Mary L. Gambino, PhD, RN

Assistant Dean for Community Affairs

Email: mgambino@kumc.edu
913-588-1695

Gambino is an assistant dean for Community Affairs, director of Nursing Continuing Education and clinical assistant professor. She is responsible for developing innovative continuing education programs in partnership with external organizations and specialty groups within nursing and allied health disciplines. Gambino oversees program management, budgeting, grant writing, accreditation and other aspects of continuing education.

Previously, Gambino was a clinical assistant professor and director of the RN to BSN completion program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School (UMKC) of Nursing. Content taught included professional issues, nursing informatics, professional communication, conflict management and negotiation, change management, teamwork, project management, case management, health care systems, leadership and management and community/public health. She has experience with a variety of course management systems for fully online and Web assisted courses, virtual learning environments and is interested in the use of problem-based learning and technology in nursing education.

Prior to becoming an educator, Gambino was an administrative director of Medical Management for a newly formed provider organization where she led the development and implementation of utilization management, quality improvement and hospital case management programs including supporting information systems for UTMB Health Care Systems in Galveston, Texas. During the nine years prior to this, she was an assistant vice president for Blue Cross-Blue Shield-Kansas City in the Health Care Management Division with responsibility for utilization and case management. Gambino also was a nurse clinician and research assistant for 10 years for the University of Kansas Medical Center Department of Surgery. She received both her Master’s and Bachelor’s in Nursing from the University of Kansas and her PhD from the UMKC School of Nursing Doctoral Program. Her research interests are decision-making and complexity science, managed care and quality improvement in health care delivery.