management, as business owner and nurse entrepreneur, where she has driven advancements in patient safety, quality, interprofessional teamwork, operational excellence, and business growth, across diverse healthcare sectors, including radiation medicine, oncology, cardiac care, and vendor/practice networks, nationally and internationally.

Dr. Swanson earned her BSN from the University of Cincinnati (1978), an MS from Wright State University (1986) in Nursing Administration and Cardiac Rehabilitation, and a DNP from Emory University (2016), focusing on Systems Leadership, Patient Safety and Crew Resource Management. Her scholarship culminated in a VA Quality Scholars post-doctoral fellowship, specializing in Process Improvement and Implementation Science. 

At Emory, Dr. Swanson teaches in the doctoral and MN programs, emphasizing healthcare quality, leadership, systems-based practice, and informatics. Her scholarship focuses on high reliability and team-based healthcare safety and operational excellence. She advises DNP students on impactful projects addressing healthcare disparities and serves on for and non-profit healthcare and commercial boards. Honored with the 2020 Heart of the DNP Student’s Award, Dr. Swanson remains a dedicated advocate and innovator in nursing education and operational excellence.

Peer Reviewed

Swanson, S. L., Cavanaugh, S., Swanson, J., Patino, F., Abraham, C., Clevenger,C., and Fisher, E. (April 2021). Improving Incident Reporting in aHospital-based Radiation Oncology Department: The Impact of a Customized CrewResource Training and Event Reporting Intervention. Cureus, 13(4). e14298.doi:10.7759/cureus.14298

Langdon, K., Hagopian, C., Omary, C., Swanson, S. and Simpson, R. (Nov 1,2022). State of DNP education: lessons learned from a novel academic fellowshipin teaching and education. Nurs Forum. 2022; 1-6. DOI: 10.1111/nuf.12839