May 17th DR. PAULA SHOW, 11:00AM: Carolyn Dickens, RN

The next Dr.Paula Show will feature Carolyn Dickens, nurse practitioner and Ph.D. candidate in the UIC College of Nursing. The show will air on Tuesday, May 17th at 11:00am. 

Carolyn Dickens is a Nurse Practitioner at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System and the Director of the Heart Failure Readmission Program.

Clinically, she has been in practice since 1999 in a variety of cardiovascular settings. Current clinical responsibilities include directing heart failure patient care in the inpatient setting with a specific focus on preventing heart failure readmissions. She also developed and implemented a transitional care clinic in the outpatient setting. Carolyn co-chairs the Reducing Unwanted Heart Failure Readmission (RUHFR) committee and is actively involved in several other hospital quality initiatives. From an academic standpoint, she earned her Master of Science in Nursing/Acute Care Nurse Practitioner from Johns Hopkins University after receiving her BSN from the University of Iowa. Currently, she is a PhD candidate at the UIC CON with a research focus on examining self-care among low socioeconomic status patients who have heart failure.

Carolyn has published and lectured widely on topics pertaining to health literacy, patient education and issues effecting low SES patient populations. She will be speaking to Dr. Paula about  increasing awareness of health literacy among nurses, interventions that have been implemented to reduce heart failure readmissions, and more. 

If you have any suggestions for topics or interviews you would like to hear on the Dr. Paula Show, let us know! Contact Brienne Lowry at bdavis7@uic.edu.