‘Pittsburgh Magazine’ Recognizes Faculty Among Excellence in Nursing
Two Duquesne University faculty members have been honored by Pittsburgh Magazine for excellence in nursing.
Dr. Kathleen Sekula, professor and director of the forensic graduate program, was selected as an Excellence in Nursing honoree in the academic category. Dr. Patricia Watts Kelley, professor and director of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, was named an Excellence in Nursing honorable mention.
Sekula, who first joined the nursing school in 1998, is considered a pioneer in the area of forensic nursing. In addition to her research in the care of the sexual assault victim, trauma-informed care and other forensic areas, Sekula developed one of the first MSN programs offering a specialty in forensic nursing.
In 2001, Sekula developed a graduate program to intersect with the Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law. At the time, forensic nursing was a new practice area. Through her work with other forensic specialists, Sekula developed a unique master’s program that incorporated courses developed in the School of Law and new advanced practice forensic nursing courses.
Additionally, Sekula recognized the need to offer an online Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Adult (SANE-A) training program. That training remains at the forefront of preparing nurses to serve the needs of victims of sexual assault throughout the nation, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Sekula recently received a $1.4 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to support the nursing school’s Advanced Nurse Education SANE program.
Kelley is a past health sciences officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Research and Development. During her service in the Navy, she served as deputy director of nursing and allied health research for the Navy Medicine Research and Development Center, Navy Headquarters, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Her research interests focus on clinical knowledge development and continuity of care of wounded service members, evidence-based practice, health promotion and diabetes self-care management, and nursing retention and recruitment.
In addition to serving as the specialty consultant to the U.S. Navy Surgeon General for nursing research, Kelley was the first Navy executive director of the TriService Nursing Research Program and the first Navy family nurse practitioner at BMC La Magdalena in Sardinia, Italy. She recently received a grant for nearly $485,000 from TriService for her research project Accounts of Care Partnerships with Wounded, Ill or Injured Service Members.