Sean Clarke

Faculty

Sean Clarke Headshot

Sean Clarke

PhD RN FAAN

Ursula Springer Professor in Nursing Leadership

1 212 998 5264

433 First Ave
New York, NY 10010
United States

Sean Clarke, PhD, RN, FAAN is the Ursula Springer Professor in Nursing Leadership at the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. He is a nursing health services researcher with interests in quality and safety of nursing care, nurse workforce issues, management of nursing services, as well as questions related to health systems changes and their impacts on the nursing profession. He has taught nursing leadership and professional issues, health policy, research, and clinical science courses in universities in the United States, Canada, and beyond. He currently the Editor-in-Chief of Nursing Outlook, the official journal of the American Academy of Nursing and serves on a number of editorial boards and grant review panels.

Prof. Clarke is currently co-principal investigator of Towards Magnet 3.0, a multimethod evaluation study of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program, and principal investigator of the evaluation of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation’s $51 million 5- year Nursing Initiative that is supporting workforce strategies in 13 hospitals caring for vulnerable populations in New York State.

Prior to joining the faculty at NYU Meyers, Clarke was a tenured faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Toronto, and McGill University and held endowed chairs and codirected and directed research centers and other initiatives at those institutions before serving as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Boston College’s Connell School of Nursing from 2014 to 2018. He served as Executive Vice Dean at NYU Meyers from 2019 to 2024.

Among his many honors, Clarke was named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2006. He has held visiting and honorary appointments at universities around the world, and in 2025 received the Academy’s Civitas Award, which recognizes extraordinary dedication to excellence in promoting quality care.

Post-MS certificate, Adult Critical Care Nurse Practitioner, University of Pennsylvania
PhD, Nursing, McGill University
MSc(A), Nursing, McGill University
BA, Psychology, Carleton University
BSc, Biochemistry-Nutrition, University of Ottawa

Acute Care
Adult Health
Health Services Research
Health Outcomes
Health Policy
Nursing Leadership
Nursing Professional Issues
Nurse Occupational Health
Nursing workforce

American Nurses Association
American Academy of Nursing
Sigma Theta Tau International

Civitas Award, American Academy of Nursing (2025)
Creative Teaching Award, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto (2011)
Dean’s Award for Undergraduate Teaching, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (2007)
Class of 1965 25th Reunion Term Chair, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing [for enduring contributions to undergraduate education] (2006)
Fellow, American Academy of Nursing (2006)
Junior Faculty Research Award, Biobehavioral and Health Sciences Division School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania (2006)
Article of the Year, Academy Health [Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy] for Aiken, Clarke et al., JAMA, October 23/30, 2002 (2003)
American Academy of Nursing Media Award for coverage of Aiken, Clarke et al., JAMA, October 23/30, 2002 (2003)
American Academy of Nursing Media Award for coverage of Aiken, Clarke, et al. Health Affairs, 2001 (2002)
Induction into Sigma Theta Tau, Xi Chapter (1999)

Greetings from the middle of a fast-moving river

Clarke, S. (2023). In Nursing outlook (Vols. 71, Issues 2). 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.101968
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The number one challenge facing the nursing profession—A need for a fresh look

Clarke, S. (2023). In Nursing outlook (Vols. 71, Issues 3). 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102005
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Nurses and Health Policy : Time for a Look Inward and a Deeper Dive?

Clarke, S. (2023). In Nursing outlook (Vols. 71, Issues 4). 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102034
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Toward a Stronger Post-Pandemic Nursing Workforce

Buerhaus, P., Fraher, E., Frogner, B., Buntin, M., O'reilly-Jacob, M., & Clarke, S. (2023). In New England Journal of Medicine (Vols. 389, Issues 3, pp. 200-202). 10.1056/NEJMp2303652
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Educators’ Perceptions of the Development of Clinical Judgment of Direct-Entry Students and Experienced RNs Enrolled in NP Programs

Lavoie, P., & Clarke, S. (2022). In Journal of Nursing Regulation (Vols. 12, Issues 4, pp. 4-15). 10.1016/S2155-8256(22)00011-4
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Background: Nurse practitioner (NP) education was originally reserved for experienced nurses, but it has gradually opened to nurses with little to no clinical experience at the registered nurse (RN) level as well as to non-nurses. The existence of multiple paths to NP training and practice raises questions about the role of generalist RN experience in learning clinical decision-making and other aspects of the NP role. Purpose: To describe educators’ perceptions of the role of prior nursing experience in the development of clinical judgment during NP graduate education. Methods: In this qualitative descriptive study, 27 NP faculty from four universities participated in individual interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: According to participants, previous nursing experience—or any relevant experience—can either be helpful or detrimental in the development of NP students’ clinical judgment. Three themes were generated: variations in students’ baseline knowledge and skills, different frames of reference to grasp new content and skills, and challenges related to professional identity. In addition, participants described factors that they believe can affect the impact of different types of experience. Conclusion: Students with and without prior nursing experience face distinct challenges in learning NP-level clinical decision-making and judgment, but they reach similar end-of-program competence. Educators are confronted with contradictions between generally held wisdom, their professional socialization, and first-hand observations regarding the role of experience (inside and outside nursing) in preparing students to become NPs.

