Overview
Education
- PhD, Nursing, Texas Woman's University, Research Houston Campus
- MSN, Adult Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham Graduate School
- BSN, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Areas of Research, Teaching, and Clinical Expertise and Scholarship
Dr. Richard's research interests include creative thinking ability and its use by nurses, technology, and evaluation. Currently, she is involved in research associated with online courses, information technology, simulation and clinical placements. As a result of funding received from the RGK Foundation of Austin, Texas she developed the "Nursing Web-Based Distance Education Program" which provided much of the foundation for the online programs at UTMB SON. Today, School of Nursing graduate programs are nationally recognized as the best in the country. Another funded project, "Improving Student Retention in a BSN Program Using Information Technology," established the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) in the undergraduate program for information retrieval, organization and time management skills. The PDA of today is the smart phone, which continues to be used throughout the program by students. Mobile software has replaced hardcopy reference books and students demonstrate comfort and skill when accessing resources. Dr. Richard established the Centralized Clinical Placement System (CCPS) in the Houston-Galveston region as an outcome of the "Regional Innovations in Nursing Education" grant. This effort was extended to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area as a result of the "Statewide Clinical Placements" grant. Continued enhancement and evaluation of the system for increasing the capacity of nursing school enrollments and the workforce in Texas are ongoing. She consults on BSN program related issues and initiatives including curriculum and student recruitment.
In addition to her nursing preparation, Dr. Richard has experience in technology and information management as well. She has oversight for the School of Nursing, Education Technology Multimedia Lab which facilitates the online testing for all courses in the programs at the SON; develops the SON website and intranet; coordinates and offers technology based faculty and staff development activities; and manages integrated database resources for the school. Additionally, she has oversight of the Nursing Interprofessional Simulation Center that supports student learning through virtual and high-fidelity simulation. Dr. Richard has been involved with and consulted on other projects with regard to information technology across campus. She serves on several university committees and taskforces involving information and online technology affecting employees and students, and promotes nursing education regionally.
