Jonas Scholars
In an effort to expand the pipeline of future nursing faculty, researchers, and advanced practice nurses, Jonas Philanthropies created the Jonas Nurse Scholars program, which provides scholarships to doctoral nursing students pursuing Ph.D., Ed.D., or DNP degrees whose research and clinical interests address the country’s most pressing health care needs.
Past Jonas Nurse Scholars
Nicole Smith
2016-2018
Nicole Smith will graduate with her Ph.D. in Nursing from the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing in August 2021. A certified nurse educator, she currently serves as a clinical instructor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, and upon receiving her degree will be promoted to assistant professor. Smith holds a Master of Science from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from North Carolina A&T State University. She has been a registered nurse since 2009 and specializes in medical-surgical nursing and simulation. In 2021, she was one of 12 nationwide to participate in the National League for Nursing’s Scholarly Writing Retreat, and in 2016, she was awarded the New Faculty Award and Excellence in Teaching Award-Undergraduate. Her completed dissertation was titled, “Measurement of intrinsic cognitive load and mental effort in pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students: A focus on instructional design in the synchronous online classroom.”
Amanda Reichert
2014-2016
Dr. Amanda Reichert completed the Ph.D. in Nursing program at the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing in 2016. She has been a registered nurse since 1992 and brings a varied background in nursing practice and education. Her clinical experience includes staff and nurse management positions in several settings and service as a public health nurse. Dr. Reichert understands the needs of rural Georgia, evident through her professional endeavors including employment with the Department of Public Health and providing disaster relief and medical care throughout Georgia following Hurricane Opal. Educational positions have encompassed skills lab coordinator, clinical practicum site placement coordinator, as well as classroom and clinical instructor. Upon completing her Ph.D., Dr. Reichert joined the nursing faculty at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. Her completed dissertation was titled, “Deans’ ways of knowing: The lived experiences of baccalaureate nursing school deans.”
Natasha Laibhen-Parkes
2012-2014
Dr. Natasha Laibhen-Parkes obtained her BSN from Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing in New York, her MSN in Nursing Education from Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, and her Ph.D. from the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, where her research focused on the effectiveness of evidence-based practice and nursing research educational interventions on evidence-based practice use and competence among pediatric bedside nurses. Dr. Laibhen-Parkes is an assistant professor of nursing at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, and a pediatric nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In the past five years, she has facilitated the sustainability of evidence-based practice at CHOA among nurses. In 2007, she developed an evidence-based practice and nursing research curriculum to help engage nurses with the practices. The evidence-based practice and nursing research won CHOA’s Honorable Mention in Education Excellence Award and the GCCI project won the Golden Apple Award at at CHOA’s 2010 Health Education Expo. The title of Dr. Laibhen-Parkes completed dissertation was: “Web-based evidence based practice educational intervention to improve EBP competence among BSN-prepared pediatric bedside nurses: A mixed methods pilot study.”