As long as she can remember, Kathleen Hanna, Ph.D., was always asking “why.”
Why did things work for her patient and not for another? How do you get adolescents with type 1 diabetes to adhere to the things that keep them healthy? The last one has driven her research.
“I always had ‘why’ in my mind,” Dr. Hanna said.
Now she will encourage others to ask “why.” On Nov. 1, she became the newly named director of the UNMC College of Nursing doctor of philosophy program.
The program prepares nurse scientists who pursue research interests using funding and creating rigorous, well-designed methods to discover new knowledge related to nursing to advance health care. Positions held by Ph.D.-prepared nurses include academic faculty positions emphasizing research, primary investigators on research grants and research scientists for health care organizations or government agencies.
“Dr. Hanna comes to us with significant experience in working with Ph.D. students, and her role as endowed chair will complement her activities in this role,” said Lynnette Leeseberg Stamler, Ph.D., professor and associate dean for academic programs.
Dr. Hanna succeeds Ann Berger, Ph.D., who served in the role since 2007 and recently took the reins as associate dean for research at the UNMC College of Nursing.
“It’s an honor to serve in this role,” said Dr. Hanna, who is responsible for ensuring standards and policies in the Ph.D. program are met as well as continuous improvement of the program. “We are looking for nurses who are interested in advancing care and health through conducting research and also passing on their knowledge and high standards of nursing which will influence generations of nurses.”
A native of Scottsbluff, she was recruited last year to the college as professor and Carol M Wilson Endowed Chair. In 1972, she graduated from the registered nurse diploma program at the West Nebraska General Hospital School of Nursing in Scottsbluff, earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1980 from Loretto Heights College, Denver, and a master’s degree in nursing in 1981 from UNMC. She earned her Ph.D., in 1990 from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in health behavior research and in adolescent health at Indiana University.
Her research expertise is in promoting the health of adolescents and young adults within the context of development and family, particularly those with type 1 diabetes.