Jill Cunningham

Professor, Graduate Associate Dean

Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing

1539 CHS Building 1

Dr. Jill Cunningham is a Professor and Graduate Associate Dean at Samford University. She has been a board-certified family nurse practitioner (FNP-BC) since 1998. She earned her DNP from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee and her MSN and BSN from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. She has taught across the nursing curriculum from BSN to DNP, including classroom and online teaching. In 2015 and 2019, she received Alabama’s Outstanding Nurse Educator Award by the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama. Dr. Cunningham has published peer-reviewed articles related to interprofessional education and service to individuals with disabilities. She has presented at numerous local and national conferences and maintains clinical practice. Dr. Cunningham serves as an active member on various professional nursing and community organizations.

Degrees and Certifications

DNP, University of Tennessee, Memphis
MSN, University of Alabama at Birmingham
BSN, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Family Nurse Practitioner Certification, American Nurses Credentialing Center

Expertise

Advanced practice nursing across the lifespan
Intellectual and developmental disabilities
Online education
Health and wellness

Awards and Honors

Fellow, National Academies of Practice, 2023
LANP Fellow (Leadership in Academic Nursing Program) (AACN), 2017-18
Alabama Outstanding Nurse Educator Award (NPAA), 2015 & 2019
Sigma Theta Tau International (SST), honor society member

Involvement

American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty (NONPF)
American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)
Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama (NPAA)

Recent Publications

Shanahan, T., Gurley, L., Chatman, S. & Cunningham, J. (2022). Promoting Understanding of Medical Decision-Making Coding for Nurse Practitioner Students Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. 34(11):p 1235-1241, November 2022. DOI: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000789
Shanahan, T., & Cunningham, J. (2021). Keys to Trust-Building with Patients. Journal of Christian Nursing, 38 (2), E11–E14.
Johnston, K., Cunningham, J., & Buckner, E. (2017). Respite care camps: Helping parents and children with special healthcare needs. Association of Camp Nursing: Compass Point, 27 (3), 10-13.
Collins, A., Broeseker, A., Cunningham, J., Cortes, C., Beall, J., Bigham, A., & Chang, J. (2017). A Longitudinal Online Interprofessional Education Experience Involving Family Nurse Practitioner Students and Pharmacy Students. Journal of Interprofessional Care.

Recent Presentations: