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University of Washington

Teresa Ward PhD, RN, FAAN

Adjunct Professor
Professor, Division of Pediatrics, UW School of Medicine
Professor, Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute
Co-Director of the Center for Innovation in Sleep Self-Management (CISSM)

I have clinical and research background as a sleep nurse practitioner where I managed behavioral sleep problems in children and adolescents and their families. My team and I conduct research on sleep health in pediatric and adult populations with and without chronic health conditions and their caregivers. I Co-Direct the P30 Center for Innovation in Sleep Self-Management (P30NR016585) and conduct clinical trial studies that integrate behavior change and shared management strategies with technology for children and caregivers struggling with sleep problems. Our recent work has focused on variability in sleep timing in under-resourced populations and the role of stress in mediating the association between sociocultural factors and sleep disparities.

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
  • Health Equity
  • Lifespan Health

Research Centers

Picture of Teresa Ward
Main:

teward@uw.edu

University of Washington School of Nursing
Dept of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing

Pronouns:
(she/her)