Sandy Calhoun

Doctoral Student Sandy Calhoun was one of four nurses in the United States awarded a prestigious 2007 NLN Foundation Dissertation Scholarship. This $2500 award will allow Ms. Calhoun to pursue a national study which will build a theory for how accelerated nursing students transition into professional nurses. This is a qualitative study that will be primarily conducted via telephone interviews. Ms. Calhoun anticipates completing the study in approximately a year. Dr. Kathleen Rayman, chair of Ms. Calhoun's Dissertation Committee, says this of Ms. Calhoun's award: "Sandy's study has the potential to contribute much needed knowledge about a growing group of nursing students and how they transition to professional practice. Her research is in a critical area of nursing education theory and practice. She brings energy, enthusiasm, and passion to her dissertation work, and it will be exciting to see the results of her study."

In addition to writing her dissertation, Ms. Calhoun also is an instructor for a Professional Roles Mental Health nursing course, a Master's Level Quality Management course, a second semester Senior Clinical, and a Leadership Management course. She has published book chapter in a Master's Level textbook on Strategic Planning, and she was third author on a Quality Improvement chapter in the same textbook. She has also published an article in the Journal for the American Society of Occupational Health Nurses.

The CON Research Department extends congratulations to Ms. Calhoun for winning this award and wishes her the best of luck in her research. For more information please contact Ms. Calhoun at: calhouns@etsu.edu. 

Publications and Presentations

2006. Providing value-based services while achieving quality financial accountability. In J. Dunham-Taylor & J. Pinczuk (Eds.), Health care financial management for nurse managers: Merging the heart with the dollar. (pp. 25-107). Sudbury, MA: Jones-Barlett.*