SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

My name is Cynthia Ward. I’m currently attending Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing DNP program and anticipate graduating Spring 2018. My clinical practice area focus on improving the quality of life in the veteran and soldier population. As a nurse advocate, I’ve been on the frontlines and in the trenches using critical thinking and innovative approaches to navigate through the very complex and convulted medical and benefits systems of the Army and Veterans Health System. In my various nursing roles in the military and civilian sectors, I’ve used every opportunity to solve seemingly complex medical/health using simple logical solutions in my patient population, thus improved outcomes. I currently hold a MSN as a Nurse Case Manager with a Focus on the Underserved Population and a Post Masters as a Family Nurse Practitioner. In 2001, I was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau and the Rural Nurse Association. I have been a catalyst for change in the Army Reserves medical readines and conceptualized many initiatives that became best practices by the entire Army Reserves. My focus was reviewing and understanding the strategic goals then defining my initiatives to align and nest with higher. Many leaders and soldiers to the lowest level were empowered through support, guidance, innovativeness,but most importantly accountability both ways. I articulated process improvement strategies to share at the lowest level. I am the recepient of many AAMs, ARCOMs, and one Meritorious Service Medal. My greatest reward is knowing that a soldier and/or veteran quality of life has improved.

Guy M. Weissinger, MPhil., PhD is an Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) at the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing at Villanova University. His research focuses on the experiences of people with mental illness through the non-psychiatric healthcare system, including primary care, emergency rooms, and inpatient medical-surgical units. Currently, he works on a suicide prevention program that seeks to improve the connection of various youth serving systems to improve care continuity and engagement in services.

Before receiving his BSN/PhD at the University of Pennsylvania through the Hillman Scholars program, Guy was a therapist working with individuals with chronic illness and in suicide prevention programs. His interest in health and nursing stems from these experiences and the powerful effect he saw that nurses could have on patient’s experiences and outcomes.

I am a first year doctoral student at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) School of Nursing. For the past 15 years, I have been a nurse practitioner in the areas of family medicine, oncology, and most recently, in cancer survivorship. As a member of an interdisciplinary team, I developed a cancer survivorship program/clinic. While I enjoyed my clinical experience immensely, I now wish to focus on becoming a nurse scientist and pursuing research. My research area of interest is adolescent and young adult cancer survivors, and examining their functional outcomes after treatment. It is my honor to have been awarded the OHSU Dean’s Alumni Scholarship for 2015-2016, 2016-2017.

In Spring 2013 I began my BSN to PhD coursework at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, entering the PhD program Summer 2014. I received a BSN from Avila College in 1995 and have been active in the acute care setting since, working in the cardiac catheterization lab, critical care float pool and as a code neuro nurse. As a code neuro nurse I work closely with an interdisciplinary team to provide care to those who present with hyper-acute and acute stroke symptoms promoting and participating in the delivery of care and clinical research. For this reason, I am committed to improving health outcomes in this population with the ultimate goal of decreasing the number of recurrent strokes. Accordingly, my dissertation focus is improving medication adherence in older adult stroke survivors. I am active in shared governance at Saint Luke’s Hospital. I have served as a member and Chair of the Standards of Care committee developing standardized clinical care plans and patient education pathways. Currently, I serve as the Secretary of the Nurse Research Council whereby I facilitate development of bedside nurse’s research projects, evaluate the scientific merit of projects, and assist in dissemination and utilization of nursing research outcomes. I am a member of the MAGIC research team. The MAGIC study, an NIH R01 study, is led by PIs Drs. Russell and Hathaway. The goal of this randomized controlled trial is test the effectiveness of an innovative SystemCHANGE™ intervention on medication adherence, outcomes and costs.