Associate dean for graduate programs named in College of Nursing
GREENVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 15, 2013) — Dr. Rebecca Benfield has been named associate dean for graduate programs in the College of Nursing at East Carolina University effective Aug. 16.
In this role, Benfield will provide leadership for the master’s, Ph.D., and new Doctor of Nursing Practice programs. Her responsibilities include planning, development, implementation and evaluation of the graduate programs.
Dr. Rebecca Benfield
“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Benfield assume this role,” said Dr. Sylvia Brown, dean of the College of Nursing. “Her expertise in graduate education along with her strong clinical and research background will be a valuable asset to our college as we continue to build our MSN and Ph.D. programs and initiate our new DNP program.”
Benfield has been at ECU since 1999 where she has served as an associate professor of nursing in the College of Nursing and clinical associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Brody School of Medicine. She was interim director of the nurse-midwifery distance education program in 2002-2003. Before joining ECU’s faculty, she was a nurse-midwife in diverse clinical practices and previously was assistant professor and director of the nurse-midwifery education program at the University of Washington. She has more than 30 years of experience in nursing.
Benfield has a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a master’s of nursing in nurse-midwifery from the University of Kentucky and a doctorate in nursing from the University of South Carolina. Her research interest includes hydrotherapy in labor, pain management, contractions and stress in labor.
She has served as an advisor of graduate student research and published and served as a manuscript reviewer for top-tier nursing research and clinical journals. She has presented research at national and international nursing and multidisciplinary conferences and has received funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research. Benfield is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society, the American College of Nurse Midwives, the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science and the Society for Gynecologic Investigation.