Dr. Lori Candela is an associate professor, chair of the department of psychosocial nursing, and graduate program education coordinator for the School of Nursing. With more than 14 years of teaching experience at the associate degree, baccalaureate, RN-to-BSN, and graduate levels, Candela was in the first group in the United States to become certified through the National League for Nursing as a Certified Nurse Educator. At the master’s level, she teaches courses in nursing education focusing on teaching/ learning, curriculum development, and curriculum evaluation. In the Ph.D. program, Candela teaches leadership and facilitated independent teaching practicums. She has also chaired thesis, professional paper and dissertation committees.

Candela has recently led UNLV’s nursing faculty through a major undergraduate curriculum revision.  In 2002, she led a committee in developing an undergraduate at-risk program for learning enhancement. She has developed suture certification courses for medics, student nursing orientation programs, and NCLEX-RN review programs.
Candela has also served as head nurse, nursing supervisor, and second-year lead instructor over two campuses in an Associate Degree Nursing (AND) program. She also has a strong interest in educational program development.

Candela’s research interests include educational and clinical research. She has participated in studies focusing on learners, practicing nurses, educational methods and self care in diabetics. She is currently the Project Manager and Director of a $710,000 Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant that was fully funded in July of 2007: Enhancing Access and Quality in an Online Ph.D. Nursing Program. She has received funding for faculty development projects, computerized testing for nursing students, a nursing shortage study and pilot testing of critical thinking instruments. Currently, Candela is a co-investigator on an internally funded study to examine the lived experiences of new nurse educators and is PI on a study to explore factors affecting self-management practices of elders with Type 2 diabetes. Candela has authored numerous referred articles, and book chapters. She is currently co-authoring a book on chronic illness.

A reviewer for two nursing journals and an editorial board member for the Journal of Nursing Education, Candela is also a sentinel reader for the McMaster Online Rating of Evidence (MORE) Evidence-Based Nursing (EBN) system. She has presented numerous times at local, state, regional, national, and international nursing conferences. In 1999, she was honored to receive an award as Master Teacher from the National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development Austin Texas.

Biographical Sketch