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Title

Associate Professor (Rapid City)

Office Building

Off-Campus

Mailing Address

College of Nursing-Rapid City
1220 Mt Rushmore Road
Rapid City, SD 57701

Education

• FPCN | 2023
• CHPN | 2015
• Ph.D. in nursing | Indiana University | 2009
• M.A. in nursing (community health emphasis) | Augustana College | 2002
• B.S. in nursing | South Dakota State University | 1998
• Diploma in nursing | St. Luke's College | 1982

Academic Interests

• Palliative care and end-of-life care
• Palliative and end-of-life communication
• Transcultural nursing and healthcare
• Health disparities
• American Indian healthcare
• American Indian adolescent risk behaviors
• Childhood obesity
• Underserved populations
• Horse and human health interactions
• Rural nursing

Academic Responsibilities

• Graduate and undergraduate nursing courses 

Committees and Professional Memberships

Committees:

• Ph.D. Subcommittee
• Faculty Senate 2016- 2022
• Faculty Senate Executive Committee 2021-2022
• Workload Task Force Committee Member Spring 2021
• Past chair, Nursing Research Committee

Professional Memberships:

• American Nurses Association
• South Dakota Nurses Association
• National League of Nursing
• Transcultural Nursing Society
• Sigma Theta Tau - Phi Chapter
• Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association
• Palliativeare Research Cooperative
• Rural Nurses Organization

Awards and Honors

• Rural Nurses Organization, board member (Member at Large) 2022-current
• Hospice and Palliative Nurses Associate, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Task Force (2022-current)
• Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, Research Advisory Committee, chair (2021-2022)
• Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, Research Advisory Committee, co-chair (2020-2021)
• Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association Research Scholar 2018
• ³ÉÈËÊÓƵ College of Nursing 2015 Outstanding Researcher

Grants

1. Principal Investigators: Isaacson, M. J. and Ruff, T. The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation: Hillman Emergent Innovation Grant to support bold, early-stage interventions designed to improve the health and healthcare of marginalized populations. Title: Designing a Trauma-Informed Community Health Worker Intervention to Address American Indian Social Invisibility and Health Inequities.
2. Principal Investigators: Isaacson, M. J. and Anderson, J. NIH (NINR), PAR-19-058: Strategies to Provide Culturally Tailored Palliative and End of Life Care to Seriously Ill American Indians 1R21NR020383. Title: Culturally Responsive palliative care messaging for American Indians: An Efficacy Trial.
3. Principal Investigators: Armstrong, K., Co-Investigator: Isaacson, M.J. R-01, NIH (NCI): R-01, Clinical Trial; RFA-CA-18-026: Improving the Reach and Quality of Cancer Care in Rural Populations, COVID-19 Supplement. Title: Advancing Palliative Care in Northern Plains American Indians.
4. Principal Investigators: Armstrong, K., Petereit, D. Co-Investigator: Isaacson, M.J. R-01, NIH (NCI): R-01, Clinical Trial; RFA-CA-18-026: Improving the Reach and Quality of Cancer Care in Rural Populations. Title: Advancing Palliative Care in Northern Plains American Indians.
5. Isaacson, Mary, Principal Investigator, Bott-Knutson, Rebecca, Fishback, Mary Beth, Varnum, Angela and Brandenburger, Shelly, Co-Investigators. Psychometric Evaluation of Hope and Resilience Measures in Native American Youth Wellness: A Preliminary Study. Funding Source: South Dakota State University, Scholarly Excellence Fund. (2015-2017).
6. Isaacson, Mary, Evaluation Director. Increasing the Implementation of Evidence-Based Cancer Survivorship interventions to Increase Quality and Duration of Life among Cancer Patients. Funding Source: American Cancer Society. (2015-2016).
7. Isaacson, Mary and Minton, Mary, Principal Investigators. Nurse Attitudes Toward Palliative Care Certification: A Rural/Urban Assessment. Funding Source: Hospice & Palliative Nurses Foundation. (2015-2016).
8. Isaacson, Mary, Principal Investigator. Wakanki Ewastepikte - "Care for Our Elders." Funding Source: South Dakota Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan. (2015).
9. Isaacson, Mary, Principal Investigator. Health Promotion and Palliative Care on South Dakota Reservations. Funding Source: South Dakota State University, College of Nursing, Dawley Seed Grant. (2013-2014).
10. Isaacson, Mary, Co-Investigator, Mary Minton, Co-Investigator. Palliative and End of Life Education in Rural South Dakota: A Pilot Workshop for Interprofessionals, Principal Investigator, LuAnn Eidsness, LifeCircle South Dakota, SD. Funding Source: South Dakota Comprehensive Control Plan. (2014).
11. Isaacson, Mary, Co-Investigator; Marylou Mylant, Co-Investigator. American Indian Pilot Study on Caregiving, Attachment, and Health of Young Children. Funding Source: Collaborative Research Center on American Indian Health. (2014-2015).

Work Experience

• Assistant professor, Augustana College, 2002-2013
• Instructor, Mount Marty College, 2000-2001
• Sanford USD Medical Center (Sioux Falls and Vermillion), 1992-2012

Areas of Research

1. Social determinants of health, rural and underserved populations.
2. Palliative care in the American Indian population, American Indian childhood obesity, palliative care in rural and frontier communities, palliative and end of life care communication, cultural humility, American Indian adolescent risk behaviors, hope and resilience.