Susan Wilhelm, Ph.D., has been named as assistant dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing West Nebraska Division, located in Scottsbluff.
She began serving as interim assistant dean in June of 2006.
The UNMC College of Nursing is located in Omaha with divisions in Scottsbluff, Kearney and Lincoln. The division in Scottsbluff employs 12 faculty members and staff and has 140 students. Faculty are engaged in teaching, research, as well as nursing practice in hospital, outpatient and community clinic settings.
Virginia Tilden, D.N.Sc., dean of the UNMC College of Nursing, said she is delighted Dr. Wilhelm accepted the position. “As interim assistant dean, she has done an excellent job of leading the Scottsbluff division and she has earned my confidence and the respect of the faculty, staff, and the Scottsbluff community.”
Dr. Wilhelm said she was excited to be named to the position.
“I have a passion for nursing in the Panhandle area and believe we are fortunate to have the university system here,” she said. “I always wanted to care for people and learn more about everyone I met and was fascinated with the health sciences and nursing research.”
She said she was driven to accept the assistant dean position in order to help recruit more qualified nursing students and serve the division’s faculty and staff. Some of her goals include the division continuing to provide high quality education, leading innovation in teaching, and ensuring successful graduates.
"Our strengths include faculty who have teaching expertise in multiple courses, many years of clinical expertise, and are good nurse researchers,” she said. “We are developing more nursing practice sites for our faculty.”
Born in Fresno, Calif., Dr. Wilhelm grew up in Ft. Collins, Colo., then moved to Torrington, Wyo., about 27 years ago and began teaching in a nursing diploma program.
It was while she was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing that she first thought about teaching.
In 1975, she received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Northern Colorado, and her master’s degree in 1995 and doctoral degree in 2000 from the University of Wyoming.
From 1980 to 1985, she served as an instructor at the West Nebraska General Hospital School of Nursing in Scottsbluff. In 1991, she joined the UNMC College of Nursing West Nebraska Division and served as an instructor until 2001 when she was promoted to the rank of assistant professor. She continues to teach graduate and undergraduate level courses at the college.
Dr. Wilhelm, whose nursing specialty area is maternal-newborn and women’s health, has a clinical background in obstetrics and has held nursing positions in several states in the Midwest (Colorado, Arizona, Kansas, Texas, Wyoming and Nebraska).
She has published numerous articles and abstracts and made hundreds of presentations. Her research and scholarship focuses on breastfeeding and issues of menopause.
She is a co-investigator on a research grant from the Native American Research Centers for Health to conduct asthma screening in Native American children. She also is a member of a research team to promote infant respiratory health to decrease the incidence and severity of asthma.
As section chair for the Wyoming Association of Women’s Health Obstetrics & Neonatal Nursing, she also teaches electronic fetal monitoring. She teaches neonatal resuscitation courses throughout the region and is a regional coordinator for Lamaze International and provides lactation support for new mothers.
She belongs to numerous organizations, including the American Nurses Association, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses, Rural Health Advisory Council, Sigma Theta Tau, Nebraska Panhandle Area Health Center Board, and Business & Professional Women.
Married with a son and two daughters, her hobbies include playing the piano and snow skiing.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes more than 460 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.