Rachel Joseph, PhD, CCRN

Biography

Rachel Joseph, Professor of Nursing, has been at Liberty University since 2019. She is also the field Director for the Ph.D. mentored Program. Previously, she worked as a full-time Assistant Professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCUPA), an adjunct professor at Wilmington University’s graduate Nursing Program, and a clinician at a large Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a large health system in Delaware. Rachel began her career in nursing as a cardiac ICU Nurse in India, and thereafter served in several roles at Sultan Qaboos Hospital, Salalah, Sultanate of Oman. Upon migrating to the United States in 1998, she obtained specialty certification in neonatal nursing (CCRN), completed her MSN and Ph.D., and served as a clinician, nurse educator, Performance improvement and patient safety (PIPS) coordinator, and adjunct clinical and classroom faculty in Delaware and PA. As a Fulbright Scholar, she taught graduate pediatric Nursing courses at Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), voted the best University in Jordan.

During her career, Rachel has chaired and contributed to committees and facilitated national programs successfully in Oman, where she received the Best Nurse Award. In the U.S., she is one of the founding members of the annual Nursing Research Conference in Delaware, the annual neonatal conference, chaired and contributed to local, regional, and national committees, facilitated several research projects, and published and presented at local, regional, national, and international conferences. Her interests include research on the quality of life, student engagement, health literacy, and the family of babies in NICU. She is a contributing editor for the Neonatal Network and section editor for the Journal of Pediatric Surgical Nursing (JPSN). Rachel is a reviewer for journals including the Journal of Christian Nursing (JCN), the JPSN, and the Jordan Journal of Nursing Research (JJNR). She serves on the editorial boards of JPSN, JCN, and the advisory board of JJNR. In 2023, she assumed the role of editor-in-chief of the newly launched “Wisdom & Compassion: The LUSON Journal”. Rachel participated in the prestigious Summer Genetics Institute (SGI) by the National Institutes of Health. She has developed a course in genetics and has participated in genetics courses at Duquesne University, the Translation and Integration of Genomics Essential to Doctoral Nursing (TIGER) program at Vanderbilt University, and the Personal Genetics Education workshop by Harvard University. She has received several funding and honors that include Honors College’s outstanding faculty (twice), and was a Fulbright Scholar in Jordan in 2019. In LUSON, Rachel facilitated the Nurses Christian Fellowship meetings during 2020-2022. She chairs Ph.D. dissertations, DNP projects, and undergraduate Honors programs. She volunteers her services to several national professional organizations.

Professional Memberships

• American Association of Critical Care Nurses
• Academy of Neonatal Nursing
• International Society of Nurses in Genetics
• Liberty University Chapter of Honor Society of Nursing-Psi Delta
• National league of Nursing
• Nurses Christian Fellowship
• Sigma Theta tau International Honor Society

Courses Taught

• NURS 210 Physical Assessment
• NURS 357 Pediatric Nursing
• NURS 415 Transcultural Nursing
• NURS 618 Nursing Educator II: Teaching strategies
• NURS 619 Nursing Educator III:  Curriculum Development
• NURS 742 Nursing Seminar:  Issues in Global Health
• NURS 817 Qualitative Methods Research
• NURS 917 Advance Qualitative Research
• NURS 947 Scholarly Project Planning
• NURS 948 Scholarly Project I
• NURS 949 Scholarly Project II
• NURS 950 Scholarly Project III
• NURS 987 Dissertation Planning
• NURS 988 Dissertation I
• NURS 989 Dissertation II

Publications (peer-related articles)

