Andrew Unser, MSN/Ed, BA, RN

Andrew is an experienced nurse educator and clinician with a primary background in psychiatric mental health nursing and nursing leadership. His special interests include safe learning spaces, multimodal learning, social and emotional learning (SEL), teaching with technology, and nature-based learning. After contributing to nursing education and professional development for years, Andrew joined the Nursing department at Russell Sage College as adjunct faculty during the 2020-2021 academic year and later transitioned to Lecturer of Nursing.

With nearly two decades of diversified medical, psychiatric, and human service experience, Andrew has practiced in both academic and healthcare settings, including in the roles of nurse manager of adult inpatient psychiatry, assistant nurse manager of child and adolescent inpatient psychiatry, and hospital nursing supervisor. He has facilitated mental health nursing clinical rotations at multiple local hospitals and supported undergraduate and graduate nursing distance learning. Andrew appreciates teaching with virtual simulation programs and in the nursing simulation lab, integrating connections between theory and practice to foster the development of critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills.

He is an experienced trainer of the evidence-based practice of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), which he enjoys teaching student nurses. As a passionate advocate for quality teaching-learning experiences and the importance of community in 21st century nursing education, Andrew co-founded Ignite, a web-based nursing education resource and blog. In addition to writing on nursing education and staff development topics, he uses his platform with Ignite to interview nurses from around the world and share their inspiring stories.

Andrew has a BA in Psychology from the University at Buffalo. His pre-licensure nursing studies were completed with SUNY Adirondack and he later obtained his MSN in Nursing Education from Excelsior University. He views himself as a learning guide in supportive partnership with each student, recognizing that each learner is on their own unique academic journey. In addition to maintaining his roles in clinical leadership and nursing academia, Andrew enjoys spending time with his family and friends, organic gardening, and appreciating good music. His hobbies include reading, cooking, and woodworking, and he loves his time camping and getting out in nature to swim, hike, and snowshoe.