Biography

Dr. Joellen Beckett Edwards is a Professor and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Nursing at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in Johnson City, Tennessee. She received her PhD in Interpersonal Communication and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ohio University, Master of Science in Nursing from West Virginia University, and Associate of Arts in Nursing from Kent State University. She currently teaches research methods and health policy in the PhD in Nursing program at ETSU. Dr. Edwards has served as Chairperson for the Department of Family/Community Nursing, Associate Dean, and Dean, College of Nursing; and as Interim Vice President, Health Affairs during her tenure at ETSU. Prior to her appointment at ETSU, she served as a faculty member in nursing at both Ohio University and Clemson University. She was instrumental in establishing a large nursing faculty practice network at ETSU, which now serves rural, migrant, homeless and uninsured populations in northeast Tennessee through over 35,000 primary care visits each year. Her personal research interests include rural women’s health, and measurement of clinical outcomes in primary care. Dr. Edwards has a strong record of external funding, bringing over $20 million in grants from foundations, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, and many other agencies to ETSU. She has published widely in journals such as Journal of Rural Health, Women’s Health Issues, Journal of Nursing Care Quality, Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and others. Her most recent publications are in the areas of rural women’s health, primary care outcomes in nurse-managed clinics, and interdisciplinary collaboration in health professions education. She was a member of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Rural Health Policy’s National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services; and is currently a member of the Journal of Rural Health’s Editorial Board She has served as a consultant for foundations, schools of nursing, and state and national agencies.