Faculty & Staff
Susan H. Fetsch, RN, PhD |
Dr. Fetsch has been in her current position at Avila since 1993. She received a BSN and PhD in nursing with a minor in higher education administration from the University of Kansas and a MS degree in nursing from the University of Minnesota. She has held nursing faculty appointments at the University of Kansas and William Jewell College. One of 20 nurses selected annually, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow (2006-2009). Dr. Fetsch is well-versed in curriculum development and outcomes assessment. She is active professionally including:
A native of Olathe, Kansas, Dr. Fetsch enjoys spending time with family and friends as well as traveling, walking, biking, hiking, photography, and cooking. She is currently chair of Kansas Action for Children—a children’s advocacy group.
|
||
Martha Blackman, RN, MSN (816) 501-2403 |
Martha Blackman, RN, MSN and Assistant Professor of Nursing, has taught at Avila University since 1998. She currently coordinates and/or teaches in a variety of courses in the junior and senior year including Patient Care Skills, Health and Illness 1 & 2; Pharmacology, Development of the Professional Nurse 1, and Population Based Health. Ms. Blackman also co-teaches an interdisciplinary course, Global Health Concerns, in the summer. Martha has worked as a registered nurse in many different roles and clinical settings. She has been a staff nurse on cardiac intensive care and telemetry units, as well as an orthopedic unit. She has worked in the field of Home Health as a nurse case manager, a clinical supervisor, and an agency administrator. She currently works part-time as a staff nurse on a telemetry unit at Truman Medical Center. Martha is also active in several cycling organizations and is an avid cyclist. She leads a weekly ride for area cyclists and is a League Cycling Instructor through the American League of Bicyclists. Martha received a B.A. in Human Development and Family life from the University of Kansas in 1974. She also earned her BSN and MSN from the University of Kansas (1977 and 1996 respectively). Martha was named the 2004-2005 Avila Professor of the Year. |
||
Lonna Boen, RN, MSN (816) 501-3688 |
Lonna Boen, RN, MSN has been an instructor at Avila University since 1994. She provides theory and clinical instruction to undergraduate students in the area of medical-surgical nursing. Her main teaching focus is in the areas of health assessment, patient care skills, pharmacology and beginning level medical-surgical nursing. Lonna is coordinator of the School of Nursing Admissions Committee. She advises a large group of nursing students at the University and is very active in the academic community on campus. Lonna's past practice experience has been in the area of medical-surgical nursing as a staff nurse and as an outpatient clinic manager for a hospital in South Dakota. Following graduation from her master's program, Lonna became project coordinator for a large NIH Grant at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, Nebraska. Lonna also provided clinical instruction for students at UNMC in their undergraduate nursing program. Since moving to Kansas City, Lonna has become active as a volunteer for the Red Cross, providing assistance for flu clinics in the local area. She is also a volunteer at Rachel House which is a pregnancy resource center. Ms. Boen received her BSN from South Dakota State University and her MSN at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau in 1984. Lonna was named the 2005-2006 and 2010-2011 Avila University Professor of the Year.
|
||
Rebecca DeYoung Colwell (816) 501-3692 |
Rebecca has been the School of Nursing recruiter since 2005. Since receiving a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Northwest Missouri State University and her master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Missouri Kansas City, she has worked for over 15 years in a variety of college recruiting and student development roles. Rebecca and her husband are busy with three active kids. She volunteers weekly at the elementary school and enjoys traveling and cooking. |
||
Janet Reagor, RN, PhD (816) 501-3682 |
Janet Reagor, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor of Nursing has taught at Avila University since 2002. She currently teaches courses in medical-surgical nursing, research, and healthcare informatics. Dr. Reagor has worked as a registered nurse in many different roles and clinical settings over the past 30 years. She has been a staff nurse in a community hospital on medical-surgical units, intensive care units, and in the Emergency Department. She continues to work PRN at a local hospital. Her interest in teaching began with patient and family teaching, and led to a position in staff development in a community hospital. In this setting she was responsible for new employee/new graduate nurse orientation and continuing education for all nurses at the facility. Prior to teaching at Avila University, Dr. Reagor was an instructor for nine years at a nursing school in rural Central Illinois. She also started an Advanced Cardiac Life Support program for this rural county and served as Course Coordinator and Regional Faculty for the American Heart Association. Dr. Reagor has volunteered as a nurse for numerous local and national Boy Scouts of America events, including summer camps and the 1997 National Jamboree. Dr. Reagor received a BSN from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1975, a Master's degree in Nursing from the University of Illinois in 1993 and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Kansas in 2010. Her dissertation focused on the perception of readiness for practice of senior baccalaureate nursing students following a clinical practicum. At home she enjoys gardening, quilting, reading and spending time with her husband and dog. She has 2 adult children and 2 granddaughters. |
||
Kathy McCurry, RN, BSN (816) 501-3687 |
|
||
Lynn Gallagher, RN, MSN (816) 501-2409 |
