SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

My name is Kris-Angelo Natividad, Doctor of Nursing Practice student at Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). One of my interests is in improving heart failure outcomes and management with the goal of reducing 30-day readmission rates. This is performed through utilization of a multidisciplinary approach, risk stratification tools, evidence based management and improved discharge process. I completed my bachelor’s degree in nursing at the Long Island University’s (LIU) Brooklyn campus in 2006 and my master’s degree as a nurse practitioner at Hunter College of CUNY in 2012. My professional career includes student nurse externships in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, six years as a registered nurse in the cardiothoracic surgery intensive care unit and four years as a cardiothoracic surgery nurse practitioner at Lenox Hill Hospital. For over a year, I have been working as a nurse practitioner and discharge liaison/coordinator for the advanced heart failure program at Maimonides Medical Center. I have four years of teaching experience as an adjunct professor. I have presented and published in topics related to cardiothoracic surgery and cardiology. I am a member and recipient of the following awards: Sigma Theta Tau member, Davis chapter leadership excellence award by the Alpha Chi Honors Society (2005), Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges (2005), Irene Sell Nursing Award for Interest in Professional Issues for LIU (2006), Valerie Michelson Nursing Award for Community Service for LIU (2006), Creative and Scholarly Project Award for Alpha Phi Chapter, Sigma Theta Tau (2012).

Ms. Naylor is currently a PhD in Nursing Science student at UMMC in Jackson, MS. Her research interests center on discrimination and disparity in African Americans with cognitive impairment. She is currently the Director of Clinical Operations at The Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND) Center, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), in Jackson, MS. She holds membership in Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing and is a Certified Clinical Research Professional.

I completed my bachelor/s degree in nursing at Binghamton University in 2013, and completed the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program and my master’s degree at New York University in 2018. I am currently a student in the Post-BS-to-DNP Program at NYU. I work as a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital and in radiology at Weill Cornell-New York Presbyterian in New York City. However, I look forward to beginning my career as a pediatric nurse practitioner after I pass my certification exam this summer.

Amy Nelson, MS, RN was at the National Institutes of Health as a Nurse Specialist / Research Coordinator and Research Nurse working with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 2007 to 2014. Since then, she has worked as a Nurse Coordinator for the Clinical Research Unit at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore after being recruited to re-establish clinical trials at the site. Her many positions in leadership since becoming a nurse led her to pursue a Master’s Degree in Health Services Leadership and Management at the University, and her desire to not only implement essential research questions but to ask them, drove her to begin the Ph.D. Nursing program in 2017. Ten years in an inner-city volunteer position in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco living and working among the homeless, prostitutes and heroin addicts stirred up great concern for the health of the marginalized populations with numerous life and health challenges. International non-profit work, as well as refugee health home visiting while a Public Health Nurse has shaped her interests in HIV and other infectious diseases, especially among current substance abusers who are often the progenitors of new, and sometimes life-long infections for themselves and others.

My name is Vivian N. Ngwa and I was born in Cameroon, West Africa. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Library and Information Science (BLIS) from Ahmadu Bello University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Wayne State University. I migrated to the United States in 2003 and discovered my passion for caring for others and at that time decided to pursue a degree in Nursing. I graduated with my BSN in 2007 and obtained employment as a Registered Nurse at St. John Providence Hospital in the Orthopedics unit. I have worked for the past decade in various departments and now focus on working with Geriatric patients. Presently, I work at Detroit VA Hospital in the Hospice and Rehabilitation unit. I am currently the President of the Cameroon Nursing Association and serve as an ambassador for the UPC council at the VA. My DNP research project is focused on comparing urinary infection rates between inpatient females who use indwelling urinary catheters as compared to those who use external urinary collection devices to determine which device is the most appropriate, cost effective, and has the best patient outcomes. My plans are to apply the evidence based practice for this project not only to hospice/rehabilitation females at the VA Hospital, but also in institutions where urinary track infections are on the rise.

Ms. Nicholson began her academic career at the University of Michigan where she graduated with honors with her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. She went on to pursue her Masters in Nursing, as a Family Nurse Practitioner where she had the pleasure of teaching undergraduate nursing students. She began her career in cardiology and family practice. Following her master’s degree program, Ms. Nicholson worked in oncology and became certified as an Advanced Oncology Nurse Practitioner. She has worked in both community practice and academic oncology settings, and served as a strong advocate for palliative care for increased patient teaching and nursing education. Due to a strong interest in advancing symptom management for oncology patients she then pursued certification as an advanced oncology nurse practitioner (AHPN). She had the privilege of developing an outpatient oncology program for oncology patients at the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center to help patients focus on symptom management and goals of care. Due to her desire to improve nursing practice in oncology and palliative care, Ms. Nicholson is currently pursuing her PhD at the Rutgers School of Nursing. Her interest area is the use of Advanced Directives and Physician’s Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) in the chronically ill population. She hopes to work to improve education surrounding advanced care planning and end of life communication.