Contact Info
Kanah May Lewallen
380 Frist Hall
Phone: 615-875-8754
Health Promotion, Populations and Health Systems Community
Follow:
ResearchGate ProfileRecent News
faculty profile
Kanah May Lewallen DNP, AGPCNP-BC, CHSE
Assistant Professor
Co-Director of Vanderbilt Center of Gerontological Nursing
Bio
Dr. Lewallen graduated with her MSN at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in 2009 with a specialty in Adult Gerontological Advanced Practice Nursing.
She completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at Belmont University in 2015. Her DNP scholarly project was titled Improving Nurses Knowledge of Delirium in Post Acute Care and Implementation of the RADAR Screening Tool at two Post Acute Care Facilities in the United States.
She has worked as an advanced practice nurse in post acute/long term care since 2009 and her current clinical practice is with Vanderbilt Senior Care. Prior to her role as an APRN she worked as a registered nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Dr. Lewallen joined the faculty at VUSN in January of 2014 with a primary focus of teaching in the Adult Gerontology Primary Care program. p She has partnered with the VUMC Center For Quality Aging on multiple
grants focused around improving care for the older adult. In 2023 she was hired
as the Program Director for the Tennessee Valley Health System Geriatrics and
Extended Care Nurse Practitioner Residency Program. This program provides post
graduate training to new graduate nurse practitioner interested in geriatrics
and future employment at the VA.
Education
- DNP, Belmont University
- MSN, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
Current Research/Scholarly Interests
Aging, polypharmacy, delirium, Virtual Reality to develop empathy within the healthcare workforce
Academic Interests
Healthcare simulation and experiential learning to improve knowledge and
interest of APRN students, empowering students to be confident providers,
providing clinical training opportunities that meet the students needs,
clinical placement with the older adult patient population
Grants
Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Expert (development & presentation
of COVID 19 Support in East Tennessee Post Acute and Long Term Care settings
curriculum) Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program Supplement: Powers, J.,
Principal Investigator. Mid South Project ECHO (7/2021-4/2023). Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), $342,498
Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Expert (development & presentation of
dementia caregiver curriculum): Powers, J., Principal Investigator. Middle
Tennessee Collaborative Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP)
(7/2019-4/2023). Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), $2.7
million (VUSN portion $229,638 & $40,000 supplement for VR purchasing).
Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Expert: Plummer, C., Principal Investigator.
Creating in Harmony: Composing a Sustainable Community-Academic Research
Partnership between Music for Seniors and Vanderbilt School of Nursing
(7/2019-present). Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance/Community-Engaged Research Core
Clinical Research Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Expert: Simmons, S.,
Principal Investigator & Vasilevskis, E., Principal Investigator
(2017-10/20). A Randomized Controlled Trial to Deprescribe for Older Patients
with Polypharmacy (Shed-Meds). National Institute of Health R01 (NCT02979353),
$2.9 million
Clinical Research Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Expert: Goyal, P.,
Principal Investigator (2013-2015). Palliative Care Delirium Project.
Clinical Research Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Expert: Solberg, L.,
Principal Investigator (2011-2012). Nu-Desk Delirium Project.
Clinical Research Geriatric Resource Nurse: Fick, D., Principal Investigator &
Mion, L., Principal Investigator (2011-2014). Early Nursing Detection and
Management of Delirium (END-DSD). Research NCT01505257
Representative Publications
Journals
Miller, S., Parker, D., Lewallen, K. (2023). "But I'm a Good Driver!": A Standardized Patient Simulation to Teach Nurse Practitioner Students to Screen Older Adult Drivers. Clinical Simulation in Nursing. 83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2023.101449Kim, J., Boll, T., & Lewallen, K (2023). Teaching Nurse Practitioner Students About Polypharmacy Through a Novel Simulation. Nurse Educator. 48(3):E100-E102.
Kim, J., Lewallen, K., Hollingsworth, E., Shah, A., Simmons, S., & Vasilevskis, E., (2023). Patient-reported barriers and enablers to deprescribing recommendations during a clinical trial. The Gerontologist, 1;63(3):523-533. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnac100.
Lewallen, K. (2022). Evaluation & Management of Rectal Prolapse Among Geriatric Patients. The American Emergency Nursing Journal. 44(4), 297-301.
