Associate Professor Angela Stanley, DNP, MA, FNP-BC, PHCNS-BC, NEA-BC, brings a unique blend of military precision, academic innovation, and a passion for equitable healthcare to her work at the George Washington University School of Nursing. With a distinguished career in naval healthcare and a growing national reputation in telehealth education, Stanley is transforming how the next generation of nurse practitioners are trained to lead in an increasingly complex healthcare landscape.
Stanley's military service in the U.S. Navy shaped not only her leadership style but also her teaching philosophy. "The military's emphasis on mission accomplishment and operational readiness translates directly to my focus on educational outcomes and student preparedness for real-world practice," she explained. As a former associate director of Primary Care and Branch Health Clinics, Stanley was responsible for streamlining healthcare delivery systems—experience that now informs her systematic and strategic approach to curriculum design.
"My naval leadership experience taught me the critical importance of strategic planning, resource optimization, and measurable outcomes," Stanley said. "These principles now guide my academic leadership and scholarship."
At the heart of her work is a commitment to inclusive excellence and innovative education delivery. When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional clinical training, Stanley quickly responded with bold creativity. As a Faculty Innovation Fellow, she developed a virtual learning platform that merged avatar-based simulations with telehealth training, offering students immersive, interactive clinical experiences in a safe, remote setting.
"The pandemic revealed the vulnerability in our educational model and created an urgent need to reimagine how we deliver clinical education," Stanley recalled. The results were striking—students' telehealth competency scores rose dramatically, validating the approach and sparking interest from academic institutions nationwide.
This innovation has not only redefined how clinical training can be delivered in crisis but is now shaping the future of nursing education. Stanley sees avatar-based, remote learning as a powerful tool to:
- Expand equitable access to clinical education, particularly in rural and underserved areas
- Tailor training to individual student development needs
- Prepare nurse practitioners to deliver high-quality telehealth care, and
- Build educational systems resilient to future healthcare disruptions
Stanley's work has been presented at prestigious national forums, including the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, National League for Nursing, and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF), where she now serves as a board member at large.
In her new role with NONPF, Stanley is positioned to help shape the national conversation around nurse practitioner education. "I plan to leverage this platform to expand inclusive excellence initiatives, advocate for innovative telehealth education models, and support the ongoing transition to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) as the entry-level degree for NP practice," she said. She also aims to address the nursing faculty shortage through mentorship and faculty development programs.
Much of Stanley’s scholarship focuses on telehealth implementation in primary care, with a growing emphasis on maternal-child health. She's particularly excited about emerging technologies like AI-based mental health screenings, remote monitoring for high-risk pregnancies, and virtual prenatal group care.
"These innovations have the power to transform maternal-child healthcare into a continuous, relationship-based model that meets families where they are—both geographically and culturally," she said. Her work with the Duke Endowment has already demonstrated how virtual support communities can dramatically improve access and outcomes for new mothers.
Despite her many achievements, Stanley remains deeply grounded in service. "Integrity, accountability, and service before self—those are the core values I carry from my military service into every facet of my academic and clinical work," she said.
Her advice to aspiring nurse leaders reflects her journey: "Seek diverse clinical experiences, embrace opportunities to lead, and pursue advanced education that aligns with your passions. Find mentors, stay adaptable, and always look ahead to the healthcare challenges of tomorrow."
At GW Nursing, Associate Professor Angie Stanley is more than an educator—she's a catalyst for change, helping to prepare a new generation of nurses equipped to lead, innovate, and serve with compassion and excellence.
1) Your career spans distinguished military service and academic leadership — how have your experiences in military healthcare shaped your approach to teaching and scholarship at GW Nursing?
My military officer experience has fundamentally shaped my approach to teaching and scholarship at GW Nursing through several key leadership principles inherent to naval service. The military's emphasis on mission accomplishment and operational readiness translates directly to my focus on educational outcomes and student preparedness for real-world practice. As a naval officer, I learned to lead diverse teams under pressure while maintaining clear communication and accountability—skills I now apply when developing and implementing innovative nursing curricula.
The military's commitment to organizational efficiency informs my systematic approach to program development. Just as I optimized healthcare delivery systems as Associate Director of Primary Care and Branch Health Clinics, I now apply this same structured methodology to curriculum design, ensuring our educational frameworks are both comprehensive and adaptable to changing healthcare environments.
My naval leadership experience taught me the critical importance of strategic planning, resource optimization, and measurable outcomes—principles that guide my academic leadership. The military's emphasis on training and development has shaped my commitment to mentorship, as I've guided registered nurses, hospital corpsmen, and nurse practitioners through their clinical development while building their leadership capabilities.
Perhaps most significantly, military service instilled in me the core values of integrity, accountability, and service before self. These principles form the foundation of my teaching philosophy and scholarly work, particularly in advancing inclusive excellence and pioneering telehealth education to address healthcare disparities. The mission-oriented focus I developed as a naval officer now drives my academic mission to prepare nurse practitioners who can deliver high-quality, accessible care across diverse practice settings.
2) You've done innovative work combining avatar-based learning with remote telehealth education. What inspired you to explore this technology, and how do you see it transforming nursing education in the future?
The COVID-19 pandemic was the primary catalyst that inspired my work combining avatar-based learning with telehealth education. When the pandemic abruptly closed clinical sites and created unprecedented barriers to traditional nursing education, I recognized we needed an immediate and innovative solution to ensure our students could continue their clinical training. This crisis revealed the vulnerability in our educational model and created an urgent need to reimagine clinical education delivery.
