06.04.08
Dorrie Fontaine New Dean of Nursing
In today’s show, written by Jane Ford, Senior News Officer for the UVa News Department, we look at Dorrie K. Fontaine, recently named Dean of UVa’s School of Nursing, and her career advocating better care for critically ill patients.
Dorrie K. Fontaine, who has dedicated much of her 36-year nursing career to advocating for better care for critically ill patients, will become dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Nursing on Aug. 1. Fontaine currently serves as associate dean for academic programs at the University of California-San Francisco School of Nursing.
Fontaine succeeds Jeanette Lancaster, UVa’s legendary, and longest-serving dean, who UVa President, John Casteen credited “for helping to attract a robust pool of applicants vying to succeed her. In selecting Dorrie Fontaine, the University has chosen a most worthy successor. She is an accomplished scholar, dedicated clinician, and collaborative and innovative administrator who has succeeded in her every endeavor.”
Casteen added that Fontaine’s recent work at UCSF aligns closely with the themes of the UVa’s Commission on the Future of the University. He said, “Dorrie led UCSF’s efforts to promote inter-professional education across the schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy, while keeping a close eye on her own scholarly research interests.”
Fontaine, a career registered nurse received her first degree in 1972 from Villanova University. She then earned her master’s degree in nursing at the University of Maryland at Baltimore (1977) and Ph.D. at The Catholic University (1987). In 2006, she attended the Harvard Graduate Institute of Higher Education, Management and Leadership in Education Program. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1995.
In laying out Fontaine’s goals for the next five years, Dr. Arthur Garson Jr., the University’s executive vice president and provost, said “Given Dorrie’s track record and her passion for the subject, I feel confident that she will solidify the University of Virginia’s position as a national model for interaction of health professionals in practice, teaching and development of new knowledge.”
Fontaine’s research focuses on comfort for critically ill patients, pain relief and family presence at end of life. Another key interest is promoting healthy work environments for nurses and hospital colleagues. A leader in developing the national Standards for a Healthy Work Environment with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses in 2005, she believes that one of her great strengths will be to bring those values to the academic setting of the University. Fontaine served as president of AACN, the largest specialty nursing organization in the world, in 2003-04.
Fontaine said, “I was first attracted to the University of Virginia because it is a world-class university, but what really excites me is its strong reputation for and success in bringing together undergraduate education and research.”
Fontaine cites the challenges of the nursing shortage as an area on which she plans to focus. She said, “The health care crisis is currently fueled by a chronic shortage of nurses. Being at such a high-profile institution with such an outstanding School of Medicine and medical center, I believe that we will have the opportunity to work together to do great things in nursing for Virginia, the nation and the world.”
Fontaine, who has written and spoken extensively on health care issues, currently is the primary investigator on a $9.7 million grant to implement an accelerated doctoral program in nursing. She also has continued to teach a course on leadership and for the past four years has delivered classroom lectures on the importance of family to patients near death.
Throughout her career she has been active in numerous professional organizations as well as public service and diversity initiatives at the institutions she has served. She has been a member of the UCSF School of Nursing’s Diversity Task Force for five years, during that time researching the curriculum to address diversity.
Fontaine said, “We are currently implementing a series of modules on curriculum and diversity to be taught in a teaching seminar series over the academic year. I am surrounded by diversity in every way and use these perspectives on a daily basis.”
You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when our topic will well we celebrate the one hundred-year anniversary of the E.M. Skinner Organ, which was installed in UVa’s Cabell Hall in 1907.