Faculty

Darlene Clark's teaching interests include physical assessment; legal, ethical, and genetic issues in nursing; the senior clinical capstone experience; Women's Leadership Initiative faculty liaison; and fundamentals of nursing. Her research interests center on the nursing shortage and labor-management cooperation in the nursing workplace, in both the United States and in Scotland.

Lisa Firestine has been a nursing instructor with Penn State World Campus since 2008. Prior to joining World Campus, she taught in a traditional classroom at Penn State University Park, as well as at Purdue University. She has taught courses in medical-surgical nursing, health assessment, nursing ethics, informatics, nursing research, and leadership. She has also developed several electives in such areas as medical-surgical nursing, critical care nursing, and health assessment. Her thesis focused on the relationship between perceived threat, coping, and coping effectiveness of individuals with coronary artery disease. She has also published in the area of psychosocial issues in cardiac patients.

Dr. Mary Alyce Nelson is the coordinator of the Penn State World Campus RN to BSN program and assistant professor/undergraduate nursing coordinator at Penn State University Park. She has held various administrative roles in inpatient, outpatient, and educational settings, and her areas of expertise are mental health and health care leadership. Her research area of interest is alternative models of mental health treatment in rural outpatient clinics.