PhD Student Highlights
Christine Barnes
My nursing career began over 15 years ago as an ICU nurse in an academic medical center in Eastern North Carolina. I developed a love for leadership, quality improvement, and advancing healthcare science. For over a decade I’ve served in multiple leadership roles in safety and quality, managed organizational mission critical projects, and mentored and trained others in Lean Six Sigma, Just Culture, and TeamSTEPPS. My career in nursing and health systems leadership led me to become a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality and Lean Six Sigma Certified Black Belt. I currently manage the Quality Program at Duke Raleigh Hospital. My passion for continuous improvement drives my on-going pursuit for personal and professional development, and I desire to serve and lead others in achieving excellence in healthcare. I believe education, research, innovation, leadership, and interprofessional collaboration are key to meeting this goal, and these values underpin my decision to return to ECU for a nursing PhD degree. I enjoy experiencing new cultures and worked as a critical care travel nurse and electronic health record resource nurse, providing direct patient care and staff support in various healthcare organizations and settings across the United States during times of dramatic change and need. I lean on these lifetime experiences in my daily work and look forward to leveraging my doctoral degree to help nurses, organizations, and communities improve health.
Brittany Cherry
I am a first-year student in the nursing PhD program. I live in Tarboro, North Carolina. I have a 2-year-old daughter, and my husband and I enjoy spending time with family and friends, going to the beach, and camping. I earned my BSN and MSN in Nursing Education from ECU College of Nursing. I am very proud to be a PIRATE NURSE! Previous positions included working as a staff nurse at Vidant Medical Center and Vidant Edgecombe Hospital in medical-surgical, oncology, orthopedics, and rehabilitation nursing. I also served in the surgical unit at Vidant Edgecombe as Assistant Nurse Manager. I accepted my dream position last fall and am currently a nursing instructor at Edgecombe Community College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. My compassion for others, love for nursing, and eagerness to improve patient care and nursing education is why I decided to pursue a PhD in Nursing. My research interest is examining pedagogical approaches that improve clinical judgment in undergraduate nursing students. I chose ECU because of my positive past educational experiences and the support and mentorship offered by the faculty.
Angela Ciuca
I graduated with a Master of Nurse Anesthesia from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and became a CRNA in 2012. Before joining the nursing faculty at ECU, I practiced with a private anesthesia group in Boston and with a community hospital in SC. During that time, I completed my Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice at Missouri State University. My quality improvement capstone project centered on using prophylactic Zofran to mitigate spinal-induced hypotension in the parturient. Currently, I am a Clinical Assistant Professor in the ECU College of Nursing Nurse Anesthesia Program teaching SRNAs both clinically and didactically. My dissertation research is centered on novel renal biomarkers for early risk stratification of surgical-associated acute kidney injuries, renal physiology, and renal pathophysiology. Within the scope of my research, I have secured a publication of my systematic review and a national grant to fund my research program. I was recently selected as an ECU College of Nursing Rising Star of Research and disseminated my work at the Sigma International 46th Biennial Convention in Fall 2021. When not in the classroom, lab, or operating room, I am usually traveling to see family and experience new sights. I enjoy cooking, playing flute and piano, and spending time with my family and my dog Moakley.
Kimberly Delgado
I am a PhD candidate in my final year of the BSN to PhD program, with a concentration in Nursing Education. I started my career as a CNA and completed my LPN certification through SUNY Brockport. I attended Queensborough Community College in NY for my ADN, and SUNY Empire State University for my BSN. I have spent 16 of my 18 years in nursing in long-term care. I love working with the older adult population and educating nursing staff. My career goal is to improve long-term care through nursing research, education, and staff development. The focus of my dissertation is to describe skilled nursing staff experience when encountering residents presenting with suspected urinary tract infections.
Wanda Goodwyn
I received my BSN from Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, and my MSN from Winston Salem State University. I have been a RN for 34 years and am a veteran of the US Army Reserves and Army Nurse Corps, serving for a total of 10 years. I have worked in various specialty areas within nursing including labor and delivery, orthopedics, neurosurgery, pain management, and case management. Within academia I have worked as a nursing educator and simulation lab manager. I enjoy teaching and mentoring newly graduated nurses and nursing students to ensure their continued success within the profession. I am a member of Sigma Theta Tau International nursing society and previously served as the secretary of the Pi Sigma Chapter from 2015 to 2017. I am also a member of AWHONN. I am currently a PhD candidate and my research interest is examining psychological and sociocultural factors that impact rates of HIV infection among African American women. I feel passionate about improving the lives and outcomes of African American women with HIV in the South.
Belinda K. Lashea
The midwifery model of care is comprised of both science and art; it is a unique and necessary approach to women’s healthcare with a lineage that dates to the earliest forms of human existence. A major challenge in modern nurse-midwifery education is how to integrate the art with the science of midwifery. My background in direct-entry midwifery and herbalism fuels my passion for scholarly exploration and investigation aimed at the preservation of the arts of our ancient profession.
East Carolina College of Nursing is distinct in offering the only nurse- midwifery education program in our state. I am both an alumni and part-time faculty at the College of Nursing, with deep ties to the North Carolina midwifery community where I have served and practiced for the last 20 years. The PhD program and faculty at ECU have welcomed me, supported my research interests, and helped me grow as a scholar and midwife. I am so grateful to be a part of the important work and research community of this institution!
