WA Nursing Commission’s (NCQAC) new Executive Director

Last month the Nursing Commission (NCQAC) announced it has selected a new Executive Director, Dr. Alison Bradywood (Doctor of Nursing Practice) to replace its current ED, Paula Meyer, who has served for twenty-five (25) years and is retiring at the end of June.  This is a historic shift and NCQAC may lose some institutional knowledge with this shift, and there may be new changes on the horizon. 

However, the two will have some time to overlap during the transition period, throughout the month of May, and the search for candidates was widely advertised and over forty-four (44) applications were reviewed besides nine (9) applicants were interviewed.

Dr. Bradywood is presently the interim ED at Bailey-Boushay House, a local institution well known in providing exceptional and compassionate care, initially to HIV/AIDS patients in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, now under the umbrella of Virginial Mason Franciscan Health with many other types of patients to care for including end-of-life care for ALS and other complex conditions.

Dr. Bradywood recently (February 18, 2022, before this position was sought to be fulfilled—hopefully she was asked after this opinion before being offered her position with NCQAC) posted a letter to the editor at seattletimes.com on the challenges in an important time of being a nurse, with shortages, the shallowing depth of experience in the profession, and proposed ratio “requirements” sought through legislation.  Unfortunately, in this article, Dr. Bradywood lands on the side of medical facilities, putting individual nurses and their licensure at risk—hopefully she can adjust her thinking to truly advocate for the profession as the new ED for NCQAC.