Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice, D.N.P.

Katherine (Kathy) Atassi, PhD, RN, OCN, NE-BC, CNE is an assistant professor in the RN-BSN program and DNP program at West Virginia University - Charleston Campus since May 2020. Degrees include: PhD in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina (2012), MSN from Marshall University (1998) and BSN from University of Iowa (1992). Certifications include: oncology certified nurse (OCN) since 1996, certified nurse executive (NE-BC) since 1998, and certified nurse educator (CNE) since 2023. Research interests include: evidence-based practice, public/community health, leadership, health policy, and health promotion/prevention. She has been a nurse educator since 1998, and has a number of publications to date. She lives in Charleston with her husband, two children, and one very sweet dog.

Dr. Barker is the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program Director & Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Track Coordinator for the WVU School of Nursing. Her roles also include Clinical Associate Professor and Family Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified (FNP-BC) faculty practice at Milan Puskar Health Right (MPHR).

As a nursing educator, she has 13 years of experience teaching nursing students. Dr. Barker has been a Certified Nurse Educator for the past four years and was promoted to DNP Program Director & FNP Track Coordinator for the WVU SoN in June 2023. As an FNP-BC, she has been in practice for 18 years with initial licensure as a registered nurse 27 years ago.

Her doctoral work and clinical practice have focused on providing care for patients with diabetes in rural populations and utilizing telehealth modalities. She is certified as a Certified Diabetes Education & Care Specialist (CDCES) and have the Board-Certified Advanced Diabetes Management (BC-ADM) certification.

Over the past several years, her clinical practice has been in a primary care clinic with specialty care provision for patients with substance use disorder and diabetes at a local free clinic (MPHR). She is the Medication-Assisted Treatment Director for a small Comprehensive Opiate Addiction Treatment (COAT) clinic at the MPHR primary care clinic as a spoke from the WVU Medicine Chestnut Ridge hub.

Dr. Emily Barnes is a clinical professor and the Associate Dean for Faculty Practice in the School of Nursing at West Virginia University. She earned her BSN at West Virginia Wesleyan College, her MSN at MCP Hahnemann University, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from West Virginia University. She holds certifications as a family nurse practitioner and as a nurse educator. Additionally, she has completed a 300-hour course in medical acupuncture. Her teaching is primarily in the core courses of the Family Nurse Practitioner track of the Master of Science in Nursing program and the Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Her scholarly activities span the areas of teaching and practice.

Dr. Barnes has maintained an active faculty practice spanning decades, with experience in the delivery of primary care. Her faculty practice has provided care for vulnerable populations in Appalachia and Honduras. She has experience providing both face-to-face and telehealth services across the lifespan and including acute care, health promotion, and chronic disease management. Dr. Barnes leads international interprofessional teams to provide healthcare to patients in the Department of Colon, Honduras. Through this work, she was able to incorporate graduate nursing student opportunities for global service-learning and an innovative telehealth clinical experience for graduate nursing students.

Dr. Carter-Templeton is an Associate Professor in the Adult Health Department at the WVU School of Nursing. She has published and presented nationally and internationally regarding her research interest areas, specifically addressing informatics, information literacy, and evidence-based practice. As a nurse researcher, educator, and editor she has worked to inform, educate, and support nurses at the student, practice, and academic levels regarding information literacy needs and skills as well as the importance of using credible scientific evidence within our discipline. Furthermore, she has assisted in using informatics and technology tools to support and disseminate nursing research. She is currently conducting research in the areas of information literacy and healthcare information technology. In addition to her faculty responsibilities, she is involved in several professional organizations and serves as Deputy Editor for CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing journal. In addition, she is ANCC board certified in nursing informatics and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Dr. Ritchie is an associate professor in the WVU School of Nursing. She began her nursing career as an associate degree RN after graduating from Parkersburg Community College. As a bedside nurse, Dr. Ritchie worked in many areas including med. surg., ICU, OB, OR, ER, home health and hospice, prior to returning to school. As a life-time learner, Dr. Ritchie completed her BSN degree in 1999, MSN in 2001, and DNP in 2011 from West Virginia University. She is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and has practiced for 22 years, most of which has been in a rural primary health care center, but also in a substance abuse treatment center, as well as in the urgent care setting. Dr. Ritchie began teaching in 2000 at Glenville State College where she was a clinical instructor in long term care and med. surg. She joined West Virginia University in 2009 and served as the coordinator of the family nurse practitioner program from 2014 - 2023. Currently, Dr. Ritchie teaches in the RN-BSN, MSN and DNP programs at WVU and has served as chair on multiple DNP committees from WVU, as well as other universities.

