Teresa Ward RN, PhD, FAAN (She/Her)

I have clinical and research background as a sleep nurse practitioner at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) where I managed behavioral sleep problems in children and adolescents and their families with cognitive behavioral therapy. My program of research focuses on the promotion of sleep health,  psychosocial symptoms of anxiety, depression, fatigue, and health outcomes  in preschool, school age children, and adolescents with and without chronic conditions and their caregivers. My team and I study the effect of sleep deficiency (inadequate amount of sleep, poor quality) on caregiver-child dyad interactions, symptoms (pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression), and health outcomes (quality of life, cognition, healthcare utilization)

Awards and Accolades

• 2022, American College of Nurse Midwives  Exemplary Partner Award
•  2020, Fellow Western Academy of Nurses (WAN)
•  2019, Distinguished Research Award, UW School of Nursing
• 2018, Inductee of the Fellowship of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN)
• 2017, Alumni Endowed Professor of Nursing
• 2015, Competitively Selected, UW Leadership Excellence Project: Thriving as a Change Agent in
• 2013, Nominee, University of Washington, Outstanding Mentor Award, Undergraduate Honors Research

Education

• BSN, DeSales University
• MSN, FNP, Drexel University
• PhD, University of California, San Francisco

What classes do you teach?

• NURS 201 Growth and Development Through the Lifespan
• NMETH 579 Quantitative Research Methods
• NMETH 801 Practice Doctorate Project/Capstone (DNP)

What do you love about the UW School of Nursing?

I love giving back to our families and community partners. I enjoy mentoring undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in children, and their families, and improving their health outcomes. Currently, I train and work with several undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of disciplines (nursing, psychology, computer science, human-centered design engineering, global health) in the development and testing of self-management interventions to improve sleep in parent-child dyads.  We actively engage our students, community partners, and children and families in our sleep health promotion research.

Department

Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing

Research Areas

• Innovative Interventions
• Symptom Science
• Lifespan Health

Research Centers

• Center for Innovation in Sleep Self-Management