SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

I am enrolled in the DNP Program at the University of San Diego in the FNP/PNP dual track, which I will extend by a year to complete the PHMNP curriculum. I have a background in working with children with severe special needs and complex medical needs and in behavioral health. I have recently spent time completing FNP clinical hours in a student health setting in an urban community college, which has been an incredible learning opportunity, and has demonstrated that there is a huge need for increased knowledge of mental health in primary care settings. I am part of the Jonas-Flynn cohort due to the completion of the Susan D. Flynn Oncology fellowship in 2015. Though my experiences have allowed me to work with a wide variety of populations, I have a strong interest in vulnerable populations and resilience in pediatric settings, a passion that was initially formed when I began to work with children with special needs while concurrently completing the Flynn Oncology fellowship and learning about the values of oncology nursing. The lessons I was able to take away from this program were invaluable and I am grateful that they were able to lead me to the Jonas Scholars, where I have continued to meet intelligent, compassionate nurses who strive for the best possible care for our patients each day.

I am currently in the PhD in Nursing Program at West Virginia University. I graduated with an Associate Degree in Nursing from Monroe County Community College in 2011, completed my BSN in 2014 from Eastern Michigan University, and received my MSN in Nursing Education from The University of Toledo in 2017. My clinical area of practice is in pediatric critical care and my priority research area is in the psychosocial and emotional health of parents and caregivers of critically ill children. My initial focus is to identify threats to the emotional integrity of parents and caregivers of critically ill children. Subsequently, I plan to develop a nurse-led intervention to mitigate the identified threats with the potential to improve the longitudinal health outcomes in patients and families alike. I also teach undergraduate nursing students in the child and adolescent health course at West Virginia University School of Nursing to foster and maintain continual professional growth.

I am currently enrolled in the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) Program at University of Virginia to begin Fall 2018. My current research interests include preventing Heart Failure re-admissions through improved patient education of self-care practices, as well as engaging the busy bedside nurse in utilizing evidenced based practices for Heart Failure education to improve consistency and thoroughness of education given. I graduated in 2013 with my BSN from George Mason University and commissioned through ROTC into the Army as a Second Lieutenant and was assigned to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas on a Cardiac Telemetry unit for 3 years. While on the unit I became passionate about educating Veterans about Heart Failure as there were many patients that admitted repeatedly for exacerbation of their condition, many as a result of a knowledge deficit of self-care practices. After being awarded BAMC RN of the Year in 2016, I was featured in an Army Recruitment video for Army Nursing entitled Life as a U.S. Army Nurse, that can be found on YouTube, where I briefly explain the project this passion led to. After 3 years I was assigned to Fort Leonard Wood, MO in a community hospital on a Medical Surgical Adult and Pediatric Unit where I served as the Assistant Head Nurse. This new role allowed for leadership development and peer collaboration as well as insight into the power of policy and continuing nursing education on patient outcomes and nursing turnover.

Corinne Plesko (Cori) is currently a student at The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in the combined DNP/PhD program specializing in the Family Primary Care Nurse Practitioner track. She anticipates graduating from the program in the spring of 2023. Prior to attending Johns Hopkins, Cori graduated with honors from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016 with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. During her time at the University of Pittsburgh, Cori became a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing as well as participated in the school’s Undergraduate Research Mentorship Program where she discovered her interest in pursuing nursing research as a career. After graduating, Cori moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where she worked as a registered nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit and cardiac intensive care unit at Intermountain Healthcare’s Primary Children’s Hospital. Cori is honored to have been selected as a Jonas Scholar for the 2018-2020 cohort and has career aspirations of utilizing her dual degree to become both a nursing faculty member as well as a primary care practitioner in a clinical setting after she graduates. Her research areas of interest include family primary care, pediatric and women’s health, and healthcare for low-income families.

I am fortunate to have the opportunity to combine clinical practice as a Nurse Practitioner in the Wound Clinic at our local Veterans Administration (VA) Health Care Center with my research interest of preventing and treating pressure ulcers. Pressure ulcers cause impediment to the recovery and rehabilitation of afflicted patients, and I plan to establish a program of research that encompasses both laboratory supported biological research and clinic based patient interventions to reduce and treat pressure ulcers. Laboratory based research topics include identifying biomarkers for pressure ulcers and comparing innervated and non-innervated muscle response to pressure. Dr. Marco Brotto, the Director of our PhD Program in Nursing is my Research Advisor, and he is also the Director of the Bone-Muscle Collaborative Sciences Research Center and an expert on Biomarkers in Health and Disease. An example of a clinic based intervention study is the current collaboration between the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Research Institute (UTARI), Dr. Brotto’s Lab, and the Veterans Affairs Human Engineering Research Laboratory on an automatic cycling air cushion to prevent pressure ulcers. These opportunities will lead into new insights about wound healing biology/physiology and the effectiveness of new technologies for its treatment, which is precisely the way that the National Institutes of Nursing Research wants us to advance the science of Nursing. As the spouse of a retired military veteran, as the mother of an active duty soldier, and as a veteran myself, I am honored to be selected as a Jonas Scholar.