New Faculty & Staff Spotlight

• Bellamy, Cheri
  

  Cheri Bellamy, MSN, RN, CGRN Assistant Lecturer Bellamy is not new to the faculty at the UW FWW School of Nursing, but she is new to this position. In her new faculty role, Cheri will be teaching clinical nursing related to acute and long-term care for the on-campus BSN program as well as online teaching. She looks forward to mentoring future nurses. Cheri’s nursing preparation includes a BSN and MSN (nurse educator) from the University of Wyoming. She also holds a credential for career and technical education in Colorado and completed a clinical scholar didactic course through the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence. Her professional participation includes membership in American Nurses Association (ANA), Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA), Sigma Theta Tau, and has presented papers at regional and national conferences. Community and professional service includes volunteering for Denver 9 Health Fair and Friends of Nursing. Her scholarship focus is online learning and exploring nurses’ use of online resources. Prior to her teaching positions, she provided direct patient care for over 30 years; and since 1991 in gastroenterology endoscopy nursing. As an ongoing strong promoter for lifelong learning, she maintains two specialty nursing certifications. Cheri has been a clinical instructor for a Colorado community college along with teaching online for UW’s outreach school. In recent years she has navigated the care of aging family members and is an advocate for senior care. In her free time she enjoys spending time in SE Wyoming with her family and playing with her labs. For more information, visit Bellamy's faculty page.

• Gatua, Mary Wairimu

  Mary Wairimu Gatua, Ph.D., MSW LEAP Nurse Educator Project Manager / Associate Research Scientist Mary came to the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing in September 2012 to work with the LEAP Advanced Nurse Educator Project as the project manager. She earned her Ph.D. in education, a Master in Social Work, and a Master of Arts in Communication degrees from the University of Wyoming. Mary got involved with the College of Health Sciences first as a graduate assistant in the Division of Social Work during her doctorate degree studies and later as a master’s degree in Social Work student. She has over seven years of professional experience in higher education that includes teaching of various UW courses as a part-time lecturer in the African American & Diaspora Studies program and as a teaching assistant in the Department of Communication and the Division of Social Work. This platform allowed Mary to intellectually engage with students and professionals with a broad range of experiences, cultural backgrounds, and diverse nationalities. Gatua's background educational training in Adult Learning and Post-Secondary Education as well as in Social Work equipped her with the knowledge and skills needed to undertake research and project management for the Advanced Nurse Educator project. Her current responsibilities include developing a cultural competency component for the Nurse Educator project; maintaining and monitoring the grant budget; project evaluation; and traveling within Wyoming to promote major objectives of the LEAP HRSA Masters Project. Her community and professional service includes volunteering as a social worker at Laramie Downtown Clinic and at Laramie Head Start Program. To any of her endeavors Mary brings her great passions for social justice and for working with diverse adult student learners. For more information, visit Gatua's page.

• Gilman-Kehrer, Esther

  Esther Gilman-Kehrer, MS, FNP, CNM Assistant Lecturer Esther started out earning her BSN from UW School of Nursing; two years later she graduated with a MS in Community Health Maternal Child Health. Two years after that, she earned her post-masters as a Family Nurse Practitioner.  And per the established pattern, two years after that she received her post-master's in Nurse Midwifery from the University of Colorado. Prepared to do what she loved, she worked in labor and delivery for 16 years as an RN and nine years in private practice as a midwife/family nurse practitioner in Laramie. She is currently completing her Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) with the University of Colorado. Concurrently, she is teaching for our own UW online RN-BSN Completion program, as well as for the College of Nursing at the University of Colorado as a clinical faculty in midwifery. For more information, visit Gilman-Kehrer's page.

• Nemetz, Deborah

  Deborah L. Nemetz, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC Assistant Lecturer Deborah (Debi), in her faculty role, will be an assistant lecturer and clinical instructor for the BRAND program both online and in Wyoming health care facilities. Her teaching focus is primarily in the nursing care of acute patients, however, she will also be involved in teaching in all the areas of patient health. She received her graduate nursing degree (MSN) from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She practiced as an RN at Vanderbilt in the ICU and as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner at Teton Valley Hospital. Her training focused on preparing her as a hospitalist/intensivist for the care of acute, chronic and critically ill patients. She is an active member of the Medical Reserve Corp, the Wilderness Medicine Institute, and the National Outdoor Leadership School. She is also certified in Pain Management. This certification allows her to have a unique perspective when helping students consider care of acute processes as they become chronic. Debi enjoys spending time with her family, especially in the beautiful outdoors of Wyoming.  For more information, visit Nemetz' page.

• Rubio-Wallace, Sherrie
  

  Sherrie Rubio-Wallace, RN, MS, FNP Title: Associate Lecturer Sherrie is no stranger to our faculty. After a year's absence she returns to the undergraduate program, where she will be teaching in both theory and clinical courses related to public health, health promotion, and assessment. Sherrie has taught courses in family and community health in the undergraduate nursing program at University of Wyoming since 2001. During the past year, she was the Nurse Consultant for the Wyoming Health Council, and worked with family planning clinics in Wyoming. It was the love of teaching that drew her back. “I enjoyed working with clinics and clinicians across the state, and being part of a large network that provides reproductive health care to so many underserved clients. But I missed teaching, and missed the students,” she states.  She was also a participant in the Wyoming Nurse Leadership Institute during that time. “It was a great experience to work with nurses from all over the state, from all areas of nursing, who are working to improve nursing and patient care.” Sherrie’s past experience in nursing includes work in intensive care, home health, and public health. Her current faculty clinical practice is in reproductive health and family planning. She earned her BSN from Villanova University, her MS in Nursing from University of Wyoming’s Family Nurse Practitioner program, and a post-masters certificate in nursing education from UW as well. She is currently a doctoral student in the College of Education. Her research interests include curriculum and instructional design, and community-based clinical education in nursing education.  For more information, visit Rubio-Wallace's page.

• Tull, Candace

  Candace Tull, MSN, RN, WHNP-BC Associate Lecturer Candace will be teaching didactic and clinical courses in the BRAND Program. Candace came to the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing in May 2012 to work with the BRAND students. She taught for the past seven years at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio School of Nursing in their undergraduate program. While there, she helped to develop the second degree accelerated program and taught in Medical/Surgical Nursing, Family and Maternal Child Nursing and also Pathophysiology. "I love nursing but I especially am passionate about nursing education," says Tull. "We face a huge challenge to meet the demands of the nursing shortage both in this country and globally. I consider it a privilege to help develop the future of nursing. I am always mindful that today’s nursing student may well be caring for me or my loved ones in the future. I want to ensure the quality of education today’s nursing students receive." Tull graduated from her undergraduate program at Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts in 1977 and received her Master’s in Nursing with an emphasis in Women’s Health, subsequently becoming board certified as a women’s health nurse practitioner in 1994. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Texas State University-San Marcos pursuing research in the area of facilitating creative thinking in nursing students. Her career has included oncology, women’s health, community health, hospice care, management and military nursing in the USAF as well as seventeen years of work within the Department of Veterans Affairs. "I live with my wonderful husband of thirty–three years in Star Valley, Wyoming," says Tull. "I have three grown children and one grandson and am an avid quilter, when time allows." For more information, visit Tull's page.