Department of Nursing

West Chester University

222 Sturzebecker Health Sciences Center
West Chester, PA 19383
610-436-2219


Brent W. Thompson, PhD, RN

222 O Sturzebecker
Phone: 610.436.2692
Fax: 610.436.3083
E-mail: bthompson@wcupa.edu
Educational Background
  • BSN: University of Delaware (1980) 
  • MSN: University of Delaware (1985) 
  • PhD: Widener University (1998)
Professional Interest and Research Areas
  • Professional Nurse Autonomy
  • Learner Autonomy
  • Distance Education
  • Nursing Informatics
  • Nursing of Children
  • Early Identification of Learning Disabilities
Biographical Sketch

Dr. Thompson joined the department of nursing as an assistant professor in the Fall of 2001. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006. Dr. Thompson has taught undergraduate and RN nursing students since 1984. His teaching experiences have been in nursing of children, introductory skills, nursing research, nursing informatics, and maternity nursing. At WCU he is currently teaching wellness for children, nursing care of ill children, and nursing informatics. Dr. Thompson served from 2002 to 2005 as President of the Eta Beta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing. In 2000 he developed a web site forum dedicated to nurse educators. He served as a Captain in the US Air Force Reserve, and was an active duty flight nurse during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. He is frequently asked to speak on the uses of handheld computers and technology in nursing education. He publishes the blog "Nursing Educator". From 2005 to 2007 he served the National League for Nursing on their task force to investigate informatics in U.S. nursing curricula. In 2006 he was elected, and in 2011 was reelected, to the Educational Technology and Information Management Technology Council (ETIMAC) of the National League for Nursing. He served as chair of ETIMAC until September of 2008.

Recent Publications

Thompson BW & Skiba DJ. Informatics in the curriculum: A national survey of nursing informatics requirements in nursing curricula. Nursing Education Perspectives, 2008. 29(5): 312-317.

Thompson B. Instructor's Resource Manual for Pediatric Nursing: Caring for Children (4th ed.), 2007. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Lange SM & Thompson BW. Early identification and interventions for children at risk for learning disabilities. International Journal of Special Education, 2006, 21(3): 108-119.

Thompson BW. HIPAA guidelines for using PDAs. Nursing 2005. November 2005. 35(11): 24.

Thompson BW. Transforming effect of handheld computers on nursing practice. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 2005: 29(4) 308-314.

Lange SM & Thompson BW. A prevention model for children at risk for learning disabilities. The School Psychologist. 2005. 59(4): 140-145