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Donna Bliss, Ph.D., Appointed Director of Leading Professional Nurses Association
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (November 4, 2005)--University of Minnesota’s School of Nursing faculty member Donna Zimmaro Bliss, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., has been appointed director of the research arm of the leading professional association, Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurses Society (WOCN). The WOCN Society specializes in the management and rehabilitation of persons with wounds, ostomies, and continence disorders.
An international nursing organization of more than 4,000 nurse professionals, the society is widely accepted as setting the "gold standard" for the management of patients with wound, ostomy, and continence conditions. Bliss will head its Center for Clinical Investigation (CCI). “Her research acumen makes Bliss uniquely qualified to direct the CCI,” says society President Margaret Goldberg, M.S.N., R.N. “Bliss’ research program spans both epidemiological and interventional studies and is supported by a combination of federal and foundation grants. In addition, she is widely published and serves as an editorial board member of some leading nursing journals.”
As director of the CCI, Bliss will lead the research initiatives of the WOCN Society and help members strengthen the evidence base of their practice. She will oversee and further develop WOCN’s small grants program, serve as section editor of the “Spotlight on Research” column in the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing, and manage the procedures for the Content Validation and Best Practices products of WOCN. As one of the leaders of the society, Bliss will participate in strategic planning and the national conference.
Bliss received her B.S.N. in 1983 from Villanova University College of Nursing, Villanova, Pennsylvania, and her M.S.N. in critical care nursing in 1985 from the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. She received her Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of Pennsylvania and was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar. Currently, Bliss holds the Professorship in Long-Term Care of Elders at the School of Nursing and is a Horace T. Morse University of Minnesota Alumni Association Distinguished Teacher. She is an associate editor of Nutrition in Clinical Practice and a member of the editorial board of Nursing Research, the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing, and the Journal of Gerontological Nursing. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. In her current research program, Bliss investigates the optimal type of fiber for managing fecal incontinence and the epidemiology and prevention of perineal skin problems associated with incontinence.
The University of Minnesota School of Nursing, ranked among the nation’s top nursing schools, is a leader in improving health care through research, education, and service. Its nationally and world-renowned scientists discover practical health care treatments and solutions people can use today to improve their daily lives. The oldest continuing university-based school of nursing in the nation, it now has a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of approximately 850 students. The school produces 55 percent of the faculty in Minnesota’s public and private nursing schools, advanced practice nurses, and nurses who can assume leadership positions. The School of Nursing is one of six schools and colleges in the Academic Health Center, one of the most comprehensive facilities for health professionals in the nation, fostering interdisciplinary study, research, and education.
Contact: Mary Pattock, School of Nursing, (612) 624-0939 Sara Buss, Academic Health Center, (612) 624-2449
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