I started this journey at 32 years old with only a GED. Thanks to the support of many mentors and guides, I earned my Associates degree at Durham Technical Community College, my Bachelor’s in Nursing from UNC Chapel Hill, and my Master’s in Nurse-Midwifery from East Carolina. I am humbled to now pursue my doctoral degree at ECU, and I look forward to the journey!
Lesha Rouse
I am currently a 4th year PhD student and PhD candidate. I received my MSN from ECU College of Nursing. I am married with three adult children and two granddaughters who are the “wind beneath my wings”. I reside in Greenville, NC and am employed as a Clinical Instructor at ECU College of Nursing. I have been a nurse for over 30 years and my professional career expands over a variety of clinical settings. During my early years in nursing, I practiced primarily in the care of patients receiving treatment for renal disease. I have since practiced in outpatient settings and surgery and eventually transitioned into school health. My initial position in school health was in a high school setting. I learned so much from this setting which included the need for me to modify my assumptions about why children behaved the way they do at school, and that “parents can just do better if they want to.”
My research interest is examining the school nurse’s knowledge, experiences, and role in providing trauma-informed care to students exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Trauma-informed care seeks to care for people who have had these experiences with an understanding that these events have physical, emotional, and mental impacts on their lives.
I chose ECU for my PhD education because of its close location, cost-effectiveness, and high standards for producing well-prepared nurse scientists. My humble beginnings in rural NC and my sustained respect and admiration for the nursing profession are what motivated me to pursue my doctorate degree.
Chris Smith
I am originally from Goldsboro, NC, but currently live in Winterville, NC, just a short distance from East Carolina. I currently work part time at Wilson Medical Center in day surgery, but my clinical background was primarily cardiovascular nursing. I am also employed as a research assistance for ECU’s College of Nursing. I earned an ADN degree from Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, NC, a BSN from Appalachian State University, and an MSN from Appalachian State University, where I wrote a qualitative master’s thesis on the male perspective on being a nurse in today’s healthcare environment.
I spent much of my childhood witnessing the devastation wrought by cardiovascular disease. I have a strong family history of cardiac illness and death from cardiovascular disease. My father came very close to dying when he underwent his first two angioplasty procedures in his late 30s; that was when I knew I wanted to help save others from similar experiences.
I have always had a natural curiosity and desire to understand cause and effects. I returned to school to pursue a PhD so that I can use research to discover relationships between disease and prevention. My research interests include the effects of sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality on adhering to secondary prevention strategies among persons with cardiovascular disease. I believe it is important to understand these relationships to drive evidence-based practice and develop interventions targeting this population. The southeastern U.S. leads the country in heart disease – I cannot think of a better place to be involved in cardiovascular nursing research and making a difference in people’s lives.
I considered ECU’s nursing science PhD program because several professors at App State during my master’s degree program spoke highly of ECU’s program. I connected with Dr. Elaine Scott one year before completing my master’s degree program. I was beyond impressed with her passion for knowledge discovery and advancing nursing science. We stayed in contact for the next year while I finished my master’s degree. Dr. Scott eventually introduced me to Dr. Patricia Crane. Dr Crane was equally passionate, and she spoke my language – cardiovascular nursing. Dr. Scott and Dr. Crane’s excitement about advancing the field of nursing science rubbed off on me. Dr. Scott and Dr. Crane both made me feel like I was nestled underneath the wings of two nurse scientists, who would safely guide me through doctoral preparation from the moment I met. All ECU CON faculty have been exemplary, and I am excited to be here learning, and helping advance the nursing science discipline.
Catherine Taylor
I am a third-year graduate student in the BSN-to-PhD Program, concentrating in Health Systems Leadership. I was born and raised in Greenville, NC, attended ECU’s Honors College as an undergraduate and BSN student, and continued in the PhD Program directly following my graduation in 2019. It is safe to say I have been a Pirate my whole life!
While completing my studies, I serve as a Graduate Research Assistant for the College of Nursing, which gives me the opportunity to assist faculty with various research-related activities, offering me first-hand experience in research. I also work as a Registered Nurse in the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at WakeMed Raleigh. In this role I serve as a charge nurse, preceptor, and a Code Stroke nurse. My research interest stems from personal experiences with missed and/or misunderstood in-hospital strokes throughout the hospital system. My future research will focus on in-hospital strokes, specifically acute care nurse preparedness in recognizing and intervening when stroke symptoms occur in their hospitalized patients.
Samantha Willard
I am an Early Assurance Program nursing scholar and in my first year of graduate school. I am in the BSN-PhD program with a concentration in Health Systems Leadership. My research interests include health disparities, internet-based interventions, racial/ethnic minorities, and surgery. I graduated with my BSN from ECU in May of 2021. In July, I started working as a RN at Vidant Edgecombe on the surgical unit. I completed my undergraduate honors project with ECU College of Nursing faculty Dr. Larson and Heather Kindl which was a systematic review titled, “Examining the Use of Internet-Based Interventions Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Cancer Survivors.” I am looking forward to continuing my education at ECU and serving Eastern NC through nursing research and practice.