Kristen Altdoerffer, CRNP, CPNP-PC
DNP, University of Maryland
MSN, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Primary Care Track, Drexel University
BSN, Penn State
Dr. Kristen Altdoerffer, director of the DNP program, enjoys mentoring and developing nurses into leaders who translate evidence into clinical practice, focus on process improvement, and advocate for their patients, community, and profession through health policy. Her research interests include health policy, pediatrics, pediatric and adolescent mental health, and public health. The focus of her DNP scholarly project was "Evidence-based Health Policy Implementation: A Focus on Nurse Practitioner Full Practice Authority."
Sherry DelGrosso, RN, LNC
MSN, University of Michigan
BSN, Penn State
Sherry DelGrosso brings more than 20 years of nursing experience to the MSN Nurse Administrator courses. She began her career as an ICU nurse. As a health care consultant, she helped organizations improve operational inefficiencies. At the Advisory Board Company, she focused on leadership, finance, and workforce development. Her ties to academia include faculty work at Lansing Community College; teaching assistant at the University of Michigan; and adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has practiced as a legal nurse consultant and served on research teams while working on her DNP.
Kimberly Van Haitsma
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Bowling Green State University
M.A., Clinical Psychology, Bowling Green State University
B.A., Psychology, Calvin College
Dr. Kimberly Van Haitsma's research interests include developing observational methodologies to assess behavior and emotion in dementia, developing evidence-based education programs to enhance the skillsof formal caregivers, advancing the understanding of person-centered care — "knowing preferences for everyday living," and developing measurement tools for research and clinical practice and evidence-based interventions for formal caregivers.
Judith E. Hupcey, CRNP, FAAN
Ed.D., Nursing Education, Columbia University Teachers College
M.Ed., Nursing Education, Columbia University Teachers College
M.S., Adult Nurse Practitioner, Columbia University School of Nursing
BSN, Columbia University School of Nursing
Dr. Judith Hupcey, professor of nursing, medicine, and bioethics, is the associate dean for graduate education and research in the College of Nursing at Penn State University Park. She is also a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Her present research focuses on persons with heart failure at end of life and their family caregivers. She recently completed a study investigating the palliative care needs of persons with heart failure and their family caregivers. From this study, a cutting-edge model of palliative care for heart failure was developed.
Kelly Wolgast, RN, FACHE, FAAN
DNP, University of Alabama
M.S., Strategic Studies, U.S. Army War College
MSN, Vanderbilt University
BSN, Penn State
Dr. Kelly Wolgast teaches both nurse administrator/management courses and nurse educator courses in Penn State's MSN and DNP Programs. Her research interests includes nurse leadership, health care delivery models, distance learning, and military/veterans' health.