Influential Nurse Practitioner Making A Difference.

In this article, we will tell the story of an influential nursing practitioner who made a difference in her field.

Olubukola Mary Akinpelu is a graduate of Lamar University, a public university in Beaumont, Texas, and the author of The Ultimate Nursing School Study Guide book.

Olubukola enjoys teaching nurses new concepts and finds it rewarding to see her students’ reactions when carrying out experiments. She watches them grow socially, emotionally, spiritually, and academically each year.

Her funded research programs on nurse staffing, healthcare culture, and patient outcomes have received international media attention, influencing organizational, state, and federal policies.

Widely recognized for her extensive research into the effects of system factors on patient outcomes, such as nurse staffing levels and organizational culture, Olubukola Mary Akinpelu serves as a nurse educator who has made positive impacts. Her funded program of research stands out by extending beyond hospitals into non-acute care settings, including home health care and nursing homes. Her collaborative research work frequently focuses on the seldom-examined effect of staffing levels on patient outcomes in outpatient dialysis—a hot policy issue in several states.

Within the hospital setting, she examined the relationships among the practice environment, nurses’ safety practices, and the frequency of medication errors in 39 medical/surgical units. Building on those findings, she redesigned and tested the Nurse Manager in Action Program (NMAP) to improve patient safety.

Olubukola is listed among the top 5 Nigerian-born Nurse Educators, and she is seen as the first nurse educator in her local community. She worked several years in a Nigerian hospital before immigrating to the US.

Her work encourages equality for African Americans and women, and Olubukola Mary Akinpelu pursued a nursing career that supported these aims.

The exact date of her birth is unknown. Olubukola learned from an early age the importance of racial equality. She got licensed by the Texas Board of Nursing. Her achievements thereafter earned her recognition from the Nigerian government alongside some laurels.

When she was in her teens, Olubukola knew that she wanted to become a nurse, so she began working at a nearby hospital dedicated to providing healthcare only to women and their children. It was exceptional because it had an all-women staff of physicians. Here, Olubukola worked for 4 years in various roles, including as a nurse’s aide, enabling her to learn a great deal about the nursing profession.

She wrote many books and reports, mostly in the field of nursing, insisting on the importance of building trusting relationships with patients. Olubukola believed that a nurse’s presence with a client is a keystone for making professional communication. Empathy with patients and seeing them through healing and recovery has been validated by Olubukola.”