About the Speaker

Beth Ulrich is a nationally recognized thought leader who is known for her research studying nursing work environments and the experiences of new graduate nurses as they transition from nursing school into the workforce and for her leadership in developing the roles of nephrology nurses and improving the care of nephrology patients. Dr. Ulrich has extensive experience as a healthcare executive, educator, and researcher.  She currently serves as Professor Cizik School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and as Editor of the Nephrology Nursing Journal, the official journal of the American Nephrology Nurses’Association (ANNA).  Dr. Ulrich has been a co-investigator on a series of national nursing workforce and work environment studies, on four studies of critical care nurse work environments conducted for the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and the primary investigator on two ANNA national studies – Assessing the Patient Safety Culture in Nephrology Nurse Practice Settings and The Health & Safety of Nephrology Nurses and the Environments in Which They Work. 

Dr. Ulrich received her bachelor’s degree from the Medical University of South Carolina, her master’s degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and her doctorate from the University of Houston in a collaborative program with Baylor College of Medicine.  She is a past president of the American Nephrology Nurses’ Association, a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She was recognized as the Outstanding Nursing Alumnus of the Medical University of South Carolina in 1989, as a Distinguished alumnus of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing in 2002, and received the Outstanding Contribution to the American Nephrology Nurses’ Association award in 2008.  In 2018, she received the Marguerite Rodgers Kinney Award for a Distinguished Career from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. She has numerous publications and presentations to her credit on topics including  nephrology nursing, nurses’ work environments, and how new graduate nurses transition into professional nurses. Dr. Ulrich’s book Mastering Simulation provides a comprehensive resource on the use of simulation in health care. The first edition of her book, Mastering Precepting: A Nurse’s Handbook for Success, was named a 2012 AJN Book of the Year. The second edition has just been published.