WesternU College of Graduate Nursing

09/12/2026

College of Graduate Nursing Professor and Associate Dean Dr. Rod Hicks served as the guest co-editor of the September 2026 edition of Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Gordon, J. A., Allen, K. A., Costner-Lark, A., & Hicks, R. W. (2026). The lifecycle of a grant: Award acceptance to dissemination. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 38(9),710-717. DOI: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000001338

Berg, J. A., Hicks, R. W., & Roberts, M. E. (2026). Nursing profession crisis: Qualified deans are in short supply. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 38(9), 687-692. DOI:10.1097/JXX.0000000000001341

Ruppert, S. D., Roberts, M. E., & Hicks, R. W. (2026). Accreditation: The other faculty role. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 38(9), 679-683. DOI: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000001302

Berg, J. A., Hicks, R. W., & Roberts, M. E. (2006). APRN education plus professional development focus on leadership roles and responsibilities. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 38(9), 675-677. DOI: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000001364.

Dr. Rod Hicks and CGN alumna Dr. Lisa Roberts published the following: Carr, R. A., Roberts, L. R., Nick, J. M., & Hicks, R. (2026). Progression from ED technician to Registered Nurse: A qualitative exploration of lived experiences in a level 1 trauma center. Journal of Emergency Nursing,

08/04/2026

Celebrating Evidence-Based Practice in Action
After three semesters of dedication, collaboration, and innovation, graduate nursing students successfully brought their Quality Improvement (QI) projects from conception to implementation and recently presented their outcomes to the Whittier Hospital Medical Center (WHMC) Education Department and Nursing Directors.
Featured QI Projects:
• Bridging the Gap: Interpreter Services, Patient Safety and Health Equity Improvement (Documentation of Interpreter Identification)
• Seconds Matter: Improving Sepsis Protocol Accessibility for Emergency Room Nurses
• Standardizing Nurse-Led Breastfeeding Education
We are proud to recognize these New Graduate Registered Nurses:
• Justin Lam, RN – Medical-Surgical Unit
• Hana Catudio, RN – Emergency Department
• Briana Garcia, RN – Emergency Department
• Alison Munoz, RN – Labor & Delivery
• Jaselyn Nieves, RN – Labor & Delivery
Faculty mentor: Gwen Orozco, PhD, MSN.Ed, RNC-OB/ Linda Flores PhD, MSN, RN Lead Faculty QI
These new nurses exemplify leadership, scholarship, and a commitment to improving patient outcomes through evidence-based practice and quality improvement.

07/24/2026

The College of Graduate Nursing is excited to share with you, that CGN, WesternU DNP student scholar 2026, Michelle "Misha" Niklewicz's Poster Abstract "Centered Nursing: Cultivating Engaged, Intentional Resilience (CN-CEIR)" has been accepted and will be presenting her scholarly work celebrating Jean Watson’s Caring Science Theory at the 2026 Caritas Community Conference - “Science and Soul” being hosted at Vanderbilt University College of Nursing in Nashville, TN November 20th and 21st, 2026.

https://nursing.vanderbilt.edu/programs/external-learning/science-and-soul/

Please join CGN on congratulating her!

Science and Soul is a one-of-a-kind immersive summit demonstrating how the transformative Caring Science theory moves from philosophy into real-world clinical practice. Activities and learning blend clinical science with the human side of care, giving participants modalities they can apply in their....

07/24/2026

The College of Graduate Nursing congratulates Dr. Elizabeth Skipper on her abstract acceptance at the Annual Unitek Learning Cares Conference. Dr. Skipper will be presenting her scholarly work titled "Healthy Adaptation to Organizational Change: Moving Beyond Survival Toward Growth." The conference is on September 11th from 1400-1450.

The conference is free and open to all.

Unitek Learning Cares

07/17/2026

The College of Graduate Nursing is excited to share with you, that CGN, WesternU DNP student scholar 2026, Michelle "Misha" Niklewicz's Poster Abstract "Centered Nursing: Cultivating Engaged, Intentional Resilience (CN-CEIR)" has been accepted and will be presenting her scholarly work celebrating Jean Watson’s Caring Science Theory at the 2026 Caritas Community Conference - “Science and Soul” being hosted at Vanderbilt University College of Nursing in Nashville, TN November 20th and 21st, 2026.
https://nursing.vanderbilt.edu/programs/external-learning/science-and-soul/
Please join me on congratulating her!

Science and Soul is a one-of-a-kind immersive summit demonstrating how the transformative Caring Science theory moves from philosophy into real-world clinical practice. Activities and learning blend clinical science with the human side of care, giving participants modalities they can apply in their....

04/27/2026

https://www.givecampus.com/schools/WesternUniversityofHealthSciences/westernu-giving-day-2026?a=13217309

Join me and make a gift to WesternU Giving Day 2028

04/03/2026

An online article, published by the Columbia Basin Herald, highlights a talk delivered last Thursday by Dr. Bethany A. Thrasher, WesternU College of Graduate Nursing Assistant Professor and Chair of the CGN Faculty Affairs Committee.

The article draws from the presentation’s focus on mental health care and the role of practical, everyday self‑care strategies. Dr. Thrasher had the opportunity to speak directly with the reporter.
📰 Read the article here:
https://ow.ly/weVj50YCV4g

MOSES LAKE — Sometimes, especially in the health care field, it’s easy for the people who look after others to forget about their own well-being, said nurse educator and mental health activist Bethany Thrasher.

03/27/2026

Wendi M. Swanson DNP, RN, FNP-C, NC-BC, DipACLM, Associate Professor for the College of Graduate Nursing at WesternU, presented at the California Nurse Practitioner Association 48th Annual Educational Conference March 12-15, 2026, in San Diego, CA. Dr. Swanson presented The Combined Role of Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Coach, and Lifestyle Medicine Professional Addresses Non-Communicable Chronic Disease in the United States. The presentation highlighted historical factors that have contributed to the current chronic disease crisis in America and offered a novel healthcare approach.
Western University of Health Sciences

03/20/2026

The College of Graduate Nursing at WesternU is proud to share the newest publication developed in collaboration with Associate Professor, Dr. Gryan Garcia, and two DNP-PMHNP students, Aaron Ling and Daniel Kim.

This work stems from the students' DNP project proposal and highlights CGN's partnership with Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, focusing on advancing clinical approaches to su***de risk assessment.

Ling, A., Kim, D., and Garcia, G. (2026). The Role of Nursing Policy in Standardizing Su***de Risk Screening Across Healthcare Settings. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2026.2632767

03/20/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Mary Lopez, Dean of the College of Graduate Nursing at WesternU, for her recent co-authorship of a new integrative review focused on barriers to interprofessional collaborative practice in healthcare. Dr. Lopez is a member of the National Academies of Practice (NAP) Interprofessional Collaboration Committee: Subcommittee on Healthcare Access and Quality. The integrative review was highlighted in this week's "AACN News Watch": https://aacn.informz.net/informzdataservice/onlineversion/ind/bWFpbGluZ2luc3RhbmNlaWQ9MTIyOTMzNjMmc3Vic2NyaWJlcmlkPTExNzU3MzExMzQ=

On March 16, 2026, the National Academies of Practice released a new integrative review focused on Barriers to Interprofessional Collaborative Practice in Healthcare. Obstacles to interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) persist across healthcare settings and systems, undermining team-based c...