SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Erica Sloan is enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) Program at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. She earned her BA in Education from the University of Iowa and her BS in Nursing from Grand View University in Des Moines, IA. She has held staff nursing positions in labor and delivery and with newborns at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, IA and Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC) in Ames, IA where she served on unit-based councils as an educator on lactation and newborn care. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and received a PRIDE service award for excellence in nursing at MGMC. She has served on the Executive Board of the Iowa Association of Nursing Students as the Treasurer and Membership Director. Ms. Sloan’s doctoral project will focus on increasing access to services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) targeting systems to reduce wait times from initial concern to treatment, with an emphasis on telehealth modalities. Similar projects have been initiated including a program known as Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes – Autism (ECHO Autism), that has had success in streamlining care to children with ASD. The focus of Ms. Sloan’s doctoral work will be to apply this framework in Iowa. Ms. Sloan hopes that her work in optimizing access to care through telehealth modalities will facilitate efficient diagnoses for children and their concerned families and improve responsiveness to ASD therapies.