Allison Burfield, Ph.D., R.N.

Allison Burfield, Ph.D, R.N. is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  Dr. Burfield completed her BSN, MSN, Nursing Education certificate, and PhD from the University of Central Florida, College of Nursing in Orlando, Florida.  She was a Merit Fellow for her Master’s degree and Provost Fellow for her Doctorate at UCF from 2005 to 2009.  She was also selected in 2010 as a Hartford Institute Geriatric Nursing Research Scholar and was chosen by the National Institute on Aging, as an emerging researcher for the 2011 Summer Institute on Aging Research. Dr. Burfield has worked with an interdisciplinary research team evaluating how to reduce the use of medications in the elderly that have an altering effect on perception, emotion or behavior because these medications put the elderly at increased risk of falls and injury.   Her career goals are focused on building educational modules and educating others on safe medication use and care of the elderly with dementia—especially better ways to assess pain, evaluate the effects of chronic pain, and prevent falls.  She has published her findings in numerous journals including Consultant Pharmacist, Annals of Long-Term Care, Journal of Pain Research and Clinical Interventions in Aging.