SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Jade is a first-generation college graduate from Louisville, Kentucky. In 2015, she earned her BSN with Honors from UofL. While completing her BSN, she was involved in a research study about the relationship of sociodemographic characteristics with depression, anxiety, and stress in African American adults with T2DM as a School of Nursing Undergraduate Research Scholar. She presented undergraduate student posters in 2015 at an Undergraduate Research Symposium and Midwest Nursing Research Society conference. Since completing her BSN, Jade has worked for our nation’s best as a Veteran’s Affairs nurse and with people at their most vulnerable moments as a palliative care nurse. As a nurse she saw first-hand the problems that affect this unique patient population, and the impact nursing had on addressing the needs of this population. She realized that she wanted to be the person conducting research and contributing to improving the healthcare system. In 2016, Jade returned to the UofL as a BSN-PhD student. Her research interests include addressing health promotion and disease prevention in vulnerable populations through the development of strategies to increase nursing workforce diversity. She currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant and is a part of the inaugural cohort of UofL Health and Social Justice Scholars. As an HSJS, she is using a Social Determinants perspective in examining factors that influence academic success among minority students who enter into nursing. Jade understands that increasing diversity in the nursing workforce pipeline enhances the profession’s ability to serve vulnerable, underserved and minority populations.