Jaleh Akhavan

Jaleh Akhavan, Ph.D. candidate, MHA, BSN, R.N., CNOR is currently a full-time student at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She has completed her coursework, passed her oral qualifying exam, and awaits the IRB approval process to get her dissertation research started.

She also teaches a course titled "Health Promotion: Adult-Aged Nursing" in the School of Nursing at California State University in Fullerton. Her other educational activities include filling the role of Special Reader at UCLA, and working with professors who teach at MSN Program. This diverse working position has expanded her knowledge of Advanced Nursing Practices and has provided her with even a greater experience in an academic setting.

Working with her advisor, Jaleh has contributed as 2nd and 3rd author to two peer-review journal articles, published in 2007. "Assessing Nursing Staffing Ratios: Variability in Workload Intensity" Journal of Nursing Administration, and "Value-Added Care: A New Way of Assessing Nursing Staffing Ratios and Workload Variability." Policy, Politics and nursing Practice.

As a nursing school graduate from Iran, Jaleh immigrated to Louisiana and started working as a nurse's aide while studying for the Board of Registered Nursing. While dealing with the expected obstacles facing a new immigrant such as language barriers, and cultural and social adjustments, she worked extra hard to reestablish credibility as a competent nurse in the eyes of a very different patient and employer base. Success did not come easy but she was determined.

She climbed the career ladder from a nurse's aide position to having spent 20+ years in leadership and executive management roles in perioperative services in Louisiana and Southern California. In her leadership roles, Jaleh coordinated overall management for all areas of perioperative services (Operating Room, Recovery Room, Outpatient Surgery, Endoscopy Dept., Surgical Floor, Orthopedic Floor, Central Sterile Processing, and Kidney Stone Center), where she managed an annual budget of $35 million. She also implemented and enhanced operating room automation systems, established and executed quality management initiatives within surgical services, developed and promoted orthopedic product line, and collaborated with consultants in the development and implementation of orthopedic cost-reduction strategies. She also developed and matured clinical cluster management in the operating room and published the model in Surgical Services Management in August 1996.Jaleh has worked as Project Manager in consultative roles in inpatient and outpatient settings as well.

"The passion for a higher-level education has followed me all along throughout my career path," she states. With her interest in Health Services Research, Jaleh is very excited about this multi-disciplinary field of study that leads towards a collaborative approach to patient care and creates a rich work place; one where patient safety has the highest level of priority. As a scholar familiar with the research conduct and theory, she plans to build the scientific knowledge base for advancing the nursing practice and enhancing patients' safety and well-being.

Her professional memberships/ certifications include:

• National Association of Operating Room Nurses (AORN) for 20 + years.
• Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma Theta Tau International)
• Certified Nurse Operating Room for 20 + years