Welcome New PhD Students!

We are so excited to welcome our newest cohort in the PhD program! Read about these students and their research interests below.

Lauren Longacre, RN, BSN

Lauren has a diverse educational experience. She graduated from Saint Louis University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology and Bachelor’s of Arts in French. She completed her BSN at UNMC and currently works at the UNMC College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology. She serves as the Research Nurse Coordinator and focuses on new and emerging infectious diseases. Her research will center on health equity and disparities in public health, specifically in the transmission of infectious diseases. She is also interested in further exploring the role of nursing in mitigating inequity.

Grace Oehlertz, BSN, RN

Grace graduated from UNMC CON Northern Division in 2017. She began her nursing career on a Med/Surg floor at St. Elizabeth before transferring to the Acute Burn Care unit. During her time at St. Elizabeth, she served as a member of the Shared Nursing Governance and the Nursing Research Council. Her research focuses on nursing care of the burn patient, specifically wound infection prevention. In the future, she intends to explore nursing interventions for early detection of abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome.

Kia Scott-Sellers, MSN, BSN, RN

Kia graduated from the College of Saint Mary with her BSN and then completed her MSN at Nebraska Methodist College. She has worked in a variety of settings, including the emergency department, ENT clinic, and GI lab. She currently works as a Quality Nursing at the VA. Her research interests include sexual assault in the veteran population, trauma informed care, and mental health. Her long term goal is to develop a research position and sexual assault nurse role specifically for veterans within the VA.

Kristine M. Sole, BSN, RN, MSN, CPNP-AC, PNP-BC

Kristine graduated with her BSN from UNMC in 2007 and completed her MSN through Creighton University in 2011. She worked as a Pediatric NP for 10 years before becoming a Nursing Instructor at UNMC-Scottsbluff. Her research is focused on pediatric mental health care in the school systems. Her long-term goal is to identify mental health disparities early in a child’s life, develop an intervention plan, and hope to eliminate further mental health conditions in the adolescent and adult lifespan. She hopes that early intervention will help decrease the rates of suicide, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, and common mental health conditions.

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