As a Faculty Innovation Fellow, I responded by developing a virtual platform that revolutionized traditional clinical education through dynamic telehealth experiences. By merging telehealth services with avatar-based simulations, I created an innovative learning environment that provided APRN students with immersive, interactive clinical experiences despite widespread site closures and PPE shortages. The platform's sophisticated design allowed students to develop critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills in a risk-free environment while receiving real-time feedback from experienced preceptors.
The results validated this approach—student telehealth competency scores increased from 3.79 to 4.85, demonstrating that remote precepting effectively complements traditional clinical training. What began as a pandemic response has evolved into a transformative educational model with implications far beyond the initial crisis.
Looking to the future, I see this technology fundamentally transforming nursing education by:
- Creating more equitable access to quality clinical education, particularly for students in rural and underserved areas
- Enabling personalized learning pathways tailored to individual student development needs
- Preparing a workforce skilled in telehealth delivery—now an essential competency in modern healthcare
- Building educational resilience that can withstand future healthcare crises or disruptions
- Expanding interprofessional education opportunities through virtual collaborative environments
My presentations of these innovations at major national conferences—including the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, National League for Nursing, and National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties—have generated significant interest.
3) As the recently elected member at large for the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties board, what is your role and how do you intend to use this platform to advocate for your fellow NP faculty?
As a recently elected member at large for the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) board, I'm honored to join the leadership of this prestigious organization that has been the leading voice for nurse practitioner education since 1974. NONPF represents more than 900 member faculty from all 50 states and has been instrumental in establishing quality standards for NP education programs nationwide.
In my new board position, I'll work collaboratively with other board members to advance NONPF's strategic priorities, which include promoting excellence in NP education, influencing health policy, and supporting faculty development. My specific responsibilities will include participating in policy decisions, representing the interests of our diverse membership, and helping guide the organization's initiatives.
I intend to leverage this platform to advance several key priorities:
- Expanding on my current work as Chair of NONPF's Inclusive Excellence Committee to further integrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging principles throughout NP education
- Advocating for innovative telehealth education models based on my pioneering work in this area, helping faculty nationwide prepare NP students for the evolving healthcare landscape
- Supporting NONPF's mission to establish the DNP as the entry-level degree for NP practice by 2025, drawing on my experience in DNP program leadership
- Fostering interprofessional collaboration in NP education to better prepare graduates for team-based care delivery
- Working to address the critical faculty shortage in nursing education through mentorship initiatives and faculty development programs
My background in both military healthcare leadership and academic innovation positions me to contribute meaningfully to NONPF's mission of ensuring that NP faculty have the resources, support, and voice they need to prepare the next generation of nurse practitioners. I see this board position as an opportunity to translate my commitment to educational excellence into systemic improvements that will benefit NP faculty and students nationwide.
4) Much of your scholarship focuses on telehealth implementation and primary care innovations. What emerging trends in telehealth excite you most, particularly in serving maternal-child health populations?
When I consider the most exciting emerging trends in telehealth for maternal-child health populations, several innovations stand out as particularly transformative:
First, I'm enthusiastic about the integration of artificial intelligence with telehealth screening tools. These systems can identify subtle language patterns and behavioral indicators of maternal mental health conditions, enabling earlier intervention for postpartum depression and anxiety. This technology could revolutionize how we support new mothers, especially those with barriers to traditional mental health services like my military family patients, where we've seen virtual screening reduce stigma and increase treatment engagement.
Second, the development of specialized remote monitoring technologies specifically designed for high-risk pregnancies excites me tremendously. These include non-invasive wearable devices that continuously track maternal-fetal parameters and automatically alert providers to concerning patterns. This innovation extends specialized care to rural and underserved communities where maternal-fetal medicine specialists are scarce, potentially addressing our persistent disparities in maternal mortality.
Third, I'm excited by the emergence of virtual group care models for prenatal and postpartum support. These platforms combine the evidence-based benefits of group prenatal care with the accessibility of telehealth, creating supportive communities for expectant and new mothers regardless of geographic limitations. My work with the Duke Endowment Grant demonstrated how these virtual communities can provide critical social support while delivering essential education and monitoring.
Finally, I'm particularly intrigued by telehealth innovations that bridge language and cultural barriers in maternal-child care. Real-time translation services, culturally-tailored virtual education materials, and diverse virtual provider networks can dramatically improve care experiences for immigrant and non-English speaking families. These technologies have tremendous potential to address the significant disparities in maternal and infant outcomes among minority populations.
What unites these exciting trends is their potential to transform maternal-child healthcare from episodic, provider-centered encounters to continuous, relationship-based care models that meet families where they are—both geographically and culturally.
5) You've achieved so much across clinical practice, leadership, research, and education. What advice would you give to nursing students or early-career nurses who aspire to create a similarly multifaceted and impactful career?
For nursing students and early-career nurses aspiring to create similarly multifaceted careers, I would advise:
- Seek diverse clinical experiences to build a comprehensive foundation
- Embrace opportunities to lead and innovate, even in challenging circumstances
- Develop expertise in emerging healthcare technologies
- Find mentors who can guide your professional development
- Pursue advanced education that aligns with your passion areas
- Maintain a commitment to serving vulnerable populations and addressing healthcare disparities
- Stay adaptable and forward-thinking to anticipate healthcare needs before they become urgent
My journey from naval nurse to academic leader demonstrates how clinical expertise, administrative acumen, and commitment to innovation can combine to create meaningful impact across multiple domains of nursing practice.