Susan H. Fetsch, RN, PhD
Dean and Professor of Nursing

Dr. Fetsch received a BSN and PhD degree from the University of Kansas and a MS degree from the University of Minnesota. Rewards for education included the following:

• PhD Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Leadership Performance
• Ada Sue Hinshaw Research Award
• Nurse Traineeship from the Department of Health, Education & Welfare.

Dr. Fetsch has been in her current position as Dean since 1993. She has held nursing faculty appointments at the University of Kansas and William Jewell College. Other educational opportunities include:

• Selection as a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow (2006 cohort)
• Sabbatical leave of absence to explore political advocacy and activism (2004)
• Nurse in Washington Internship Program with tuition scholarship award (2004)
• Kennedy Institute of Ethics Intensive Bioethics Course and scholarship (1990).

Dr. Fetsch is well-versed in curriculum development and outcomes assessment. Her professional contributions include:

• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education accreditation site evaluator and team leader
• Active member in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing
• Active member of the Missouri Association of Colleges of Nursing (MACN) and recently represented MACN and Western Missouri on the Missouri State Board of Nursing Task Force on Minimum Standards for Nursing .
• Chair of Collegiate Nurse Educators of Greater Kansas City 2004-2006.

With clinical background in pediatric nursing, Dr. Fetsch has served on the Board of Directors for Kansas Action for Children (a children’s advocacy organization).

A parent of twin daughters in college, Dr. Fetsch enjoys walking, biking, hiking, photography, and cooking. It is her pleasure to host an annual chili supper for nursing students in her home each fall.

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Martha Blackman, RN, MSN
Assistant Professor of Nursing

Martha Blackman, RN, MSN and Assistant Professor of Nursing has taught at Avila University since 1998. She currently coordinates and teaches the Nursing Skills course and Nursing Concepts course in the fall semester. In the spring she coordinates and teaches theory and clinical in Health Promotion and Risk Reduction.

Martha has worked as a registered nurse in many different roles and clinical settings. She has been a staff nurse on cardiac intensive care and telemetry units, as well as an orthopedic unit. She worked as a home health care nurse case manager. She was also a clinical supervisor and an agency administrator for home health care agencies. She currently works part-time as a staff nurse on a telemetry unit at Truman Medical Center.

Martha volunteers with the American Red Cross, serving as a member of the Greater Kansas City chapter Nursing Committee. She also volunteers for flu shot clinics and health screening clinics. She is currently President of the Beta Lambda Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International. She is also active in several cycling organizations and is an avid cyclist.

Martha received a B.A. in Human Development and Family life from the University of Kansas in 1974. She also earned her BSN and MSN from the University of Kansas (1977 and 1996 respectively).

Martha was named the 2004-2005 Avila Professor of the Year.

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Lonna Boen, RN, MSN
Assistant Professor of Nursing

Lonna Boen, RN, MSN has been an instructor at Avila University since 1994. She provides theory and clinical instruction to undergraduate students in the area of medical-surgical nursing. Her main teaching focus is in the areas of health assessment, patient care skills, and beginning level medical-surgical nursing. Lonna recently assumed the position of lab coordinator for the newly renovated Nursing Education and Resource Center . She also advises a large group of nursing students at the University and is very active in the academic community on campus.

Lonna's past practice experience has been in the area of medical-surgical nursing as a staff nurse and as an outpatient clinic manager for a hospital in South Dakota . Following graduation from her master's program, Lonna became project coordinator for a large NIH Grant at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha , Nebraska . Lonna also provided clinical instruction for students at UNMC in their undergraduate nursing program. Since moving to Kansas City , Lonna has become very active as a volunteer for the Red Cross, providing assistance for disaster services as well as volunteering for flu clinics in the local area.

Boen received her BSN from South Dakota State University and her MSN at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau in 1984.

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Debra Bortniker, BA

Office Manager

Debra has been the School of Nursing Office Manager since August 1999.  She has two teenagers.  In addition to supporting her children in their activities Debra enjoys designing and creating hand woven fabric.

