School of Nursing
What Our Current PhD Students Have to Say...
Home > School of Nursing > Testimonials
Esther Ampadu
Several years after graduating from Northeastern, I considered returning to my alma mater to pursue a PhD in Nursing. I was hesitant to return to school after a long break, and concerned about my ability to fulfill the obligations of the academic program and my family responsibilities at the same time. However, when I interviewed with the Program Director Elizabeth Howard, she looked at me and said: "You can do it." And, she was right. I am now in my second year, having successfully completed four courses. My research focus is adolescent mental health, specifically adolescent schizophrenia and the experience of family members who, with minimal or no training, provide in-home care to relatives diagnosed with schizophrenia. I am also interested in the ways immigrant family members perceive and cope with a mental health diagnosis as different cultures have different perceptions of the disease.
Nadiah Baghdadi
After receiving my Bachelor degree in Nursing, I worked as a staff nurse at an internationally recognized hospital in Saudi Arabia. As a new graduate, the opportunity was challenging. However, I soon realized that the hospital was a melting pot for nurses and physicians from different countries. This provided me a wonderful, unique learning opportunity and I tried to learn as much as I could from them. Pursuing graduate education became my goal as I was developing into a successful nurse serving her community. As a nurse working with expatriates in my country, I witnessed and recognized the need to develop the nursing profession in Saudi Arabia. This need propelled me towards pursuing my graduate degree and now my PhD degree. I strongly believe that as I acquire more knowledge, the better I will be in serving my community.
My ultimate goal is to return to my country prepared with the knowledge and skills to build fundamental policies that focus on hiring and retaining of qualified Saudi nurses and implementing culturally sensitive patient care.
Brenda Douglas
I have long understood that a PhD in nursing will realize my educational goals and move me closer to my personal definition of self-actualization. As it is my belief that scholarly endeavors enhance professional practice and teaching. Pursuing a PhD in nursing supports my desire to provide exemplary teaching in a progressive university and to make significant scholarly contributions to advance the science of nursing care for elders. Areas of significant research interest include adherence to medication regimens and adherence to lifestyle modifications that support the management of hypertension among elders particularly those in minority groups. The ultimate goal I hope to achieve through my research is to reveal knowledge structures surrounding the phenomenon of adherence among elders that guide meaningful care and intervention decisions to promote sustainable healthy behaviors.
Patricia Fleck
I have returned to Northeastern to pursue a PhD in Nursing with a focus on Maternal and Child Health. I have enjoyed a variety of roles in Maternal and Child Health Nursing and completed my MSN with a focus in Neonatal Critical Care at Northeastern in 1994. As an advanced practice nurse I found myself in both the informal and formal role of educator, sharing my expertise in the care of high-risk newborns. Working in the nearby world-class academic settings, I also had an opportunity to see how the scientific model uncovers new methods and interventions to improve the outcomes of this vulnerable population. I believe, with the mentoring of the nursing faculty here, my studies at Northeastern will allow me to realize my goals of that of a nurse researcher and scholar to contribute to the nursing care of mothers and their children in this ever changing world.
Kelly Gallant
I am currently attending Northeastern for the sixth consecutive year, as I graduated last spring with my BSN and immediately enrolled in the PhD program. I'm enjoying every second the opportunity has provided me - living in Boston, taking my PhD classes, and having the chance to work in multiple hospitals throughout the city. Currently, I am studying Pulmonary Hypertension, a progressive disease in which the pulmonary artery pressures are elevated resulting in extreme shortness of breath, among a multitude of other symptoms. In the future, I look forward to continuing research as well as teaching. I consider Northeastern my second home, and I can often be found skating in Matthew's Arena.
Shirley Gillies
My nursing career has been a journey from technician to professional and now to scientist. I have arrived at the point in my career where I want to develop new nursing knowledge. My area of interest includes functional decline in the geriatric population and the use of complementary alternative methods to improve function. While a Master's student at Northeastern, I have felt a strong level of support from the nursing faculty. While the PhD program is a more considerable undertaking, I feel confident that I will continue to receive the same level of support.
