Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Contact Info
Research Interests
Palliative care, Indigenous health, health care access, clinician wellbeing, mixed-methods research, community-based participatory research
Experiences & Accomplishments
I am a nurse, clinician, and educator, with clinical expertise in hospice and palliative care. I use both quantitative and qualitative research methods, as well as community-based participatory research approaches to generate relevant evidence to inform our understanding of care access and provision among socially marginalized and excluded populations who are disproportionately burdened by serious illness. My research has been heavily informed by my clinical experiences working with tribal communities in rural, high-risk reservation-based areas. My goal is to leverage my work to shape policy development, implementation, and evaluation of programs which will 1) bolster quality of life and patient/family outcomes in the face of illness or disease, and 2) mitigate burnout and moral injury among clinicians and other health providers, while building and expanding the public health nursing workforce.
Honors & Awards
- SOURCE - Director's Award, 2023
- American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine - Podium Abstract Award, 2023
- GEDCO - SPIRIT Award, 2022
- Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing - Humanitarian Award, 2022
- The Reverend Melvin B. Tuggle East Baltimore Community Excellence Award - Honorable Mention, 2021
Select Publications
Abshire Saylor, M, Clair, CA, Curriero, S, DeGroot, L, Nelson, K, Pavlovic, N, Taylor, J, Gallo, J, Szanton, SL. (2023) Analysis of action planning, achievement and life purpose statements in an intervention to support caregivers of persons with heart failure. Heart & Lung, 61, 8-15. 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2023.04.002
Cruz-Oliver, D.M., Saylor, M.A., *Nelson, K.E., … & Smith, T.J. (2022). Hospice family caregiver perceptions of benefits and challenges of a telenovela educational intervention. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 25(6), 945-951. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2021.0628
Nelson, K.E., Abshire Saylor, M., Anderson, A., . . . & Szanton, S.L. (2022). “We’re all we got is each other”: Mixed-methods analysis of patient-caregiver dyads’ management of heart failure. Heart & Lung, 55, 24-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrtlng.2022.04.009
Brockie, T.N., Hill, K., Davidson, P.M., Decker, E., *Krienke, L.K., Nelson, K.E., … Around Him, D. (2021). Strategies for culturally safe research with Native American communities: An integrative review. Contemporary Nurse, 58(1), 8-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2021.2015414
Nelson, K.E., Wright, R., *Fisher, M., . . . & Davidson, P.M. (2020). A call to action to address disparities in palliative care access: A conceptual framework for individualizing care needs. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 24(2), 177-180. 10.1089/jpm.2020.0435