Rhonda Brown, RN, MSN, CCRN
Instructor

Rhonda Brown RN, MSN, CCRN was hired as a full time Nursing Instructor in August of 2006, although she was a clinical and laboratory adjunct faculty for Avila for the previous two years. She is co-teaching theory for Continuum of Care for the Adult Course and co-teaching Nursing Concepts and Nursing Skills in the fall. She will co-teach theory and clinical for Health Promotion and Risk Reduction and co-teach Professionalism in Nursing in the spring.

Rhonda received both her ADN in 1980 and her BSN in 1982 from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln . She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau in 1980. Rhonda received her MSN in Clinical Specialty and Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1988.

Rhonda's clinical experience includes being a staff nurse on a surgical floor, medical and surgical intensive care units, and instituting the role of Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist in a community hospital. For the past ten years, she has been a staff nurse in the Post Anesthesia Recovery Unit. Rhonda has been certified as a Critical Care Nurse (CCRN) since 1986 and is also a Basic Life Support Instructor Trainer and an Advanced Cardiac Life Support training center faculty.

Rhonda has five boys and enjoys involvement in their activities as well as music, skiing, reading and travel.

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Patricia Conejo, RN, MSN, WHNP
Assistant Professor of Nursing

Patricia Conejo, Assistant Professor of Nursing, joined the Avila University faculty in August of 2005. She currently co-teaches Patient Care Skills, Pathopharmcology I and II, Research in Nursing and the theory and clinical for The Vulnerable Family.

Ms. Conejo previously taught at Germanna Community College in Virginia in the RN and LPN programs, serving as course coordinator for multiple courses. During this time she worked on the Virginia task force for articulation in nursing education. Prior to that time, she taught at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) in the graduate and undergraduate nursing programs. While at UTEP she also worked as a nurse practitioner in the University sponsored health clinics. Additionally, she has taught in Park University’s LPN to RN program.

Ms. Conejo has authored several articles which have been published in the Journal of Perinatal Education and AWHONN’s Lifelines. She has also served as a nursing textbook reviewer. Her clinical practice has primarily been in the area of maternal/child healthcare. Her experiences include working as an OB staff nurse, as a school nurse, and as a staff nurse in a multi-specialty outpatient clinic.

In 1983 Ms. Conejo received her ADN from the Kansas City Kansas Community College. She earned her BSN and MSN from the University of Kansas School of Nursing in 1992 and 1993 respectively. In 1992 she was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau and Phi Kappa Phi.

Ms. Conejo recently completed course work and the proficiency with statistical and programming languages requirement for her PhD in Nursing at the University of Kansas.  She is currently working on her dissertation which focuses on the use of simulation in nursing education.  As a result of her PhD course work Ms. Conejo is also working on a research project related to the grief nurses experience when a patient dies.

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Michele Hinds RN, MN, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Nursing

Michele Hinds is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Avila University. Dr. Hinds has been on faculty at Avila since 1994. Prior to that time, Dr. Hinds taught at Washburn University in Topeka, KS.

Dr. Hinds is responsible for teaching the child-health content at Avila and supervising students in their pediatric clinical rotation. Dr. Hinds also teaches an introductory nursing course and coordinates the senior nursing clinical internship experience. Other courses Dr. Hinds teaches outside of the school of nursing include Health Care Careers and is First-Year Seminar coordinator.   Most recently Dr. Hinds earned the designation Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) after successfully completing a rigorous certification examination  developed and administered by the National League for Nursing.

A diploma graduate in 1975, Dr. Hinds continued her education, receiving a baccalaureate degree in nursing from Washburn University, a master’s degree in Nursing from the University of Kansas, and a Ph.D. in Education, Policy and Leadership from the University of Kansas. Dr. Hinds’ research interests focus on students with learning disabilities and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Other areas of interest include nursing history, policymaking in nursing and in higher education, and student satisfaction.

