Education

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (NURSING), BOSTON COLLEGE, Chestnut Hill, MA 2002

• Dissertation: Adolescent Females’ Perceptions of the Dating Experience
• Research Fellow: R15 Pregnancy Support Project
• Honors: Comprehensive exams passed with distinction May 2000

MASTER’S OF SCIENCE (NURSING Family Nurse Practitioner), UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, Lowell, MA 1998

• Project: Basis for Needed Domestic Violence Screening in Pepperell and Suggested Approach
• Honors: Sigma Theta Tau, Eta Omega

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (NURSING), UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, Amherst, MA 1994

• Honors: Dean’s Clinical Scholar; Graduated cum Laude

Biography

I have lived and worked in Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, and now Alaska. Who I am today is also a reflection of my interactions, friendships, and work within the community groups that I serve. I have worked most closely with the Hawaiian and Alaska Native cultures. I’m greatly influenced by and value the resilience of military families. I’m further influenced by my time in Vermont where I came to find strength in the oldest of the old in the North Eastern Corner of Vermont and the strength and resilience found in communities where you have to work together to survive. What unites my experience and the communities and groups where I have lived, worked, and played is my keen awareness and attention to “the story” as well as my ability to find strength and resilience in those stories.

I have been a registered nurse since 1994 and a nurse educator since 2000. I’m certified in my specialty which is pediatrics. In addition to my role as an educator, I have sustained an active professional practice. I currently work as an RN IV in Pediatrics and NICU at Alaska Native Medical Center. I have served on the Alaska State Board of Nursing and the National State Boards of Nursing sub-committee on Regulatory Excellence. I have served as a faculty senator and union representative.

I’m a first-generation college student. I obtained my BS and MS at the University of Massachusetts Amherst 94 and Lowell 98, I worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner in a variety of settings but ultimately found my home back at the bedside. I was awarded a Ph.D. with Distinction from Boston College in 2002.

My research trajectory has followed my passion for stories through grounded theory, phenomenology, pattern analysis, and poetic transcription. 

Teaching Responsibilities

Undergraduate

• NS 309 Nursing Pharmacology
• NS 400 Nursing Research [National Quality Matters Certification 2019]
• NS 400 Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice [National Quality Matters Certification 2019]
• NS A475 Nursing Integrative Capstone [National Quality Matters Certification 2022]
• NS 313L Health Disruptions I Laboratory
• NS 416L Concentration in Clinical Nursing Lab
• NS Renal Care Elective
• NS401 Pediatrics
• NS 401L Pediatrics clinical
• NS A474P Nursing Practicum Immersion

Graduate

• NSG A 647 Evidence-Based Practicum for Nursing
• NSG A 627 Practice Inquiry I: The Nature of Evidence [National Quality Matters Certification 2022]
• NSA 620 Research Methods
• Theses & Projects Chair
• Outside Review: Graduate Theses, Graduate Projects, & Doctoral thesis

Fellowships & Training

• QUALITY MATTERS LEVEL 3 Grant Award 2019 Completed spring 2020
• NS 400 internal QM Review passed Spring 2019
• NS 400 External QM certification July 2019 - 2024
• NS 475 Internal QM certification 2022 & External National Certification 2022
• NGS 627 Internal QM certification 2022 & External National Certification 2022

TECHNOLOGY FELLOW 2018

• Project: Online course accessibility, improving faculty presence in the online course environment, and updating delivery using current technologic tools with a specific focus on video media.

RESEARCH MENTORING NETWORK TRAINING

• Level 1 2017
• Level 2 2018

MAKING LEARNING VISIBLE 2015

• Project: Application of Classroom Assessment Techniques CATs [a scholarship of teaching and learning project]

NYU New York, New York Evidence-Based Practice Week in Residence with LoBiondo-Wood & Haber. The focus of this training was integration and leveled evidence-based practice curricula across undergraduate programs. (unknown accepted and attended while employed at UVM (2005-2011)

Publications

Toscano (2019),”Regret Sex”. International Journal of Human Caring 23(3),260-265.

Toscano (2017), “Translation of Qualitative Findings for Anticipatory Guidance: Regret Sex, a Poetic Transcription. International Journal of Qualitative Methods (16) 40-41.

Toscano (2014). “My Situation Wasn’t that Unique”: The Experience of Teens in Abusive Relationships. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 29(1), 65-73.

