SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Dr. Alexia Williams, assistant professor, joined the UTHSC College of Nursing faculty January 1, 2014. She earned her associates degree in nursing from Shelby State Community College in 1994, received her Bachelor’s degree in nursing from Union University in 2010, and her Ph.D. in Nursing Science from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 2015. Her research interests have focused on health disparities, minority health, and mental health in male caregivers within the context of chronic illness. She has completed both mixed method and qualitative research projects involving burden, depression, and perceived health in male caregivers of persons with end stage renal disease and stroke survivors, respectively. Funding for these projects was received from the UTHSC Dean’s Fellowship, the Sigma Theta Tau Beta Theta Chapter At-large grant, and the UTHSC Dissertation grant. More recently, Dr. Williams has extended her work beyond caregiving in the context of chronic illness to include primary and secondary stroke prevention in minority populations.

Dr. Williams has practiced in numerous facets of the nursing profession throughout her 23-year career, developing expertise in medical-surgical and psychiatric nursing. Her teaching responsibilities include providing both clinical and didactic instruction within the undergraduate program and didactic instruction in the graduate program. Her areas of teaching include Professional Issues and Transition to Professional Nursing, Mental Health, Adult Health, and Healthcare Economics.

Dr. Williams is an advocate for the advancement of the nursing profession as demonstrated in her active involvement in many professional nursing organizations. She served as president-elect (2016-2017) and, subsequently, president (2017-2019) of the Beta Theta Chapter At-large of Sigma Theta Tau International. She is a member of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, the Southern Nurses Research Society, and the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. In addition, she serves on several committees within the college of nursing.

As a Jonas Nursing Leadership Scholar (2012-2014), Dr. Williams co-authored “Serving the Public through Policy and Politics” in Nurses Making Policy from Bedside to Boardroom. She also recently published two manuscripts “Male Caregivers of Persons with End Stage Renal Disease: A Literature Review” an “Male Caregivers of Persons with End Stage Renal Disease: A Qualitative Study in Nephrology Nursing Journal.