Dr. Hinds has had a broad range of clinical practice experiences. Early in her career, Dr. Hinds worked on telemetry and intensive care units. She also worked in the operating room. Her most recent clinical experiences have focused on working with children. Currently, in addition to teaching at Avila, she works p.r.n. at Children’s Mercy South in the Urgent Care Center. She is also the local area coordinator for her parish Virtus program, a program on prevention of child sexual abuse.

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Janet Reagor, RN, MS
Assistant Professor of Nursing

Janet Reagor, RN MS and Assistant Professor of Nursing has taught at Avila University since 2002. She currently coordinates and teaches both theory and clinical for the Continuum of Care for the Adult course in the fall semester. She co-teaches theory for Care of the Episodically Ill Client in the spring. She also coordinates the combined clinical course for Continuum of Care and Mental Health Nursing in the fall semester and the combined clinical course for Care of the Episodically Ill Client and Health Promotion and Risk Reduction in the spring semester.

Janet has worked as a registered nurse in many different roles and clinical settings over the past 30 years. She has been a staff nurse in a community hospital on medical-surgical units, intensive care units, and in the Emergency Room. She served as the Emergency Medical System Coordinator for the community. Prior to teaching at Avila University, Janet was an instructor for nine years at a nursing school in rural Central Illinois. She also started an Advance Cardiac Life Support program for this rural county and served as Course Coordinator and Regional Faculty for the American Hospital Association.

Janet has volunteered as a nurse for numerous local and national Boy Scouts of America events, including the National Jamboree. She continues to serve as an American Heart Association BLS Training Center Faculty.

Janet received a BSN from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1975 and her Master's degree in Nursing from the University of Illinois in 1993. She recently completed course work and the proficiency with statistical and programming languages requirement for her PhD in Nursing at the University of Kansas.  Ms. Reagor is currently working on her dissertation in self-efficacy of beginning practitioner skills in senior baccalaureate nursing students following a clinical practicum.
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Tracy Rogers, RN, MSN

Instructor

Tracy Rogers, RN, MSN is a new arrival to the Avila University faculty. She teaches in the health assessment lab, medical-surgical clinical, and the pathopharmacology courses.

Tracy has taught clinical and theory courses for the past 2 years at Saint Luke's College in Kansas City . She has been a staff nurse on a nephrology/urology unit at Saint Joseph Medical Center and on a medical telemetry unit at Saint Luke's Hospital in the Mid America Heart Institute. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Tracy continues to work on a medical telemetry unit at Saint Luke's Hospital on an as needed basis.

Tracy is active in the national and local chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and currently serves as the coordinator of the chapter's annual Visions conference. She also volunteers her time in PTA and is a member of the Missouri League for Nursing, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Theta Tau.

Tracy received her BSN from Avila College in May 2001 and her MSN in nursing education from Central Missouri State University in July 2006.

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Bruce Voegele, MA, BSN, RN

Instructor

Bruce Voegele, MA, BSN, RN, has taught at Avila University since 2005. He currently teaches both theory and clinical for Mental Health in the fall semester. He teaches Professionalism in Nursing and Psychosocial Nursing Concepts in the spring semester.

Bruce has worked as a registered nurse in a variety of role and setting over the past 30 years. He began as a staff nurse at a local medical center on a mental health unit with adolescents, adults and geriatric patients. He also assisted the development of urgent care clinics – beginning the first cardiac rehab program in a shopping mall in the United States . Additionally he has worked as a director of nursing at a free-standing psychiatric facility and as an assistant director of nursing at a local nursing home.

Bruce worked as a performance improvement/staff development specialist at a local hospital for a number of years with duties that included orienting nursing instructors and working with nursing students.

He currently works in a PRN position at Saint Luke's Northland Hospital with inpatients and outpatients on their adolescent, adult and Medicare units.

Bruce has volunteered as a nurse at numerous health screenings including National Depression Days, Alcohol Screening days and National Anxiety Screening days. He participated for many years as a volunteer for a mini-triathlon held annually at Shawnee Mission Park .

He enjoys the outdoors and has walked many miles with his dogs and logged many miles with his horse.

Bruce received a BSN from Union College in Lincoln , Nebraska , and a MA from Webster University in Kansas City , Missouri .

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