Rate My Professor Susan Lynch

Susan Lynch, PhD, RN, CNE, serves as Clinical Professor and Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She earned her PhD in 2015, Master of Science in Nursing in 1997, both from the University of New Mexico, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1989 from the University of North Carolina. Following her BSN, Dr. Lynch worked clinically in burn and trauma units, intensive care, mental health, and hospice and palliative care. She has been engaged in nursing education since 1997 upon completing her MSN, teaching at both university and community college levels. In her current administrative role, she oversees the facilitation of the upper-division prelicensure and RN to BSN curricula. Dr. Lynch also holds an appointment as Honors Faculty in the College of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Lynch's research specializations encompass family caregiving, burnout, hospice and palliative care, and higher education. She has mentored faculty, doctoral students, and undergraduate honors projects addressing hospice and palliative care, burnout, pain management, and student success. Her key publications include "Compassion fatigue in family caregivers: a Wilsonian concept analysis" published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing in 2012, "The family caregiver experience—examining the positive and negative aspects of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue as caregiving outcomes" in Aging & Mental Health in 2018, "Hospice and palliative care access issues in rural areas" in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2013, "Reducing the risk of unplanned perioperative hypothermia" in AORN Journal in 2010, and "Elder abuse: What to look for, how to intervene" in AJN The American Journal of Nursing in 1997. She participates in professional organizations such as the North Carolina Nurses Association and serves on the South Piedmont Area Health Education Center advisory board. Additionally, she is a Quality Matters peer reviewer. In 2025, Dr. Lynch was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Advisor at the UNC Charlotte Advisor Summit for her exceptional mentorship and impact on student achievement.