Professor Cheryl Petersen

Cheryl Petersen

  • Assistant Director, Curriculum and Assessment; Associate Professor of Nursing
    Email Address:
    cpetersen2@carthage.edu
    Office location:
    Lentz Hall 311
    Phone
    262-551-6573

    Professor Cheryl Petersen practiced in the field of pediatrics for over two decades. She has clinical experience in the areas of pediatric critical care, medical/surgical nursing, urgent care, and oncology research. She has worked in nursing administration as a director of cancer patient support services and a head nurse preceptor.

    Prof. Petersen’s passion for nursing education has led her to a role in academic administration, currently serving as assistant director of curriculum and assessment in Carthage’s Department of Nursing due to her expertise in the areas of curricular review, revision, and accreditation. As an educator, she inspires students to provide compassionate care that will truly impact the patients whose lives they touch. She greatly enjoys mentoring students as they develop as nursing scholars, leaders, and clinicians. Prof. Petersen believes that students learn most effectively with a strong curriculum and through use of evidence-based teaching practices. Her classes integrate case studies and real-life experiences that bring to light how holistic care of a patient’s mind, body, and spirit brings healing, hope, and meaning from a life-threatening illness.

    Prof. Petersen’s doctoral program, which focused on the effects of a spiritual care educational program for pediatric oncology nurses, was funded with two grants from the American Cancer Society and several national scholarships. Her current program of research is focused on development and evaluation of an application (app) to provide holistic resources for the mind, body, and spirit of patients with cancer.

    Prof. Petersen has been honored with a multitude of national awards, including the prestigious Tylenol Future Care Scholar Award, the Sigma Theta Tau International Rising Star in Research and Scholarship, and a Schmitt Leadership Fellowship for her academic excellence, exemplary leadership, community involvement, and dedication to caring for others. She received the 2019 and 2020 Carthage College Department of Nursing Excellence and Innovation in Academic Teaching Award, as voted upon by these two graduating undergraduate classes. She was awarded funding through a competitive national process to attend the American Academy of College of Nursing’s Elevating Leadership in Academic Nursing year-long leadership fellowship. Prof. Petersen was chosen through a competitive national process as a Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education site evaluator, further honing her expertise in accreditation and assessment. In 2023, she was honored to receive a scholarship from George Washington University to attend a retreat of international experts in spiritual care in Assisi, Italy.

    • B.S.N. — Marquette University
    • Ph.D. — Nursing, Marquette University
    • NSG 2010 Pathophysiologic Concepts for Nursing Practice
    • NSG 3014 Nursing Practice II: Improving Children’s Health Outcomes
    • NSG 3024 Clinical Scholarship: Applying Evidence to Improve Health Outcomes
    • SWK 2330 Applied Statistics for Health and Human Services
    • Communication Strategies to Improve Spiritual Care of Patients at the End of Life
    • Advanced Clinical Synthesis
    • Capstone

    Nursing education, spiritual care of children with cancer at the end of life and their families, spiritual care of adults with cancer, calling and vocation in the profession of nursing.

    Petersen, C.L. Dalton, D., & Munk, D. (2022). Finding your calling: An online seminar for undergraduate nursing students. Journal of Christian Nursing, 39(4), 244-249. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36048597/ 

    Petersen, C.L., & Schiltz, S. (2020). ‘Care of the Spirit’: Effects of an interdisciplinary undergraduate end-of-life course on knowledge, competence, and response empathy. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 22(4), 298-304. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32568937/ 

    Petersen, C.L. (2020). The vulnerability of parents of children facing the end of life. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 37(2), 285-298. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31718403/ 

    Petersen, C.L., McCarthy, D., Hughes, R., White-Traut, R., & Callahan, M.F. (2017). Effects of an online spiritual care educational program for pediatric oncology nurses on knowledge, attitudes, and spiritual care competence. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 34(2) 1130-139. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27207992/ 

    Taylor, E.J., Petersen, C.L., & Haase, J. (2015). Spirituality and spiritual care of adolescents and young adults with cancer. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 31(3), 227-241. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26210201/ 

    Petersen, C.L., Breakwell, S., & Callahan, M. (2014). Palliative and end of life care: Precepts and ethics for the orthopaedic population. Orthopaedic Nursing, 33(3), 127-134. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24845834/ 

    Petersen, C.L., Spiritual care of the child with cancer at the end of life: A concept analysis. (2013). Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(6), 1243-1253. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24102699/

    Petersen, C., Jacobson, R., Warwick, A., Jaradeh, S., & Kelly, M. (2013) Wilms’ tumor presenting with Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic syndrome. Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, 35(4), 267-270. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23612377/