Changhwan Kim is the 2026 recipient of the Terry Fulmer Scholarship from Nurses Educational Funds and is currently enrolled in the dual DNP/PhD degree program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Within his DNP program, he is completing the Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) track. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from Yonsei University in South Korea, he practiced for more than 10 years as a critical care nurse. He later moved to the United States as a first-generation immigrant and entered a new healthcare and educational environment. His experience caring for critically ill patients and families, combined with his own transition to life in the United States, deepened his understanding of how systemic, cultural, and social barriers can compound vulnerability during major life and care transitions. This perspective now shapes his program of research and practice, which focuses on the challenges patients and families face as they move from hospital to home.

Changhwan is currently conducting his mixed-methods dissertation using data from an NIH-funded research project, complemented by additional chart review and qualitative interviews. His study examines how high-risk hospitalization characteristics and post-discharge resources influence the quality of care transitions, long-term healthcare utilization, and recovery outcomes. Through community-engaged research, he has also explored shared decision-making and cultural and linguistic vulnerabilities among Korean-American older adults following critical illness. As part of his CNS training, he has led a project to develop and implement culturally appropriate patient education materials for Korean patients, extending research insights into practice and supporting meaningful change within the healthcare system. He is also actively involved in student research leadership and interdisciplinary implementation science activities, further strengthening his ability to connect research, practice, and education.

Changhwan chose the DNP/PhD dual-degree program to become a nursing scientist who can integrate rigorous knowledge generation with the leadership needed to implement evidence in real-world settings. Guided by implementation and translational science, he seeks to understand how evidence can be more reliably embedded in clinical practice and communities. After completing his degrees, he aims to become an independent nursing translational scientist who reduces disparities in transitional care and advances change across clinical, health system, and policy levels. His long-term vision is to establish an International Nursing Implementation Science Network that fosters global collaboration and leadership, while strengthening evidence-based transitional care across hospitals, homes, and communities for vulnerable populations, including high-risk older adults and their families.

The Terry Fulmer Scholarship marks an important milestone in Changhwan’s pursuit of this vision. It will help him balance doctoral research, advanced clinical training, and leadership development with family responsibilities alongside his wife, a trauma nurse, and their two sons, including their recently born child. Joining NEF’s Circle of Scholars is also especially meaningful to him because it connects that journey to a broader community of nurse leaders committed to advancing continuity of care, health equity, and better outcomes for patients and families.