SCHOLAR DIRECTORY

Kimberly Waltrip is a Ph.D student in the College of Nursing at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. Her research interest is low back pain and related musculoskeletal disorders of the lumbar spine. She received a BSN from Southeast Missouri State University and a MSN from Vanderbilt University. Kimberly worked in general, progressive, and intensive care areas at Vanderbilt Medical Center as a neuroscience staff RN, then as an advanced practice nurse for Vanderbilt Neurosurgery before transferring to a faculty position. She was a clinical instructor and lecturer for BSN and MSN students at Belmont University and Vanderbilt University. Her professional experience includes staff positions at Barnes-Jewish Hospital as a Clinical Educator for the neuroscience progressive and intensive care areas, and as a Patient Safety Quality Improvement specialist in the Department of Patient Safety and Risk Management. She continues in a nurse expert role, reviewing neuro and critical care issues in her part-time work as a legal consultant. Kimberly has served on various hospital committees and task forces, developing standardized patient care protocols and documentation for nursing staff, policies and procedures, physician order sets, patient and nursing education materials, and curriculum redesign for nursing orientation, working toward goals for safer clinical practice, performance and quality improvement, and increased staff recruitment and retention rates.

Casey Wangen is enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program specializing in nurse anesthesia at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. Casey received his Masters of Nursing degree with honors at the University of Minnesota in 2011 where he served as Vice-President of the National Student Nurses’ Association and member of the Nursing College Board. He is an active member of the Zeta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Casey earned his Bachelors of Science in Exercise Science from Minnesota State University Moorhead in Moorhead, MN where he received honors including a Distinction in Engagement and named one of MSUM’s greatest grads. Casey’s nursing experience has primarily been as a critical care registered nurse working in medical and surgical intensive care units as well as in the emergency department. In his three-year nursing career, Casey has received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses as well as a Guardian Angel Award for exceptional patient care. He is currently a nurse anesthesia trainee at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN. For his doctoral scholarly project, Casey is focusing on optimizing awakening patients who are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the emergence phase of anesthesia to minimize triggering events and experiencing flashbacks.

Ms. Weber is currently a third year PhD student at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing. Her research interests include homeless veterans, chronic disease management and access to care. Ms. Weber originally graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a bachelors degree in biology before going on to attend Xavier University. At Xavier she completed an accelerated program to achieve her masters of science in nursing and Clinical Nurse Leader certification (CNL). She began her nursing career at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center working as a Clinical Nurse Leader. Later, she transitioned to the emergency department at the VA where she has spent the last five years. Ms. Weber recently received a research award from the VA, the VISN 10 Patient-Centered Care Research Initiative Program (RIP) award, to support her dissertation work on homeless veterans and chronic disease management.