Maria V. Hughes, DNP, MSN, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, CNE, ACUE

Assistant Professor

Introduction

Maria is an Assistant Professor in Purdue University Northwest’s College of Nursing. She leads practice-based scholarship and education innovations, including a mentorship framework, Team-Based Learning and tabletop simulations to boost leadership, decision-making and interprofessional collaboration.

Her work centers on student-centered nursing education, mentorship, leadership and health-equity education. She demonstrates measurable outcomes in student leadership and curriculum improvements, with scholarship translating to real-world clinical impact.

Maria bridges scholarship and practice with sustained funding and dissemination of leadership-focused work. Highlights include externally funded initiatives, publications and ongoing leadership and education innovation shared across nursing and health professions.

Notable activities include creation of a mentorship framework, experiential learning, leadership-focused curriculum innovations and cross-disciplinary collaborations extending beyond single courses. She aligns with institutional priorities for mentorship and student-centered leadership development, pursuing replication across programs.