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Melissa Stec
About
Dr. Missi Stec is a visiting scholar at Emory University’s Neil Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She completed her MSN in midwifery in 2005 from Vanderbilt and returned there for a DNP that she earned in 2010. In 2015, she was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Nurse Midwives and as fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2017 for her work on technology integration in nursing education. Dr. Stec has a long history in nursing education teaching at all levels in her 16-year career. She is the previous midwifery and DNP program director at the University of Cincinnati, where she spent the first 12 years of her career. She moved into administration as the Associate Dean of Evaluation and Educational Innovation at SUNY in Brooklyn, NY.
She practices full scope midwifery and serves as a preceptor for midwifery students. Her research is grounded in the student experiences while obtaining degrees and the thoughtful integration of technology to education and practice. She is internationally known for innovative pedagogical strategies for online learning and her research on technology enhanced adaptations to teaching and learning.
Dr. Stec has expertise in nursing education and technology integration. Nursing education is acutely focused on mastering how to effectively provide care. With the integration of technology, future nurse leaders must not only understand and apply the nursing process, but critically evaluate nursing decisions in an effort to improve care through the synthesis of evidence based practice. The goal of technology in education is to allow faculty to increase the level of Bloom’s taxonomy to achieve higher level learning outcomes for students while positively impacting future practice.
Dr. Stec's national consultation work over the past six years has included several national workshops for Sigma Theta Tau International, the Ohio Nurses Association, National Professional Nurse Educators Group, and AACN as well as a variety of individual schools and colleges of nursing. She was the technology consultant for a $2.1 million HRSA grant with the Missouri Academic-Practice Partnership: Urban and Rural Advanced Nursing Education through the University of Missouri- St. Louis College of Nursing. This grant assisted educators in reaching rural and underserved communities using technology enhanced instructional methods.
Dr. Stec provides formal mentoring to educators nationwide, including faculty in higher education outside of nursing. Working with educators in several states, she have been able to provide guidance on changing educational strategies through the use of technology infused active learning. Most recently, she has mentored faculty in other health professions included allied health and medicine. These initiatives provide a significant national opportunity to shift how we educate nurses at every degree level.
Areas of Expertise
Publications
Arbour, M., Stec, M., Walker, K and Wika, J. (2021) “Intermittent Fasting and Dietary Modifications of Peri-Menopausal and Menopausal Women”, Nursing for Women’s Health. Apr;25 (2):139-151.
Rust, C., Prior, R., Stec, M. (2020) Implementation of a clinical practice guideline in a primary care setting for the prevention and management of obesity in adults. Nursing Forum. 1– 6. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12453
Stec, M. and Arbour, M. (2020) ”mHealth Apps for Wellness and Disease Management using the MARS tool”, Advances in Family Practice Nursing, doi.org/10.1016/j.yfpn.2020.01.003
Jackson, J.L. and Stec, M. (2019) Brain Death Determination: An Integrative Review of the Literature. Int J Nurs Health Care Res, 9: 1114. DOI: 10.29011/2688-9501.101114
Stec, M., Smith, C. and Jacox, E. (2019) “Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning: Exploration of Faculty Adaptation to iPad Delivered Curriculum”. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 1-15.
Stec, M., Arbour, M. and Findletar Hines, H. (2019) “Client Centered Mobile Health Care Applications: Using the MARS Instrument for Evidence Based Evaluation”, Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, 64(3), 324-329.
Garritano, N. and Stec, M. (2019) Leveraging Technology to Enhance Doctor of Nursing Practice Student Health Policy Engagement. Nurse Educator, 44(4).
Smith-Steinert, R. and Stec, M. (2018) Using Video Assisted Technology and Simulation to Transform a Nurse Anesthesia Machine and Equipment Course. Anesthesia eJournal, 1(6), 26-32. https://anesthesiaejournal.com/index.php/aej/article/view/79
Arbour, M. and Stec, M. (2018) Mobile Applications to Use in Antepartum Point-of Care Settings: A Pocket Reference for the 21st Century. Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, 63(3), 330-334.
Stec, M. and Arbour, M. (2018) Labor and Delivery Nursing Experience: A Prerequisite for Midwives? Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, 63(2), 157-160.
Stec, M., Bauer, M., Hopgood, D. and Beery, T. (2018) Adaptation to a Curriculum Delivered via IPad. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 23 (1), 109-127. doi:10.1007/s10758-017-9301-8.
Stec, M., Garritano, N., et al. (2017). ePortfolio Implementation: Multidisciplinary Case Studies. Journal for Research and Practice in College Teaching. January 2017.
Garritano, N., Willmarth-Stec, M. and Glazer, G. (2016) The DNP Essentials in Action: Using the Essentials to Build A University-Wide Automatic External Defibrillator Program. Journal of Professional Nursing, 12 (4), e143-150.
Willmarth-Stec, M. and Beery, T. (2015). Operationalizing the Student Electronic Portfolio for Doctoral Education. Nurse Educator, 40 (5), 263-265.
Teaching
Dr. Stec has worked to pioneer educational programs that integrates technology with active learning strategies to prepare nurses and nurse leaders for careers in a technology driven environment. She believes that each student is different and deserves to grow and learn in an environment suited for them. Using pedagogical strategies such as differentiated instruction and alternative assessment, Dr. Stec works to ensure equity in the classroom by adapting the classroom to what students need to achieve their stated outcomes. Her philosophy of teaching is grounded in the idea that the student experience drives the overall attainment of learning and her classroom is a place for personal and professional growth.Dr. Stec is passionate about assisting students in achieving their goals and preparing the next generation of nurse leaders
Research
Dr. Stec has been active in educational research over her career guided by a curiosity about learning differences, application of pedagogy, and technology.She is driven by her personal experiences in higher education and her strong belief that classrooms, both in person and virtually, should meet student where they are. Her research in technology integration includes a longitudinal mixed methods study on the adaptation of students, staff, and faculty to curriculum delivered via iPad. This research has two published arms on both student and faculty adaption. These studies includes undergraduate and graduate students,as well as faculty, and offers a new model to guide successful technology integration. Her framework for successful technology use has been published and presented internationally.
Awards
Apple DistinguishedEducator Alumni, 2019
Fellow, Open SUNY Innovation, 2018
Fellow, American Academy of Nursing, 2017
Fellow, Academy of Fellows of Teaching and Learning, 2017
Apple Distinguished Educator Alumni, 2017
Worldwide Apple Distinguished Educator, 2016
Apple Distinguished Educator, 2015
Fellow, American College of Nurse Midwives, 2015
Kitty Ernst Award, American College of Nurse Midwives, 2011
