Cierra is a CU alum returning as an adjunct instructor. She has over 13 years of clinical experience and her board certification is in psychiatry mental health nursing. In addition to her board certification, she is a certified dementia practitioner, and she is certified in psychopharmacology through the Neuroscience Education Institute.
When she’s not helping students, she enjoys camping with her family, running, and paddling her surf-ski.
Dr. Heidi Peters graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Marywood University in Scranton, PA in 2014, followed by her Doctorate in Athletic Training from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, IN in 2019. Dr. Peters has spent time working clinically in various settings including outpatient physical therapy, secondary schools, NCAA athletics, orthopedic physicians’ offices, and most recently as a per diem athletic trainer through Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Dr. Peters began her career as an educator in 2016 as an adjunct in the athletic training and exercise science programs at Marywood University. She continued her clinical work and spent time as a preceptor while completing her doctorate. She transitioned to academia full time in 2021. She continues her traditional research agenda in athletic training education, most recently sitting on the Recruitment and Retention Research Committee for the Association for Athletic Training Education. Dr. Peters practice-based research has focused on athletic trainers’ use of social and media spaces for advocacy, as well as data driven decision making for clinical online education.
Mrs. Carson Thompson started at Cumberland University as a Clinical Instructor for the nursing program beginning in the spring of 2023. Most of her work with the students is completed off campus at the designated clinical assignment destinations, however she may from time to time be assisting in skills and simulation laboratories at the university campus.
Mrs. Thomson graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Adams State University, in Alamosa, Colorado. During that time, she ran collegiate cross country and track, as well as received a minor degree in Health Care Administration and Spanish. Upon graduation, Mrs. Thomson moved to Nashville, where she started her nursing career.
Since, she’s gained experience working in units ranging from medical-surgical/telemetry to critical care, where she continues to work today. While working as a nurse, she began precepting other nurses, and learned of her passion for instructing and helping nurses of all experience and age levels.
Connie V. Hare is a registered nurse with over 25 years of nursing experience. She obtained her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Cumberland University in 1995 and her Masters in Nursing in Healthcare Leadership from Vanderbilt University in 2023. She has 20+ years in psychiatric nursing and is board certified.
She currently teaches at Cumberland University as a clinical instructor. She also works at Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital where she is a manager of an inpatient adult care unit and is the Magnet Program Director for Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital.
Ms. Hill was born in Ashland, Kentucky and she has lived in numerous states while growing up. She attended college at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and graduated college from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Ms. Hill has always known that she wanted a career that focused on people and nursing gave her that opportunity. She started working as a Labor and Delivery nurse at the Helen Keller Hospital after graduation and she has loved that area of nursing. In 2003, Ms. Hill and her husband moved to TN because of a work promotion for her husband.
She started working at Summit Medical Center in Labor and Delivery. She has also worked in the Lactation department and Same Day Surgery. Ms. Hill is a certified in Basic Life Support and a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. She currently works at First Steps as a nurse consultant.
Ms. Hill resides in Mount Juliet, TN with her husband and daughter who attends Lipscomb University. She enjoys reading, crafting, traveling, and spending time with her family.