Associate Dean for the Undergraduate Program
University of Portland
Portland, OR
Casey R. Shillam, Ph.D., R.N.-B.C., is a Gerontological Nurse, Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Program at the University of Portland School of Nursing in Portland, OR. Dr. Shillam has extensive experience in curriculum development and in launching new programs. Prior to joining the University of Portland she was the Founding Nursing Program Director at Western Washington University, in collaboration with local community college, hospital, and public health partners from around the Northwest region of Washington state.
Dr. Shillam's research focuses on supporting care coordination between nurses and other health care professionals to provide high-quality access to palliative care and chronic care management for older adults with serious illness. Her clinical background includes nursing practice in chronic-care and pain management for older adults in home health, assisted living, and long-term/skilled-care nursing. She led multiple initiatives while on faculty at Western Washington University and Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing to improve nursing care of older adults, including academic programs to ensure nurses gain competency in pain management, management of chronic conditions, and palliative and end-of-life care. She founded the Western Washington University Palliative Care Institute, partnering with multiple hospitals and organizations throughout northern Washington state to create a Palliative Community of Excellence, where people with serious illnesses don't have to be cured to heal.
Dr. Shillam serves as an Expert Nurse Consultant to the AARP Center to Champion Nursing in America's Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, is the Immediate Past Chair of the Hartford Gerontological Nursing Leaders, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives and Emerging Leaders and the Chuckanut Health Foundation Board. Dr. Shillam holds a bachelor of arts degree from Portland State University, and received her bachelor’s in Nursing, master's in Gerontological Nursing and doctorate in Nursing from Oregon Health & Science University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California, Davis.