School of Nursing Faculty and Staff

NURS 337: Health Promotion & Disease Prevention

NURS 448: Community Health Nursing
NURS 449: Community Health Nursing Clinical

NURS 446: Public Health Concepts for the Registered Nurse

Dr. Briggs serves as a Professor in the School of Nursing & Allied Health at Western Kentucky University.  She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (BSN) from WKU in 1996. In her senior year, she was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society. Dr. Briggs was employed as a registered nurse at a physical rehabilitation hospital for three years and then began serving as a school nurse manager in Warren County Public Schools.  In 2001, Dr. Briggs earned a Master of Science degree in Nursing (MSN), with an emphasis in nursing education.  Her teaching experience began as an instructor at Tennessee Wesleyan - Fort Sanders Nursing Department in Knoxville Tennessee, where she taught prelicensure BSN students.

In the fall of 2002, Crista entered a doctoral program in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences at the University of Tennessee. She was awarded an Ed.D. in the summer of 2004 with a concentration in Curriculum, Educational Research, and Evaluation. Dr. Briggs accepted a faculty position in the School of Nursing at WKU in 2004.  In 2007, she earned the designation of Certified Nurse Educator, which is the mark of distinction for nursing faculty awarded by the National League for Nursing. 

Dr. Briggs is a member of the Christian Faculty & Staff Fellowship (CFSF) at WKU.  Her research interests include pain assessment and management, spirituality in nursing, increasing empathy, and predicting student success.  She serves as faculty advisor for the WKU Registered Student Organization, “Baptist Campus Ministry.”