Carolyn K. Burr, EdD, RN
Carolyn K. Burr, EdD, RN is pediatric nurse practitioner and adult educator who has been actively educating healthcare providers about HIV/AIDS for 20 years. She has a BSN from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, a Masters of Science as a family nurse practitioner from the University of Rochester, and a doctorate in adult education from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. As a Senior Education Specialist in the François Xavier Bagnoud Center, at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Dr. Burr develops and implements of a range of educational strategies that provide state-of-the art information to professionals caring for children, youth, women and families affected by HIV infection.
As principal investigator of CDC-funded grants since 1999, she works with healthcare providers and hospitals across the U.S. to implement innovative approaches which support the goals of eliminating perinatal HIV infection in the U.S. and supporting routine HIV testing in healthcare settings. Her work in promoting wellness in healthcare workers and in the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission has included statewide, national, and global initiatives including collaborations in Guyana, Botswana, Tanzania, and Thailand.
Her research combines qualitative and quantitative approaches and often uses a naturalistic paradigm. One of her primary interests is in adult learning and how healthcare providers make meaning in difficult situations. For her qualitative study of learning from experience, she interviewed 25 long-term HIV providers to learn how they continued in HIV care over the long haul. She conducted a three year study that demonstrated the effectiveness of a train-the-trainer approach to educating healthcare providers about HIV. She has recently completed a study of practice change in hospitals using a strategic planning workshop as the planned intervention.