Lewallen, K. & Voyer, P. (2019). Delirium Knowledge Improvement and Implementation of the RADAR Screening Tool in Two Post Acute Care Facilities. Annals of Long Term Care. 27(2). https://www.managedhealthcareconnect.com/articles/delirium-knowledge-improvement-and-implementation-radar-screening-tool-two-skilled-nursing.
Parish, A., Kim, J., Lewallen, K., Miller, S., Myers, J., Panepitino, R., Moiseez, D., & Maxwell, C. (2019). Knowledge and perceptions about aging and frailty: An integrative review of the literature. Geriatric Nursing. 40(1), 13-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2018.05.007.
Yevchak, A., Fick D., McDowell, J., Monroe, T., May, K., Grove, L., Kolanowski, A., Waller, J., Inouye, S. (2014). Barriers and facilitators to implementing delirium rounds in a clinical trial across there diverse hospital settings. Clinical Nursing Research, 23 (2), 201-215. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1054773813505321.
Solberg, L., Plummer, C., May, K., & Mion, L (2013). A quality improvement program to increase nurses' detection of delirium on an acute medical unit. Geriatric Nursing, 34(1), 75-79. https://www.clinicalkey.com/nursing/#!/content/journal/1-s2.0-S0197457212004119.
Mion, L., May, K. (2013). Nurses' impact on the hospital environment: Lessening or contributing to the chaos? Geriatric Nursing, 34(1), 72-74. https://www.clinicalkey.com/nursing/#!/content/journal/1-s2.0-S019745721200403X.
Representative Presentations
2023 Huryk, M., Parish, A., Ramsey, C., Kim, J., Lewallen, K., Baxter,
M., Baker, N., Williams, T., Belden, W. Essentials for APRNs in Post-Acute and
Long-Term Care. GAPNA National Conference. New Orleans, LA. September 2023. https://www.gapna.org/sites/default/files/documents/conference/2023/2023_annual_brochure.pdf.*
2022 Lewallen, K. & Kim, J. Assessment of the older adult driver in the
primary care setting. GAPNA National Conference. Orlando, FL. October 2022. https://library.gapna.org/sessions/2976/view
2019 Lewallen, K. & Kim, J. Teaching NP Students Deprescribing: Blending
Content in an interactive classroom with case studies and simulation. GAPNA
National Conference. Las Vegas, NV. October 2019. https://www.gapna.org/sites/default/files/documents/conference/2019/2019annualbrochure.pdf.
*
2019 Kim, J. & Lewallen, K. Barriers & Enablers of deprescribing in
hospitalized older adults: Preliminary data from a randomized control trial.
GAPNA National Conference. Las Vegas, NV. October 2019. https://www.gapna.org/sites/default/files/documents/conference/2019/2019annualbrochure.pdf.
*
2018 Lewallen, K. Delirium Across the Care Continuum. GAPNA national
conference. Washing D.C., September 2018. https://www.gapna.org/sites/default/files/documents/conference/2018/2018ConfRegBroch.pdf.
*+
2017 Kim, J. & Lewallen K. Initiating Family Discussions about Goals of
Care. GAPNA national conference. Nashville TN September 2017. https://library.gapna.org/gapna/sessions/436/view.
*
2016 Lewallen, K. Improving Nurses Knowledge of Delirium and Implementation of
the R.A.D.A.R. Screening Tool at two Post Acute Care Facilities. American
Delirium Society. Nashville, TN. June 2016.
2015 Lewallen, K. Improving Nurses Knowledge of Delirium and Implementation of
the R.A.D.A.R. Screening Tool at two Post Acute Care Facilities. GAPNA national
conference. San Antonio TX, October 2015. https://library.gapna.org/gapna/sessions/234/view.
*
2015 Kim, J., Parish, A., & Lewallen, K. Integration of Interactive,
Interprofessional Activities for Geriatric Learning into a Nurse Practitioner
Curriculum, GAPNA national conference. San Antonio, TX. October 2015.
