With over a quarter century of healthcare experience, Dr. Thelen brings deep expertise to her role as a nursing educator and researcher at the University of Sioux Falls School of Nursing. She splits her time between teaching nursing students and serving as dissertation chair for the Doctorate in Leadership program, drawing from her rich clinical background in pediatrics, NICU, and family practice.
In the classroom, Dr. Thelen wears many hats. As both a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator and Nurse Educator, she teaches a wide range of courses - from basic nursing fundamentals to pharmacology and evidence-based practice. She's especially passionate about hands-on learning, running nursing labs, and leading high-fidelity simulations that help students bridge the gap between textbook knowledge and real-world practice. Her research zeroes in on how students learn through simulation, with a special focus on pharmacology and medication competence.
Dr. Thelen's academic journey took her from South Dakota State University, where she earned both her BSN and PhD in Nursing, to Nebraska Wesleyan University for her MSN in nursing education. She stays at the forefront of her field through active membership in several professional organizations, including the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning. She's also a member of prestigious honor societies Sigma Theta Tau International and Phi Kappa Phi, reflecting her ongoing commitment to advancing nursing education and practice.
Dr. Thelen makes her home in Sioux Falls, where she lives near her grown children and parents.
Education
BSN, Nursing, South Dakota State University, 1997
MSN, Nursing Education, Nebraska Wesleyan University, 2006
PhD, Nursing, South Dakota State University, 2021
Courses Taught
NUR200 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
NUR305 Cultural, Spiritual, and Ethical Dimensions of Holistic Care
NUR321 Fundamentals of Nursing
NUR321 Fundamental of Nursing Lab
NUR321 Fundamentals of Nursing Clinical
NUR327 Pharmacology for Nursing
NUR354 Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
NUR431 Nursing Capstone
Publications
Thelen, M. A. (2023). A scrambling active learning design to improve accelerated nursing students’ perceived pharmacology self-efficacy: A quasi-experimental study. Science Talks, 5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sctalk.2023.100166
Thelen, M. A. (2022). Medication competence: A concept analysis. Nurse Education Today, 111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105292
Thelen, M. A. (2021). The impact of online synchronous simulated clinical immersions on nursing students’ pharmacology self-efficacy: A pre-test post-test intervention pilot study. Nurse Education Today, 100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.104833
Rainboth, L., & DeMasi, C. (2006). Nursing students’ mathematic calculation skills. Nurse Education Today, 26(8), 655-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2006.07.022