Joan Haselman Carter, Ph.D.: 1933-2023

06/23/2023

Joan Haselman Carter, Ph.D., professor emeritus and former associate dean at the Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing, died May 11, 2023. She was 90.

Carter earned her diploma in nursing from St. Rita’s Hospital School of Nursing in Lima, Ohio, in 1955. From there, she took a job as a nurse at the hospital.

In 1956, she moved to St. Louis to continue her nursing career. She ended up at Saint Louis University Hospital. That job marked the beginning of her affiliation with SLU.

At SLU, Carter earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1958. While working on the nursing degree, she actually lived at SLU’s hospital. Along with about 60 other students, she took part in a service scholarship program where the group worked in the hospital three days a week for room, board, and tuition. 

Following her graduation from the program, she stayed at SLU and worked as the head nurse at the hospital. She received her master’s in Medical-Surgical Nursing; Teaching of Nursing in 1962. Two years later, in 1964, she became an assistant professor of nursing at SLU. 

From 1969-1974, Carter was the project director of a program for developing standards of nursing care at SLU Hospital. She also worked on quality assurance at the hospital and became the first director of quality assurance. 

In 1984, she resume her teaching career at SLU after spending time away from the University and working as a consultant. 

“I came back to the School of Nursing for an interview and walked out after an hour with a key in my hand,” she said in an interview with Universitas in 1996. “I didn’t like the consulting world. I think it was my commitment to Saint Louis University — this, to me, was home.”

 In 1995, she earned her doctorate in nursing administration from the University of Iowa after taking a sabbatical from SLU. She returned to the University the same year and took on the role of associate dean. 

While at SLU, she taught a number of courses, including for both master's and doctoral students. As the associate dean, Carter was responsible for all evaluation activities, hiring new faculty, and faculty practice.

Her research interests were in nursing interventions and patient outcomes. Before her retirement, her latest study examined trust as seen from the viewpoints of unhoused persons returning to a nurse-managed clinic for care. A notable outcome, such as a 70% reduction in emergency room visits for a homeless woman with severe asthma, was recorded.

Carter was a member of the Midwest Nursing Research Society. She served as the section chair for the Nursing Administration Section and served as an abstract reviewer for yearly research submissions. She also was a board member for the Visiting Nurse Association - St. Louis and the Cardinal Ritter Institute, an agency of the Archdiocese of St. Louis for the care of older persons in the community.

She is survived by a daughter, Carol Carter Reed, a sister Mary Haselman, a son-law, Ken (Tomea) Mersmann, grandchildren; Joy, Grace, Mark Mersmann, and Gabby, Eric, Audrey, and Caroline Reed; nieces Jayma Watkins, Joan Burwell and nephews, Tom and Terry White.