What is Faculty Practice?
At the WVU School of Nursing, we define faculty practice as direct patient care and other professional nursing services provided by nursing faculty, through formal relationships with individuals, communities, and other entities, as part of the assigned workload duties.
The mission is to integrate nursing faculty practice with the education, research/scholarship, and service missions of the WVU School of Nursing. It is a bidirectional relationship in which teaching makes us better practitioners and practice makes us better teachers and scholars.
Faculty Practice Feature: Kelly Lemon
Kelly Lemon's faculty practice is with WVU Medicine Dept of Behavioral Health - Addiction Services Section. Kelly is the primary prescriber for the Pregnancy/Postpartum/Parenting groups for the Comprehensive Opioid Addiction Treatment program.
Q: How would you describe what you do in a typical day of faculty practice to someone unfamiliar with your specialty?
A: We provide group-based, multi-disciplinary care for pregnant and postpartum individuals with opioid use disorder. I prescribe medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and work closely with my case manager and therapists. We are unique in that ours is an all-female group in various stages of recovery. We get to highlight topics that are specific to pregnant people and new moms. We have weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and bi-monthly groups. I also get to bring in my knowledge of perinatal and women's health to help them meet the care they need in those fields as well.
Q: Describe how your faculty practice enhances your other academic roles (ex. teacher and/or scholar)?
A: I am highly involved in a lot of different committees surrounding substance use in pregnancy. My experience as a MOUD prescriber as well as a midwife makes me uniquely equipped to understand the full spectrum of care that perinatal individuals in recovery experience. It allows me to bring those cases and that empathy into my clinical teaching. I am able to help combat stigma and make sure that my undergraduate nursing students understand how MOUD works.
Q: What is your favorite thing about your faculty practice?
A: It helps me stay connected to the clinical work that I love to do. People with substance use in pregnancy experience a lot of stigma and barriers to care. I am proud that I can help them feel safe, respected, and supported. I have people that I care for with years of recovery, that I have worked with from the beginning. I get to play a small part in seeing how their families stay together, and their lives improve when they get the support they need. I also love seeing how in the group environment they all form a community and help each other.
