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Rachel Adler PhD

Contact

210-567-5870

adlerr@uthscsa.edu

Programs

Rachel H. Adler, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, AGNP-C

Professor/Clinical

At UT Health San Antonio, my advanced nursing practice is in outpatient psychiatry within the School of Nursing’s Wellness 360 clinic, which extends into the community (I provide psychiatric care to patients under supervision of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and to veterans at Crosspoint Outpatient Clinic and, starting in 9/2023, will provide psycho-oncological services at Mays Cancer Center), and I teach clinical courses in psychiatric nursing at local psychiatric hospitals. I am especially interested in interventional research aimed at finding culturally appropriate strategies for non-psychiatric health care providers to address the mental health needs of cancer patients, veterans, the formerly incarcerated and other vulnerable populations.  A seasoned ethnographer and expert in anthropologically grounded qualitative methods, my expertise includes medical and urban anthropology, men’s mental health, suicide prevention, psycho-oncology, homelessness and health disparities.  

 

My entire research agenda, as diverse and broad as it might be in some ways, is laser focused on translational science. There is a story to how this came to be.  A full-time professor of anthropology since 2000, after receiving tenure I came to feel unsatisfied in my academic role because I found it difficult to directly help people with my anthropological scholarship. At the time, I was studying immigrants, most of whom were undocumented. In the post-9/11 world there was a lot of fear and distrust among them, and I wanted to help them in tangible ways with my research. I found that the archaic US immigration system created barriers to immigrants who wanted to legalize their residency status, and as an anthropologist there was no feasible way for me to effect change and help my research subjects. This desire to have more of an impact on the lives of the people whom I study led me to switch gears and become a nurse, because this was a way that I could make an impact, regardless of larger structural factors of which I had little if any control. I completed a BSN during my first sabbatical in 2008, and I practiced inpatient psychiatric nursing as an RN for almost a decade, connecting my nursing practice to my scholarship.  Ultimately desiring to have more clinical autonomy, I completed a Nurse Practitioner degree during a second sabbatical. I have been an advanced practice nurse since 2019, board certified in both Psychiatric Mental Health and Adult Primary Care. I left my tenured full professorship in anthropology at a liberal arts-oriented college to join the faculty of UT Health San Antonio in 2021, for the opportunity to practice and teach nursing as part of my academic role, and to engage in team-based, scientific research in the health sciences--scholarship that directly impacts my patients, (and research subjects) in direct and tangible ways. Hence, my passion for and dedication to translational science.   

  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 2021 - Post-Graduate Certificate - Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner - Liberty University
    • 2018 - Master of Science in Nursing - Adult Nurse Practitioner. - The College of New Jersey
    • 2009 - Bachelor of Science in Nursing - Nursing - Drexel University
    • 2000 - Doctor in Philosophy - Anthropology - Arizona State University
    • 1992 - Master of Arts - Anthropology - Arizona State University
    • 1989 - Bachelor of Science - Secondary Education - State University of New York College at Oneonta

    Highlights

    Licensures and Certifications

    • RN(Texas, NJ, PA)
    • ANCC Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
    • AANP Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner
    • 2022 Certificate in Meaning Centered Psychotherapy, Memorial Sloan Kettering
    • 2023 Psychosocial-Oncology  Basic Knowledge Certificate American Psychosocial Oncology Society

    Honors and Awards

    • 2009, Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society
    • 2022 Top 50 Nurses of San Antonio, San Antonio Nursing Consortium

    Appointments

    • 2021 - present - Professor/Clinical - UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2020 - Full Professor - The College of New Jersey
    • 2005 -2020 - Associate Professor - The College of New Jersey
    • 2001 - 2005 - Assistant Professor - The College of New Jersey

  • Instruction & Training

    • 2023, N3206 Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2022, NURS 3206: Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2022, NURS 4217: Population Focused Health Clinical,, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2022, NURS 3110: Health Assessment, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2021, NURS 3206: Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing
    • 2021, NURS 3275: Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical, UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing

  • Research & Grants

    Grants

     

    • 2022-2023 Funder: National Institute of Nursing Research (NIH), Efficacy of a Couple-focused, Tailored Symptom Self-Managment Health Intervention for Prostate Cancer Patients and Partners (PI Lixin Song) R01 NR016990, $2,583,736
    • 2022 Funder: Nurses Advisory Council, Caring for those who Served: A Pilot Needs Assessment Study of Suicide Prevention at the Crosspoint Homeless Veteran Program.  $8,120,  Role: Principal Investigator 

    • 2022 Funder: UT Health SON PURSUE Award: APNA Conference Role: Paper presenter 

    Completed Research/Projects: 

    • 2020- present, Men and Suicide, PI 
    • 2019-2020, The Black Swan Project: Challenging Confirmation Bias on Campus, co-PI with Milo Morris 
    • 2017-2019, Recognizing the Indiscernible Lives among Us: Telling the Stories of the Trenton Homeless, PI 
    • 2015-2019, Exploring Meanings of Rule Breaking Behaviors among Committed Psychiatric Patients at Princeton House, PI 

  • Service

    Institutional

    • 2023-2026 UT Health San Antonio Faculty Senator (Elect) 

      2022-2023 UT Health San Antonio Committee on Scholarship (Chair-Elect) 

