Leann Patel, MSN, RN

Bio

For the past 30 years, Leann Patel has advanced the role of community health nursing to improve access to quality care for people within the Rochester, NY community. Throughout her career, Patel has worked tirelessly to establish partnerships with local nonprofit organizations, correctional facilities, and city schools to help nursing students develop critical multicultural competence and fulfill a core part of their clinical practice curriculum requirements.

As an assistant professor of clinical nursing at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, Patel teaches community health in the Accelerated Program for Non-Nurses and coordinates clinical experiences. Patel also leads health literacy initiatives for refugee, incarcerated, and city school student populations, including the See What You Can Bee Program. Established in 2012, the program gives students from the Rochester City School District a behind-the-scenes chance to learn about careers in physical therapy, nutrition, nursing, and medicine by pairing them with students from the University Medical Center.

In 2015, Patel was named Nurse of the Year by the March of Dimes. In 2011, she received the Mary Dombeck Diversity Enhancement Award. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Alfred University, and her master’s degree from St. John Fisher College.

Current Focus

I have been fortunate to have had the chance to develop and implement the Community Health clinical experience for APNN program. This has given me the opportunity to explore the resources within the Rochester Community and establish partnerships with many community agencies. With these connections, the APNN students have the chance to work side by side with our community partners to provide Health Literacy Education as well as fill in any gaps related to the participants health care needs.