Shai Lev

Shai Lev, BSN, RN, PCCN, is the honored recipient of the Lucy C. Perry Memorial Scholarship which will support her final year as a student in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Kent State University. She began her professional career as a registered nurse on a Cleveland Clinic cardiology step-down unit, where she led quality improvement projects and joined a nurse-driven study that examined determinants of health in the heart failure population. She is currently leading a team of nurses in a study to assess nurses and patients’ knowledge of heart failure medications, with the intention of educating nurses about the medications they administer, so that these nurses can pass the information onto their patients. Shai transitioned to the emergency department at a Cleveland Clinic regional hospital, where she has combined her skills and love of cardiology with the challenges and new opportunities of the emergency setting. As the unit shared governance co-chair, mentor to 3 first generation college students and a volunteer at a local free clinic, she is deeply involved in patient empowerment and community advocacy. 

During her BSN studies at Binghamton University, she was also the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award and the President’s Award. She served on various leadership committees; created a mentorship program for newer students in the nursing school and volunteered with various community organizations such as the farmer’s market and Binghamton Food Rescue, an organization aimed at providing fresh foods to those living in food deserts, and mitigating food waste. She also participated in education programs for children with asthma, and was the principle investigator of a study describing the evaluation and testing of a nicotine and tobacco use research tool, which was published in the Journal of Nursing Measurement in November 2020. 

Shai was initially drawn to nursing as a way to combine her love of caring for others and her fascination with the world of wellness and medicine. Throughout her education, she has worked as a childcare provider, camp counselor, and resource for health-related information for her friends and community. She has continued to grow by taking specialty courses offered by her hospital system.   In 2019 Shai became certified as a Progressive Care Clinical Nurse. She chose Kent State University’s nursing graduate program for its emphasis on research, higher standard for education, and the wonderful nurse practitioners she has worked with who are graduates of Kent State.

As a family nurse practitioner, Shai’s dream is to join or create a practice that builds an atmosphere of wellness in a rural area. She strives to promote wellbeing in multiple capacities, including social, physical, and mental health services, as well as empowering the community members to mentor and support one another. She hopes to provide resources for patients with diabetes to actively manage their blood sugars, asthmatics to control their triggers, and those with various chronic illnesses to support each other and heal through food, movement, medications, and lifestyle harmony.