'Classroom Innovator with 'Infectious Warmth': Prof. Quatrara Earns All-UVA Teaching Award

DNP student Allen Magione, an active-duty officer in the U.S. Airforce, remembers being “slightly skeptical” about the support he’d receive as a doctoral student at UVA, even after checking out the School of Nursing’s online statistics, attending a Zoom “meet and greet,” and reading current students’ reviews.

“Beth makes her students, and, really, all of us, feel uniquely valued, seen, and lucky to receive her remarkable warmth. She is positive and affirms us all with respect, dignity, and kindness."

Marianne Baernholdt, Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor and Dean

But from his first day of advanced pathophysiology class—a course known for being tough—he watched as assistant professor Beth Quatrara “broke down the material by attacking it with every tool possible to reach each student,” pausing to ask for questions, creating memory building games to ensure topics were retained, revisiting difficult concepts, and even using hand illustrations to drive academic points home.

Magione quickly became Quatrara’s fan—she’s now his advisor—and a true believer.

“Her ability to see a problem and turn it into an opportunity is an innate skill,” Magione wrote in his nomination of Quatrara for a 2024 All-UVA Teaching Award, one of UVA’s highest teaching honors. “She has inspired me to be a courageous leader, mentor, and patient advocate.”

Quatrara, an assistant professor since 2017 and DNP program director since 2021, is one of 11 All-UVA Teaching Awardees for 2024, chosen from among the University’s more than 2,400 faculty members and one of just four general track faculty members to receive the award. Lauded by students and faculty peers alike for her kindness, warmth, and classroom creativity, Quatrara and her fellow awardees will be honored this April.

Across her seven years on UVA’s faculty, Quatrara has consistently earned high marks from students who praise her “infectious warmth,” “interactive and hands-on activities,” “thoughtful mentorship,” “ability to explain tough concepts and not just read things off of slides,” and for seeing her students as “humans with lives outside of school.” Colleagues like Cathy Campbell, associate professor and department chair, praised Quatrara’s “ability to make content in challenging courses, such as advanced pathophysiology, very accessible to students.

“She consistently finds a way to connect with each learner,” Campbell said.

"Dr. Quatrara is an expert teacher across dynamic and challenging programs and has maintained this excellence and strengthened the DNP program during her time to ensure it's the best graduate DNP program in the Commonwealth."

Sarah Craig, associate professor, and one of Quatrara's nominators

Quatrara has also been key to curricular transitions motivated by the AACN’s Essentials, including overseeing the shift from DNP students’ required dissertation-style quality improvement projects which today take the form of academic journal manuscripts, professional posters, and  PowerPoint presentations. As a result, many DNP students have jumped at the chance to attend regional and national conferences and to submit their work for publication in academic healthcare journals, earning praise and applause from Quatrara in the process.

“I chose to remain at UVA because of faculty like Dr. Quatrara,” said DNP graduate Caitlin Burchfield, now a clinical instructor at the School and a nurse practitioner with the Virginia at Home program. “The thoughtful and dedicated mentorship she’s provided me as a junior faculty member has proven invaluable … she personifies the exceptional teaching excellence that sets UVA apart from other academic institutions.”

Quatrara’s dedication to improving her teaching skills is visible, too, and she has taken the initiative to complete Center for Teaching Excellence institute and IGNITE programs to further strengthen her classroom skills. She's created novel "escape room" style simulations and other lessons focused on complex drug regimens in which students take home pill bottles filled with candy and varied instructions for a week, and then write reflections on what it was like to manage the “medicine” regimen each day at different times and in varying amounts and frequencies. She was instrumental in building business and financial concepts into the DNP curriculum to ensure nurses are able to fully partner with hospital finance teams.

"Dr. Quatrara is an expert teacher across dynamic and challenging programs," said nominator and peer Sarah Craig, associate professor, "and has maintained this excellence and strengthened the DNP program during her time to ensure it's the best graduate DNP program in the Commonwealth."

Quatrara, who earned both master’s and doctoral degrees from UVA, and who worked as a nurse, nurse manager, and an advanced practice nurse at UVA Health between 1993 and 2022, is also active beyond her courses, too. She was a frontline volunteer COVID vaccinator in late 2020, in the heat of the pandemic. She’s taught “Stop the Bleed” emergency response sessions at staff meetings and organized a “SafeTALK” suicide awareness event at the School. Whether in an auditorium lecturing in person or in a virtual space, students note that she consistently greets them individually, beginning each class with a positive affirmation through a, “What’s the good news?” exercise. Her students and colleagues also report that she is quick to offer words of praise and support to her students and colleagues over email, in person, or by text.

Said one of her students, “Dr. Quatrara is hands down my favorite professor I have ever had.”

“People like Beth make the School of Nursing the special place it is,” said Dean Marianne Baernholdt, who supported her nomination. “She makes her students, and, really, all of us, feel uniquely valued, seen, and lucky to receive her remarkable warmth. She is positive and affirms us all with respect, dignity, and kindness. She is wholly deserving of this award and our incredible gratitude and praise.”

Quatrara’s previous accolades include an Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses’ President’s Award in 2017, a Tyson Innovative Teaching Award in 2019, and a Daisy Faculty Excellence Award nomination in 2023. In 2022, she was a fellow in the UVA executive vice president and provost’s Leadership in Academic Matters program.

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