DNS, University of Tennessee Health Science Center,
MSN, State University of New York at Stony Brook
BSN, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Research Interests
Nursing education, adult health, chronic illness, health self-management, international health care issues, and ethics
Areas of Expertise
Distance Education
BACKGROUND
Dr. Kathleen Farrell has more than 20 years of experience as a faculty member and more than 35 years in nursing practice. In addition to teaching at the university, she also serves as a professor at Murray State University’s School of Nursing in Kentucky and as a consultant on a research partnership at Western Baptist Hospital.
She formerly served as an acute care nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist at a private practice, Lourdes Outpatient Community Clinic, and Brunswick Hospital Center. Earlier, she was the clinic director at Murray Calloway County Hospital and an assistant director of nursing at Brunswick Hospital Center. She spent the beginning of her career as a clinical nurse specialist and a staff nurse in the emergency department, critical care, and post-anesthesia recovery units.
Dr. Farrell co-authored Pass PCCN! (Mosby, 2015) with Dr. Robin Dennison, and frequently presents at national, regional, and local conferences. She was invited to present at a nursing education panel at the ninth annual International Conference on Healthcare Systems and Global Business Issues in Jaipur, India, in 2016, and spoke about the key determinants of a nurse’s scope of practice at the first annual International Conference on Medical Ethics, Healthcare Systems, and Global Business Issues at Sea on a cruise ship that visited the Bahamas.
Dr. Farrell serves as a board member of the Society for Clinical Nurse Specialist Education (SCNSE) and is a member of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the American Diabetes Association, the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS), and the Southern Nursing Research Society. She is also on the editorial board for the peer-reviewed journal Hospital Topics.
Dr. Farrell received the MSU School of Nursing researcher of the year award in 2016. She was also honored by Murray State University’s (MSU) Professionalism Recognition Award in 2000, and was a finalist for the MSU Mentor award in 2008 and MSU Researcher of Year in 2011.
