Patricia V. Burkhart, PhD, RN

Patricia Burkhart received her bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh and a master's degree in nursing from West Virginia University. She returned to the University of Pittsburgh for a PhD in parent-child nursing, receiving a doctoral scholar's award for high scholastic achievement and contributions to nursing care of children.

Before coming to UK in 1999, Dr. Burkhart taught for 15 years at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.Va., where she received an award for outstanding teaching. As a professor and associate dean of the undergraduate program in the College of Nursing, she teaches undergraduate parent-child nursing and mentors undergraduate research interns. She is also a full member of the graduate faculty. She co-directs the Deans' Interprofessional Healthcare Honors Colloquium at UK.

Dr. Burkhart's research is an expansion of her dissertation study, which focused on testing an intervention to improve children's adherence to asthma self-management. Her work has been published in nursing and medical journals, including Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Pediatric Nursing, Journal of Pediatric Nursing, Nursing Clinics of North America, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Journal of Asthma, and International Review of Asthma. Her award-winning presentations have been given at numerous national and international conferences. She has received research funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research/National Institutes of Health and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Dr. Burkhart served on the board of directors of the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department from 2003-2012. She was a scientific writer for the World Health Organization report, Adherence to Long Term Therapies: Evidence for Action, published in 2003. In 2007 she received the Provost's Award for Outstanding Teaching, and in 2008 she received the Society of Pediatric Nurses Excellence in Nursing Research Award. She also received the Excellent Undergraduate Research Mentor Award at the 2008 UK Showcase of Undergraduate Scholars. In 2010, she was invited to present her program of research at West Virginia University as a Distinguished Alumna Researcher at the 50th anniversary celebration of the School of Nursing.