Dr. Kathy Sekula, PhD, PMHCNS-BC, FAAFS, FAAN, and Noble J. Dick Endowed Chair in Academic Leadership has been named the recipient of The Cameos of Caring® Research and Scholarship Award. This award is designed to recognize nurses who:
- Demonstrate that they have a program of impactful research and scholarship.
- Provide evidence of being a Principal Investigator for at least one project and a team member of at least one other project.
- Encourage and motivate others; set a standard of excellence for colleagues to emulate; be recognized as a role model and mentor.
- Demonstrate active membership in professional organization(s).
Since Dr. Sekula joined the School of Nursing in 1998, she has been a pioneer in forensic nursing research and scholarship. Her research interests include care of the patient who has been sexually assaulted, trauma-informed care and several other forensic areas. In fact, Dr. Sekula developed one of the first Masters of Science Programs offering a specialty in Forensic Nursing.
In early 2001, because of her expertise in psychiatry, she was asked to develop a graduate program that would interface with The Wecht Institute Certificate program. Forensic nursing was a new area of practice at the time, and the incidences of violence were growing at alarming rates. Through her work with other forensic specialists, she developed a unique forensic master's program that incorporated courses developed in Duquesne University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law, along with newly formed advanced practice forensic nursing courses. Subsequently, Dr. Sekula applied for and received two program grants from The Department of Health and Human Services (HRSA): the first grant was awarded in September of 2003 for $820,428, and a second was awarded in 2006 in the amount of $912,421. These grants helped make the forensic graduate programs among the most popular programs at Duquesne University and throughout the forensic nursing community.
In the process of developing these programs, Dr. Sekula recognized the need to offer SANE-A (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner - Adult) training programs online for nurses unable to attend the one-week, live training. Duquesne's online SANE-A training is at the forefront in preparing nurses to serve the needs of victims of sexual assault throughout the country, particularly in rural and underserved areas. The course, to date, has educated over 900 nurses in these areas.
Dr. Sekula has been honored as a pioneer in forensic nursing by the International Association of Forensic Nurses Virginia Lynch Award, served as President of the Forensic Nurse Certification Board, member of the International Journal of Forensic Nursing Editorial Board and member of the IAFN Board of directors. Even with all the accomplishments she has made to date, Dr. Sekula still seeks to further the practice of forensic nursing, both nationally and internationally. She practices as an advanced psychiatric clinician, certified through ANCC, and sees patients in her pro bono faculty practice for anxiety and depression.
Dr. Sekula was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2011. In February 2023, she was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Her work is recognized as a significant contribution to the advancement of the role of forensic nursing regarding victims and perpetrators of violence through her leadership in evidence-based graduate programs and her continuing energy to expand forensic nursing science through her research and practice. She has received two HRSA ANE-SANE grants (2018-2021 and 2021-2025) for a total of three million dollars to support programming that will increase the number of sexual assault nurse examiners throughout the United States.
We congratulate Dr. Sekula on this well-deserved honor.
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