Valparaiso University's administered study abroad programs have resident directors who manage the programs on a day-to-day basis, teach two courses for the students and coordinate group excursions and cultural activities. Since 1968, VU has sent 22 different faculty members, and their families, to the Cambridge, England program for two-year appointments.

Nola Schmidt, Ph.D., RN, CNE, Associate Professor of Nursing nola.schmidt@valpo.edu

Joining the faculty in 1992, Dr. Schmidt teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs.  Her areas of expertise include parent-child nursing, nursing research, and nursing education.  She was selected by the International Affairs Committee and appointed by President Mark Heckler to serve as Resident Director of the Cambridge Study Center for two years, beginning July 2011.

Prior to teaching at Valparaiso University, Dr. Schmidt worked as a pediatric clinical nurse specialist at Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Illinois.  She has also been a staff nurse at Wyler Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, working on both medical inpatient units and the pediatric emergency room.

Dr. Schmidt's areas of scholarly interest include children's pain, Orem's nursing theory, ethics, service learning, program assessment, and spirituality.  With the Shaw Nursing Faculty Collaboration Grant from Children's Memorial Medical Center in Chicago, Dr. Schmidt studied the effect of guided imagery on children's perceptions of pain and their medication usage.  She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, MNRS, AWONN, The International Orem Society, and ANA, as well as a grant reviewer for HRSA and an appraiser for Magnet Recognition.  She recently co-edited, with Dean Janet Brown, an undergraduate research textbook Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing: Appraisal and Application of Research.  She also co-edited Spiritual Care in Nursing with Dr. Mauk.  Sha has published articles and presented locally, nationally, and internationally.

Education: Ph.D. - Wayne State University 2003; MSN - University of Illinois at Chicago 1990; BSN - Valparaiso University 1983.

Certifications: Certified Nurse Educator from the National League for Nursing.

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Former Resident Directors of the Cambridge Study Center