Kelly Conway, DNP, CNS 
Professor 
Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions 

Dr. Kelly Conway is one of our newest Editorial Review Group Chairs. Since August 2023, she has overseen book reviews in a variety of nursing areas.  We have sent Dr. Conway’s group 32 books so far and have published 24 reviews of those titles.  

Dr. Conway received her bachelor of science in nursing at the University of San Francisco, master’s degree in adult mental health from the University of California, San Francisco, and doctoral degree at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. Dr. Conway is a professor and former Dean of RMUoHP College of Nursing. Her scholarly focus is mental health, interprofessional collaboration, evidence-based practice, medical and mental health care for the homeless population.  

As a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), certified Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in mental health professionally, Dr. Conway recently held a national position detail of Homeless Patient Aligned Care (HPACT), managing and supporting health care providers and VA Central Office officials in delivering, coordinating, analyzing, and evaluating HPACT services and operations.  Previously, she managed the VA Palo Alto Outreach team, providing mobile medical services to veterans in urban and rural settings across nine counties. Dr. Conway retired after 38 years of federal service. Dr. Conway also worked for 16 years in home health serving medical-surgical, and mental health patients.  

Dr. Conway has led programs remotely and is very adept at virtual and in-person work both in VA and academic settings. She has held several program management roles in mental health, community outreach, and academic settings. She served as a mental health clinical nurse specialist, providing individual and group therapy to adults with SMI, depression, pain, and anxiety. She is a Fellow in the Executive Leadership Academic Nursing (ELAN) through the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). She is a Fellow in National Academies of Practice (NAP). She serves on the NAP public policy committee and the Lexicon 3.0 task force. As a faculty member, professor rank, she teaches DNP courses, theory and scholarly project courses, masters-level scientific underpinnings, quality improvement, and evidence-based practice. She has previously taught regulatory and health policy, and psych-mental health courses, including psychotherapy and special populations.  

Dr. Conway has an academic appointment as professor and most recently served as founding Dean, College of Nursing, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. She successfully led an accreditation review resulting in the 10-year maximum for institutional accreditation for the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, as well as developed and added a successfully accredited Master of Science in Nursing program for Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioners. During her tenure, she developed the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse  and Emergency Nurse Practitioner programs.  

As a researcher, Dr. Conway continues to have oversight of DNP scholarly projects serving as dissertation faculty chair. She serves as co-chair/member of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), reviewing full, expedited, and exempt submissions and has experience with grant writing. Dr. Conway is a reviewer for the peer-reviewed journals Interprofessional Education and Practice and Journal of Interprofessional Care. Her numerous publications and presentations have focused on interprofessional education and practice. She has administered and applied for several grants in the VA and academic settings. A review of her work and scholarship demonstrates she has spent her career working with marginalized populations and increasing access to health care, mental health, and substance use care.  

On reviewing with Doody’s, Dr. Conway says, “I love seeing the titles and coordinating the reviews with colleagues. The reviews are very insightful. I enjoyed the book Dr. Drummond and I reviewed together, as it was an excellent opportunity to compare notes and ideas.”