Lynn Gallagher RN, MSN has been at Avila University since 2008 as both an adjunct instructor and NERC Coordinator. With the completion of her MSN in May of 2011, she transitioned to a full time faculty position in the School of Nursing in the fall of 2011. Currently her teaching assignments include co-teaching Nursing Skills, Health and Illness I and Gerontology in the fall and co-teaching Health and Illness II, both theory and clinical, and Capstone theory in the spring. Lynn has been a registered nurse for 30 years and has practiced nursing in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings. Her medical/surgical background was gained at a variety of hospitals in San Diego, Honolulu and Newport, RI. In addition, Lynn also has experience with a variety of community focused educational programs and has taught in several health occupation programs from the CNA level to the BSN level since 2002. As the spouse of a career military member, Lynn has lived throughout the US and overseas. She has volunteered in a number of roles for the Boys and Girls Scouts of America, the American Red Cross and most recently at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Health Fairs. Lynn enjoys reading and many handicrafts such as cross-stitch and quilting. Lynn received her BSN from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio in 1981. She completed her MSN, Nurse Educator Tract, in 2011 from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. |
||
Rhonda Brown, RN, MSN, CCRN (816) 501-2917 |
Rhonda Brown RN, MSN, CCRN was hired as a full time Nursing Instructor in August of 2006, although she was a clinical and laboratory adjunct faculty for Avila for the previous two years. She teaches theory in the Health and Illness III course and co-teaches the High Acuity Course. She teaches and coordinates clinical in the Practicum II course and High Acuity Clinical. She will also assist with the Population Based clinical as well as the senior Internship course. |
||
Bruce Voegele, MA, BSN, RN (816) 501-3638 |
Bruce Voegele, MA, BSN, RN, has taught at Avila University since 2005. He currently teaches Development of the Professional Nurse I and II in the fall semester and Psychosocial Nursing Concepts and Analysis and Evaluation of Health Care Systems in the spring semester. Bruce has worked as a registered nurse in a variety of roles and settings over the past 35 years. He began as a staff nurse at a local medical center on a mental health unit with adolescents, adults and geriatric patients. He also assisted the development of urgent care clinics – beginning the first cardiac rehab program in a shopping mall in the United States. Additionally he has worked as a director of nursing at a free-standing psychiatric facility and as an assistant director of nursing at a local nursing home. Bruce worked as a performance improvement/staff development specialist at a local hospital for fourteen years with duties that included performance improvement activities; orienting and providing ongoing education to new employees, as well as working with nursing instructors and nursing students. He currently works in a PRN position at Saint Luke's Northland Hospital with inpatients and outpatients on adolescent, adult and Medicare units. Bruce has volunteered as a nurse at numerous health screenings including National Depression Days, Alcohol Screening days and National Anxiety Screening days. He participated for many years as a volunteer for a mini-triathlon held annually at Shawnee Mission Park. He enjoys the outdoors and has walked many miles with his dogs believing that routine exercise benefits both the two legged and four legged animals. Bruce received a BSN from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska and an MA from Webster University in Kansas City, Missouri. |
||
Amy Weber, MSN, APRN-BC (816) 501-2406 |
Amy G. Weber, MSN, APRN-BC joined Avila University as a Nursing Instructor in 2011. She currently teaches in the following courses: Gerontologic Nursing, Health Assessment Lab, Women & Children Health Concepts and Practicum 2. Amy began her nursing career in Atlanta, Georgia over 24 years ago as a pediatric nurse at Egleston Children's Hospital on the Emory University campus. During her time in Atlanta, she also served as a Cystic Fibrosis Nurse Clinician at the Emory University Cystic Fibrosis Center and as an Assistant Head Nurse/Apheresis Specialist for the American Red Cross. In the mid-1990s, Amy was an RN at the Hoag Hospital Cancer Center in Newport Beach, California, primarily working in radiation oncology, and blood donor & apheresis services. Since moving to the Kansas City area, she has been a HEDIS Nurse Researcher for United Healthcare, Aetna & Cigna and also a staff nurse for Endoscopic Imaging Center. In 1988, Amy received her BSN from the Medical College of Georgia and was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau. She received her MSN & Adult/Gerontological Nurse Practitioner degree from the University of Kansas in 2011. While attending graduate school, Amy completed the KU Health Professions Educator Certification Program and the KC Clinical Faculty Academy. She also served as a KU School of Nursing Graduate Teaching Assistant for Population Based Health Care & Nursing of Adults and as a Clinical Adjunct for Population Based Health Care. Amy currently maintains a clinical practice as a Nurse Practitioner with the University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center. |
||
Debra Bortniker (816) 501-3672 |
Debra has been the School of Nursing Office Manager since August 1999. |
||
Pat Martin (816) 501-3671 |
Pat joined the Avila community as a part-time administrative assistant in September 2012. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and has subsequently spent over 25 years in higher education in various roles, including benefits administrator and student personnel officer. Continuing a life-long commitment to community service, her most recent endeavor is learning to counsel Medicare recipients in the federally funded program, Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas. |
||
