Patricia Tuite | School of Nursing | University of Pittsburgh

PhD, RN, CCNS, FCNS

Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program

Coordinator, Adult-Gerontology CNS Major

Associate Professor

Acute & Tertiary Care

Profile

Dr. Tuite is an Associate Professor in the Department of Acute & Tertiary Care and the coordinator of the Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (AG-CNS) major. Dr. Tuite also serves as the Director of the DNP program since 2019. Dr. Tuite has mentored over 35 DNP students, serving as Chair of their DNP committees. She is responsible for teaching all the CNS courses in the DNP program. In addition to teaching graduate students, Dr. Tuite teaches the undergraduate pathophysiology course and teaches in the senior year lecturing on critical care topics and coordinating clinical placements.

Dr. Tuite received both her BSN (1985) and MSN (1992) from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and her PhD (2012) from the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh in Exercise Physiology focusing on health promotion and chronic illness. Additionally, she is certified as a clinical specialist in acute care.

Clinical Emphasis

Dr. Tuite’s expertise lies in critical care, primarily cardio-pulmonary, and quality and process improvement. She has been a clinical nurse specialist for over 30 years. Dr. Tuite has experience teaching in academia as well as working as a critical care CNS. She still maintains a faculty practice in the UPMC health system at Presbyterian University Hospital. Dr. Tuite sits on the Evidence based practice committee at UPMC and works to facilitate the implementation of evidence-based practice projects within the acute care environment by working with other Clinical Nurse Specialists in the UPMC system.

Scholarly Emphasis

Dr. Tuite has published and presented in the areas of critical care and implementation of quality improvement and evidence-based projects within the healthcare setting. Her interests lie in improving the quality of patient care, facilitating evidence-based practice within the acute care areas, and improving patient outcomes.

Service

Dr. Tuite has a been a member of National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists for over 20 years and has served on the Marketing and Membership committees, and currently the Co-chair of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialist Graduate Education Committee. Dr. Tuite also has memberships in the American Association of Critical Care Nurses since 1987, the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American Heart Association. Dr. Tuite is also a member of the Eta Chapter of Sigma where she did serve on the governance committee.