Four doctoral students named Jonas Scholars

Four PhD students from the College of Nursing at Villanova University have been selected as Jonas Scholars for the 2012-2013 year. In 2006, the Barbara and Donald Jonas Family Fund established the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, a groundbreaking program that deploys philanthropy to advance the nursing profession through grants and programs designed to develop outstanding faculty, advance scholarship and spark innovative practice. 

Terri Ares, MSN, RNC-NIC, CNS-BC, is supported through the College partnership with the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence and is due to complete degree requirements by summer 2013. Her dissertation is titled “The Professional Socialization of Students in Clinical Nurse Specialist Programs.” She is a lecturer at California State University in Dominguez Hills. Similarly, Karen May, MSN, RN has been selected. Her dissertation research centers on “Assessing Faculty Knowledge of Disability-Related Law and Academic Accommodations.” May is an assistant professor at Neumann University. The awards for Ares and May are matched by Villanova alumni Michael and Theresa Mruz of Huntsville, AL who are from the Class of 1967. Theresa earned her BSN from the College of Nursing. 

Second-year student, Lyn Starrs-Zorn, MSN, CRNP is supported through the Jonas Nursing Scholars Program for Veterans Health. She is still in coursework with an anticipated completion date of 2017.  She works at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a nurse practitioner in the General Surgery /Trauma Service.  Her research will focus on the effects of polytrauma on veterans and their families.

Amy Weaver, MSN, RN is supported through the NLN’s partnership with the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence and is due to complete degree requirements by summer 2013. She is an instructor at Youngstown State University. Her dissertation title is “The Effect of a Model Demonstration During Debriefing on Students’ Clinical Judgment, Self-Confidence, and Learner Satisfaction During a Simulated Learning Experience.”