Nursing professor, instructor join UMMC faculty

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.

Amanda M. Weeks, F.N.P.

Weeks

Amanda M. Weeks, a board-certified family nurse practitioner with more than 12 years of combined professional experience, including 10 years in advanced practice, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in nursing.

After attending Mississippi State University, Weeks received her B.S.N. in 2002 from the Mississippi University for Women, where she earned her M.S.N.-F.N.P. in 2006. She has served as a family nurse practitioner at Healthy Start, Tupelo, from 2006-09; at the Mississippi State Department of Health, District IV, from 2009-12; at North Mississippi Medical Center-Women's Hospital, Tupelo, since 2012; and at Ob-Gyn Associates, Tupelo, since 2015.

A member of the Sigma Theta Tau-Zeta Rho international nursing society, Weeks has given presentations at North Mississippi Medical Center.
 

Johnnie Sue Wijewardane, Ph.D.

Wijewardane

Dr. Johnnie Sue Wijewardane, an associate professor of nursing and chair of the Department of Graduate Nursing at the Mississippi University for Women, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of nursing.

Well acquainted with UMMC, Wijewardane earned her B.S.N. in 1995, her M.S.N. in 2001 and her Ph.D. in 2011 at the Medical Center. She has more than 20 years of experience in nursing, having served as a staff nurse, charge nurse and travel nurse in Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Arizona and Mississippi. She served as a nurse practitioner at NEPCO/SNC-Lavalin Constructors, Inc., Redmond, Washington, from 2002-03 and at Whole Health Management, Inc., Nissan North America, Canton, from 2003-04.

Wijewardane joined the Holmes Community College faculty in 2004 as a nursing instructor. In 2008, she joined the Mississippi University for Women as a nursing instructor and quickly rose up the ranks as an assistant professor of nursing in 2010, an associate professor of nursing in 2014 and an associate professor of nursing with tenure in 2016. She accepted the role of department chair of graduate nursing in 2011.

Concurrent to her academic career, Wijewardane has served as a nurse practitioner for the Woodland Clinic; Gentiva Hospice in Starkville; MedServe, PA in Sand Hill; and the MUW Campus Health Center in Columbus.

A fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Wijewardane is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the Mississippi Nurses Association and the Mississippi Association of Nurse Practitioners. She has given numerous presentations at professional meetings and symposiums nationally and is the author or coauthor of nine articles in peer-reviewed scientific publications.