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Sarah Thompson, Ph.D. |
The professorship honors and rewards outstanding faculty members for excellence in research, teaching, leadership, mentoring and involvement in organizations.
“Sarah is ideally suited for this professorship because of her experience in interprofessional research and education activities,” said Virginia Tilden, D.N.Sc., dean of the UNMC College of Nursing. “We are excited about the scholarship that she has proposed for this professorship and the growth that it will mean for the College of Nursing.”
The appointment carries with it $30,000 over the next three years.
Dr. Thompson said she is honored to accept the appointment, which she will use to engage students and faculty to promote education and research in the college.
Her goals include fostering learning among nursing students to improve health care for patients, families, and communities, and foster faculty development for teaching about quality principles and interprofessional education.
“Interprofessional education is central to promote education goals in keeping with the Institute of Medicine’s call for improvements in the quality and safety of health care,” Dr. Thompson said. “Our accrediting body at the college and professional organizations have endorsed these goals, which we will incorporate in our curriculum.
“The appointment is a great opportunity to do something that would really move the college forward in an area that’s extremely important for patient care — safety, quality and improvement in patient care. It’s really not about me, it’s about the college and where we need to go to improve the health of the patients we’re taking care of.”
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She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1977 from the University of Oklahoma, and a master’s degree in nursing and doctoral degree in nursing from the University of Kansas in 1992 and 1996 respectively.
Included among the various positions she’s held since 1977 are staff nurse in Oklahoma Children’s Memorial Hospital, Oklahoma City, and Freeman Hospital, Joplin, Mo.; clinical instructor at Missouri Southern State College in Joplin; and case manager at Kansas City Hospice.
Before accepting an appointment at the UNMC College of Nursing, she was an associate professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center School of Nursing.
The Florence Niedfelt Professorship was named for the late Florence A. Niedfelt, of Grand Island, who bequeathed funds through the University of Nebraska Foundation for furthering the education of nursing students by establishing scholarships and professorships to honor outstanding faculty.
Niedfelt spent her life helping her husband, John Niedfelt, manage farms and the Platte Valley Construction Co., until his death in 1979. Although not a nurse, she held a lifetime interest in the field of nursing and was active in her church and various community groups.