Cheryl Lacasse, PhD, RN, AOCNS, NC-BC, CNE, clinical professor, and Deb Gorombei, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CNS, CFRN, LNCC, assistant clinical professor, were selected for Emmons Pilot Awards for their innovative projects addressing faculty and student wellness in nursing education and using artificial intelligence and telehealth to improve rural wound care. “These awards highlight how our faculty translate ideas into action, said Brian Ahn, PhD, dean of the College of Nursing, emphasizing that early-stage research empowers faculty to explore new approaches, build collaborations, and generate evidence that can drive meaningful change across nursing education and healthcare delivery. Lindsay Bouchard, DNP, program director and interim chair, added that these projects show how faculty scholarship can enhance well-being, expand access to care, and prepare nurses to address complex health challenges, and that the Emmons Pilot Awards provide vital support for research with lasting impact. Lacasse’s project, WiN Well (Wildcat Nurse Wellness), explores the relationship between faculty and student well-being in academic settings, using a convergent mixed-methods design to compare wellness levels among DNP faculty and students and to understand how each group defines and experiences well-being. The findings will inform evidence-based well-being resources for integration into both synchronous and asynchronous nursing courses.

The WiN Well study will examine the nursing faculty student relationship from a new perspective, exploring how faculty influence student well-being and its connection to academic success, and offering insight into the shared experiences within academic settings, Lacasse said. The project also aims to embed wellness education directly into online courses to support positive teaching and learning experiences and reduce burnout among faculty and students. Lacasse is collaborating with Cindy Rishel, PhD, RN, OCN, NEA-BC, and Janay Young, DNP, PMHNP-BC, and notes that the Emmons Pilot Award supports their ongoing scholarship and will help translate research findings into practical resources that promote well-being across nursing education. Gorombei’s project, “Enhancing Rural Telehealth Capacity by Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Timely Wound Care Education, Monitoring, Management, and Patient Activation, also received an Emmons Pilot Award. It aims to improve wound care delivery in rural and medically underserved areas of Arizona by integrating AI and telehealth, starting with a needs assessment to identify education priorities, access disparities, and opportunities for collaboration. The initiative emphasizes holistic assessment, patient activation, and quality of life, recognizing the broader impact of chronic wounds on individuals and families.

This award lays the foundation for highlighting how wounds affect individuals who cannot leave their homes or access holistic, patient-centered care, where the person not just the wound is the focus, Gorombei said. Guided by community-based participatory research principles and the Circle of Caring model, the project brings together interdisciplinary partners across the University of Arizona and the state to integrate AI-assisted wound imaging, predictive analytics, and remote monitoring into interoperable electronic health records, while using telehealth to connect patients and providers with wound care specialists. Educational components will strengthen clinical skills, digital literacy, and technology adoption among healthcare providers, caregivers, community health workers, and patients. Gorombei is collaborating with College of Nursing faculty members Christy Pacheco, DNP, FNP-BC, and Graciela E. Silva, PhD, and noted that the Emmons Pilot Award supports her goals of improving healthcare access, building meaningful partnerships, and creating student opportunities in patient-centered research focused on rural health, technology, and wound care. Together, these projects reflect the College of Nursing’s leadership in promoting well-being, expanding access to care, and preparing nurses to address complex health challenges through research, innovation, and collaboration.

Source: https://nursing.arizona.edu/news/college-nursing-faculty-earn-emmons-pilot-awards-advance-well-being-and-rural-care