As a clinician, Dr. Ritchie currently practices one day a week at Minnie Hamilton Health Systems in Calhoun County where she sees patients across the life span. Her doctoral research focused on adolescent obesity and evaluating the creating opportunities for empowerment (COPE) healthy lifestyle thinking, emotion, exercise and nutrition (TEEN) program in a rural 9th grade health class. In 2005, Dr. Ritchie’s rural practice in primary care was featured in the US News and World Report, highlighting the contribution of nurse practitioners in leading change in the delivery of healthcare across the country. Dr. Ritchie serves as secretary of the WV RN Board of Nursing, and is completing her second governor’s appointed term. With a focus on addiction nursing, Dr. Ritchie is committed to the prevention, intervention, treatment, and management of addictive disorders and manages patients in a small rural MAT program. She has recently been part of the opioid addiction response team, a grant to develop training modules for nurses to prepare for certification in addiction nursing (CARN,) and to create medication assisted treatment programs for addicted individuals in WV.

Dr. Ritchie is married, and she and her husband Michael have 3 children and 8 grandchildren living in New Jersey, Colorado, and West Virginia. She is a very involved Mom and Nana, and frequently travels to spend time with her 4 grandsons and 4 granddaughters. She lives on a small farm and enjoys her horses. This year, Dr. Ritchie is learning to play the guitar.

Dr. Smeltzer is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Adult Health Department at the WVU School of Nursing. She is the track coordinator of the MSN/MBA dual degree program and the Post-Master’s Certificate in Nurse Executive Leadership. As an educator, Dr. Smeltzer coordinates and guides student learning in several courses at the graduate level. She is passionate about assisting students in their educational journey to leadership positions. She has presented information regarding curriculum development in MSN leadership courses at the state level.

Since 2022, Dr. Smeltzer has also served as the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Accredited Provider Program Director for the WVU SON.

Dr. Smeltzer earned a B.A. in Biology and Secondary Education from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University, a DNP from Case Western Reserve University and an MBA from Waynesburg University. Her clinical nursing experience includes over 15 years of adult ICU patient care. Her administrative experience includes 7 years at manager and director levels in acute care hospital organizations in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Billie Vance is a Clinical Associate Professor at the WVU School of Nursing. She earned her BSN from Cedarville University, an MSN from WVU, and a PhD from WVU. Prior to transitioning to academia, she worked as a nurse in medical-surgical and intensive care unit hospital settings.

Since 2009, she has been practicing as an advanced practice nurse. She has experience in a variety of practice settings including dermatology, primary care, and preoperative evaluation. Since 2018, she has been practicing with WVU Medicine’s Behavioral Health department in the Comprehensive Opioid Addiction Treatment (COAT) program. She evaluates new and returning patients with substance use disorder and manages two COAT clinics, as well as a clinic at Appalachian Community Health Center.

She is currently serving as a Department Chairperson and previously served as the Director of the MSN/DNP Programs. Her research and scholarly endeavors surround the care of veterans in community settings, care of patients with substance use disorder, and advance practice nursing education. She is an active member in the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties and serves on the WVU Medicine Nursing EBP and Research Council and the WVU IRB Blue Board.