Jeri Dunkin, PhD, RN

Saxon Chair for Rural Nursing, Director of Practice and Community Partnerships
205.348.9877
jdunkin@bama.ua.edu

Dr. Dunkin received a Bachelor's in Nursing at East Tennessee in 1980 and a PhD in nursing at the University of Texas at Austin in 1988. She also holds a Master's in Public Health. She holds the Martha Lucinda Luker Saxon Chair for Rural Nursing at the Capstone College of Nursing and focuses her service and research activities in the area of rural health care. She has developed a nurse managed center for the provision of primary care to rural underserved residents in southern Walker County, Alabama. Her strong belief in education as service is evidenced by the number of nursing and other health professions students who receive field experience in the Center. Additionally, students from several other Universities also receive experiences there.

The Capstone Rural Health Center was recently designated a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike that improves the Center’s capacity as a safety-net provider in the southern Walker County area. The center has been involved in outreach activities in Walker and Lamar Counties with plans for expansion of services to Winston, Fayette, and Marion Counties. Dr. Dunkin was awarded a grant from DHHS, HRSA, BHPr, Division of Nursing in July 2006 to expand the outreach services to the 5 counties of Northwest Alabama Mental Health Center, listed above, to include telehealth monitoring of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, COPD, and CHF.

As Director of Faculty Practice and Community Partnerships, Dr. Dunkin facilitates the discipline related service/practice of the College of Nursing faculty members. As a part of that she maintains her own practice in the area of medical cost management. Her practice further supports her belief in service learning in the discipline by providing field learning opportunities for graduate students in rural nursing case management.