Dr. Nancy Nivison Menzel is an associate professor of community health in the Department of Psychosocial Nursing. She teaches an undergraduate course, Population-Focused Care in the Community, and several graduate courses, including Nursing Research Methods and Utilization, Health and Public Policy, and Community-Based Participatory Research: A Strategy for Social Change.

Dr. Menzel’s research focus is the health of workers. She has conducted several studies on the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in healthcare workers through ergonomic and psychosocial interventions. She also collaborated in a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-funded project to revise the curricula of schools of nursing to include safe patient handling principles. She is performing a funded pilot study on the relationship between cytokines and low back pain in newly injured patients. In addition, she conducts community-based participatory research on the causes and prevention of injuries and illnesses in Hispanic construction workers.  She has collaborated with community organizations to reduce the disparity of under-enrollment of Hispanic students in UNLV’s nursing program. She is a Fellow of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, a Certified Clinical Specialist in Community Health Nursing, a Certified Occupational Health Nurse-Specialist, and a Certified Nurse Educator. She has published articles in a variety of journals, including occupational health nursing, pain management, and nursing education. She received the Golden Pen Award in 2004 for an AAOHN Journal article.

Dr. Menzel serves on the School of Nursing’s Academic Affairs and PhD Admissions Committees. She is a director of the Nevada Nurses Association, president of the Nevada Association of Occupational Health Nurses, president-elect of the Nevada Public Health Association, and the president-elect of the Nevada Nurses Association District 3. Additionally, she is on the editorial review panel of the AAOHN Journal and reviews articles for the Journal of International Nursing Studies, Biological Research for Nursing, Applied Ergonomics, Western Journal of Nursing Research, and Industrial Health (Japan).

Biographical Sketch