Money woes, infighting plague UW nursing school

The University of Washington's top-ranked School of Nursing is losing its dean and — according to a sharply critical consultant's report — is beset by low morale, internal strife and a lack of shared purpose among its faculty and staff members. Hit with budget cuts, the school is suffering from a lack of trust between faculty and Dean Marla Salmon, according to the report, commissioned by Salmon in collaboration with top UW administrators. The consultants, who presented their report to the school earlier this month, said that instead of a shared vision for the future, they found what they termed "tribal behavior," with separate departments and specialty areas pitted against one another and the school as a whole. Last month, Salmon tendered her resignation, effective a year from now. The situation couldn't come at a worse time for the school, which is not only braced for another round of cuts in state funding but is under pressure by lawmakers and hospitals to help relieve an acute shortage of both nurses and the teachers to train them.