Judith Lucas, Ed.D., R.N., G.C.N.S.

Associate Professor, and Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs
College of Nursing

Dr. Lucas has 30+ years of clinical experience and education in community nursing, including Teaching Nursing Home, and 20 years of grant-funded research in Gerontology. In 2015 she received the College’s Faculty Researcher of the Year Award at the University. She serves as both the Associate Professor, and Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs in the College of Nursing and as an Adjunct Associate Professor Seton Hall-Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.

Her teaching has included undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as supervising research for doctoral students. Her practice focus is Geriatric nursing, dementia care and population health. She has been a willing mentor to students and faculty, developed home care simulations, and contributed to the 2016 RWJF-NJNI grant, Infusing Population Health Competencies to Transform a BSN Curriculum for the College. In 2017 she received internal funding to provide Gerontology students a simulated total sensitivity experience of life as an older adult.

Over 40 publications include: Evaluating clinical practice guidelines; Nursing Home (NH) transition programs; measuring resident/family long-term care (LTC) experience and state report cards; depression and psychological services in LTC. Her research is focused on safety and factors affecting quality in LTC; specifically, prescribing patterns, antipsychotic use and resident outcomes (e.g., injuries, mortality, neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia). She currently studies NH response to regulatory stringency, deficiencies, public reporting and policy changes of the CMS Partnership for improved NH dementia care.

Dr. Lucas has provided consultation to NHs, hospitals, and states on needs of older adults, NH consumer satisfaction, and Geriatric nursing for hospitalized elders.

A longstanding member of the Gerontological Society of America, she served on the expert panel to develop the CMS Nursing Toolkit (2012-2014) that promotes behavioral health improvement through non-pharmacological interventions.

Education

• Ed.D. Rutgers University GSE, New Jersey
• M.S. Boston College, Massachusetts
• B.S.N. Saint Anselm College, New Hampshire

Scholarship

• Lucas, J.A. and Bowblis, J.R. (2017).  AGING & HEALTH: CMS Strategies to reduce antipsychotic drug use in nursing home patients with dementia show some progress. Health Affairs; 36 (7):1299-1308. DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1439.
• Wei, Y-J., Simoni-Wastila, L., Lucas, J.A., Brandt, N. (2016). Fall and fracture risk in nursing home residents with moderate-to-severe behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias initiating antidepressants or antipsychotics. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2016, Vol. 00, No. 00, 1–8. doi:10.1093/gerona/glw095. Advance Access publication May 31, 2016
• Simoni-Wastila L, Wei YJ, Lucas JA, Brandt N, Moyo P, Huang TY, Franey CS, Harris I.(2016). Mortality Risk of Antipsychotic Dose and Duration in Nursing Home Residents with Chronic or Acute Indications. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2016 May; 64(5):973-80. doi: 10.1111/jgs.14111. Epub 2016 May 10.
• Huang, T-Y., Wei, Y-J., Moyo, P., Harris, I., Lucas, J.A., & Simoni-Wastila, L. (2015). Treated behavioral symptoms and mortality among Medicare nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS), Aug, 2015.DOI: 10.1111/jgs.13606
• Bowblis, J.R., Lucas, J.A., Brunt, C.S. (2015). The effects of antipsychotic quality reporting on antipsychotic and psychoactive medication use. Health Services Research, 50 (4): 1069-1087.
• Lucas, J.A., Chakravarty, S., Bowblis, J., Gerhard, T., Kalay, E., Peak, E.K & Crystal, S. (2014). Antipsychotic medication use in nursing homes: A Proposed measure of quality. Intern J of Geriatr Psych 29(10):1049-1061. DOI: 10.1002/gps.4098.