Kathryn Rugen named next DNP director
Rugen selected as UIC Nursing's DNP program director
Clinical professor Kathryn Rugen, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, FAAN, FAANP, a national expert in nurse practitioner education and practice, was selected as the next director of the UIC College of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Her appointment will take effect on August 16.
UIC Nursing’s highly rated DNP program includes 11 specialty areas that lead students to advanced practice and leadership roles as nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives.
Rugen has been a member of the UIC Nursing faculty since 2004. She recently retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Nursing Services, where she was the national deputy director for clinical practice.
“We are so fortunate to have Dr. Rugen as our next DNP director,” says Liz Aquino, associate dean for academic affairs. “She brings decades of clinical expertise, having practiced as a nurse practitioner in a VA primary care clinic for 28 years and precepted many nurse practitioner students. Furthermore, over the past several years, she has played an instrumental role in helping lead DNP curricular revisions.”
Rugen has served as a site evaluator for the national accreditation agency, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, for more than 20 years. She has more than 30 peer-reviewed publications on clinical, administrative and educational subject matter, and serves as co-chair on a committee of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties that seeks to standardize NP curricula across specialties.
Rugen has also been a leader in the movement to establish nurse practitioner fellowship programs across the U.S. She serves as evaluation coordinator and fellowship consultant on AdvancingPractice, a post-graduate fellowship offered to nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives at Erie Family Health Centers. UIC Nursing is Erie’s academic partner, a requirement of the grant-funded fellowship.
She was inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2015 and as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2016. Rugen received her BSN from Marquette University, MSN from Loyola University Chicago and both a post-masters FNP and PhD from Rush University.
Rugen will replace Melissa Carlucci, DNP, MS ’10, FAANP, who has been director since 2022.