Education

Ph.D. , Nursing, University of Colorado

M.S., Nursing, University of Colorado

B.S., Nursing, University of Colorado

A.S., Nursing, Hillsborough Community College

Biography

Dr. Thomas has taught across all levels of nursing at several universities, including the University of Colorado Denver, University of New Mexico, University of Phoenix, and Colorado Christian University. Her interests in global health lead her to develop and teach a global health nursing course for undergraduate and graduate nursing students. Dr. Thomas worked as a surgical intensive care staff nurse for 15 years for the Rocky Mountain Osteopathic Hospital and the Denver Veterans Administration Medical Center. She also has worked as a hospice care admissions nurse and patient care manager, home health care coordinator, school nurse, health and safety director, and operations manager at a local primary care clinic. For the past decade, her program of research has focused on studies that addressed racial/ethnic diverse men and women’s cancer screening behaviors, particularly women’s mammography screening behaviors in relation to their personal experiences across the life span and men’s knowledge and awareness of breast cancer in men. She recently developed a questionnaire that may be used to identify women least likely to participate in mammography screening or follow recommended treatment guidelines once diagnosed with breast cancer. Her work has been published in a variety of publications, including the American Journal of Nursing, Journal of Nursing Administration, Journal of Community Health Nursing, Cancer Nursing, Journal of Nursing, Scholarship, Qualitative Report, and Women’s Health Care International. Dr. Thomas regularly presents at conferences around the country. She has received several distinctions and awards, including the Chancellor’s Diversity Recognition Award for Faculty Leadership, the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Colorado, and the Health Disparities Scholar Award from the National Institutes of Health Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Thomas is a member of the Western Institute of Nursing and Sigma Theta Tau International, for which she also has served as committee member and counselor. She is a past member of the American Nurses Association and the National Black Nurses Association.