Jodi "Lea" Brown

Lea Brown is the recipient of the 2024 NEF Eleanor C. Lambertsen Scholarship. She holds a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's degree in nursing education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She is currently a full-time PhD student at the University of Rochester (UR) School of Nursing and serves as a student representative on their PhD committee. Before embarking on her doctoral journey, she worked at Stillwater Medical in Oklahoma for 25 years as a staff nurse and in various leadership positions. It was her innate desire to help others that fueled this lengthy nursing career, during which she aimed to provide compassionate patient care, continuously develop her knowledge and skills, and contribute to the nursing profession's advancement in her own small way.

Lea's years of experience in clinical and leadership roles have offered valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities in healthcare delivery.  Drawn to UR's prestigious reputation in nursing research, she applied to their doctoral program because of her aspiration to contribute to the body of nursing knowledge and to hopefully influence the future of nursing professional development through research and scholarly endeavors. Lea's decision to pivot to a career in nursing research stems from her tenure as a hospital educator, during which she became intrigued by questions surrounding best practices in assessing post-licensure nurse competency. She became increasingly passionate about exploring this topic and identifying evidence-based strategies that support nurses in maintaining and enhancing their competencies throughout their careers. She hopes her doctoral research can shed light on the complex relationship between nurse competency and patient outcomes, ultimately informing evidence-based practices and policies. With the tremendous support of the NEF scholarship, Lea can dedicate herself fully to this academic pursuit. She is deeply appreciative of this opportunity and strives to approach her studies and research with diligence and a commitment to improving patient care through nursing excellence. She recognizes this journey would not be possible without the generosity of organizations like NEF.