WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Beverly Essick, R.N., M.S.N., of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, has been elected to the North Carolina Board of Nursing.
The N. C. Board of Nursing issues and renews licenses to qualified registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, investigates complaints against nurses and approves nursing education programs leading to initial licensure throughout the state. With more than 129,000 licenses, the Board of Nursing is the largest health care regulatory board in the state.
Essick, a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and UNC Greensboro, is currently the associate directory of Compliance/Regulatory Services at Wake Forest Baptist. Board members are elected by their peers statewide and serve four-year terms. Essick will begin her term in January. She previously served on the board in 1980.
Essick began her career at N.C. Baptist Hospital as a staff nurse in May, 1972, and became assistant head nurse in 1973. She left to teach at Surry Community College in 1974 and came back in March 1992 as a nursing educator in staff development, but then moved to Risk Management.
In 1999 she became the associate director of clinical operations and developed the first personal representative program for the Wake Forest University Physician clinics. In 2001, she became the privacy manager and assisted in the implementation of the medical center’s privacy program in response to the HIPAA federal laws in 2003. The next year, she became the associate director of Risk Management and remained in that role until August 2008 when she was named the associate director of Compliance and Regulatory Services.
As a nursing instructor and dean of the Allied Health division at Surry Community College, Essick was named the N.C. Associate Degree Nursing Instructor of the Year. She has served on numerous medical center committees and serves as a part-time instructor in the RN-BSN completion program for Winston-Salem State University. Essick is also certified as a legal nurse consultant and gives presentations regarding patient safety and risk management issues.
Media Relations
Bonnie Davis: bdavis@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-1597