Dr. Debra Jeffs influences nursing and organizational transformation through her leadership, education and research in her role as Academic Nursing Education Manager at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Academic progression of nurses at the children’s hospital and in the state has resulted in steadily increased percentages of nurses holding a bachelor’s or higher nursing degree. Debra oversees schools of nursing affiliations; consults on schools of nursing advisory boards; advises nurses on pursuing advanced education; and mentors and educates about research and evidence-based practice. Jeffs is a funded researcher, collaborator, author and presenter on evidence-based practice, pediatric pain management, nursing professional development, and the award-winning Evidence Based Practice Academy. Her first innovative study using virtual reality with adolescents during outpatient burn wound care was groundbreaking. She has over 25 years of faculty experience in diploma, associate, baccalaureate and master's degree nursing programs, in both traditional and distance education, and 15 years of experience in nursing professional development in a large academic children’s hospital system. Jeffs served on leadership teams to establish nursing research alliances in two states, serves many state and national nursing professional organizations, and has been a reviewer of continuing nursing education for three state nursing associations. She is board certified in nursing professional development. Dr. Jeffs received her diploma from Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing, baccalaureate and master’s degrees in nursing from Russell Sage College (New York), and PhD in nursing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst-Worcester.