The GW Nursing Office of Research sat down with Rhonda Schwindt, DNP, RN, PMHNP-BC, PMHCNS-BC, Associate Professor at the GW School of Nursing, to learn more about her and her work at GW.
Hometown
Indianapolis, IN
Educational Background
- Diploma Nursing, St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing (1983)
- Bachelor in Science, Purdue University (1986)
- MSN, Indiana University (1993)
- DNP, Case Western Reserve University (2013)
How I Got Interested In Research
I was initially inspired to pursue research by the patients I cared for as a registered nurse on an inpatient psychiatric intensive care unit. Those living with serious mental illness often lack access to quality preventative health care, making it more difficult for them to achieve optimal health. During my DNP studies at Case Western University, I started by examining factors contributing to the high rate of tobacco use in this population. Later, I worked as an advanced practice psychiatric nurse practitioner at a gender wellness clinic. I observed the negative impact of minority stress and the lack of clinicians across disciplines prepared to provide affirming care on the mental and physical health outcomes of gender diverse patients. This led to my interest in developing gender affirming care training programs for health professions students and practicing clinicians.
Current Work
I’m currently working with Dr. Laurie Posey and colleagues at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences on the development and evaluation of an interdisciplinary training program that teaches primary care providers how to provide affirming care to gender diverse patients. For the next project, we plan to partner with one of the largest telepsychiatry companies in the US to provide training and education for their clinicians. Our goal is to improve access to affirming mental health care and health outcomes for the gender diverse population.
Fun Facts
I am a martial artist who specializes in teaching street fighting and am currently training my puppy, Willow, as a therapy dog for children requiring inpatient care.