Linda D. Norman, DSN, R.N., FAAN, dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and Valere Potter Menefee Professor of Nursing, has been named ambassador for the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research (FNINR), an independent nonprofit organization that advocates for nursing science and its role in promoting the health and wellbeing of Americans.
The dean was one of 15 nurse leaders selected nationally for their abilities to advance public, health profession and policy-maker awareness of the National Institute for Nursing Research’s (NINR) agenda. The ambassadors focus on working with congressional leaders and educating them on the high-impact, cost-effective treatments and quality-of-life developments generated by nursing science; the group’s ultimate goal is to expand funding to ensure training of nurse scientists.
“In the last year, we have had important conversations with key congressional leaders who are understanding and valuing how nurses function as scientists, individually and on integrated research teams,” said FNINR President Karen Drenkard, Ph.D., R.N., NEA-BC, FAAN. “With the large number of newly elected officials nationally and at the state-level, the ambassadors will join others, including our board, to bolster awareness and action for those discoveries that save lives, advance health and reduce costs.”
Norman is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in nursing and health profession education, known for curricular innovations in blended learning, interprofessional education, quality improvement and doctoral distance learning. She has been responsible for setting and implementing the strategic direction for all of the School of Nursing’s programs and helped VUSN rise to become one of the top graduate nursing programs in the country.
Photo: Daniel Dubois