Wenn-Huey ‘Carol’ Shieh

Carol Shieh, DNSc’ 98, MPH, RNC-OB, FAAN is an associate professor at the Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has a clinical certification in inpatient obstetric nursing and a public health background. Dr. Shieh is one of the 3 graduates in 1998 from the first cohort of the Yale University School of Nursing’s DNSc program. Since graduation, she has worked in academic settings in Connecticut and Indiana.

Throughout the years, Dr. Shieh has committed to preparing future nurses to practice at all levels as well as to advancing nursing science. Dr. Shieh has received numerous awards recognizing her contributions to creative pedagogies used to teach nursing students health disparity, health literacy, health message design, and linking health disparity data to practice change. Dr. Shieh was the first nurse educator who published results of training undergraduate and graduate students and practicing nurses to systematically assess readability and suitability of patient education materials. She was also the first nurse researcher to publish empirical data on theory-based health information-seeking behavior among pregnant women. She developed a composite scoring system that demonstrates how information-seeking could change with reference to information needs and barriers. She is the author of the Pregnancy Health Information-Seeking Scale and the Pregnancy Health Information Barriers Scale. Dr. Shieh’s research findings have been used to shape policies, such as the European Union regulates readability of training materials for multilingual workers and US Department of Health and Human Services synchronizes federal agencies to concurrently improve financial and health literacy of low-income populations.

Dr. Shieh is a health promotion researcher focusing on improving maternal health and reducing infant mortality. She has studied pregnant illicit drug users, women with leprosy, immigrant women, low-income women, and women with overweight and obesity. Her current research portfolio includes designing and testing a smartphone-assisted self-monitoring weight management intervention for pregnant women. She and her interdisciplinary colleagues also use text messaging, social media campaign, and community-engagement approaches to developing infant mortality awareness and maternal risk reduction education programs. Dr. Shieh’s publications are adopted by nursing, medicine, medical informatics, health education, health communication, and public health research sectors across 16 countries in 5 continents. She has received awards for her contributions to women’s health research, nursing science, preventive medicine, and translational science. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

The Yale School of Nursing Alumni Association proudly claims Carol Shieh as a distinguished alumnus.