Mechelle Plasse
I have worked as an Advance Practice Nurse for over 10 years, in various settings from mental health to administration, and, to education. These diverse environments allowed me to see the various facets of the healthcare system, including its strong and weak points, and prompted me to return to school. My area of interest is the effect of workplace relationships between professionals on healthcare quality and on patient outcomes. As a psychiatric APRN, I am continuously curious about people. I find dynamics within and among groups particularly intriguing. When a patient is sick enough to require hospital level of care, the stakes are so high that there is no room for error. My interests lie with the error - what happened with the functioning of the team that created the loophole? What role did communication, or lack of it, play in that poor outcome? I focus on examining the interrelationships between healthcare professionals to create the most effective, efficient and healing milieu possible.
Valeria Ramdin
The desire to care and a passion for nursing led me to pursue a doctorate in nursing. Almost a decade ago, after years of self-evaluation and achieving one goal after another, I decided I was perhaps setting the bar too low. I needed to challenge myself. As I was working in a practice setting, I wondered how I could contribute more to the scientific field of nursing. In practice, I was touching one life at a time. I felt that if I returned to teaching, I could touch many more through my students' rendering compassionate, competent care. I decided to pursue my PhD in nursing. I chose Northeastern University because it epitomized compassionate care and was connected with the urban community. My area of interest grew out of my practice and the desire to understand how care can be more person-centered than medicine-centered. I hope to study how ambulatory monitoring of hypertension can contribute to the management of chronic hypertension in a vulnerable population -specifically, the elderly.
Kelley Strout
Immediately upon entering the nursing profession, I recognized the need for change in the health care delivery system. High-cost medical interventions have financially destabilized the health care system, the patient population, and the American economy. Furthermore, I recognized that focusing on "sick care" depleted patient quality of life and nurse job satisfaction. I believe, that the nursing profession can contribute to shifting healthcare from "sick care," and corresponding high-cost medical interventions to "well care" and increased availability of non-pharmacologic health treatments. A PhD in nursing will provide me the opportunity to research and support the positive financial and health outcomes linked to preventative and non-pharmacologic health interventions. In anticipation of the shortage in nursing faculty, I am eager to obtain the necessary credentials to contribute to educating future nurses and nurse leaders.
Ola Sukkarieh
My professional goal is to become a nursing scholar and nurse researcher. Ultimately, a PhD degree would fulfill my aspirations. My area of research is focused in diabetes self-management among older adults. With the increasing number of older adults, we see a parallel increase in the number of individuals living with chronic disease. The PhD degree will give me the opportunity to generate new knowledge in an attempt to enhance science of nursing and influence nursing practice. Northeastern University is a well-respected school, nationally and internationally. With its unique program that is urban focused, I am confident that I will have an exceptional experience; I am proud to be part of this educational experience.
Rosemary Taylor
I chose Northeastern because my research interests are well supported here. Finding connection with Susan Jo Roberts' work was an important factor in my decision to return to school and pursue my PhD. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work with her and other distinguished faculty in the School of Nursing. My primary areas of interest are lateral violence and communication. I am interested in the incommensurability between the behaviors associated with lateral violence and the science of nursing. I am also interested in "voice" ("being heard", "speaking up" and "speaking out") and advocacy, as well as the importance of disclosure and creating cultures that encourage the reporting of errors through non-punitive approaches. My goal is to investigate communication and other issues, including workplace stressors and culture, which contribute to and perpetuate lateral violence in nursing and to find solutions that will improve nurses' work experience and patient outcomes.
Steven Wood
Lika Nusbaum
Regina Harvey
Dympna O’Carroll
I am an experienced nurse who enjoys teaching and providing a quality, cohesive education to nursing students. Previously, I was a clinical faculty instructor in our School of Nursing teaching the Med/Surg 2 course and providing clinical supervision on in-patient hospital units.