Mary Brennan

Faculty

Mary Brennan headshot

Mary Brennan

AGACNP-BC ANP CNS DNP FAANP

Program Director, DNP Program
Clinical Associate Professor
Program Director, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP

1 212 998 5327

433 First Ave
New York, NY 10010
United States

Mary Brennan's additional information

Mary M. Brennan, AGACNP-BC, ANP, CNS, DNP, FAANP, is the program director of the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program and a clinical associate professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. In her clinical practice, Brennan specializes in the provision of advanced practice nursing care for hospitalized patients with acute, critical, and chronic cardiovascular illnesses. She has developed an innovative, problem-based curriculum, using evidence-based practice, to cultivate the art and science of clinical decision-making for adult patients with acute, critical, and chronic illnesses. As an educator, Brennan is interested in cultivating nurse practitioners' critical thinking and decision-making. As a DNP and an expert in quality improvement initiatives, Brennan teaches in the DNP Program and serves as a faculty mentor for a number of DNP students.

Brennan has received several curricular development challenge grants to design a virtual hospital called "Acute Care General Hospital," providing students with multiple opportunities to practice the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients. Brennan has integrated a series of progressive simulations throughout the AGACNP Program, and has presented her work nationally and internationally on rapid-response simulations at the National Organization of Faculty Conference and the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning Conference. She serves on NONPF's simulation committee. In collaboration with the Silver School of Social Work and the Long Island College of Pharmacy, Brennan is integrating interprofessional simulations throughout the AGACNP Program. 

Brennan has also led an initiative in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to develop a culture of safety initiative designed to improve outcomes for patients with cardiac disease. Currently, she is collaborating with a team from Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan Province, China, to develop a culture of safety assessment in three different hospitals in Sierra Leone. She is the lead author of a systematic review team, part of the Cochrane Oral Health Group, investigating the effectiveness of whitening toothpastes.

In recognition of her exemplary teaching and learning approaches in nursing education, Brennan received the inaugural Dean's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2018.

Brennan earned her DNP from Case Western Reserve University and MS from Boston College. Her DNP project was conducted in Accra, Ghana, where she taught nurses the principles of pediatric resuscitation to improve the care of infants and children treated in the emergency room. 

DNP - Case Western Reserve University (2010)
MS - Boston College (1990)
BS - Salem State University (1986)

Non-communicable disease
Primary care
Global
Cardiology
Acute care
Gerontology
Adult health
Interprofessionalism
Faculty practice
Nursing education
Oral-systemic health
Underserved populations

American Academy of Nursing Practitioners
American Heart Association
American Nurse's Association
National League of Nursing
National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty
Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society

Faculty Honors Awards

16 Great Acute Care Professors (2019)
16 Great Acute Care Professors (2018)
Dean's Distinguished Teaching Award, NYU Meyers (2017)
16 Great Acute Care Professors (2017)
16 Great Acute Care Professors (2016)
16 Great Acute Care Professors (2015)
Fellow, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (2015)
16 Great Acute Care Professors (2014)
Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Award, New York University (1996)
Hunt Hospital Nurse of the Year Award (1986)
Massachusetts Nurse of the Year Award (1986)

Publications

Paediatric resuscitation for nurses working in Ghana: An educational intervention

Brennan, M. M., Fitzpatrick, J. J., Mcnulty, S. R., Campo, T., Welbeck, J., & Barnes, G. (2013). International Nursing Review, 60(1), 136-143. 10.1111/j.1466-7657.2012.01033.x
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Deficiencies in the paediatric emergency systems of developing countries may contribute to avoidable paediatric mortality. Studies suggest that nurses and doctors may not be educationally prepared to provide immediate paediatric resuscitative care to acutely ill children. The purpose of this study was to determine if a 1-day World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Triage and Assessment Treatment (ETAT) Program in paediatric resuscitation would increase Ghanaian nurses' knowledge and self-efficacy of paediatric resuscitation. Methods: A pre-experimental, one-group, pre-test, post-test design was used to assess differences in the nurses' knowledge of paediatric resuscitation, and their perceived self-efficacy of paediatric resuscitation after completing a 1-day educational intervention in paediatric resuscitation. Forty-one nurses from a public teaching hospital in Ghana were recruited and participated in the study. Results: Using a paired samples t-test, there was a statistically significant increase in the nurses' perceived self-efficacy of paediatric resuscitation in general (P<0.000), perceived self-efficacy of bag and mask ventilation (P<0.000), and knowledge of paediatric resuscitation (P<0.000). Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that a 1-day WHO ETAT Program may increase self-efficacy of paediatric resuscitation and knowledge of paediatric resuscitation. Clinical Relevance: Policy makers in Ghana need to consider implementing education programmes in paediatric resuscitation for nurses as part of a comprehensive strategy to improve emergency systems and address preventable and avoidable infant and child mortality.

Crohn's disease in adults and children.

Ludlow, H., & Brennan, M. (2012). Unknown Journal, 108(50).

Evaluation of the clinical hour requirement and attainment of core clinical competencies by nurse practitioner students

Hallas, D., Biesecker, B., Brennan, M., Newland, J. A., & Haber, J. (2012). Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 24(9), 544-553. 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00730.x
Abstract
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the national practice of fulfilling 500 clinical hours as a requirement for graduation from nurse practitioner (NP) programs at the master's level and to compare this standard to a comprehensive approach of evaluating attainment of clinical competencies. Data sources: The National Organization of NP Faculties (NONPF) and specialty accreditation bodies publications were used for references to clinical hour and core competency requirements for graduation from NP programs. Data from one university from student documentation on a commercial electronic tracking system were also analyzed. Conclusions: Data analysis revealed that the 500 clinical hours correlated to populations, skills performed, required levels of decision making, and expected diagnoses. However, assurance that these clinical hour requirements translated to exposure to all core competencies for entry into practice could not be established. Implications for practice: A more comprehensive approach to the evaluation of student core competencies by implementing one or more performance-based assessments, such as case-based evaluations, simulations, or objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), as a strategic part of NP evaluation prior to graduation is proposed. This change is viewed as critical to the continued success of NP programs as master's level education transitions to direct BS to DNP educational preparation for advanced nursing practice.

Evidence-based care for patients with acute coronary syndrome in New York City

Brennan, M., & Johnson, J. (2012). In Comparative Effectiveness and Efficacy Research and Analysis for Practice (CEERAP) (Vols. 9783642223303, pp. 135-146). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. 10.1007/978-3-642-23144-5_8
Abstract
Abstract
This chapter describes an innovative model of emergency cardiac care, designed by an academic medical center for residents living in the high-disparity community of East Harlem in New York City. Due to the socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic disparities experienced by individuals living in this community, residents experience the second highest rate of premature death in New York. With a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization center, cardiologists, partnering with nurse practitioners, collaborate to utilize the best available evidence to assess, diagnose, and treat patients with acute coronary syndrome. This innovative model has resulted in a dramatic reduction of mortality rates involving both nonemergency and emergency patients as well as an improved safety record that has surpassed other New York State Hospitals since reporting of data began in 1994.