      2022-2023 UT Health San Antonio ONRS Research Seminar Series Planning Committee 

      2022-2023 UT Health San Antonio Summer 2023 Faculty Scholarship Review  Committee 

      2021-2022 UT Health San Antonio Mentee: First Year Faculty Program 

      2021-2023 UT Health San Antonio Faculty Assembly, Voting Member 

      2020-2021 TCNJ Personnel Review Committee, Chair 

      2009-2021 TCNJ AFT Department Representative 

      2002-2021 TCNJ Anthropology Affairs Committee, Chair 

      2019-2020 TCNJ Department Curriculum Committee, Chair 

      2015-2020 TCNJ Faculty Senator 

      2015-2021 TCNJ Student Red Cross Chapter, Faculty Advisor 

      2017-2020 TCNJ Transgender Task Force

     

    Service to the Profession

    • 2023 Career Development Award Committee (nominee) Southern Nursing Research Society 

    • 2022-present Legislative Ambassador, Texas Nurse Practitioners Association

    • 2021 External Reviewer for Tenure/Promotion various universities
    • Manuscript Reviewer: International Journal of Qualitative Research, Race and Social Problems, Transformations, Contemporary Sociology, Human Organization, City and Society 

    Professional Affiliations

    • American Association of Nurse Practitioners
    • Transcultural Nursing Society
    • American Psychiatric Nurses Association
    • Society for Applied Anthropology
    • Heterodox Academy
    • Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism
    • Texas Nurse Practitioners
    • Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurses of Texas
    • American Psychosocial Oncology Society
    • American Nurses Association, American Association of Colleges of Nursing
    • National Association of Scholars, Academic Freedom Alliance

     

     

     

    Community

    • 2021-present Veterans/Prisoner Advocacy Crosspoint, San Antonio, TX
    • 2021-present Homeless Advocacy SaMMinistries, San Antonio, TX
    • 2018, TCNJ medical mission in Haiti
    • 2018, Collaboration with Rescue Mission of Trenton
    • 2010, Volunteer in ED of St. Francis Medical Center
    • Guest speaker at Children’s Home Society, United Way of NJ, El Centro Family Resource Center
    • Member and past Coordinator of the former group ImmPACT: Immigrants’ Public Advocacy Coalition of Trenton
    • 2002 - 2007, Volunteer for El Centro Hispanic Family Resource Center in Trenton, NJ

  • Publications

      Adler, R.H., Sickora, C. (2023). Research, Practice and Teaching United: Implementing AACN Academic Guidelines in a Community Based Behavioral Health Setting. Journal of Professional Nursing 49:21-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2023.08.001

      Adler RH., Straud C., Peterson, A., Jeffreys, M, Finley, E., Beaver, B., Copeland, L., Young-McCaughan, S., Stern, S. (2023).  For the Strong Star Consortium. The Effect of Companion Dog Adoption on Loneliness in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Randomized Trial. Manuscript prepared for June 2023 submission to Journal of Loss and Trauma. (Completed and ready for submission). 

      Adler, R.H. (2022(. Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research. Journal of Human Lactation, 38(4), 598-602. https://doi.org/10.1177/08903344221116620

       

      Peer-reviewed Articles and Books: 

      • Adler, R.H. Men and Suicide: Primary Care Prevention in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 34 (3): 572-578, 2022. 
      • Adler, RH. The Nexus of Homelessness and Incarceration: The Case of Homeless Men in Trenton, NJ. The Journal of Men’s Studies 29 (3): 335-353, 2021. 
      • Adler, RH. Bucking the System: Mitigating Psychiatric Patient Rule Breaking for a Safer Milieu. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing 34: 100-106, 2020. 
      • Seneca, K., Nahass, R. & Adler, RH. Burkitt’s Lymphoma Presenting with Fever of Unknown Origin and Isolated Hypoglossal Nerve Palsy. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 32 (5): 354-56. 2020. 

      Presentations

      • 2023 “Challenges in Recruitment and Retention for a Randomized Clinical Trial Testing a Couple-Focused eHealth Intervention for Prostate Cancer.” SON Research Retreat. UT Health San Antonio, Old San Francisco Steak House, San Antonio. 
      • 2020 Comments on Ilana Redstone’s Paper “The Silent Crisis in the Classroom” Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) conference, Boston University. 

       

      Peer Reviewed Podium Presentations: 

      • 2022 "The Psychiatric Nurse as Teacher-Scholar: Community Engagement with a Homeless Veteran Residential Rehabilitation Program." Presented at American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Long Beach, CA.
      • 2021 “Men and Suicide: Primary Care Prevention in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond.” Presented at American Psychiatric Nurses Association, virtual. 
      • 2018 “Housing Insecurity in a Small City: Telling the Stories of the Trenton Homeless”. Presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings, Philadelphia, PA. 

       

      Peer Reviewed Poster Presentations: 

      • 2023 "The Effect of Dog Adoption on Loneliness in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Implications for Holistic Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Practice." Abstract accepted for presentation at STRONGSTAR Conference, October 2023.
      • 2023  "The Effect of Dog Adoption on Loneliness in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Implications for Holistic Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Practice." Abstract accepted for presentation at APNA Annual Meeting, October 2023.