Dr. Hansell began work focusing on children with cancer advancing to the inclusion of the families coping with the care or seriously ill children which she then transitioned to a focus on families' stress and coping with a children infected with HIV. At present Dr. Hansell has focused her program of research on women infected with HIV enabling their power through effective coping aimed to improve their holistic healthcare outcomes.  

Professional and Community Activities:  

• Commissioner Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund Commission, Executive Branch of Government, State of New Jersey.
• Trustee, Partners for Health Foundation for the Communities in the Montclair Area.
• Trustee, New Jersey Institute for Nursing.
• Member of the Nursing Advisory Board for Gannett Healthcare.
• Reviewer for Nursing Research; the Western Journal of Nursing Research and the Journal of Nursing Measurement.
• Distinguished Practitioner of the National Academies of Practice.
• Collateral Reviewer, Sigma Theta Tau International.
• Commissioner for the National Commission on VA Nursing.
• External Examiner for the University of Botswana. Reviewer for the Ohio Board of Regents. Item Writer for the revised Blue Print of the NCLEX Examination.