Online Managing Editor
Craig Kanalley

Dr. Dianne Cooney-Miner, Ph.D., RN, CNRN,was named the founding Dean of the Wegmans School of Nursing on Oct. 31, 2006.

Cooney-Miner sat down with the Courier to discuss her history in the nursing field, working experience and hopes for Fisher in the future.

Where and when did you attend school?

"My undergraduate degree was from Syracuse University in Nursing (1971).  I have a Masters of Science in Nursing from Binghamton University (1987) and a Ph.D in Nursing from Adelphi University in Garden City, Long Island (1996).

After my undergraduate work, I worked and practiced as a nurse.  Then I went back to school.  I just loved going to school and studying my discipline.  It also seemed to be a logical progression. 

I graduated from school and immediately entered the world of practice, clinical - most of my work has been in hospitals, acute care, and working with critically-ill people. 

When I decided I wanted to go for my Masters degree, I got a degree in the clinical area, a clinical nurse specialist degree.  I identified a group of patients, neuroscience patients, which I was interested in, so I went back to work to learn more about research, leadership, and education. 

My Ph.D - I laugh about it - I was not in academics when I got it, I was a clinical specialist working in hospitals at the time, but I just loved the idea of getting a doctorate in Nursing. 

And also, tongue-in-cheek, I say I also did it just because I wanted to have the world's largest gravestone and I wanted to have every single letter after my name when I was buried."

What got you involved in nursing?

"I have a younger brother, and when we were young children, he had a brain tumor.  I remember being in the hospital with him, when he was having brain surgery and his treatments, and being so impressed by the nurses that were taking care of him and our family.

I still have this visual image of them in their white uniforms and their caps, and the care, as well as the science, everything I saw there.  From a very young age, that experience was very much a part of my interest in the field.  It was just a very traumatic experience for my family at the time.

I don't even remember the doctor, but I certainly remember those nurses taking care of my mom, my dad, me, my brother, and the role that they played in my family during a very difficult time. 

I did go on to develop my clinical specialty in the area of neuroscience, so I have carried that interest with me working with people with brain tumors, strokes and so on.  My brother's fine now, by the way."

What do you most enjoy about the nursing field?

"It's the realization of what you know and what you do makes a difference in people's lives. 

When I look back on the 36 years or so I've been a nurse, I realize that through the course of my career and practice that I've been as a nurse and what I've known as a nurse has made a difference in people's lives. 

The work is its own award.  It's tremendously challenging, it's never boring, and there's a privilege to it. 

Also, for the last ten years or so, nurses have been identified as the most trusted profession in the United States. 

There was one year we weren't, we were number two, and that was in 2001; that year's award was given to firemen, of course right after 9/11."

You first came to Fisher as the Chair of the Nursing Department in 2003. What made you attracted to Fisher?

"The values-based education and the reputation of the Fisher program.  Also, I came to Fisher at a time when many nursing programs had gone through some difficult times, and some had closed.

I admire that Fisher, through its commitment to service, as well as its commitment to nursing, had done a good job in managing resources to keep this program ahead of others that had closed. 

I came from the State University of New York (SUNY), I was the Associate Dean there, and so I have experienced both the State University versus the private.

To me, nursing fits very well into this Catholic tradition.  It's very easy for people to see what it is that we do.  And we can't do it without a strong basis in the liberal arts; that's what Fisher is all about.

Then the Rochester health care community it's a spectacular place, just from the research that has been done, and the long tradition of the University of Rochester School of Nursing, so there's a level of leadership of professionals in this community that's hard to beat."

You mentioned that you used to work in the SUNY system.  Are there any major differences between the private and state school environments?

"There are some differences.  In a private system, you can get things done quickly.  In the private system, you begin to think about your role and your mission in terms of the tuition you generate. 

In the SUNY system, you've got this Albany piece of the budget, and this whole layer of bureaucracy that slows things down.  A board member actually said to me that he was so envious of my position here at Fisher because it would have taken him 10 years to do what we were able to do in one year in terms of the School of Nursing.

I find the private school more responsive.  On the other hand, it was much easier to help students of need in the SUNY system because the cost was so much lower, with tuition.  Another thing about the state school thoug, I understand that cost is how SUNY does its business, but it really is a bureaucracy and a particularly burdensome one."

How involved were you in the planning and securing of the School of Nursing?

"Intimately involved, both initially with Dr. Keough and then with Dr. Bain.  Because of the critical nature of the nursing shortage, people are much more aware of how important nurses are to the health and welfare of communities. 

Because of this awareness, people are more interested and willing to contribute, to be a part of the solution. 

In talking to Dr. Keough and Dr. Bain, we basically said, look, if we can't do something with nursing now we'll never be able to do it.  We have the program, it has the reputation, and almost all of our graduates stay and work in this Rochester community.  I just think the stars were all in alignment and there was a potential here to move this program forward. 

I had written a proposal actually what it would be like to build a School of Nursing and talked to Dr. Bain about it.

When Mr. Wegman talked to Dr. Bain and was told it would be $8 million, that's where the $8 million came. 

It was Dr. Bain, Dr. Ambrosetti, Dr. Keough, conversations about this being the right time and the right place, and what would it be like, and here it is."

What are you most looking forward to about the School?

"Just the space.  The space for the students and the faculty, the technology and all of the ways that we'll be able to enhance learning, build this community and share it with others.

The Religious Studies and Philosophy Department and the School of Nursing are collaborating on an Ethics Conference for the spring of 2008 to celebrate the opening of the new building and to bring some nationally known speakers on health and ethics here to Fisher and opening that up to the community for conversations.  

That will be one way our space will be used, not just for us but for other people too.  This new building will certainly free up classroom space as well."

What's an update on the faculty and staff of the nursing department?

"Every year that I've been here this program has grown tremendously.  Every year, through the Strategic Review

Committee and the support of the administration, we've been able to add resources to meet the needs of enrollment. 

We're almost at capacity right now in terms of students.  We now have 12 full-time faculty. 

In 2008, we're hoping to add a doctorate nursing practice here, DNP, a practice doctorate, and that program will require faculty too. 

The numbers are here, the enrollment is growing, we have a plan, a business plan and projected plan for the building and growth of the program, and there are identified resources. 

Probably one of the most challenging things for all of nursing education right now, our most critical shortage is in nursing faculty.  The professoriate in nursing average in age between 57 or 58, so in the next 10 years we're going to lose a lot of seasoned faculty.  A lot of people are wondering how will we meet this increased need if we don't have the faculty to prepare people. 

This year we've opened a Masters program in Nursing education, and we have that doctorate being planned, that will help eliminate that shortage in both nurses practicing and also faculty."

What are some of your goals for the School?

"A major goal for us right now is we recently changed our graduate curriculum, so we're working to ease that transition.  Moving into the new building is of course a goal. 

Another major goal is we're working on all of the documentation that we need to do to move plans for the doctorate program forward. 

We also have a couple of initiatives with the Wegmans stores, with nursing practitioners and health centers. We're also talking to the business school about a new dual degree, a Masters program that would be Nursing and an MBA."

Anything else you would like to add?

"The opening of the Wegmans School of Nursing is certainly important for Fisher, but it has great meaning and importance to the profession of nursing in general."