Nancy Glass, PhD, MPH, RN, has traveled all over the world. She has worked in the field in places like Central Africa and Thailand, visiting clinics, providing care and listening to people to understand their needs. For 14 years she has worked with community-based agencies, in healthcare settings and with policymakers to create strategies to improve health and welfare at home and abroad. Domestically, she has undertaken research on intimate partner violence.

So when Glass, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health, Baltimore, talks about teaching nursing students "how to think around global health issues," she knows what she's talking about.

Full Effect

To me it all connects," Glass said of her varying roles. She keeps one main goal in mind - "building the capacity of nurses to address critical public health issues."

At the forefront of these issues are infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, poverty and limited access to resources impacting health. These issues affect women all over the world, including here in the U.S. Washington, D.C. has one of the highest HIV rates in the world.

Even though Glass admits to having somewhat of a "feminist world view," she said research has shown "increasing women's health increases the health of the family."

Intimate Partner Violence

ntimate partner violence (IPV) - more focused than "domestic violence" which includes child abuse - affects both employment and housing for women and therefore impacts families, Glass explained. She is conducting research in Oregon on both these factors through grants from the NIH and the CDC.

Whether they can afford housing, have to move, or are able to afford child care if they return to work are all "things women have to consider if they are going to leave an abusive relationship," said Glass.

Often, it is difficult for victims of IPV to hold down jobs because they are harassed, or monitored while at work.

Her research includes a unique look into the workplaces of batterers, who are typically less productive, lose concentration easily, and use company resources such as telephones and vehicles to perpetrate harassment without their employers' knowledge.

Global Implications

My hope is provide data to policymakers to help them get more services to women and children," she said.

A native of Radford, VA, Glass decided to become a nurse at age 22 while working as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Congo.

"I have a great job. I travel extensively. I meet impressive people all over the world," said Glass.