Faculty and Staff Profile

Shirley Timmons

Educational Background

PhD Nursing Science
University of South Carolina 1999

MN Community Health/Nursing Education
University of South Carolina 1988

BSN Nursing
University of South Carolina 1978

Courses Taught

NUR3071: Family and Community Health Clinical (undergraduate-RN-BS clinical)
NUR3300: Research in Nursing (undergraduate-BSN)
NUR4060: Professional Transitions for Nurses (RN-BS)
NUR4140: Community Health (undergraduate-2nd degree BS)
NUR4141: Community Health Clinical (undergraduate-2nd Degree)
NUR4151: Community Health Nursing Clinical (undergraduate-BSN clinical)
NUR8010: Advanced Family and Community Health (graduate-MS)
NUR8480: Health Policy and Economics (graduate-MS)
NURS H3280: Honors Seminar I

Profile

American Nurses Credentialing Center (AACN) certified faith community nurse and National League for Nurses certified nurse educator with clinical experience in research and implementation of population health and health promotion interventions--especially targeting racial/ethnic defined populations. Complementing publications are within peer reviewed journals including Journal of Health Disparities: Research and Practice; Journal of Religion and Health; Nursing Education Perspective; Journal of Best Practices in Health Professions Diversity: Research, Education, and Policy; Journal of Nurse Practitioners; Journal of Christian Nursing; Health Care for Women International, Health Education Research, and Africa Insight. Currently, serves as reviewer for a) Community Engaged Scholarship for Health; b) Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research; c) Journal of Christian Nursing (Reviewing Editor: 2013); d) Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved; e) Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice; f) Journal for Nurse Practitioners; g) Journal of Religion and Health; h) Family and Community Health: The Journal of Health Promotion and Maintenance; I) Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute; J) National Institute of Health Early Career Reviewer program--Center for Scientific Review; k) International Institute for Qualitative Methodology; and l) Womens' Health Issues. // Director -- South Carolina Public Health Preparedness Student Corps: A 2022 CDC Public Health Workforce Development grant award (4.8M) designed to increase access to an interdisciplinary and sustainable pipeline of culturally competent students for emergency and public health response within local, state, and global communities (www.scphpsc.com).

Research Interests

Contribution to Science: My contribution to science is refinement of knowledge about cultural factors that influence health disparities experienced by African Americans born in the United States compared to their Caucasian counterparts. Since religion has played a critical role in quality of life of this population (pre and post-slavery) and church affiliation is a vital social, physical, and emotional support, my research identifies aspects of the African American-church dynamic that fosters “health.” For example, academic-community partnerships that target vulnerable African Americans must incorporate equity in decision-making about health outcome goals that include culturally relevant human resources (i.e., diverse African American workforces) and material/environmental resources (i.e., evidence-based, church-based health promotion interventions). My research uncovers and highlights the positive influence of equitable decision-making to weight-management, illicit drug use recovery, hypertension and cardiometabolic health, and HIV/AIDS among underserved African Americans.

Research interests include health promotion factors (social support, self-efficacy, hope, self-esteem) and health behavior; racial/ethnicity related health disparities; HIV/AIDS prevention in ethnic minority populations (especially women); self-management support; health services workforce development; and the role of the church (faith-based) in disease prevention/health promotion. Teaching/Public Service: population health, research, and nursing education. Administrative/Managerial interests: health services program planning, implementation, and evaluation and federally qualified health center services.

Research Publications

1. Moore de Peralta, A., Prieto Rosas, V., Smithwick, J., Timmons, S.M., & Torres, M. E. (2022). A contribution to measure partnership trust in community-based participatory research and interventions with Latinx communities in the United States. Health Promotion Practice.
2. Khademi, A., Zhang, D., Giabbanelli, P.J., Timmons S.M., Luo, C., & Shi, L. (2018). An agent-based model of healthy eating with applications to hypertension. In P. Giabbanelli,V. Mago, & E. Papageorgiou (Eds.), Advanced data analytics in health smart innovation, systems, and technologies, vol. 93, (pp. 43-58). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77911-9_3
3. Harris, E., Messias D.K., Timmons, S.M., Felder, T.M., & Estrada, R.D. (2018). Rest among African American women: The current state of the science. Holistic Nursing Practice, 32(3). 143-148. doi:10.1097/HNP.0000000000000262
4. Timmons, S.M., Shi, L., & Khademi, A. (2017). Priority Hypertension Management Strategies for At-Risk African Americans as Perceived by Medical Clinicians and Academic Scholars. The Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 10(1), 220-236.
5. Timmons, S.M. (2015). Review and evaluation of faith-based weight-management interventions that target African American women. Journal of Religion and Health, 54(2), 798-809.
6. Kent, D.C. & Timmons, S.M. (2013). Therapeutic environmental effects on analgesic
requirements in post anesthesia care unit phase I. Virginia Henderson International Nursing e-Repository. http://hdl.handle.net/10755/304855
7. Samples, T., Howe, L., Timmons, S.M., & Richardson, E. (2013). African American nursing students' perceptions about mentoring. Nursing Education Perspectives, 34(3), 173-177.
8. Moore, D., Onsomu, E.O., Timmons, S.M., Abuva, B.A., & Moore, C. (2012). Communicating HIV/AIDS through African American churches in North Carolina: implications and recommendations for HIV/AIDS faith-based programs. Journal of Religion and Health, 51(3), 865-78. doi: 10.1007/s10943-010-9396-x.
9. Timmons, S.M. (2012). Evaluating program outcomes in faith communities. In M. Stanhope & J. Lancaster (Eds.), Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (8th ed.) (pp. 981). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby
10. Timmons, S.M. (2012). African American faculties’ career decisions about a
predominantly Caucasian institution in the United States. Journal of Best Practices in
Health Professions Diversity: Research, Education, and Policy, 5(1), 709-724.
11. Timmons, S.M. (2011). What is a Christian faith-based recovery program? The Journal of Christian Nursing, 28(3), 158-161.
12. Rose, M., Timmons, S.M., Amerson, R., Reimels, E., & Pruitt, R. (2011). Facilitators and barriers in cardiac rehabilitation participation: An integrative review. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 7(5), 399-408.
13. Timmons, S.M. (2012). A Christian faith-based recovery theory: Understanding God as sponsor. Journal of Religion and Health, 51(4), 1152-1164.
14. Memmer, S.E., Howe, L., Timmons, S.M., Nilson, L.B., & Parker, V. (2011). Evaluation of the effectiveness of “the village”: A pharmacology education teaching strategy in nursing education perspectives. Nursing Education Perspectives, 32(5), 338-341.
15. Frisch, A.M., Johnson, A., Timmons, S.M., & Weatherford, C. (2010). Nurse practitioner role in preparing families for pediatric outpatient surgery. Pediatric Nursing, 36(1), 41-47.
16. Timmons, S.M. (2010). Pressing toward the goal. Journal of Christian Nursing, 27(3), 233.
17. Timmons, S.M. (2010). African American church health programs: What works? Journal of Christian Nursing, 27(2), 100-105.
18. Timmons, S.M. (2009). Pastors' influence on research-based health programs in church settings. Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 3(2), 92-102.

Honors and Awards

2023 AACN Diversity Leadership Fellow
2015 Faculty Scholar: Clemson University School of Health Research
2011 Member Scholar: International Institute for Qualitative Methodology
2011 Ambassador: National League for Nursing

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