overview

• Dr. Susan Kennerly is Professor in the Department of Nursing Science at the College of Nursing. Dr. Kennerly's scholarship is distinguished for its focus on enhancing nursing care delivery and the nursing practice environment. Through nursing research, she successfully augmented science supporting pressure ulcer prevention for frail elderly residing in nursing homes by being one of few researchers testing systematic interventions. Dr. Kennerly led entrepreneurial practice activities that enhanced nursing care delivery and outcomes and informed the science behind nursing practice environments by creating the Nursing Culture Assessment Tool, the first of its kind, now used nationally and internationally to evaluate and shape nursing culture. As a member of the "Older adults" working group, she helped set standards for the International Clinical Practice Guideline for Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Treatment in 2014 and 2019. Additionally, she applied her knowledge of educational and healthcare systems to nursing science by mentoring colleagues and building high functioning partnerships that have facilitated strong scientific research using nurse-led interventions, such asTurn EveryoneAndMove (TEAM). She recently served as co-investigator and site PI for the R01 funded Turn EveryoneAndMove for Ulcer Prevention (TEAM-UP) study which determined that repositioning frequency can be extended for residents at low, moderate, and high-risk for pressure injury (PrI) development and on visco-elastic high-density foam support-surfaces without compromising PrI incidence. Her current scholarship is as co-investigator on the NIH funded R01 clinical trial Biophysical Detection of Skin Changes to Cue Pressure Injury Prevention In Nursing Homes (SCAN Study). Dr. Kennerly is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Wound Care Certified (WCC), and a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE).