Instructor Biographies
Section Instructor
Samantha Cussen
Dr. Samantha “Sam” Cussen joined Bradley University to work as an online adjunct faculty member in 2020. She obtained her DNP from Indiana State University in 2019 and obtained her MSN from the University of Phoenix in 2014.
Dr. Cussen has experience teaching in undergraduate pre-licensure BSN, LPN to BSN, RN to BSN, RN to MSN, and RN to DNP programs. Nursing experience includes community health, travel nursing, emergency/trauma, vascular surgery, HIV/AIDS populations (and any vulnerable populations) and hospice care.
Dr. Cussen lives in Indiana with her husband and two dachshunds. They enjoy traveling, volunteering in the community, and just about anything as long as they are together.
Lead Instructor
Jessica Clark
Dr. Clark joined Bradley University from Terre Haute, Indiana where she was the chairperson of Baccalaureate Nursing Completion at Indiana State University. In this role, Dr. Clark led online programs in both LPN and RN to BSN tracks for over 1200 students. Her teaching experience encompasses both undergraduate and graduate studies via traditional campus and distance learning with several large universities and small private colleges (Norwich University, Ball State University, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine).
She also has prior nursing administration experience in the professional clinical setting. Prior to taking a full time faculty position with academia over seven years ago, she was the regional program director for Telehealth programming with the Department of Veteran Affairs where she oversaw daily Telehealth modalities of care for over 8 medical centers and 65 outpatient clinics in three states. She has worked in several practice areas such as emergency, critical care and medical-surgical nursing. Dr. Clark values scholarly dissemination and her evidence-based practice and research interests include telehealth technologies, distance education development in both undergraduate and graduate, as well as academic leadership emersion
Dr. Clark is married to Dr. Chad Clark who will be also joining Bradley University in August 2019 within Communications. They have two daughters and french bulldog named Hector. She is an avid reader, loves traveling and enjoys seeking out new healthy opportunities with friends and family to unwind and combat stress.
Lead Instructor
Karin Smith
Burgess Hall 408
(309) 677-4588
DNP in Leadership from Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing
MS in Nursing Education from the University of Oklahoma
BSN from the University of Iowa
Dr. Karin Smith joined Bradley University Department of Nursing in January 2017 as an assistant professor in the DNP Program. She earned her BSN from the University of Iowa in 2001 and her MS in nursing education from the University of Oklahoma in 2011. Her master’s research focused on evidence-based strategies for hospitals to achieve magnet status. In 2016, Dr. Smith earned a DNP with an emphasis in leadership from Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing in Peoria, IL. Her Capstone project, Implementation of the Discharge Hospitality Center to Impact Patient Throughput, is utilized at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center to help mitigate issues related to capacity.
Dr. Smith has clinical experience in critical care nursing, leadership, and performance improvement, including use of Six Sigma methodology.
Professional ExperiencePresentations
- Implementation of the Discharge Hospitality Center to Impact Patient Throughput, 2017 10th National DNP Conference, New Orleans, LA, September 14, 2017
- Implementation of the Discharge Hospitality Center to Impact Patient Throughput, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, College of Nursing Research Day, Peoria, IL, November 23, 2015
Dr. Smith holds professional nursing licensure in Illinois and is BLS and ACLS certified. She also holds national certifications as a Critical Care Registered Nurse Knowledge Professional (CCRN-K), Certified in Executive Nursing Practice (CENP) and is Nurse Executive Advanced-Board Certified (NEA-BC). Dr. Smith an active member in the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, American Organization of Nurse Executives, Illinois Organization of Nurse Leaders and Sigma Theta Tau International: Epsilon Epsilon Chapter.
Dr. Smith is a wife and proud mother of twin boys and four rescue dogs.