Evaluating Policy : Structures, Processes, and Outcomes

Clarke, S., & Logan, P. (2022). In Nurses Making Policy : From Bedside to Boardroom, Third Edition (pp. 357-390). Springer Publishing Company.
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The nurse workforce

Clarke, S. (2021). In Nurses Contributions to Quality Health Outcomes (pp. 39-60). Springer International Publishing. 10.1007/978-3-030-69063-2_3
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The nurse workforce-the nurses available to provide care to a group of patients or a population and the characteristics of these nurses-provides a critical context for the Quality Health Outcomes Model (QHOM). This chapter begins with a brief consideration of workforce issues within the QHOM. Two forces at the heart of workforce analysis (supply and demand) and how these forces play out in various arenas for nursing practice are discussed. This chapter does not focus on managers' decisions regarding coverage of patient care responsibilities by nursing staff and nursing personnel qualifications, which fall within the realm of staffing (see Chaps. 4 and 13). Instead, it will focus on the size and composition of the body of nurses providing care, the forces that influence this body of nurses, and how workforce parameters act as an element of context for staffing, practice environments, and nursing care delivery. The chapter concludes with discussions of ongoing and emerging trends likely to influence the nurse workforce, especially in relation to healthcare quality and safety considerations.

Nurses' experience of handoffs on four Canadian medical and surgical units : A shared accountability for knowing and safeguarding the patient

Lavoie, P., Clausen, C., Purden, M., Emed, J., Frunchak, V., & Clarke, S. (2021). In Journal of Advanced Nursing (Vols. 77, Issues 10, pp. 4156-4169). 10.1111/jan.14997
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Aims: To explore nurses' experience and describe how they manage various contextual factors affecting the nurse-to-nurse handoff at change of shift. Design: Qualitative descriptive study. Methods: A convenience sample of 51 nurses from four medical and surgical care units at a university-affiliated hospital in Montreal, Canada, participated in one of the 19 focus group interviews from November 2017 to January 2018. Data were analysed through a continuous and iterative process of thematic analysis. Results: Analysis of the data generated a core theme of ‘sharing accountability for knowing and safeguarding the patient’ that is achieved through actions related to nurses' role in the exchange. Specifically, the outgoing nurse takes actions to ensure continuity of care when letting go, and the incoming nurse takes actions to provide seamless care when taking over. In both roles, nurses navigate each handoff juncture by mutually adjusting, ensuring attentiveness, managing judgements, keeping on track, and venting and debriefing. Handoff is also shaped by contextual conditions related to handoff norms and practices, the nursing environment, individual nurse attributes and patient characteristics. Conclusions: This study generated a conceptualization of nurses' roles and experience that details the relationship among the elements and conditions that shape nurse-to-nurse handoffs. Impact: Nursing handoff involves the communication of patient information and relational behaviours that support the exchange. Although many factors are known to influence handoffs, little was known about nurses' experience of dealing with these at the point of care. This study contributed a comprehensive conceptualization of nursing handoff that could be useful in identifying areas for quality improvement and guiding future educational efforts.

Top priorities for the next decade of nursing health services research

Cohen, C. C., Barnes, H., Buerhaus, P. I., Martsolf, G. R., Clarke, S., Donelan, K., & Tubbs-Cooley, H. L. (2021). In Nursing outlook (Vols. 69, Issues 3, pp. 265-275). 10.1016/j.outlook.2020.12.004
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Background: The U.S. health care system faces increasing pressures for reform. The importance of nurses in addressing health care delivery challenges cannot be overstated. Purpose: To present a Nursing Health Services Research (NHSR) agenda for the 2020s. Method: A meeting of an interdisciplinary group of 38 health services researchers to discuss five key challenges facing health care delivery (behavioral health, primary care, maternal/neonatal outcomes, the aging population, health care spending) and identify the most pressing and feasible research questions for NHSR in the coming decade. Findings: Guided by a list of inputs affecting health care delivery (health information technology, workforce, delivery systems, payment, social determinants of health), meeting participants identified 5 to 6 research questions for each challenge. Also, eight cross-cutting themes illuminating the opportunities and barriers facing NHSR emerged. Discussion: The Agenda can act as a foundation for new NHSR – which is more important than ever – in the 2020s.

Nurses’ judgments of patient risk of deterioration at change-of-shift handoff : Agreement between nurses and comparison with early warning scores

Lavoie, P., Clarke, S., Clausen, C., Purden, M., Emed, J., Mailhot, T., Fontaine, G., & Frunchak, V. (2020). In Heart and Lung (Vols. 49, Issues 4, pp. 420-425). 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2020.02.037
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Background: Nurses begin forming judgments regarding patients’ clinical stability during change-of-shift handoffs. Objectives: To examine the agreement between incoming and outgoing nurses’ judgments of deterioration risk following handoff and compare these judgments to commonly used early warning scores (MEWS, NEWS, ViEWS). Methods: Following handoffs on three medical/surgical units, nurses completed the Patient Acuity Rating. Nurse ratings were compared with computed early warning scores based on clinical data. In follow-up interviews, nurses were invited to describe their experiences of using the rating scale. Results: Sixty-two nurses carried out 444 handoffs for 158 patients. While the agreement between incoming and outgoing nurses was fair, correlations with early warning scores were low. Nurses struggled with predicting risk and used their impressions of differential risk across all the patients to whom they had been assigned to arrive at their ratings. Conclusion: Nurses shared information that influenced their clinical judgments at handoff; not all of these cues may necessarily be captured in early warning scores.