Eileen M. Sullivan-Marx

Faculty

Eileen M. Sullivan Marx headshot

Eileen M. Sullivan-Marx

FAAN PhD RN

Professor
Dean Emerita

1 212 998 5303

433 First Ave
New York, NY 10010
United States

Eileen M. Sullivan-Marx's additional information

Dr. Eileen Sullivan-Marx is Dean Emerita and Professor of New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She also holds the title as Professor Emerita of Scholarly Practice and Clinician-Educator at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Sullivan-Marx is known for her research and innovative approaches to primary care and for her creative redesign of payment structures for nurses, particularly through the Medicaid and Medicare programs. Throughout her nursing career, she has been actively involved in the design of sustainable models of care using advanced practice nurses at both the local and global level, and with the development and implementation of health policies within the context of larger community-based settings. Her focus has been on frail older adults, particularly among high-risk, vulnerable people experiencing health inequity.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx was named a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) in 1997, and is a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America and the New York Academy of Medicine. Currently, she is a member of the Board of United Hospital Fund, VNSHealth, and the Arnold P. Gold Foundation where she serves on the Executive Committee. She is active in the American Academy of Nursing military and veterans expert panel and represents AAN at the National Academy of Medicine’s Fellowship Program and the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing. From 2010-2012 she was a Senior Advisor to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of Medicare & Medicaid Coordination where she was actively involved in bringing promising models of care to scale. Of particular note is Dr. Sullivan-Marx had oversight of a Program of All-Inclusive Care for Elders in West Philadelphia which was expanded over a period of five years from 75 to 525 persons, saving the state of Pennsylvania fifteen cents on the dollar in Medicaid funding. Dr. Sullivan-Marx was  the first nurse to serve as the American Nurses Association representative to the American Medical Association’s Resource Based Relative Value Update Committee, a position she held for 11 years. 

As the dean of NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, she raised the profile of the school to an independent entity at NYU, raised more than $50 million in scholarship and research donations, including the largest naming gift to a school of nursing at that time in the U.S., grew the research portfolio to a sustained top ten ranked status, and steered the school through several natural crises including Superstorm Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx is widely recognized for the many contributions she has made to improve both the delivery and quality of healthcare services. This includes American Academy of Nursing”s President’s Award the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society Best of Image Research Award (1993), and the Hippensteel Founders Award for Excellence in Practice Award (2011). She is also the recipient of the Springer Publishing Research Award (1998), the Eastern Nursing Research Society Gerontological Research Award (2008), and the Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Research Award (2013). Dr. Sullivan-Marx is recognized as a Distinguished Alumni at both the University of Rochester School of Nursing, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Outstanding Alumna University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. In 2019, she was the recipient of a Special Tribute from the United Hospital Fund and in 2023 was awarded as a Gold Medalist Winner by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. She was inducted into the Fellowship of Leaders in Diversity Nursing in 2024 through the National Black Nurses Association.

Dr. Sullivan-Marx was a member of the American Academy of Nursing Board of Directors (2011-2013) and served as President (2019-2021) leading this international nursing professional organization through the recent social justice and pandemic upheavals. She has appeared in numerous media outlets and currently hosts The Nurse Practitioner Show on NYULH Doctor Radio Sirius XM Channel 110.

PhD, Gerontology - University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing (1995)
MS, Family Health Nurse Clinician - University of Rochester School of Nursing (1980)
BSN - University of Pennsylvania (1976)
Nursing Diploma - Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing (1972)

Gerontology
Health Policy
Global
Home care

American Nurses Association
American Nurses Association, Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science, ANA-New York
Eastern Nursing Research Society
Gerontological Society of America
Fellow, Institute on Aging, University of Pennsylvania
Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics University of Pennsylvania
Sigma Theta Tau, Xi Upsilon Chapter

