Dr. French earned her ASN in 1999 from Troy State in Montgomery and began a nursing career in emergency care, followed by GI lab, telemetry, ambulatory surgical nursing and PACU. In 2009, she earned her BSN from Jacksonville State University and began teaching part-time in clinical education for Jefferson State Community College, where she began teaching full-time after earning her Master of Science in nursing from Samford University in May 2011. Dr. French earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (Ph.D.) in August 2018 from Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University, where her dissertation focused on incivility in nursing education. Other research interests include teaching and learning strategies and improving the quality and safety of patient care. After a decade of teaching pre-licensure nursing students at Jefferson State Community College, Dr. French was excited to return to Samford University in spring 2022 to help educate undergraduate pre-licensure nursing students. Dr. French is a member of Sigma Theta Tau (Gamma Eta and Pi Gamma chapters) and the Alabama State Nurses Association District 3.
Degrees and Certifications
PhD in Nursing, Mercer University
MSN, Samford University
BSN, Jacksonville State University
ASN, Troy State University in Montgomery
Awards and Honors
Outstanding Student, Doctor of Philosophy, 2019
National League for Nursing Education Scholarship Award, 2016
STAR Employee Award, St. Vincent's Hospital Birmingham, 2007
Involvement/Professional Societies
Alabama State Nurses Association
National League for Nursing
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Gamma Eta and Pi Gamma chapters
Expertise
Adult Health Nursing
Fundamentals of Nursing
Emergency Nursing
Perioperative Nursing
Recent Presentations
French, K. M. (2020, April). Next generation NCLEX and clinical judgment: Strategies for nurse faculty. Alabama League for Nursing Annual Conference.
French, K. M. (2018, November). Navigating incivility within clinical education: Strategies for nurse educators. American Association of Colleges of Nursing Baccalaureate Education Conference.
Research Areas
Incivility in Nursing Education
Teaching and Learning Strategies