Education

B.S.N., Cedar Crest College
M.S.N., Bloomsburg University
D.N.P., Wilkes University
Certified Nurse Educator

Courses Taught

• Junior level Med surg courses and clinical (Junior and Senior Level)
• Community/Population Health

Graduate Courses Taught

• Issues and Trends
• Advanced Pharmacology
• Advanced physiology and pathophysiology
• Women’s Health in the FNP Program
• Biostatistics in the DNP program

Career Highlights

Karen has been teaching at Cedar Crest College since 2005. She began as a part-time faculty focusing on the clinical setting and later transitioned to full-time faculty in 2016. Since that time Karen has taught a variety of courses in the undergraduate and graduate programs.

Her clinical background includes RN practice in a variety of medsurg roles, ICU, and home health. As an NP, previous areas of specialty include women’s health, occupational health, and currently, geriatrics with a mental/spiritual health focus.

Memberships

ANA, Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, ACNP, NLN, NONPF

Why Choose Cedar Crest?

“I feel that as an alumna and also a nurse that Cedar Crest College prepares nursing students in a very special way. I feel that the liberal arts base is key to understanding patients in a holistic manner. By learning to appreciate the aesthetics and make connections between all of our areas of knowledge, we allow the students to see a bigger picture. This creates for a more adaptable, creative, and intelligent nurse.”

Advice

“I am passionate about the commitment to learning new knowledge, and the holistic caring for patients. I never want to stop learning or growing in my understanding of new information. I encourage curious learners and welcome questions. Finding the correct answers benefits us all.”

Inspiration

“All of the motivated and insightful teachers and professors in my past have served as inspiration for me. They helped to fan the spark of interest in learning into a fire. If it weren’t for those committed few, I would most likely not have found my way here. The vision for this school inspires and motivates me to want to contribute to continuing the tradition of excellence in the nursing program.”

How Did You Become a Teacher?

“It seems that I have always been helping others to understand things better. I tutored Spanish in high school and while a student at Cedar Crest I tutored in microbiology and fine arts and was an instructional assistant for Freshman Seminar and Anatomy and Physiology. It was my work as an instructional assistant that really influenced my interest in teaching. I found that the students understood the material better when I explained it in my terms. It led to my first teaching job years later. I started teaching A&P at a community college.”