Curriculum Vitae

Patricia Cunningham, DNSc, current option coordinator for the Psychiatric/MH Doctor of Nursing Practice Doctorate, has been a College of Nursing faculty member at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center since 1992. Dr. Cunningham is certified through the American Nurses Credentialing Center as an Adult Psychiatric/Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist, a Psychiatric Family Nurse Practitioner, and a Family Nurse Practitioner contributing to the evolution of the education and role of the Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse. 

Dr. Cunningham received her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Temple University in 1977; her MSN in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing from Indiana University in 1984; her post-master’s preparation as Family Nurse Practitioner in 1994 from the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, and graduated in the first class of the University of Tennessee College of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Science program in 2001.  In her years as an instructor at the College of Nursing, Pat has been the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award, Outstanding Teacher Award, and The Golden Apple Award, the Psychiatric Nursing Award from the Tennessee Nurses Association and the Faculty Alumni Award from the University of Tennessee College of Nursing.

Pat worked as a staff nurse in psychiatric hospitals in the early 1980’s; as the staff development coordinator for the psychiatric units of a large general hospital in the mid-1980’s, as a mental health/clinical nurse specialist in a large critical care division of a general hospital in the early 1990s; as a part-time private therapist for a number of these years, and spent eight years as a primary care provider in busy, urban primary care clinics. Dr. Cunningham also serves as a volunteer to the Shelby County Sheriff Department for Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. Her diverse work history informs her current area of research with the Blink Group, whose focus is on patient safety and simulation research related to human factors training.

Contact Information

UTHSC College of Nursing
920 Madison Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee 38163
901-448-6128
Fax: 901-448-4121
Toll Free: 800-733-2498