Faculty Honors Awards

American Academy of Nursing President's Award (2023)
Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award (2023)
United Hospital Fund Special Tribute (2019)
Top 50 Health Care Leaders, Irish America Magazine (2019)
American Academy of Nursing President's Award (2016)
VillageCare Distinguished Service Award (2016)
Herman Briggs Society, NY (2013)
Fellow, Gerontological Society of America (2013)
Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Research Award, Gerontological Society of America (2013)
Fellow, New York Academy of Medicine (2012)
American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner Designation (2012)
Research Associate, Penn Institute for Urban Research University of Pennsylvania (2012)
Dean’s Professional Practice Award, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing (2011)
Board Member, American Academy of Nursing (2011)
Distinguished Alumni Award, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing (2011)
Health and Aging Fellowship, American Political Science Association (2011)
Marie Hippensteel Lingeman Award for Excellence in Nursing Practice, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society (2011)
American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner Designation (2011)
Health and Aging Fellowship, American Political Science Association (2010)
Legislative Award, Pennsylvania State Nurses Association Advocacy (2010)
American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner Designation (2010)
American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner Designation (2009)
Faculty Fellow, Penn Institute for Urban Research (2009)
Eastern Nursing Research Society, The John A. Hartford Foundation Geriatric Research Award (2008)
American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner Designation (2008)
American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner Designation (2007)
American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner Designation (2006)
Society of Primary Care Policy Fellows (2004)
Department of Health & Human Services Primary Care Health Policy Fellowship (2004)
Undergraduate Student Advising Award, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing (2002)
Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Rochester, School of Nursing (2001)
Society for Advancement of Nursing Science (2000)
Springer Publishing Company Research Award for most outstanding project, “Relative Work Values of Nurse Practitioner Services,” American Nurses Association Council for Nursing Research 1998 Research Utilization Conference (1998)
Ethel F. Lord Fellowship, Soroptomist Organization scholarship for graduate study in field of gerontology (1993)
Sigma Theta Tau International Best of Image Award for scholarly excellence in research, "Functional Status Outcomes of a Nursing Intervention in Hospitalized Elderly" (1993)
Nursing Practice Award, Pennsylvania Nurses' Association (1986)
Louise Wilson Haller Memorial Prize for Excellence in Professional Nursing, University of Rochester, School of Nursing (1980)
fellow, American Academy of Nursing

Publications

Delirium and Physical Restraint in the Hospitalized Elderly

Sullivan‐Marx, E. M. (1994). Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 26(4), 295-300. 10.1111/j.1547-5069.1994.tb00337.x
Abstract
Abstract
Delirium or acute confusion increase the likelihood of physical restraint use and subsequent harmful physical and psychological effects. Assessment for delirium is presented as a conceptual framework to guide researchers, administrators, and clinicians in developing strategies to decrease the use of physical restraint and to support quality of life for hospitalized older adults.

Nurse practitioners and community health nurses. Clinical partnerships and future visions.

Jenkins, M. L., & Sullivan-Marx, E. M. (1994). Nursing Clinics of North America, 29(3), 459-470.
Abstract
Abstract
This article discusses opportunities for nurse practitioner and community health nurse partnerships in patient care. Financial incentives in a restructured health delivery system will increase access to community-based care. The authors argue that case management will be greatly enhanced by clinical partnerships and a direct reimbursement of nurse practitioner and primary care providers.

Physical and chemical restraints meeting the challenge

Sullivan-Marx, E. M. (1994). Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 13(2), 58-59. 10.1097/00003465-199403000-00001

Physically restraining the elderly: Protection or victimization?

Sullivan-Marx, E. (1994). Violence Update, 4(11), 3,8.

Functional Status Outcomes of a Nursing Intervention in Hospitalized Elderly

Wanich, C. K., Sullivan‐Marx, E. M., Gottlieb, G. L., & Johnson, J. C. (1992). Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 24(3), 201-208. 10.1111/j.1547-5069.1992.tb00719.x
Abstract
Abstract
This paper examines the effectiveness of a nursing intervention for elderly hospitalized patients (N=235) as measured by functional outcomes. A nursing intervention targeted at factors which influence acute confusion or delirium employed strategies to educate nursing staff, mobilize patients, monitor medication and make environmental and sensory modifications. Subjects who received the intervention were more likely to improve in functional status from admission to discharge than subjects who did not receive the intervention.

Nurse practitioners & reimbursement.

Sullivan, E. M. (1992). Nursing & Health Care : Official Publication of the National League for Nursing, 13(5), 236-241.
Abstract
Abstract
Nursing's Agenda for Health Care Reform (1991) embraces primary health care as the focus of a restructured health care system. As part of this reformed system, consumers would access the most cost-effective providers in community-based settings. Removal of financial and regulatory barriers that limit consumer access to providers, such as lack of direct reimbursement by Medicare for nurse practitioners, should be eliminated according to this plan. Senate bills S2103 and S2104 have been recently introduced to the U.S. Senate mandating reimbursement for services provided by nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, and physician assistants at 97% of physician payment. The aim of this global legislation is to eliminate the current piecemeal mechanisms for nurse practitioner reimbursement and remove financial disincentives. Case examples presented in this article illustrate how obstacles to reimbursement limit access to care for consumers. Quality of care, opportunities for autonomous practice, and control of nursing practice issues have been highlighted as well by the case format. It is intended that these cases would be useful to support changes in patterns of nurse practitioner reimbursement.

Prospective versus Retrospective Methods of Identifying Patients with Delirium

Johnson, J. C., Kerse, N. M., Gottlieb, G., Wanich, C., Sullivan, E., & Chen, K. (1992). Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 40(4), 316-319. 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1992.tb02128.x
Abstract
Abstract
To determine if DSM‐III criteria or clinical or discharge diagnoses, reviewed retrospectively, are as accurate an indicator of the presence of delirium as prospective evaluation by a psychiatrist. Selection of delirious patients prospectively by a psychiatrist, followed by retrospective record review of the same patients. A referral‐basesd university hospital. From a sample of 235 consecutive medical patients over age 70, 47 delirious patients were identified prospectively by a research psychiatrist using DSM‐III criteria. The medical record of these delirious patients was reviewed after discharge for evidence of delirium. Four patients were assigned ICD‐9 codes suggestive of delirium (sensitivity 0.09). Review of physicians' diagnoses correctly identified 8 of 47 (sensitivity 0.17) patients as being delirious or acutely confused. The specific diagnostic criteria necessary to meet a DSM‐III diagnosis of delirium could be ascertained from 10 of 47 records (sensitivity 0.21). The retrospective medical record review is very imprecise in establishing the diagnosis of delirium. As research in this field moves from descriptive epidemiology to studies of pathogenesis and treatment, prospective designs will be needed.

Delirium in the elderly: Nursing assessment and management

Sullivan-Marx, E., Wanich, C., & Kurlowicz, L. H. (1991). The American Operating Room Nurses’ Journal, 53(3), 820-828.

Delirium in the Medically Ill Elderly: Operationalizing the DSM-III Criteria

Gottlieb, G. L., Johnson, J., Wanich, C., & Sullivan, E. (1991). International Psychogeriatrics, 3(2), 181-196. 10.1017/S1041610291000650
Abstract
Abstract
. This prospective study determined the incidence and prevalence of delirium in 235 consecutive subjects over age 70 admitted to a general medicine hospital service. The DSM-III criteria for delirium were operationalized. Using accepted screening procedures, patients were referred for evaluation by a psychiatrist who determined whether delirium was present by applying explicit operational definitions to each of the DSM-III criteria. Data on presence and severity of each of the DSM-III symptoms were recorded. Analysis of these data indicates that the DSM-III criteria describe a discrete, recognizable syndrome. However, some of the symptoms are more specific than others in identifying the syndrome in this population.

Nursing assessment, management of delirium in the elderly

Sullivan, E. M., Wanich, C. K., & Kurlowicz, L. H. (1991). AORN Journal, 53(3), 820,822,824-828. 10.1016/S0001-2092(07)68960-1