Health Care Management Program

Background

Dr. Kim Richards joined the faculty at Appalachian State University in 2026 after a career spanning nursing practice, healthcare leadership and higher education. A registered nurse since 1989 and a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE), she has worked in clinical and leadership roles in oncology, perioperative nursing, transplantation, patient safety, risk management, quality improvement and healthcare administration. At Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, she served as Patient Safety/Risk Manager and later as an Administrative Officer, working with clinical and administrative leaders on patient safety, organizational performance, regulatory readiness and quality improvement.

She later transitioned to higher education, teaching graduate nursing courses in research, quality improvement, and health informatics and leading faculty at Western Governors University, where she was recognized as Mentor of the Year. Her doctoral work in 2020 focused on digital health and the integration of mobile technology into health and wellness practices. She subsequently served in a leadership role supporting faculty, curriculum delivery, and program operations in Boston University Questrom School of Business's Online MBA program before joining the Health Care Management program at Appalachian State.

Education

DNP – Nursing Administration and Nursing Education, Samford University
MBA – Healthcare Management, Western Governors University
MSN – Nursing Education, Western Governors University
BS – Health Informatics, Western Governors University
BSN – Nursing, University of Phoenix
AAS – Nursing, Glendale Community College

Research/Scholarly Interests

• Systems Thinking and the Scholarship of Integration
• Organizational Learning and Evidence-Based Decision-Making
• Health Informatics, Digital Health, and Emerging Technologies
• Human-Centered Integration of Artificial Intelligence
• Online Learning and Educational Innovation

Courses Taught 

• HCM3680 Human Resources Management in Health Service Organizations
• HCM3580 Health Services Research
• HCM3700 Health Information Systems
• HCM4710 Health Informatics
• HCM4950 Seminar in Health Care Management

Professional Affiliations

National League of Nursing (NLN), Member
American College of Healthcare Executives, Member

Select Publications 

Richards, K., & Yeager, R. E. (2020). Integration of a mobile mindfulness app on employee health processes in a virtual environment [DNP capstone project, Samford University]. Sigma Repository. https://www.sigmarepository.org/samford/122