Danuta Wojnar, RN, PhD, MN, MED, IBCLC, associate professor and chair of the Department of Maternal/Child and Family Nursing, has been named one of only 20 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows from across the United States for 2012. Dr. Wojnar joins a select group of nurse leaders chosen to participate in this three-year, world-class leadership development program.
In the College of Nursing, she chairs the Rank and Tenure Committee and serves on the Student Progression Committee, the Undergraduate and Graduate Curriculum Evaluation Committees, the Workplace Satisfaction Initiative, and helps lead development and implementation of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program.
As a reviewer for the Western Institute of Nursing and the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Human Reproduction, and Qualitative Health Research, and a consultant for PATH (an international nonprofit global health organization), and the Baby Friendly Initiative at University of Washington Valley Medical Center, Dr. Wojnar continues her work in helping form and lead the future of health care.
She has an active program of research to promote health for underserved and vulnerable populations, and plans to focus her Executive Nurse Fellows research project on developing a Center of Health Advocacy for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations that will help advance their health care through research, teaching, and clinical partnerships.
Begun by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in 1998, the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows (ENF) program strengthens the leadership capacity of nurses who aspire to shape health care locally and nationally. The program will provide Dr. Wojnar and her colleagues coaching, education and other support to strengthen their skills to lead teams and organizations in improving health and health care. The ENF program is located at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), and co-directed by Linda Cronenwett, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Beerstecher Blackwell Term Professor and former dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and David Altman, PhD, executive vice president of Research, Innovation and Product Development at CCL.
“Being chosen to be an Executive Nurse Fellow is the greatest honor I’ve ever received to focus on my own leadership development. This program will help me accomplish the goals I have for my personal and professional development, and help me do more to better meet the health care needs of vulnerable populations. I also hope this fellowship will bring more recognition to Seattle University for living the mission of serving the underserved,” said Dr. Wojnar.
Executive Nurse Fellows hold senior leadership positions in health services, scientific and academic institutions, public health and community-based organizations or systems, and national professional, governmental and policy organizations. They continue in their current positions during their fellowships, and each will develop, plan and implement a new initiative to improve health care delivery in her or his community.
Please help us in congratulating Dr. Wojnar on this incredible honor. Well deserved and well earned.
For more information about the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program visit: www.ExecutiveNurseFellows.org.