Bridging Service and Science: DNP Student’s Military and Clinical Experiences Inform Path to Research

BY SHANNON O'SULLIVAN

Major Keisha Burrell, a U.S. Air Force officer and psychiatric/mental health Doctor of Nursing Practice student at the University at Buffalo, has always viewed nursing as the optimal career for making a meaningful impact.

“I always had a passion for helping others,” Burrell said. “Being a nurse means being the person who delivers direct care when it matters most.”

Her military experience strengthened her ability to lead decisively, think critically under pressure and collaborate across disciplines – skills that continue to guide her as a clinician and emerging nurse scientist.

Burrell’s versatile 17-year nursing career spans serving as a U.S. Air Force flight nurse, conducting home care visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, and working with patients in the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP). She is pursuing her DNP online while practicing as a master’s-prepared nurse practitioner at NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull and continuing her service in the Air Force Reserve.

The flexibility of UB’s psychiatric/mental health DNP program enables her to continue serving patients and communities while also conducting research on evidence-based interventions that help underserved populations living with hypertension and mental health disorders.

“I saw that UB had a very good reputation when it came down to a supportive learning environment,” Burrell said. “They emphasize evidence-based practice and leadership, which align with my goals … I'm able to do coursework, work a full-time job, serve my country in the military, and still have a family life. To me, you can't beat that.”

Burrell, a Brooklyn native, completed Mount Sinai’s prestigious Translational Research and Implementation Science for Nurses (TRAIN) program this summer. This 12-week, first-of-its-kind program, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) within the National Institutes of Health, supports DNP students from underrepresented backgrounds in becoming experts in translating research into clinical practice. TRAIN offers a collaborative, multidisciplinary learning experience that combines classroom instruction and mentored research with experts in health disparities, hypertension and other topics central to NHLBI’s mission.

Burrell’s project, “Community-Based Mental Health and Hypertension: A Translational Research and Implementation Science for Nurses (TRAIN) Fellowship Experience,” aligns with her passion for providing evidence-based care to underserved communities living with hypertension and mental health issues.

“There’s a gap in how much research reaches the frontline,” Burrell said. “This program showed how a PhD and a DNP can work hand-in-hand to advance evidence-based interventions.”

Burrell was paired with Milla Arabadjian, assistant professor in the Department of Foundations of Medicine at the New York University Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, as her project mentor. Arabadjian’s project, which builds on the work of researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, centers on African American men in South Staten Island who received blood pressure screenings at local barbershops. Clinicians and researchers then connected participants with elevated readings to community resources and health care providers to manage hypertension.

Building on her mentor’s research, Burrell is now leading a secondary investigation that involves interviewing the spouses and intimate partners of patients living with hypertension.

“We want to see how partners hinder or promote a heart-healthy lifestyle,” she explained. “Most of the time, we don’t focus on the relationship. How do you help each other, or are you hurting each other, when it comes to living a healthy life?”

Burrell is also interested in mental health treatments for patients suffering from psychosis and cardiovascular conditions.

“Antipsychotics tend to affect heart conditions and rhythms,” she noted. “I don’t see enough research that looks at those connections.”

Burrell explained that she has become drawn to research it can directly improve patient outcomes and reduce health disparities – to continue on the path of scientific inquiry, she is considering pursuing a post-DNP to PhD bridge program in the future.

“The training program opened my eyes … seeing the impact you could have when you're able to do the research.”