Newark, New Brunswick, & Blackwood, NJ
Remote Operations Notice: Newark-based School of Nursing offices and didactic courses will operate remotely on June 16, 22, 25, and 30 due to anticipated transportation impacts related to FIFA events in the region. Clinical students will receive separate guidance regarding course activities.
Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs, Associate Professor, Specialty Director for the DNP Project/DNP Project Courses
Division of Advanced Nursing Practice
Newark Health Sciences
SSB 1425
(973) 972-1584
Specialty: Leadership, mentoring, obstetrics, DNP projects
For scheduling and general questions, please contact Alicia Boone at amb765@rutgers.edu
Tracy R. Vitale, DNP, RNC-OB, C-EFM, NE-BC, CNE, FAAN is the Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs at Rutgers University School of Nursing. She also oversees the DNP Projects and Project courses. Drawing on her extensive experience in both academic and clinical practice related to nursing care of children and childbearing, Dr. Tracy Vitale joined the Rutgers School of Nursing faculty in 2017 as an assistant professor. She teaches DNP Project courses while also assisting students with DNP Project development, submissions to IRB, and implementation of their projects, and synthesis of findings and implications on nursing practice.
Her areas of expertise include maternal newborn nursing including care of the laboring patient, fetal assessment during labor, assessment of fetal well-being, discomforts of labor, pain management, high-risk pregnancy complications, post-partum care, physical and psychological care of the post-partum patient, newborn assessment and care, common deviations of the newborn, deviations of normal childbearing, and women’s health and family planning.
Dr. Vitale was a nurse manager of the maternal fetal medicine research, as well as the out-patient maternal fetal medicine and high-risk obstetrical practices at Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ, and before that, as clinical coordinator and assistant nurse manager at that hospital in the labor and delivery/perinatal evaluation and treatment units.
Dr. Vitale earned her doctorate in nursing practice at the Rutgers School of Nursing. Recognizing how quality and safety in patient care can be influenced by nursing leadership, the focus of her DNP project was to evaluate the impact of a statewide mentoring program for nurse leaders on leadership practices and job satisfaction. Dr. Vitale has also earned a mini-MBA program certificate. She also holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from The College of New Jersey. She is certified in in-patient obstetrics (RNC-OB) and electronic fetal monitoring (C-EFM), and also maintains certifications as a nurse executive (NE-BC) and nurse educator (CNE). In 2025, Dr. Vitale was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN).
Her academic scholarship focuses on DNP education, nursing workforce, and leadership. She is the co-author of The DNP Project Workbook: A Step by Step Guide for Success with Springer Publishing. The second edition was released on April 29, of 2024.