Dr. Lori Thuente, PhD, RN, is the founding chair for the Masters of Science in Nursing for Entry into Practice program in the College of Nursing. She also holds a secondary appointment in the Interprofessional Health Studies program.

Dr. Thuente came to RFUMS in 2016 and was in the role of Interprofessional Education Specialist for the DeWitt C. Baldwin Institute for Interprofessional Education. Prior to joining the Baldwin Institute in 2016, Dr. Thuente was the Assistant Director of DePaul University’s School of Nursing: Master’s Entry into Nurse Practice Program located on the ÎÞÂëȺ½» campus. Dr. Thuente’s previous role as a faculty member for both DePaul University School of Nursing and Loyola University Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing has provided extensive experience in teaching, curriculum development, assessment, and evaluation. Dr. Thuente’s clinical focus is in pediatrics, specifically oncology and cardiology.

Dr. Thuente’s educational and clinical background in nursing provides an excellent foundation for the research she conducts in interprofessional collaboration as a means to improve patient safety. Her doctoral dissertation determined a grounded theory of nurse-physician collaboration and verified the steps in the social process of collaboration. Her interprofessional research findings have most recently been published in the Journal of Nursing Education and the Journal of Allied Health. Dr. Thuente has recently presented at conferences including, CAB VI, NEXUS and ASAHP. MEDSURG Nursing awarded Dr. Thuente with their 2016 Research for Practice Writer's Award for her article "Working Together Toward a Common Goal: A Theory of Nurse-Physician Collaboration."