Three Faculty Recognized for Contributions to the Nursing Profession
Dr. Willie Mae Abel, Dr. Kathleen Jordan and Peggy MacKay were all recently recognized and honored for their expert contributions to the nursing profession. Dr. Abel received a KO1 Mentored Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood, Institute, Dr. Jordan was inducted as a Fellow in Academy of Emergency Nursing and McKay recently passed the National League for Nursing’s Certified Nurse Educator examination.
The KO1 Mentored Career Development Award is a highly competitive grant award that will support Dr. Abel’s study titled “An Interactive Technology Enhanced Coaching Intervention for Black Women with Hypertension,” while also providing her release time from School of Nursing responsibilities to enhance her research skills and training in epidemiology, randomized clinical trials and community-based participatory research (CBPR). The assistant professor’s program to test the effects of patient self-care management plus interactive technology and coaching on improving blood pressure control, was rated as “high impact” by the NIH review committee. This is Dr. Abel’s first NIH award and is an important next step in becoming an NIH-supported independent reserach investigator.
Dr. Jordan, clinical assistant professor, is nationally recognized as a clinical expert in pediatric emergency medicine. She is the founder and chairperson of the Emergency Department Interprofessional Child Maltreatment team for the Greater Charlotte market and a member of the Mecklenburg County Child Sexual Assault Prevention Committee. Dr. Jordan is a sought after speaker on topics related to pediatric sexual abuse, is the author of multiple books and book chapters on emergency nursing and has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on topics ranging from exertional rhabdomyolysis, to improving the recognition and reporting of child maltreatment.
Receiving certification is a mark of professionalism that identifies MacKay, a lecturer in the School of Nursing, as an expert in education. She is also an expert pediatric clinician, with over 30-years of experience working with the pediatric population. MacKay is passionate about children’s health and the prevention of child sexual abuse. As a result, she works closely with Pat’s Place, a local child advocacy organization and serves as the sponsor for the Stewards of Children certification course at UNC Charlotte.