Professor Mauk has over 25 years of experience in rehabilitation and gerontology and holds the Kreft Endowed Chair for the Advancement of Nursing Science. She has published numerous articles in several nursing journals (including Rehabilitation Nursing, Rehabilitation Nursing Research, Geriatric Nursing, Nursing 2006, ARN Network, Journal of Christian Nursing, and Qualitative Health Research), written several book chapters in various texts, and served on the editorial board of Rehabilitation Nursing. In addition, Dr. Mauk has authored or edited six books including: Gerontological Rehabilitation Nursing (a 1999 AJN Book of the Year award winner), Congregational Health, Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice (co-authored with Professor Nola Schmidt), Gerontological Nursing: Competencies for Care (in its second edition), and the 5th edition of ARN Core Curriculum. Dr. Mauk is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences, and has been an educational consultant for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

In addition to research and theory development with stroke survivors, her areas of interest and study include spiritual care in nursing, care of the elderly, interdisciplinary team building, community health partnering, and integrating gerontology into the nursing curriculum. She is a Hartford Geriatric Scholar and  received the ARN Distinguished Service Award (2005). In 2007, Dr. Mauk received Valpo's Caterpillar Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Indiana Professor of the Year Award from the CASE/Carnegie Foundation..