2015 Lewallen, K. Improving Nurses Knowledge of Delirium and Implementation of
the R.A.D.A.R. Screening Tool at two Post Acute Care Facilities. AANP National
conference. New Orleans LA, June 2015. *
2014 Goyal, P., May, K., Plummer, C., Peggs, K., & Powers, J.Implementation
of an EMR-Based Protocol for Detection of Delirium in Elderly Palliative Care
Patients. Annual Reynolds Grantee Meeting, Las Vegas, NV. October 2014.
2011 Solberg, L., Plummer, C., May, K., and Mion, L. The effect of Nurses' Notification to physicians on Increased Risk of Delirium. American Delirium
Society Annual Meeting. Indianapolis, In. June 2011.
2010 May, K. Effectiveness of continence care program in the long term care
setting. GAPNA national conference. Albuquerque, NM. September 2010.
Regional
2022 Kim, J., Lewallen, K., Levy, C., Ritchie, K. Models of Care in a Virtual World. 36th Middle Tennessee Virtual Geriatric Update Conference. Nashville, TN. October 2022.
2021 Miller, S., Lewallen, K., Kim, J., & Brddock-Watson, J. A simulation
ustilizing Standadrized patients Portraying older adult at-risk drivers
increased learners' self-reported competence to perform office-based driver
screening and hold difficult conversations about driving transitions. Gotterer
Health Professions Education Research Day (HPERD). Nashville, TN. December
2021.
2020 Kim, J., Boll, T., & Lewallen, K. Teaching Nurse Practitioner Students
about Polypharmacy Through a Lived Experience. Gotterer Health Professions
Education Research Day (HPERD). Nashville, TN. December 2020.
2019 Lewallen, K., Plummer, C., & Miller, S. Curricular design & implementation:
Treating the Whole Person, a three week course for gifted high school students.
Gotterer Health Professions Education Research Day (HPERD). Nashville, TN.
October 2019.
2017 Dunlap, T., Brame, C., Hande, K., Hopkins, L., Kennedy, B., Kim, J.,
Lewallen, K., Parish, A., & Smith, M. Using a Group Teaching Philosophy to
Design and Implement a Faculty Peer Observation Process. Gerald S. Gotterer
Health Professions Education Research Day (HPERD). Nashville, TN. October 2017.
https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/ohse/educator-community-news/gerald-s-gotterer-health-professions-education-research-day-hperd-celebrated
2016 Powers, J., Simmons, M., Lewallen, K. Alzheimer's: Non-Pharmacologic
Management of Agitation in Dementia (Co-presenter). Murfreesboro, TN. April,
2016. *+
2013 Powers, J., Hill, D., Merrit, D., & May, K. A Team Approach to
Medication Reconciliation and Transitions of Care (Co-presenter). Geriatric
Update Conference sponsored by Meharry Consortium Geriatric Education Center.
Nashville, TN. October 2013. *+
2012 Mion, L., Monroe, T., May, K. Barriers and Facilitators to Changing Nurse
Behavior Utilizing Nursing Rounds and Unit Champions in a NINR Funded Clinical
Trial. Eastern Nursing Research Society Annual meeting. New Haven, CT. March
2012
Professional Organizations
- Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association, 2010-Present
- President, Middle Tennessee Chapter, 2014-Present
- Vice President, Middle Tennessee Chapter, 2013-2015
- Treasurer, Middle Tennessee Chapter, 2010-2012
- Chair of the post acute/long term care special interest group, 2014-Present
- The Society for Post Acute and Long Term Care Medicine, 2014 ? Present
- The Tennessee Nurses Association, 2014-Present
- The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2014-Present
- Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, 2014-Present
Honors/Awards
2022 Sara K. Archer Faculty Award recipients for
outstanding contributions to student learning
2020 Dean's Award for Recognition of Faculty Achievement in Informatics
Endeavors, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
2019 Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing, National Hartford Center
for Gerontological Nursing Excellence
2019 Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association Excellence in
Education award
2018 Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association Rising Star award,
spring 2018
2017 Junior Faculty Teaching Fellowship, $2000
2015 Belmont University Health Sciences McWhorters Society Scholarship, $5000
2015 Sigma Theta Tau International (Omicron Phi Chapter), Honor Society
(inducted 2014)
2014 Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association, AMDA Foundation
Futures award
