PHD ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS
Tara L. Sacco ’19 PhD, RN, CCRN-K, ACCNS-AG
Assistant Professor, Graduate Nursing and DNP Program Chair, Clinical Nurse Specialist Program Coordinator
Wegmans School of Nursing
St. John Fisher University
Dr. Tara L. Sacco was named the Graduate Nursing and DNP Program Chair in January 2024 and has been the Clinical Nurse Specialist Program Coordinator at St. John Fisher University since 2019. She currently practices as an adult-gerontology acute care clinical nurse specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Strong Memorial Hospital specializing in burn, trauma, and neuroscience critical care. Dr. Sacco is an active member of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurse, the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, and the Eastern Nursing Research Society, among other professional organizations. Her research interests surround nursing workforce issues spanning clinical practice and academia, including compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout, and the work environment. The title of Dr. Sacco’s dissertation was The Relationship of the Work Environment to Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue in Critical Care Nurses.
Megan T. Moyer '23 PhD, ACNP-BC
Neurocritical Care Clinical Specialist
Integra LifeSciences, Princeton, NJ
Neurointensive Care Unit Nurse Practitioner
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Megan T. Moyer is an industry Neurocritical Care clinical specialist for Integra LifeSciences. Dr. Moyer has practiced neuroscience nursing at Penn Medicine since 2002 and continues her clinical practice as a per diem Nurse Practitioner in the Neurointensive Care Unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She continues to volunteer to co-facilitate the Penn Medicine Traumatic Brain Injury support group that she implemented in 2017. This support group helps fill the gap for this widely underserved brain-injured population and offers an opportunity for TBI survivors to gain knowledge and support by meeting and networking with others experiencing similar situations. Dr. Moyer’s area of research drew on her vast experience in neuroscience nursing with a focus on describing a nurse-initiated program of early patient mobilization of neurological ICU patients with external ventriculostomy drains and examining the effect on patient outcomes, including rates of venous thromboembolism, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, catheter line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, ventriculostomy related infection, and ICU length of stay. Dr. Moyer collaborated with the Penn Medicine Neurosurgical Clinical Research Division for the IRB submission and data collection for her research.
Patricia Griffith ’22 PhD, CRNP
Associate Program Director
Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP Program
University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing
Dr. Patricia Griffith recently assumed the Associate Program Director position for the AGACNP program at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Griffith is an advanced senior lecturer in the AGACNP program where she has served as course director, associate course director, and clinical coordinator, and has had an active leadership role.
Prior to her full-time faculty position, Dr. Griffith practiced in orthopedics/hand surgery and has a background in surgical trauma critical care nursing. Her areas of research include diagnostic reasoning education and simulation. The title of Dr. Griffith’s dissertation was The Effect of Structured Reflection on Diagnostic Reasoning Competency and Accuracy of Nurse Practitioner Students who Experience Cognitive Bias: A Mixed Methods Experimental Study.
Christina R. Whitehouse '16 PhD, AGPCNP-BC, CDE
Post-doctoral fellow
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Dr. Christina Whitehouse, currently an assistant professor in the FCN, after completing a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award. Her independent program of research aims to advance nursing science to improve health care and quality of life for adults. Dr. Whitehouse's specific area of focus includes transitional care, diabetes self-management education, telehealth, and post-acute care. During her doctoral studies, she conducted a secondary data analysis to examine the outcomes (i.e., resource utilization, glycemic control, quality of life) of older adults with T2DM who received a diabetes self-management educational (DSME) intervention during an acute hospitalization. Dr. Whitehouse has also collaborated on various research projects performing both biochemical and health services research throughout her educational training.