Biography

“I have had a wonderful nursing career that has allowed me to focus on a passion of mine – helping youth around their health issues.” Kathleen Hanna’s nursing career started as a clinical nurse, caring for neonates in intensive care units then transitioned to providing care to children/adolescents and their families in hospital settings as well as community ones. During this part of her nursing career, Kathy noticed that many of the reasons that youth were seeking care was associated with their behaviors. She often wondered why they took risks that could impact their health such as drinking alcohol or not managing their diabetes.

Kathy also wondered how these young people and their parents managed their care once they went home. She believed that care was fragmented between the healthcare setting and their home setting. This curiosity to know why and help these young people lead Dr. Hanna to seek advanced nursing education and degrees (MSN from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, PhD in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh, and postdoctoral training at Indiana University School of Nursing). With this education, she had the opportunity to pursue improving youth’s health in roles of educator, scientist/researcher, mentor of students and faculty, endowed chair, and director of a PhD in nursing program. In all of these roles, Dr. Hanna was able to contribute to the health of young people.

As an educator, Kathy shared the knowledge of caring for youth in health and illness along with their parents with undergraduate or graduate nursing students. As a scientist, for example, she conducted NIH-funded research examining health behaviors such as alcohol use and diabetes management among emerging adults with type 1 diabetes as they transitioned out of high school and parental homes to college or work careers. Kathy says, “I hope you can see that those early clinical experiences and my questioning mind were integral to my scientific work. In my role as an endowed chair and director of a PhD in Nursing program, I had the opportunity to work with motivated and passionate students and faculty as they pursued their specific goals around improving the health of youth. My nursing degrees have allowed me to make this journey with a goal of improving the health of youth. It was a worthwhile journey.”