Chijioke Okeke

  • Instructor, Nursing
Chijioke O

Chijioke Okeke is a master’s-prepared registered nurse and full-time instructor at Mercy University’s School of Nursing, while also practicing as a critical care nurse at Montefiore Medical Center. With over 20 years of dedication to research and education, Chijioke has published work in the Journal of Evolution and collaborates with research groups to improve care for sedated and ventilated patients in critical care settings. A chartering member of the Greater NYC Black Nurses Association (GNYCBNA), he actively promotes health and wellness education in local communities and leads educational events focused on improving the health outcomes of Black and Brown men. As a fellow in the Health Equity Influencer Program for Nurse Educators, he is focused on revising nursing education to improve the reliability of skin assessments across different skin tones, addressing health disparities and advancing equitable patient care.

MSN, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

MSc, New York University Graduate School of Arts & Science

BA, Yale University

Chijioke is currently researching evidence-based approaches to improve high-quality skin assessments on darker skin tones, focusing on identifying changes as skin color presents differently over time.

Chijioke teaches Pathophysiology to prelicensure nursing students and is developing innovative methods to integrate the latest technology to support learner success in the classroom.

Okeke, C., Manigo, S., Valdez, M. “Medical cannabis: the next level of pain management?” (2021) NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital Pain Management Week Presentation.  

Turner, P.E., Williams, E.S.C.P., Okeke, C, Cooper, V.S., Duffy, S., Wertz, J.E. (2014). Antibiotic resistance correlates with transmission in plasmid evolutions. Evolution. 68(12) DOI: 10.111/evo.12537  

Outstanding Customer Service Award – 2019, NYU Langone Health Orthopedic Hospital  

Rotaract Chairs of Leadership Award – 2016, Yale University Rotaract, District 7980.  

France Merrick Scholarship Award – 2016, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.  

Mellon Mayes – Edward A. Bouchet Fellowship Class of 2003, Yale University