Lisa Woodley

Lisa K. Woodley, MSN, RN, CNE, CHPN is the 2018 recipient of the Cynthia Davis Sculco Scholarship. Lisa is a fourth year PhD student at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Greensboro, N.C., as well as an Assistant Professor at UNC at Chapel Hill, N.C. As an experienced nurse educator, she has always been passionate about creating an inclusive learning environment that promotes the success of all nursing students. One of the main reasons for her pursuit of a PhD in Nursing has been her desire to promote inclusivity within nursing education. Her dissertation seeks to describe the lived experiences of Hispanic / Latinx nursing students as they acculturate into the profession of nursing, and explore the potential for differences in experiences related to participants’ gender, English and Spanish language fluency, country of birth, and first-generation college student status.

Lisa began her nursing career in 1988 in Canada, obtaining her BSN from McMaster University in 1998, and her Masters of Science in Nursing Education from The University of British Columbia in 1994. Lisa quickly realized that in addition to being at the bedside, she loved to teach and mentor others, and took on the role of preceptor for new nurses joining her pediatric unit. Three decades later, she is still as passionate about nursing, and the differences we make to the patients, families, communities and populations we serve. She remains equally passionate about nursing education, and has received many accolades about the caliber of her teaching with undergraduate and graduate nursing students, including her ability to be a transformational leader. She has won 21 teaching awards since coming to UNC-Chapel Hill, most of which have been Excellence in Education awards received at student graduations. In addition, she was awarded a university-wide award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education in 2012, and UNC Hospital’s Nursing Faculty of the Year in 2017 for being an exemplary steward of nursing and mentor for nursing students and staff nurses. Her classroom continues to be showcased as an optimal learning environment, and is regularly visited by international scholars as well as students contemplating nursing as a career. Lisa has served on and led a variety of committees within the School of Nursing at Chapel Hill and the University at large, promoting excellence in teaching and diversity within the nursing student body.

Lisa is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, the North Carolina Nurses Association, and the National League for Nursing. She is a Certified Nurse Educator as well as a Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse, and works as a per diem staff nurse in an inpatient hospice and palliative care facility. She finds her interactions with patients and families at end of life deeply meaningful and inspirational.

Lisa’s future plans include continuing to provide outstanding education for nursing students at all levels, and promoting diversity and inclusivity within the nursing profession through the development of a program of nursing education research. Her ultimate goal is to help establish inclusive teaching practices based on scientific evidence as the standard, and serve at the national level to promote inclusivity within nursing education. She is extremely grateful and humbled to receive the 2018 Cynthia Davis Sculco Scholarship.