Dr. Charleen McNeill

Charleen McNeill, PhD, MSN, RN

“I enjoy research very much because it’s like a puzzle. It’s logical, it makes sense. It’s like a math problem, only it’s a math problem where you don’t really know what any of the components are and you’ve got to figure those out.”

  • Research Interest: How emergency medical countermeasures cam be provided more effectively so that vulnerable populations are better served after an emergency.
  • Innovation: Focus on utilizing geospacial technology, census data, population health data, and logistical data to determine service needs in a specific location after an emergency.
  • Research Context / Setting: Utilizing population health data, census data, geospacial data to analyze most effective placement and contents of shelters after an emergency.
  • Study Design: Simulation modeling.
  • Research Population: Citizens, particularly vulnerable populations, after an emergency.
  • Study Variables:
    • Chronic disease burden
    • Travel ability
    • Disaster location
    • Census track data for each location
    • Household size
  • Data Collection Instruments: Census track data, geospacial data, The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data, American Community Survey data, postal zip code data.
  • Analysis Methods: Discrete event modeling/simulation.
  • Collaborators: Industrial Engineers, Human Environmental Scientists, Sociologists, Gerontologists, Emergency Planners, other nurses, and an array of other stakeholders interested in improving preparedness and response.
  • Funding: Grants from NSF, NIFA.

Dr. McNeill looks to looks improve methods of nurse response after disasters in terms of knowledge as well as willingness to respond. The number of disasters has increased and is predicted to continue to increase. Healthcare provider education of chronically ill patients in becoming prepared for disasters inclusive of their health needs will improve outcomes after a disaster. Further, providing medical countermeasures, to include sheltering, to the most vulnerable among us is critical in saving lives after an emergency.

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