Faculty & Staff

Kathleen Wisser, PhD-c, MS, RN, CPHQ

Assistant Professor of Nursing

Education Background

• Indiana University of PA, Doctoral Candidate
  Ph.D. in Administration and Leadership Studies
  Departments of Sociology and Political Science
  Degree Expected: 2009

• The Pennsylvania State University
  State College, PA
  Master of Science, Major in Nursing, Specialty Addictions    

• Thomas Jefferson University
  Philadelphia, PA
  Bachelor of Science, Nursing    

Certifications

Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ)

Courses Taught

• NUR 313, Nursing and Human Responses II (Course Coordinator)

• NUR 408, Introduction to Research Methods

• ST 390, November 2006: “Surviving Facilitation:  How to Achieve Success Through the Team Process”

• ST 390, October 2007 and May 2008. “End of Life Nursing Care.” Alvernia University’s RN-BSN Completion Program.

Publications

• October 2006. Article published in regional publication for nursing, Nursing Spectrum. “Empower People to Ensure Change.”

Video

Mennonite Media Productions interviewed experts in the field of addiction for a documentary on recovery, reconciliation, and healing, “Finding Hope in Recovery.” In the role of Program Evaluation Consultant for Penn Foundation, Inc., I discussed how addiction and the recovery process affect family systems.

The documentary first aired on the Hallmark channel in December 2007 and then again in August 2008. As well, it aired on FaithTV in August 2008. The documentary gives insight into the difficult experience of families dealing with addiction. The stories presented challenge the church to take a new look at families in their midst who are dealing with addiction.  For more information go to: http://www.findinghopeinrecovery.com/

Presentations

Since 2002, I have conducted approximately 15 presentations on various topics—community health nursing and service learning, outcomes measurement, the use of quality improvement tools, and measuring performance in human services. Some titles are:

• June 2008, “Learning and Serving in the Real World of Community Health Nursing,” Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities, hosted by Alvernia College, Reading, PA.

• November 2006. “Pitfalls and Pratfalls of Outcomes Measurement in Human Services”, Council on Chemical Abuse 2006 Annual Conference, Reading PA

• May 2005. “Integrating Consumers' Voices in an Outcomes Based Measurement System in State Government”. First International Congress on Qualitative Inquiry. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL.

• November 2004.  “Measuring Performance in Human Services”. PAR Solutions Conference 2004: Pathways to a Sustainable Future. Sponsored by Pennsylvania Association of Resources for People with Mental Retardation (PAR), Harrisburg, PA.

Areas of Interest

• Measuring Treatment Effectiveness—in behavioral health agencies

• Program Evaluation and Outcome Measurement—using data for improvement in behavioral health agencies and nursing education.

• Quality of Life—for persons and families in the recovery process from substance abuse and/or addiction