Toscano, S (2013). A Retrospective Pattern Analysis. Journal of Holistic Nursing [accepted publication early publication available online APR 5th DOI: 10.1177/0898010112472260}

Toscano, S (2012). Exploration of a methodology aimed at exploring characteristics of teen dating violence and preliminary findings. Applied Nursing Research, 25, 81-88. [Peer Reviewed Research]

Toscano (2012). Translation of Qualitative Findings for Practical Use: Poetic Transcription. International Journal of Qualitative methods 11(5), 789-789 [published abstract international peer reviewed].

Toscano (2011). The lived experience of high school teens in abusive relationships: A retrospective narrative. International Journal of qualitative Methods 10(4), 569-569. [published abstract international peer reviewed]

Toscano S. (2010). The foundations for the development of intimacy. Journal of Pediatric Nursing 25(2), 81-88. [Peer Reviewed Research]

Toscano S. & Montgomery, R. (2009). The lived experience of women pregnant post in vitro fertilization through the lens of virtual communities. Health Care for Women International, 30(11), 1014-1036. [Peer Reviewed Research]

Toscano S. & Montgomery, R. (2009). The lived experience of women pregnant post in vitro fertilization through the lens of virtual communities. Health Care for Women International, 30(11), 1014-1036. [Peer Reviewed Research]

Toscano S. (2007). A grounded theory of female adolescents’ dating experiences and factors influencing safety: the dynamics of the Circle. BMC Nursing, 6(7). [Peer Reviewed Research]

Toscano, S. (2007). It wasn’t always that way: A poetic transcription. The American Journal For Nurse Practitioners, 11(9), 29-31. [Peer Reviewed Research]

Toscano, S. (2006). Sex Parties: Female Teen Sexual Experimentation. Journal of School Nursing, 22(5), 285-289. [Peer Reviewed Research]

Pearce, E., Hawkins, J., Kearney, M., Peyton, C., Dwyer, J., Haggerty, L., Higgins, L., Murro, B., Kelly, U., Toscano, S., Aber, C., Mahony, D., Bell, M. (2003). Translation of domestic violence instruments for use in research. Violence Against Women, 9(7), 859-878. [Peer Reviewed Research]

Davolio, D., Hawkins, J., Haggerty, L., Kelly, U., Barrett, R., Durno Toscano, S., Dwyer, J., Higgins, L., Kearney, M., Pearce, C., Aber, C., Mahony, D., & Bell, M. (2001). Screening for abuse: barriers and opportunities. Health Care for Women International, 22, 349-362. [Conceptual]

Toscano, S. (2001) [Review of the book Clinical Guidelines in Family Practice; the Complete Resource for Adult, Pediatric, or Family Practice]. Clinical Excellence for Nurse Practitioners, 1(4), 249

Career History/Work Experience

Education

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, Anchorage AK 2012 to present
Tenured Professor (2016)

Associate Professor of Nursing Tenure Track (2012-2015)
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT, Burlington VT 2005 to 2011
Assistant Professor of Nursing Tenure Track

HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY, Kaneohe, HI 2001-2005
Assistant Professor of Nursing (2002-2005), Assistant Visiting Professor (2001-2002), Adjunct Faculty (2001)

Clinical Practice

ALASKA NATIVE MEDICAL CENTER, Anchorage AK 2012 – present
Registered Nurse IV Pediatrics
Registered Nurse IV NICU

CENTER FOR HEALTH AND WELL BEING, Burlington VT 2006-2007
Family Nurse Practitioner

KAISER PERMANENTE INFECTIOUS DISEASE CLINIC, Oahu, HI 2002
Family Nurse Practitioner

KAHU MALAMA NURSES, Honolulu, HI 2000-2001
Registered Nurse

WELLESLEY INTERNAL MEDICINE, Wellesley, MA 1998-2000
Family Nurse Practitioner

NEWTON-WELLESLEY HOSPITAL, Newton MA 1997
Registered Nurse Surgical Registered Nurse Newborn Nursery

LOWELL GENERAL HOSPITAL, Lowell MA 1990-1996
Registered Nurse (1994-1996)
Student Nurse Intern (1990-1994)

COMMONWEALTH NURSING SERVICE, Littleton MA 1997
Registered Nurse

SEVEN HILLS, Worcester, MA 1995-1998
Registered Nurse Part-time Respite

TRANSITIONAL HOSPITAL CORP, Peabody MA 1994-1995
Registered Nurse

WOODFORD NURSING HOME, Ayer MA 1990-1992
Nursing Assistant

Other Clinical Experience

THE ROYAL HOSPITAL, Belfast, Northern Ireland 1994
Student Internship Undergraduate

WORCESTER FAMILY HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES, Worcester MA Sept-May1997
Family Nurse Practitioner Internship

WESTFORD PEDIATRICS, Townsend, MA Jan-March 1997
Family Nurse Practitioner Student