Faculty Spotlight: Patricia Sutton EdH
Assistant Professor, Nursing
Patricia Sutton
Professor Sutton has been a Registered Nurse since 1988 and have had experiences that range from Medical Surgical Nursing, Critical Care and Community Health, including informatics, Performance Improvement and Policy and Procedures. She earned an Associate Degree in Nursing (AND) from Westchester Community College, New York, in 1988 and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in 1994 from the College of New Rochelle, New York. She earned a Master of Science in Nursing Education from Mercy College in New York in May 2007 and an EdD in May of 2021 from Southern Connecticut State University defending my dissertation, “The Influence of Transformational Leadership Theory on Leadership Readiness Among Undergraduate Nursing Students.
Professor Sutton spent many years practicing as a clinical nurse with a focus in critical care nursing, while participating in Quality Programs, Policy and Procedure Committees, Staff Education as well as Systems Application Management for clinical documentation. She has worked in community health for over 10 years as a field nurse working with patients in underserved areas of southern Westchester County, in a Medicaid based home care program. She began my career in education at The Dorothea Hopfer School of Nursing in August 2007, (currently The Montefiore School of Nursing) held the position of Assistant Dean of Academics from January 2011, until her departure from the school in 2017. She joined the faculty at Mercy College in September of 2017 and served as the Program Coordinator for the Traditional Undergraduate Nursing Program until September 2022. She currently provide didactic instruction at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of the Nursing Program.
Professor Sutton has participated in several college wide committees, including Faculty Association, holding the office of Treasurer, General Education Committee for Diversion, Equity and Inclusion, Radical Pedagogy and Racial Equity as well as a participant in the Inclusive Pedagogy Fellowship 2021-2022. As the Assessment Coordinator for the SoN and the Chair of the Assessment Committee, she frequently collaborate with the OEA and have presented on using experiential measurement tools (clinical evaluations) for the university in collaboration with CTL.
She participated in the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) visit at Mercy University and in 2024 was approved as a peer reviewer for MSCHE. Collaborating with colleagues. She has presented during Faculty Seminar Days on such topics as Addressing Inaccurate Assumptions About Race in Health Care Education and Removing Race From Clinical Case Studies in Health Education. She have also participated in poster presentation opportunities at several Faculty Recognition Day events, individually and in collaboration with colleagues. Currently focusing on collaboration with colleagues researching Belonging in Nursing Students. She currently maintain membership in Sigma (since 2006), ANA, NLN and the Putnam Nurses Association. She also serve on several voluntary organizations in my community including a member of the executive board for the Putnam Lake Park District, emphasizing focus on promoting the health of the local lake and community surrounding it. She went to Cameroon, Africa in August 2023 to teach the Basic Health Care Course.
Q&A With Professor Sutton
What inspired you to pursue a career in teaching and academia?
"After many years working with students and new nurses in clinical practice as a mentor and preceptor, including student internship programs, I gravitated toward teaching and promoting quality outcomes for learners, fostering their growth and professional development."
Could you describe a recent project or initiative related to teaching that you're passionate about?
"Most recently, I have become passionate about Assessment and linking learning and program outcomes to curriculum design and revision, including developing assessment rubrics and experiential learning measurement tools. I am passionate about incorporating the concepts of diversity into all nursing courses. I worked with Dr. Moscou to redesign the graduate program Diversity – Family as a Lens course to include various diverse populations where students focus on topics such as ageism, racism, sexuality, transgender and gender diverse individuals, spirituality, promoting health outcomes, and equity related to these topics."
How do you adapt to changes in education, such as online learning or new technologies, to enhance the learning experience?
"My experience working with software and varied systems as a systems application manager in health care supported my comfort level adapting to an online format. I challenged myself to find ways to provide interactive online environments where students would engage freely. Students responded well to the course and expressed that the online format was engaging and positive. Implementing video learning formats to teach classes, such as pathophysiology, without a traditional textbook allowed students to think critically using their audio-visual learning styles in a flipped classroom. In this piloted format, students used the video learning system (Osmosis) to teach each other about the varied topics in the course, both on the graduate and undergraduate levels."
What advice would you give to aspiring educators looking to excel in the field of academia?
"As a mentor for graduate students in Nursing Education programs for over 15 years, I encourage new faculty to consider the needs of their students first and foremost. We must abandon holding dear the methods that were implemented when we were undergraduate nursing students, some of us in the 80s through the 2000s, and adapt to new instructional modalities and expectations. Nursing has become more complex, and it is essential to guide students regarding what will be expected of them as they enter the workforce. New faculty must consider encouraging all students to look beyond the walls of the workspace and engage in community efforts to promote health equity and address disparities that are prevalent in our communities."