SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

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.