ECU nursing instructor receives university-wide teaching award

GREENVILLE, N.C.  —   Dr. Sharon Isenhour Sarvey, an assistant professor in the East Carolina University School of Nursing, was one of six ECU faculty members recently awarded a UNC Board of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award. A total of 10 ECU faculty were honored with university wide teaching awards on May 6 at spring commencement

Sarvey, a pediatric nursing instructor, encourages student discussion and asks students to write critical analyses of their experiences. Sarvey integrates research with teaching so students understand the importance of professional research and nursing practice, according to her award nomination.

Sarvey was one of 10 ECU faculty recognized at spring commencement.

“The school is very fortunate to have Dr. Sarvey on our faculty,” said Dean Phyllis Horns. “She brings to the classroom and clinical setting a creative approach to teaching and mentoring nursing students. She is a true student advocate with high standards of excellence.”

A native of Hickory, Sarvey is the daughter of Cmdr. and Mrs. William J. Isenhour of Hickory.

Sarvey received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in nursing from ECU. She earned her doctorate in nursing from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Sarvey has taught at ECU since 2002. Her research interest is in bariatrics, a branch of medicine dealing with the causes, prevention and treatment of obesity. She has written and received grants for Camp Timber Creek, a summer camp for overweight and obese children near Lenoir. She also works with a Goldsboro company as a presenter, contributor and reviewer of the National Council Licensure Exam, the licensure examination for registered nurses.

Before joining ECU, Sarvey was an assistant professor of nursing at Berea College in Berea, Ky. She also was a staff nurse at Berea Hospital and worked with behaviorally and emotionally disabled children at Camp KYSOC, a summer camp in Carrollton, Ky. She served as assistant professor of nursing at Barton College from 1988 until 1994. She began her career as a nurse at several hospitals in North Carolina including Johnston Memorial, WakeMed, Wilson Memorial and Pitt County Memorial.

She is a member of the Council for Advancement of Nursing Science, National Association of Bariatric Nurses, Society of Pediatric Nurses, Southern Nursing Research Society, Sigma Theta Tau International, Beta Nu chapter, and the North Carolina Nurses Association.

A Goldsboro resident, Sarvey serves as an advisory board member to the Martin County Community Action Head Start, member of the Parent Teacher Organization of Eastern Wayne Middle School, and is Junior Warden and a vestry member of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Goldsboro.