Karen M. Lewis, DNP, FNP-BC

Biography

Dr. Karen Lewis comes to WCU with many years of clinical experience as a Family Nurse Practitioner having practiced in neurosurgery, public health, and family practice settings. She is very familiar with the WCU school of nursing having received her DNP from WCU in 2015 and her BSN from WCU in 1994. She received her MN in the FNP program at the University of Washington in Seattle in 2000. Prior to coming on board full time as an assistant professor in the FNP program she taught as an adjunct professor in the graduate school of nursing at WCU. She currently is the Director of the Post-Master's DNP Program in the School of Nursing. She has interests in health promotion and conservative treatments for pain. Dr. Lewis currently serves as a subcommittee chair for the North Carolina Nurses on Boards Council. This has led to a deeper interest in empowering nurses to change health care.

Education

• DNP, Western Carolina University
• MSN, University of Washington
• BSN, Western Carolina University

Teaching Interests

Teaching Interests: Dr. Lewis enjoys teaching Leaership and Project Planning in the DNP Program. She has a particular interest in strategic planning. She strives to continuously update her courses to reflect innovative activities to engage students. She also enjoys the process of serving on DNP student research committees and implementing a step by step process for the students to develop and implement their projects. She loves understanding the processes of implementing evidence based research into teaching methods

Research Interests

Research Interests: Dr. Lewis has research interests in identifying and implementing conservative treatment for chronic pain as well as strategies in promoting healthy lifestyles. More recently she has developed an interest in nurse empowerment stemming from her service as co-chair of the NC Nurses on Boards Council.