Dr. Sara Hart, a Clinical Professor at the University of Utah College of Nursing, describes herself as a health systems scientist and public health nurse, but her most valued role is as an educator. As an expert in nursing education and health policy, she aims to advance innovative, family- and person-centered approaches in health professions education and systems science. This is her 25th year in higher education and her 15th year at the University of Utah College of Nursing. For the last five years, Dr. Hart has been the educational lead for the University’s Family Caregiving Collaborative (FCC). In this role, she has learned about the extraordinary challenges faced by family caregivers, who provide a significant amount of uncompensated care with little support or recognition from the healthcare system. Dr. Hart hopes that her focus on family caregivers will lead to increased recognition of and support for the essential role they play in the US healthcare system.
Dr. Hart’s interest in families and family caregivers stems from her earliest days as a nurse, when she sought to understand who her patients were outside of the hospital. She wanted to know why they were admitted, why some were admitted more frequently, and why others did not receive necessary follow-up care after discharge. An opportunity to shift her focus to Family Caregiving was a “natural fit”.
Dr. Hart hopes to have a positive impact on family nursing by ensuring that healthcare providers and health systems recognize the importance of working with families to improve outcomes for individuals and populations. In one critical study, Dr. Hart and her colleagues in the Family Caregiving Collaborative evaluated foundational nursing documents used to direct nursing education curricula. They identified few references to family caregivers and no guidance on how and why family caregivers need to be included as members of person- or family-centered care teams. The results of the study confirmed the need for healthcare provider education on the importance of families.
Dr. Hart is a founding member of the National Consortium for Family Caregiving in Nursing Education to address the lack of standardized nursing education competencies related to family caregivers and advance the inclusion of family caregivers in nursing education. Dr. Lynn Kuechle (Minnesota State University, Mankato) helped to guide some of this early work and connected Dr. Hart with IFNA. The US-based consortium published Family Caregiver Competencies for Prelicensure Nursing Education in 2025. and is launching a webinar series, Teaching with Families in Mind: A Faculty Webinar Series on Identifying, Valuing, Supporting, and Integrating Family Caregivers in Nursing Education. IFNA members who are interested in the series can find information on the first webinar, scheduled for January 23, 2026, at the end of this post. Dr. Hart and her colleagues also plan to create a resource center for sharing teaching and curricular resources for integrating family caregiving competencies into nursing education programs.
Dr. Hart aims to prepare nurses and other health professionals to identify, value, support, and integrate family caregivers into person- and family-centered healthcare teams. On hard days, she tries to focus on big picture goals and to remember that most important and sustainable change happens slowly and incrementally. Dr. Hart’s collaboration with her colleagues in the Family Caregiving Collaborative and the National Consortium for Family Caregiving in Nursing Education is critically important to her work. As a co-founder and partner in launching and leading the Consortium, Dr. Kathryn Sexson (UC Davis Family Caregiving Institute) has been a valued mentor whose guidance has been instrumental in advancing Dr. Hart’s work.
Resources, publications, and other information that may be of interest to IFNA members
- The first webinar in the series “Teaching with Families in Mind: A Faculty Webinar Series on Identifying, Valuing, Supporting, and Integrating Family Caregivers in Nursing Education” is scheduled for January 23, 2026. The featured speaker, Dr. Terri Harvath, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, will present on “Preparing the Next Generation of Nurses to Incorporate Family Caregivers in Healthcare Decision Making.” To register for this event: https://utahnursing.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eEyoSrlsONUCIxU.
- Zoom information for the webinar:
- Join the presentation here: https://utah.zoom.us/j/89004364938
- Meeting ID: 890 0436 4938
- Passcode: 54321
- The National Education Consortium of the Family Caregiving Collaborative at the University of Utah
- Thompson, A. D., Thomas Hebdon, M. C., Utz, R. L., Hart, S. E., Ellington, L., & Bouldin, E. D. (2025). Caregivers at the crossroads: shifting policies and the challenges faced by employed caregivers. Health Affairs Scholar, 3(10). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxaf185
- Hart, S. E., Sexson, K., Perkins, C., Zhao, H., Cowen, N., Seward, T., … & Mongoven, J. (2025). Family caregiving competencies for level one nursing education. Journal of Professional Nursing, 59, 138-147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.05.006
- Cloyes, K., Hart, S., Jones, A. & Ellington, L. (2020). Where are the family caregivers? Addressing the absence of family caregiver-related material in foundational nursing documents. Journal of Professional Nursing, 36(1), 76-84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2019.06.004
- Zoom information for the webinar:
Those who are interested in learning more about Dr. Hart can check out her LinkedIn profile, as well as her page on the website for the University of Utah College of Nursing. You can also contact Dr. Hart via email.