Our Clinical Affairs team will guide you through your clinical journey at UNM.
505-272-4796
Experienced faculty making an impact on our community. Our faculty work in clinical settings as registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives bringing that knowledge right into their classrooms – to you, our students.
Expert clinicians work around Albuquerque and across the state. Sites include Healthcare for the Homeless, NM Veteran’s Health System, hospitals, birthing centers, and numerous ambulatory practice sites, many of which are located in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and serve predominantly rural, underserved and other vulnerable populations. The positive effects of their care can’t be calculated.
Imagine having a child who depends on a ventilator and feeding tubes, one who requires total care for all their daily needs. Now imagine caring for that child during a pandemic.
Melody Avila, DNP, RN, FNP-BC works as a family nurse practitioner at the UNM ADOBE Program. In her role, she provides primary care for families and youth that are high risk for elevated ACE (adverse childhood events) scores, mental health needs, and complex medical care. The UNM ADOBE program provides wrap-around services for youths that have been incarcerated in the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center (YSC). The services include: medical and mental health, legal advice, home navigators and education support.
Christine Cogil, DNP, MPS, RN, FNP-BC works at the University of New Mexico Dental Residency and Ambulatory Surgery Center providing pre-anesthesia exams to patients.
Jennifer Drexler, MSN, RN, CCRN triages incoming patients for admission for the emergency department with Presbyterian Adult Intensivists Medical Services.
Joanne Haeffele, PhD, RN, FNP-BC serves patients at UNM’s Westside Clinic in her role as a family nurse practitioner. Each semester, students complete clinical experiences with Haeffele as a part of their program learning how to evaluate and treat patients with chronic and complex conditions.
As an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Head’s area of expertise is cardiology. Working at the hospital-based cardiology service, New Mexico Heart Institute, she provides care patients in general cardiology, interventional cardiology, and electrophysiology to cardiovascular patients. Her work focuses primarily on coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and end-state heart failure in patients with ventricular assist devices.
Stephen Hernandez, PhD, RN is an associate professor and a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He was recently deployed to New York City as part of the U.S. Air Force Reserve to serve on the front lines combating COVID-19.
Loren Kelly, MSN, RN works for the Albuquerque Metropolitan Homelessness Project: Heading Home while supervising and mentoring an interprofessional group of health care students at their student-led support center, Albuquerque Opportunity Center Shelter for Homeless men.
Katie Kivlighan, PhD, RN, CNM provides care as a nurse-midwife at two practices. As a member of UNM’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, she provides full-scope care to women. At First Choice Community Healthcare in Los Lunas, NM, she provides colposcopy exams to patients.
Jan Martin, DNP, RN, CCN, PAHM serves as the Program Director for the Geriatric Education and Health Maintenance (GEHM) mobile RN managed clinics for Bernalillo County Seniors through a contract with the City of Albuquerque. She also serves as a quality and case management practice consultant on quality improvement measures, case manager training, policy brief development and numerous other areas for El Pueblo Health Services and UNM’s Medically Fragile Case Management Program. Additionally, Dr. Martin works with the UNM Center for Development and & Disability’s Medically Fragile Case Management Program to address the needs of some of the state’s youngest and most vulnerable residents in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Rachel Marzec, DNP, RN, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC provides primary care and mental health services through two organizations. Through her work at El Pueblo Health Services, Marzec provides home health visits to refugee adults living in Sandoval County, NM. As a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Young Children’s Health Center she provides psychiatric care to children from birth to age 18 and provides psychiatric services to first-time parents with an emphasis on relationship building, developmental assessment, and on-going monitoring of physical and mental health needs.
Amie Merhege, MSN, RN, PNP-BC works at UNM’s Carrie Tingley Hospital as a pediatric nurse practitioner in in-patient pediatric acute and rehabilitation unit. As part of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, Merhege provides care and family care conferences for her complex patients.
Laura Migliaccio, DNP, RN, CNM provides full-scope care as a part of UNM’s Midwifery Division offering specialty care in uro-gynecology pessary care. Miggliaccio precepts nursing students and other health professional students completing clinical placements in midwifery and obstetrics and gynecology.
Christopher Nelson, MSN, RN, CCRN, PCCN coordinates nursing care at Presbyterian Rust Medical Center across the intensive care and telemetry units. His work focuses on cardiac, neuro, and medical/surgical adult patients.
Felina Ortiz, DNP, RN, CNM is a staff nurse-midwife at El Pueblo Health Services providing antepartum, postpartum and outpatient gynecological women’s health care. El Pueblo Health Services is a nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive family health care to the residents of Sandoval County, the town of Bernalillo and surrounding communities.
Heidi Honegger Rogers, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, APHN-BC provides primary care across the lifespan in an integrative health care practice setting, Mountain Spirit Integrative Medicine. In her practice, Rogers recommends evidence-based treatment and is passionate about providing holistic care to her patients.
Van Roper, PhD, RN, FNP-C is an associate clinical professor. He works as a family nurse practitioner at El Pueblo Health Services providing full scope primary care across the life span including urgent and complex chronic care. He is also the director of the Primary Care ECHO Clinic.
Sharon Schaaf, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, AG-ACNP-BC works as an adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner at the New Mexico Heart Institute. Through her practice, she cares for acute & critically ill cardiovascular patients in the areas of general cardiology, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, vascular surgery, and cardiothoracic surgery.
Jennifer Schneider, PhD, PMHNP-BC is a psychiatric provider at an outpatient mental healthcare practice, Blue Mesa Psychiatry and Counseling. She specializes in treating children and adolescents with a range of psychiatric disorders. In her practice, she conducts psychiatric evaluations and works with patients and their families to manage psychiatric medications.
Tamara Shannon, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC is a primary care provider for pediatric patients ages 0 – 18 at UNM’s Westside Clinic.
College of Nursing
Clinical Affairs
Building Number 228
Suite 356
1 University of New Mexico