Dr. Wiltse Nicely is an Assistant Professor, tenure track, and earned a BSN from the University of Pennsylvania, a MSN (nurse anesthesia) and research minor from the University of Pittsburgh, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. She assumed the role of Director for the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Nurse Anesthesia Doctor of Nursing Practice Program in December 2016. She aided in shepherding the program through the initial accreditation process and welcomed the inaugural cohort of nurse anesthesia students in August 2017. Dr. Wiltse Nicely has maintained an active clinical practice for over a decade, specializing in cardiac anesthesia. Her research interests are in health services research and patient outcomes, with a focus on pain, interprofessional education and collaborative practice and advanced practice nursing delivery models. She has been published in journals such as Health Services Research and Academic Medicine, contributed to multiple book chapters and published one textbook. She served two terms as the President of the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists, been an active member of multiple American Association of Nurse Anesthetist (AANA) committees, and served on the AANA Foundation Closed Claims research team.

Wiltse Nicely, K. L., Friend, R., Robichaux, C., Edwards, J. A., Cimiotti, J. P., & Jones, K. D. (2024). Association Between Intra-and Postoperative Opioids in Opioid-Naïve Patients in Thoracic Surgery. Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports, 2(4), 865-870.

Giordano, N. A., Phan, Q., Kimble, L. P., Chicas, R., Brasher, S., Wiltse Nicely, K.L., ... & Swan, B. A. (2024). The nurse-led equitable learning framework for training programs: A framework to grow, bolster and diversify the nursing and public health workforce. Journal of Professional Nursing, 53, 25-34.

Cole, K., Winter, K., King, V., Branch, R. Gist, J., Farward, C., Wiltse Nicely, K.L. (2026). Incorporating virtual reality simulation into nurse anesthesia education: A methods paper. Journal of Nurse Anesthesia Education.

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Dr. Wiltse Nicely is an experienced and dedicated educator in nurse anesthesia. She has spoken extensively regionally, nationally and internationally on nurse anesthesia practice.

Dr. Wiltse Nicely’s program of research has focused on models of care delivery and their relationship to patient access to care and cost-effectiveness and the role of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) in patient access to care. Most recently, her research has focused on pain management and the consequences and synergies related to various treatment modalities. Dr. Wiltse Nicely is also engaged in the science of teaching and learning as it relates to interprofessional education and collaboration in simulation. Finally, Dr. Wiltse Nicely serves on a research collaboration dedicated to reviewing and analyzing closed claims data for anesthesia providers.