Fostering a Healthy Education

01/28/2013 12:41 PM

Theresa Adelman-Mullally, an assistant professor of nursing, has been awarded an Illinois Board of Education Nurse Educator Fellowship to help support her education and teaching on campus.

The fellowship, awarded annually to nursing educators in Illinois, includes a nearly $10,000 grant toward continuing research, and is given to those who have made significant contributions to their nursing education programs.

Award recipients are selected after a highly competitive review by an external nursing expert and the IBHE staff.

Adelman-Mullally, who is currently pursuing her doctorate in nursing, said she hopes to use the grant to pilot new curriculum for her students by developing simulations for potential courses on treating military veterans or individuals with mental disabilities.

A veteran herself, after serving as a Commissioned Officer in the US Army Nurse Corp, Adelman-Mullally said it’s important that students understand and are able to care for veterans appropriately.

“I want to help students recognize and properly react and respond to the health needs of veterans,” she said.

The simulations would include creating lifelike scenarios where nursing students learn firsthand how to assess, manage and treat patients with a variety of illnesses or problems.

At Bradley, Adelman-Mullally currently teaches courses on nursing fundamentals, mental health, men’s health and alcohol abuse. Her doctorate dissertation focuses on recovery from alcohol addiction using the 12-step program for patients.

Adelman-Mullally said she was surprised to learn she had won the grant. She is the second Bradley faculty member to be selected for the grant and was nominated for it by the University’s Nursing Department Chair Dr. Francesca Armmer.

“I honestly did not expect to get it,” she said. “I’m flattered that Dr. Armmer nominated me for this.”