MUSC launches Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health Nursing

Q&A with Tatiana Davidson, Ph.D., professor in the MUSC College of Nursing and director of the Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health Nursing

Q: What inspired the creation of this center, and how does it align with the College of Nursing’s strategic vision?

A: This initiative was inspired by our dean, Cathy Durham, DNP, APRN, who is deeply invested in behavioral health, having witnessed its impact firsthand in her practice. It is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed, not only in South Carolina but also nationally. 

Our vision for the center includes becoming a national leader in behavioral health, similar to our existing excellence in nursing education, research and clinical practice. Our mission is to provide immersive training and advanced interdisciplinary care and to develop behavioral health professionals. We also strive to lead research with the goals of improving access and quality of care in behavioral health.

Q: How will the center address critical behavioral needs in South Carolina's communities, especially among underserved or marginalized populations?

A: The center, indeed the whole purpose, is dedicated to improving access to high-quality behavioral health care with a focus on rural and underserved communities. And the way we're going to pursue this mission is through a three-fold approach. 

First, we will achieve this through education and training a highly skilled behavioral health workforce. Second, our practice arm will advance impactful clinical practice. Third, we will do so by conducting cutting-edge research that directly responds to the needs of the populations we serve in South Carolina and beyond.

Q: In what ways will the center support an innovative community and engage in research around behavioral health?

A: The College of Nursing aims to expand its behavioral health research and impact by providing our faculty with resources for structured mentorship, research consultation and grant development, which will accelerate their projects for the Ph.D. and DNP faculty in behavioral health. 

We will establish a pipeline of early-stage behavioral health investigators and diversify our research portfolios by: 

• Supporting mentored research grants (such as K grants).
• Expanding training-focused research (such as T32 grants).
• Advancing independent research projects (such as R grant mechanisms) through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

We will also pursue additional funding from federal, state and foundation sources to support and sustain these efforts.

Q: What opportunities will the center create for nursing students, faculty or interprofessional collaborators to engage with research?

We  will offer the expertise of Ken Ruggiero, Ph.D., who will serve as the research director, and Leigh Ridings, Ph.D., who will be the pediatric research director at the center. Both of these faculty members will provide mentorship to the faculty and researchers. 

Those who are interested in adults versus pediatric patients will have two great investigators to provide mentorship, research consultation and support.  

Through pilot funding and the T32 grant that we’re hoping to secure, we want students to have access to our faculty program directly from their graduate studies programs. 

Q: How will partnerships across MUSC and in the community shape the center's long-term work and success?

A: Partnerships are the cornerstone of everything. That's why we're working so hard to establish strategic goals for the center and build partnerships within the community. We are in the process of developing formal partnerships within the MUSC community, with the MUSC Institute of Psychiatry, the MUSC Mental Health service line, as well as the MUSC Health Regional Health Network, so that we can provide training opportunities and clinical placements for our students. 

Through external community partnerships, we want to help more fully those who we are trying to serve by going directly to where they are. 

What are your top priorities for the first year, and what does success look like in five years from now for the center?

At its core, the center will have three areas of concentration: education, practice and research, all focused on behavioral health.

One of the priorities for the first year, for instance, is recruiting tenure-track and clinical-track psychiatry/mental health nurse practitioner faculty to advance education and clinical care. We want to expand behavioral health education and training, thereby growing the behavioral health workforce. 

We also plan to deliver high-quality behavioral health care while building a sustainable clinical practice model through effective billing and reimbursement. We have superior clinics at MUSC, which are supported through the Next Steps program, the PARTNER program and the Trauma Resilience and Recovery Program. While these clinics were started with grant funding, we want to ensure that they can stand on their own as well. 

We’ve also started conversations with leaders across the Regional Health Network to explore collaborative agreements. The goal is twofold: first, to expand access to behavioral health services. And second, to create new training rotations for our students and trainees. It’s exciting because these partnerships not only strengthen the workforce pipeline but also ensure that patients get the care they need.

We’re just at the beginning, and I’m so excited about the incredible opportunities ahead that we have to make a real difference in behavioral health through this center of excellence.