by Nancy Wise
Marci Zsamboky, DNP, RN, PMHNP/CNS-BC, has been named academic director of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Lifespan) specialty at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
The Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner specialty is one of the school’s most competitive programs and is currently ranked No. 2 in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report in its 2020 Best Grad Schools of Nursing.
“Vanderbilt’s PMHNP specialty plays a critical role in educating future mental health and substance abuse disorder providers,” said Mavis Schorn, PhD, RN, CNM, senior associate dean of VUSN. “Marci has the right leadership style, academic background and clinical experience to continue the specialty’s trajectory and growth. As demand for behavioral health care increases, Marci and the PMHNP faculty will make sure that Vanderbilt is on the cutting-edge of care and delivery.”
Zsamboky has more than 20 years’ experience teaching nursing at undergraduate and graduate levels. Her clinical background includes inpatient, outpatient and specialty clinic practice, as well as private practice with a focus on child and adolescent psychiatric health. Currently, she practices at Murfreesboro’s Primary Care and Hope Clinic.
Her research interests include child and adolescent psychiatry, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and the primary care-behavioral health model of integrated health care.
Nationally, Zsamboky is a member of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties’ Faculty and Preceptor Development committee and the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Personality Disorders Task Force Advisory Panel, and recently completed LEAD, the National League of Nursing’s leadership program. She also serves on APNA’s Tennessee State Executive Committee and the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth’s Building Strong Brains Tennessee initiative.