Baylor School of Nursing Professor Chosen for National Council

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WACO, Texas (Sept. 7, 2012) - Donna LoSasso, DNP, RN, NNP-BC, an assistant professor at the Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON), has been selected by the National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NANNP) to serve as a council member. Her two-year term will begin in October when she is recognized at the organization's Annual Educational Conference in Palm Springs, Calif.
As a council member, LoSasso will oversee programs and chair projects assigned by the NANNP Council. She will also serve as a council liaison for her district while representing Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma.
"I was humbled to be nominated, and humbled and thrilled to be elected," said LoSasso. Her work on the NANNP council will closely align with her teaching in the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs at LHSON. "The work that the council does moving our profession forward directly affects the 'who, what, when, where and why' of what we teach our students. Our work could affect curriculum as well as the credentialing of new graduates," she explained.
LoSasso recognizes that the next two years will be busy as a council member. "There is much work to be done regarding our recent publication of our position statement on NNP Shift Length, Fatigue, and Patient Safety," said LoSasso. "We are also working as a part of the national Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Model and the rollout of the new curriculum requirements in neonatal nurse practitioner programs throughout the nation. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing's doctoral essentials and the national movement towards the APRN degree becoming a doctorate also need time and attention."
LoSasso graduated from Baylor with a Master of Science in Nursing and earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She has been on faculty at LHSON since 2009.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.

ABOUT LOUISE HERRINGTON SCHOOL OF NURSING
The Baylor Louise Herrington School of Nursing was established in 1909 as a diploma program within Baylor Hospital in Dallas, which is now Baylor University Medical Center, and in 1950 became one of the six degree-granting schools of Baylor University. The first Bachelor of Science in nursing degrees were awarded in 1954, establishing the school as one of the oldest baccalaureate nursing programs in the United States. In 1999, the School was renamed the Louise Herrington School of Nursing after Louise Herrington Ornelas, a 1992 Baylor Alumna Honoris Causa, made a $13 million endowment gift to the school. The School of Nursing offers a bachelor of science in nursing degree and a master of science in nursing degrees in advanced neonatal nursing, nursing administration and management, and family nurse practitioner programs, which are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The School also offers a nurse midwifery doctorate in nursing practice.
by Brent Salter, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805