Dr. Shen is one of my professors in the Doctoral of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program and she is also the chairperson for my DNP Project Committee. Dr. Shen is truly an extraordinary professor who makes inspirational influence on her students like me. She provides me continuing scholarly advice and professional guidance throughout the DNP program. Under her remarkable mentorship, I have successfully completed a high-quality DNP project and plan to graduate soon. Dr. Shen is a highly deserving faculty member to be recognized for her teaching excellence.

Dr. Shen is an excellent educator who utilizes effective and creative teaching strategies to educate her students. Dr. Shen was my professor for NRSG 754 Healthcare Research in Summer 2017. During this course, she demonstrated her expertise in the course content as well as innovative teaching. The course was well-organized and structured with clear instructions. Despite of an online course, I felt very connected with Dr. Shen through her constant and open communications with students and she was always available to answer student questions in a timely, respectful, and supportive manner. Her lectures were in-depth and insightful, which I found very helpful to understand different concepts related to research. Dr. Shen used a variety of teaching strategies to help us develop the skills to critique research articles that was very beneficial when I worked on my DNP project. I really enjoyed Dr. Shen’s course and have gained essential knowledge and skills about healthcare research from this course. This positive learning experience with Dr. Shen has laid a solid foundation for my work with her in my DNP project.

Dr. Shen is an outstanding professor. She is dedicated and passionate for the academic success and professional growth of her students. Dr. Shen is always willing to invest significant amounts of her time in educating and nurturing her students. Her personal investment in my professional development and growth has well demonstrated her commitment and dedication to educating the next generation of doctorally prepared nurse practitioners. It is truly a rewarding and valuable experience that I receive ongoing excellent mentorship and strong support from such an amazing Chairperson like Dr. Shen during my DNP project.

Before I enrolled in NRSG 980 DNP Project in Summer 2020, I approached Dr. Shen and invited her to be my Chair. Before saying yes, she graciously set up a meeting with me to discuss my interest and potential project topics. Dr. Shen also shared with me her mentoring style and expectations. This initial discussion was extremely helpful to ensure that there was a good match between us. This was an essential step for me to build a trustworthy and collaborative working relationship with Dr. Shen. I greatly appreciate Dr. Shen’s structured but innovative and stimulating mentoring approach, and her willingness and patience to work with students. Her interactive skills with students are superior. She always seems to perceive my needs and keep me informed on my individual progress.

Dr. Shen always outlined the key milestones for each semester, which has helped me plan and stay on track to progress and complete my project. She is very approachable, knowledgeable, and responsive whenever I have questions. Dr. Shen provided timely and constructive feedback that helped me improve and produce high-quality scholarly products. Dr. Shen works very closely with me and provides me continued guidance for every step in completing my project. My DNP project focused on implementing a screening process for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among first responders in a rural concierge clinic. During the initial stage of implementing my DNP project, participation of first responders in PTSD screening was lower than expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic and I worried about the project's progress. Dr. Shen encouraged me to think creatively of different strategies to promote the PTSD screening, which effectively resulted in increased and more than expected participation of first responders in PTSD screening. Thanks to the valuable mentorship and guidance from Dr. Shen, the project was a success, and the rural concierge clinic has decided to adopt the PTSD screening process for first responders.

Dr. Shen is an invaluable mentor who has made a significant and long-lasting positive impact on me in terms of my professional development and growth. She consistently goes the extra mile to encourage and motivate me to pursue various scholarly opportunities and achieve my personal goals. Her empowerment in me was phenomenal. Dr. Shen not only guided me to submit an abstract for the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS) annual research conference but also mentored me to submit a grant proposal for funding my DNP project. It was because of Dr. Shen’s outstanding mentorship that I was selected by the Research Committee to present at the 2021 MNRS Research Conference and received the 2020-2021 Ruth C. McKibben Alumni Research Award. Dr. Shen has also encouraged me to publish my DNP project paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Her willingness and effort to guide me through the publication process even after graduation is truly a demonstration of her commitment and dedication to the professional development of her students. I am very grateful for Dr. Shen’s enthusiasm and passion to go above and beyond to help me become the best I can be. These additional scholarship experiences and skills including presentation, grant writing, and manuscript publication are very rewarding that I will carry with me after my graduation from KU School of Nursing.

Dr. Shen is an educator, a mentor, an advocate, and a role model for me. I greatly benefit from Dr. Shen’s teaching excellence that fosters enriched and satisfying learning experiences for her students. Her positive attitude, respect, support, and commitment to students are sincere and genuine. I feel fortunate to have such an outstanding professor in graduate school to me reached my full potential in every way.

Note: This is Dr. Shen's 2nd DAISY Award!