Dr. Teresa L. Cervantez Thompson

eresa L. Cervantez Thompson, PhD, RN, CRRN is a Professor and Dean at Madonna University’s College of Nursing and Health.  Dr. Thompson earned her PhD, Master and Bachelor degrees in Nursing at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She also completed certificate programs specializing in Aging and Advanced Administration from Wayne State University. Dr. Thompson earned her Diploma in Nursing at the Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing Cincinnati, Ohio.  

Recognized for her work in the specialty of rehabilitation nursing, Dr. Thompson is a certified rehabilitation nurse, has served as the president of the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses and the Chair of the Rehabilitation Nursing Foundation.  She has written and presented in the areas of rehabilitation, rehabilitation nursing, and gerontology.  Dr. Thompson has conducted research on on-line communication by rehabilitation nurses, attitudes toward individuals with disabilities and the caregiver of individuals with stroke experience.

Dr. Thompson’s dissertation A Qualitative Study of Rehabilitation Nursing Care in an Inpatient Setting Using Leininger’s Theory was foundational to her work in understanding the subculture of rehabilitation nursing and the use of qualitative research to explicate the meanings of the lived experiences of nurses and caregivers.   Dr. Thompson has presented on the culture aspects of disability. Dr. Thompson has been a Hartford Institute Gerontological Research Scholar, Rehabilitation Nursing Foundation Fellow and a Sigma Theta Tau/Rehabilitation Nursing Foundation Fellow.