SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Monalesia Chapman is a PhD student in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Monalesia has worked in the nursing profession for 24 years with experience in medical-surgical, oncology, and staff development. She received her Master of Nursing from UNC-Greensboro, after completing her undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill. Monalesia has been employed at the Durham VA Healthcare System in Durham, NC for 16 years. The last ten years she has worked as a Nursing Professional Development Specialist, currently over Ambulatory Care Services. She is a VHA certified mentor and serves on the Evidence-Based Practice Committee. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society and a member of AACR (American Association for Cancer Research). She was an active participant of the development of the ECHO (Elder Care Hospital Program) at the Durham VA and coordinator of the RN-to Transition Program for new graduates. Monalesia’ s dissertation research will examine the HRQoL of CRC survivors in the Veteran population after their first year of treatment. With the VA being the largest healthcare system that provides cancer care in the United States, and a large percentage of colorectal cancer among those Veterans, determing the HRQoL for CRC survivors is critical. She is also interested because there have been few studies that have focused on the HRQoL among the Veteran population. Findings from this study can be used to inform intervention work with this population to improve their quality of life after cancer treatment.

Passionate, change-minded, and a born leader, Laurel Chiaramonte spends her life in the service of others as an officer and nurse in the United States military. Just out of high school, she joined the Air Force as a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy. Recognizing her innate leadership abilities and love of selfless service, the Air Force sent Ms. Chiaramonte to nursing school at Vanderbilt University following her graduation in 2003. There she earned a Master’s degree and board certification as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in Adult Health. Laurel has been a long-time advocate for the CNS beginning with a presentation of the “Role of the Clinical Nurse Leader” at a symposium sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Veteran’s Health Administration in 2004 through her ongoing Ph.D. research into the role. Laurel is now a member of the Reserve component of the Air Force and works as a government employee for a consortium of Colorado Springs military treatment facilities. The consortium is known within the Defense Health Agency for maximizing cost savings through new/innovative methods without sacrificing quality or safety. As their Chief of Medical Management, Ms. Chiaramonte works to streamline and standardize the roles of Air Force and Army case managers, disease managers, and utilization managers in the area. Laurel’s current position aligns with her research focus as she works to break down barriers and make improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of military/veteran care by incorporating and formalizing the CNS role in primary care clinics.

I’m a full time student in the BSN-PhD program and on track to graduate in Spring 2020. . In the last two years of PhD study, every course and class project have allow me to further understanding the foundational role of the behavioral intervention in prevention and managing chronic disease from further events. One of my class project is about the effect of socioeconomic and eating habit behavior on BMI was accepted for podium presentation at the council’s 2018 state of science congress in nursing research in Washington, DC September (2018). I am also working on three other classes projects which all related on prevention and behavioral change to submit in journals and conferences. This summer I didn’t take any classes because I’m studying NCLEX exam to take this test by the end of this summer. I strongly confident that this scholarship will prove invaluable in developing me towards my professional goal of becoming a faculty researcher in the college of nursing after graduation.