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Faculty Research

Are you a graduate student seeking committee members?

College of Nursing faculty members serve the dual mission of disciplinary research and professional teaching.

All graduate faculty listed may serve as graduate student advisory committee members. Per the College of Nursing Performance Standards, DNP projects are chaired by a DNP faculty member and Ph.D. dissertations are chaired by a Ph.D. faculty member. DNP and Ph.D. faculty may co-chair project or dissertation committees.

Faculty Member

Research Interests

Alham Abuatiq, Ph.D., M.S.N., RN

 

  • E-Learning in nursing
  • Digital clinical experiences
  • Stress perception in critical care
  • Techno stress
  • Critical care

Robin Arends, DNP, CNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, CNE, FAANP

 

  • Chronic disease management/prevention/health promotion
  • Complementary medicine
  • Telehealth
  • Long-term care
  • Advocacy/legislation, advanced practice issues, leadership
  • Mental health
  • Military health
  • Palliative care
  • Interprofessional activities
  • Critical care

Robin Brown, Ph.D., RN

 

  • Organizational change
  • Stress and coping
  • Rural health
  • Health promotion
  • Nursing education
Dannica Callies, DNP, CNP
  • Rural healthcare
  • Self-care
  • Primary prevention and health promotion
  • Nursing education including continuing education for the APRN
  • Leadership
  • Telemedicine

Cynthia Elverson, Ph.D., RN

 

  • Maternal/child population topics such as:
    • pain
    • stress
    • attachment

Karin Emery, Ph.D., RN

 

  • Administration and leadership
  • Biobehavioral research
  • Diabetes
  • Self and family management
  • Chronic illness

Kay Foland, Ph.D., PMHNP-BC, PMHCNS-BC, CNP, RN

(committee member only)

 

  • Gerontology/older adult in LTC facilities and the community
  • Psychosocial issues/interventions with dementia and depression
  • Qualitative methodology
  • Mental health interventions, esp. related to smoking behaviors
  • Educational research in nursing
Theresa Garren-Grubbs, DNP, RN, CMSRN, CNL
  • Rural health
  • Advanced care planning
  • Leadership
  • Quality improvement

Lori Hendrickx, Ed.D., RN, CCRN

 

  • Rural health
  • Nursing education
  • Emergency and critical care

Mary Isaacson, Ph.D., RN, CHPN®

 

  • American Indian palliative care
  • Rural/frontier palliative care
  • American Indian childhood obesity
  • CBPR approach
  • Hermeneutic phenomenology
  • Cultural humility/diversity
Mary Anne Krogh, Ph.D., CRNA, FAAN
  • Psychometrics
  • Testing theory
  • Innovative item types
  • High stakes examinations
  • Item response/latent trait theory

Heidi Mennenga, Ph.D., RN

 

  • Student outcomes
  • Team-based learning
  • Simulation
  • Undergraduate curriculum

Sarah Mollman, Ph.D., RN, CNE

 

  • Educational research
  • Palliative and end-of-life care
  • Oncology

Christina Plemmons, Ph.D., RN-BC, CNE

 

  • Nursing education
  • Clinical academic partnerships
  • Clinical self-efficacy
  • Clinical teamwork
  • Quantitative methods
Brandi Pravecek, DNP, CNP, FNP-BC
  • Palliative and end of life care
  • Rural health
  • Underserved and homeless populations
  • Geriatrics
Danielle Schievelbein, Ph.D., RN
  • Chronic Disease Management
  • Rural Nursing/Health
  • Nursing Education
  • Simulation

Tom Stenvig, Ph.D., RN, MPH, NEA-BC, FAAN

 

  • Provider immunization practices
  • Refugee health
  • American Indian health
  • Survey research
  • Theory of planned behavior
  • Health belief model
Brandon Varilek, Ph.D., RN, PCCN, CCTC
  • Hermeneutic phenomenology
  • Chronic disease management (cystic fibrosis and ESRD)
  • Kidney transplantation
  • American Indian/Native American health
  • Palliative/end-of-life care

Jo Voss, Ph.D., RN, CNS

 

  • Nursing education research
  • Anxiety and stress management
  • Complementary therapies
  • Critical care clinical research

Updated October 2021