Patricia García Pazo

Patricia García Pazo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), where she has taught since 2018. She holds dual expertise as a nurse and psychologist, with a PhD in Health Sciences (2022) and a Master in General Health Psychology (2017). Her teaching includes Psychosocial Sciences Applied to Health, Psychiatric Nursing, and Critical Care subjects across Nursing and Physiotherapy degrees.

• PhD in Health Sciences (2022)
• Master in General Health Psychology (2017)
• University Postgraduate in Critical Care (2007)
• Diploma in Nursing (1995) and Bachelor in Psychology (2001)

Her research focuses on virtual reality applications in nursing education, smoking cessation technologies, and mental health interventions during emergencies. She led a VR-based nursing assessment project funded by IRIE and contributes to the MICINN-funded GROWING HEALTHY initiative. Her work spans high-impact publications (11 articles, 9 in Q1 journals) and over 20 conference presentations.

Recent projects include developing the mHealth apps NoFumo+ (for smoking cessation) and GROWINAPP (emotional tracking in development). She also authored psychoeducational stories and book chapters on mental health nursing. Her awards include the 2023 Agenda 2030 Prize for academic contributions to sustainable health.

• 1st Prize for PDI in Agenda 2030 Awards (2023)

As a researcher, she collaborates with the Chronicity and Evidence in Health (CurES) group under the Balearic Islands Health Research Institute (IdisBa). She has tutored 759+ hours of nursing practicum students and contributed to 6 teaching innovation projects, including VR integration in critical care education.