Dr. Sandy Nielsen is an Assistant Professor at the Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University, where she teaches across the undergraduate and RN-to-BSN programs. Her nursing career began in 1989, spanning critical-access, small, and medium-sized hospitals and clinics throughout Illinois, with clinical experience in medical-surgical, telemetry, ICU, and community and population health.
Before moving fully into academia, she served as an Employee Health Nurse and a staff and supervisory nurse across several Illinois hospitals, building deep expertise in immunizations, public health, and quality improvement. She previously directed the college's undergraduate nursing program.
Research Interests
- Community and population health
- Immunizations and meeting Healthy People goals
- Achieving affective learning goals through clinical experiences
- Applying cognitive load theory and planned change in nursing education
Her doctoral dissertation examined the effects of state mandates for healthcare-worker influenza vaccination on outbreak rates in long-term care facilities.
Teaching
- Health Assessment Across the Life Span
- Adult Health and Leadership clinicals
- Pathophysiology & Pharmacotherapeutics
- Concepts of Professional Nursing
Education
- PhD in Nursing — Illinois State University
- MS in Nursing Education — Grand Canyon University
- BSN — Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Connect
Learn more or get in touch through her Illinois State University faculty profile or on LinkedIn.