• Joseph, R. A., Battige, S. L., Ellis, R., Rhoads, C. P., Sherman, G., & Terranova, S.  (2026). AI and Pedagogy: Faculty Experiences of the Presence of AI on Teacher Innovation in Christian Higher Education.  Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning. FALL 2026.
• Joseph, R. A. & Costner, A. (2026). Bone Marrow Biopsy in Children: Role of Pediatric Surgical Nurses. Journal of Pediatric Surgical Nursing, 10.1177/23320249261460905
• Joseph, R. A., Tharpe, A. H., & Walker, S. (2026). Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Diet and Contributing Factors: A Narrative Literature Review. Wisdom and Compassion: The LUSON Journal
• Joseph, R. A. (2026). Perceived Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and Barriers of Jordanian Nursing Faculty to Integrate Genomic Concepts in the Curriculum: A cross-sectional Descriptive Study. Wisdom and Compassion: The LUSON Journal
• Fuzie, B. & Joseph, R. A. (2026). Navigating Life and Death: A Moral Critique of Euthanasia Practices Worldwide, Wisdom and Compassion: The LUSON Journal; Spring 2026
• Ferrell, K. & Joseph, R. A. (2026). Resilience in Nursing Education: A Literature Review Examining the Experiences of Ukrainian Nursing Students in the United States.  Wisdom and Compassion: The LUSON Journal
• Brown, A. & Joseph, R. A. (2026). Male Nursing Students’ Experiences During Family Health Clinical: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study TELN (Submitted)
• Walker, T., Letocha, A. D., Kronk, R., Whitt, K. J., Himes, D. O., & Joseph, R. A. (2026). Chronic dislocations in a college athlete, Journal of Nurse Practitioners, The Journal for Nurse Practitioners 22 (4), April 2026, 105737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2026.105737
• Minnicone, H., Bingham, R. B., Felix Otuorimuo, I. E., Graf, L. M., Joseph, R. A., Moore, E. D. & Wilson, J. W. (2026). Into the Unknown: AI Adoption and Job Satisfaction of Christian Faculty.  Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning. Spring 2026.
• Joseph, R. A., Akers, S. W., Kim, J. J. (2025). The Role of Forgiveness in Health and Healthcare: Perspectives from Graduate Nursing Students and Faculty at a Private Faith-based University in the United States. Jordan Journal of Nursing Research, 4 (4), DOI: https://doi.org/10.14525/JJNR.v4i4.07
• Joseph, R. A., Tharpe, A., Ortman, H., & Crager, J. M. (2025). Fostering Spiritually Supportive Work Environments in Healthcare: Leadership Recommendations from a Narrative Review, Journal of Nursing Management, 2026;2026:4082021. https://doi.org/10.1155/jonm/4082021
• Joseph, R.A., Iremena, F. & Kim, J. (2025). Experience of International Students in a Christian University (Submitted). Journal of Research on Christian Education
• Joseph, R.A., Pelletier, M., Humphreys, H. M., & Simpson, D. (2025). Integration of Genomic Concepts in Nursing Curriculum: Faculty Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceived Barriers. Journal of Nursing Education. 64(12):773-779. doi:10.3928/01484834-20250801-02
• Joseph, R. A., Gregory, L. (2025). A Structured Approach to Patient Education: Empowering Nurses Through a Framework. Journal of Pediatric Surgical Nursing, https://doi.org/10.1177/23320249251374301
• Joseph, R. A., Singh, M., Krishnamoorthy, K., Shattnawi, K., AlAli, N., & Turner, T. M. (2025). The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the stress and depression of nursing students across two countries: a cross-sectional study. Academia Mental Health and Well-Being, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.20935/MHealthWellB7494
• Bird, J. H. & Joseph, R. A. (2025). Percutaneous Ultrasound Gastrostomy: A Safe Alternative to PEG Tubes, Journal of Pediatric Surgical Nursing, 14(2), https://doi.org/10.1177/23320249251321010
• Joseph, R. A. & Etterman, E. (2024). Children in Foster Care: Outcomes and Nursing Implications, Wisdom & Compassion: The LUSON Journal: Vol. 2: Iss. 2, Article 4.
  DOI: https://doi.org/10.70623/QZES5039
• Dewell, S.L., Muglia, K.A., Graves, L.Y., Joseph, R. A., Mangold, K.L., Roselli, L.G., Ersig, A.L., & Walker, T.K. (2024). Essentials of genomics in nursing undergraduate education: A discussion paper. Nurse Education in Practice, 81, 10.1016/j.nepr.2024.104175
• Hatamleh, R., Al-Trad, A., Abuhammad, S., Aljabari, M., & Joseph, R. (2024). Urinary tract infection among pregnant Jordanian women: role of hygiene and sexual practices. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 24. 10.1186/s12884-024-06902-4.
• Burgess, B. N., Baker, M., Conner, J., Giles, J. A., Joseph, R. A., & Layell, K. W. (2025). Faith learning integration in Christian higher education and faculty job satisfaction: Hermeneutical phenomenological study. Journal of Teaching & Learning, Accepted)
• Joseph, R.A. & Highton, M. (2025). Ambiguous Loss: Implications for Perinatal and Neonatal Nurses. Neonatal Network, 44(1): 33-41, Mar 2025, DOI:10.1891/NN-2024-0032
• Joseph, R. A., Akers, S. W., & Kim, J. J. (2024). Role of forgiveness in supporting spiritual well-being among patients and nurses. Mental Health Practice. Doi:10.7748/mhp.2024.e1719
• Joseph, R., Akers, S. W., Kim, J., & Mullen, L. (2025). Forgiveness and Religiosity Among Nurses: A Correlational Descriptive Study. Journal of holistic nursing: official journal of the American Holistic Nurses’ Association, 43(1), 7–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/08980101241281760
• Singh, M., Lakhani, R., Kumar, R., Joseph, R. A., Subbalakshmi, K. R., Gita, S., Gupta, R., Messey, A. (2024), Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Nursing Students in India. Indian Journal of Community Medicine
• Joseph, R. A. & Veltre, D. (2024). Rapid Upskilling of Nurses During the Pandemic: Exploring the Lessons Learned, The Journal of Christian Nursing, 42(4), DOI 10.1097/CNJ.0000000000001311

Research Interests

• Families
• Genomic integration in curriculum
• Nursing Education
• Parents of babies in Neonatal intensive care unit
• Quality of life
• Spirituality
• Stress and coping
• Student Engagement