Butler Names New Associate Dean of Nursing

Butler Community College has selected a nurse with a doctorate degree in education, as well as a master’s degree in nursing, as the new associate dean of Nursing and Allied Health for the Health, Education & Public Services Division. Beth Eagleton has served as a vice president, educator and associate chief nursing officer. She has worked for major hospitals in the Midwest, has written and edited articles on nursing and has presented at more than 200 conferences.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to work at Butler Community College,” Eagleton said. “Based on my experience over the years in hiring Butler Community College Nursing graduates, I have found them to be high quality employees, with well-developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills.  I am looking forward to working with the Nursing and Allied Health faculty to ensure optimal student learning outcomes and engagement inside the classrooms and in the communities we serve.”

Most recently, Eagleton served as associate chief nursing officer for Wesley Healthcare in Wichita. In this position, she assisted the chief nursing officer in executive-level management of resources, strategic planning and development of policies and procedures. In addition, she was responsible for operational and functional care of patient areas, special projects/initiatives and all staff education and development. Before becoming the associate chief nursing officer, Eagleton was market director for Wesley and oversaw all the multidisciplinary clinical affiliation contracts and facilitated patient experience activities, initiatives and learner education offerings across all disciplines.

At Via Christi Health System, Eagleton was the director of education and clinical practice services. In this role, she was responsible for standardization of nursing clinical practice processes across four Wichita campuses. This included staff orientation/competency validation, Preceptor Program and clinical affiliations to attain excellence in patient care delivery, and electronic health record documentation to attain excellence in patient care delivery, staff recruitment/retention and optimal patient outcomes and patient/staff/physician satisfaction. She also facilitated unit practice councils and relationship-based care.

“We are pleased to have someone of this stature and who holds this breadth of knowledge join our team,” said Christy Streeter, dean of Health, Education & Public Services. “Along with being a leader and a nurse, Dr. Eagleton has vast experience in facilitating nursing compliance with the Joint Commission Standards and CMS Conditions of Participation. Her hands-on knowledge will propel our strong nursing program even further.”

Eagleton is a member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, American Organization of Nurse Executives and Sigma Theta Tau, a nursing honor society. She also was the past contributing editor to “Critical Care Journal” and authored the American Nursing Association “Scope of Practice and Standards for Acute Care Nursing.”