Karen Heaton, Ph.D., CEN, FNP-BC, assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, has received the 2013 Outstanding Alumni Award from the Alumni Association at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing.Nominations were submitted by peers in Heaton's graduating class. Awards were presented at the UK Homecoming Brunch and Fashion Show on Nov. 1.Heaton earned her bachelor's degree from UAB, her master's from the University of Louisville, a post-master's Family Nurse Practitioner certificate from George Washington University, and her doctorate in nursing from the University of Kentucky.
Heaton's program of research on obstructive sleep apnea indicators and risk factors for injury and cardiovascular disease resulted in invitations to participate in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's public meeting on its Survey of Truck Driver Injury and Health, as well as to consult for the American College of Chest Physicians' Sleep Educator Program. Heaton recently developed a Department of Transportation medical examiner certification review course sponsored by the UAB School of Nursing.
