Mary Yost, PhD, received a BSN, MSN and PhD from Widener University. She has held certifications in emergency and critical care nursing and has extensive experience in nursing and nursing education. She has been a practicing nurse for over 30 years and has been teaching for over 20 years in both the university and hospital setting. Her clinical experience is in surgical trauma critical care and emergency nursing. Yost has also held positions in publishing and hospital leadership.

Yost first joined Drexel in 2002 as a clinical educator and then became full-time faculty in 2005. After leaving in 2010 to explore other opportunities, she returned to Drexel in 2014 as an assistant clinical professor of nursing. She is active on numerous committees and has been an advisor to the student nurse association for the past two years. Yost has presented on topics of metacognition and decision making and testing in undergraduate nursing education as well as numerous clinical topics related to nursing practice. 

Yost is passionate about nursing and nursing education. Her dissertation was “Metacognition and Clinical Decision Making Among Registered Nurses.” She is very interested in how knowledge is applied for decision making in the clinical setting among registered nurses as well as how students develop thinking strategies and clinical decision-making skills.  

Faculty Fellowships

Professional societies and memberships: ANA, AACN

Research Interests

Metacognition and clinical decision making, Intensive care, trauma, and emergency nursing

Widener University, Chester, PA  
PhD in Nursing – 2015 
Dissertation: The Relationship of Metacognition to Perceived Clinical 
Decision Making by Registered Nurses.

Widener University, Chester, PA
Master of Science in Nursing – 1995 
Area of Concentration: Burn Emergency Trauma/Critical Care 

Widener University, Chester PA 
Bachelor of Science in Nursing – 1989