I am Associate Dean for Simulation and Technology, Samuel T. Hughes Professor of Nursing, and and the Director of Pediatric, Acute Care Pediatric and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Programs at UT Arlington, College of Nursing and Health Innovation (UTACONHI). I teach courses in my two areas of expertise, pediatric and neonatal care. I have developed game-based simulators in three contexts: undergraduate pediatric nursing education, post-graduate registered nurses, and graduate neonatal nurse practitioners (NNP) education. Each uses 3-Dimensionl, game-based technology to create immersive worlds that represents the physical, auditory, cultural, behavioral and emotional characteristics in increasingly realistic ways that support asynchronous, non-linear, deliberate practice opportunities and present a variety of disease states in patients with different levels of acuity. The undergraduate project and post-graduate registered nurses game-based simulators are designed to assess nurses’ ability to recognize and act on early changes in patient status. There are varying levels of difficulty depending on the participant. Each simulation presents four hospitalized patients. The student-simulator coaches students through the process of assessment, recognition of change in patient status, performance of autonomous nursing actions, reassessment, review of physician orders, perform ordered interventions, reassessment, and escalation when appropriate for each of their patients. The post-graduate simulator allows the RN to perform these functions independently. Each simulation begins with shift-change report using the Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation format. During the shift, one of the patients deteriorates (preselected by a facilitator or randomly selected by the game) requiring detection and action by the nurse. The NNP game-based simulator resides in an internet-based ‘living-world’ classroom, with a living textbook and a virtual NICU developed in collaboration with nationally recognized neonatal experts. The curriculum will be implemented locally in 2012 followed by licensing opportunities to schools of nursing with NNP programs. I am considered an international expert on medical simulation and my work has been presented in Florence, Italy at the Second International Pediatric Simulation Symposium and Workshops. I have been an invited speaker at the Third International Pediatric Simulation Symposium in Madrid Spain, and I have received National and International awards which includes: Bayada Technology Award twice for innovation in teaching, Innovation in Teaching from The University of Texas at Arlington, the Innovation in Education Award from The University of Texas System, 1st place at Second Annual International Pediatric Simulation Symposium and Workshop, and 3rd place for Emerging and Innovative Methods and Technology Research at the 10th Annual International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare for my work: Virtual Infant Patients, Families, and Staff Collaboration: Simulating Situational Medical Scenarios with a Virtual Living World. This year I won 1st place at the 11th Annual International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare for, Game Play Teach Student Nurses How to Save Lives? I a well respected and funded researcher and the results of her research have been published in medical and technology peer review journals

• 2003 - Masters in Nursing/Pediatric Nurse Practition, Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
• 2000 - PhD, Texas Woman's University
• 1991 - MS in Business, Amber University
• 1989 - Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Georgetown Washington
• 1988 - BSN, University of Texas at Arlington
• 1986 - ADN, El Centro Community College
• 1985 - AAS, Eastfield Community College