Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, RN, CGNC, FFNMRCSI, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN
The Ohio State University College of Nursing

What advice would you give your younger self?
Realize not every opportunity offered to you is right for you at that time or perhaps ever. Be judicious, and grateful, with saying yes.

Where is your favorite vacation spot?
I will be in Greece and Italy and the Czech Republic this year so I may change my mind but I think my favorite spot is Aix-en-Provence in France - I received wise advice from many people I met there to “work to live, not live to work”. I am trying hard to find more balance in my life.

What made you want to pursue a career in nursing?
I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome as a teen and spent months in the ICU and hospital units totally paralyzed and unable to speak. I know the reason I am alive today was because of the great nursing care and support I received. The nurses did have my undivided attention every day as they convinced me it was a great career path!

What book should every nurse read?
Dale Carnegie’s How to Make Friends and Influence People - a classic on human relations and public speaking. I think these skills are invaluable and hope they are not lost with the attention on social media as a communication venue versus actually interacting face-to-face. Having “people skills” will be an almost unique skillset that nurses bring to the table and can use in a wide variety of roles both in out of healthcare.

What has been your most interesting/surprising outcome while conducting nursing research?
How important it is to stay relevant, flexible, and open to new ideas and this comes from integrating community feedback and participatory action research approaches. My research led to my developing an evidence-based sexual risk reduction intervention for teens, HIPTeens, which is being used across much of the US and globally. True implementation science requires me to help address each organizations’ own set of needs and special challenges to be able to translate an EBI into real world settings.

What is a fun fact many people may not know about you?
I swam butterfly competitively until I was 30 years old. Now I try hard to fit physical activity of any kind into my schedule - but I am trying hard! Another thing is that I love decorating and designing - I think that would have been my back up career choice.

About Dianne

I serve as the Chief Talent and Global Strategy Officer and Centennial Professor of Nursing at The Ohio State University. In this role, I am committed to developing the next generation of nurse leaders and scientists and creating global citizens. I successfully established student education, faculty research endeavors, and collaborative global partnerships across multiple continents. I hold international distinguished visiting professorial appointments in England, Spain, Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Italy, Greece, and Thailand. Prior to this, I served as Dean of the University of South Florida College of Nursing and Senior Associate Vice President of USF Health.

As an internationally-recognized nurse scientist, I have developed a sexual risk reduction intervention, The Health Improvement Project for Teens: HIPTeens, recognized by the CDC and US Dept. of Health and Human Services as an exemplary evidence-based intervention for HIV/STI and teen pregnancy prevention. As the founder/CEO of HIP4Change, LLC: Health Improvement Programs for Behavioral Change, I am committed to moving research to practice. HIPTeens is now used in community-youth organizations, healthcare settings, and youth program across many states and in community colleges and after-school programs. It reaches some of the most vulnerable and underserved populations of youth and young adults including victims of sexual trafficking, those in foster care, residents of diasporic Afro-Caribbean communities in Canada, Nigeria, and resettled refugee/displaced girls from twelve different countries (Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Burma, Thailand, Eriteria, Kenya, Malaysia, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda and Afghanistan). Currently, I am adapting HIPTeens for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

I am an elected nursing fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, the National Academies of Practice, and the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. I have over 350 published manuscripts, book chapters and abstracts including an award-winning book on intervention research, and have been awarded over $12 million in research funding. In recognition of my contributions, I have received numerous awards for my work including: election into the International Nursing Research Hall of Fame, the Audrey Hepburn Award for contributions to children globally, Adolescent Research Legacy Award (MNRS), Ohio Nurse of the Year by March of Dimes, Florida Top 100 Nurses, the Excellence in HIV Prevention Award and the Excellence in Research Award from the Association for Nurses in AIDS Care, the Excellence in Research award from the Association of Women’s Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), and both the Florida and New York State Distinguished Researcher.

I served as faculty for the Sigma Theta Tau International Chiron Nursing Leadership Program and Johnson & Johnson Maternal and Child Health Leadership Institute. I was recently recognized with the 2022 Intrapreneur of the Year for global educational innovation. I am an internationally recognized as a scholar, administrator, and educator, and have received four Fulbright awards – an administrator award (France), Specialist (Norway, Czech Republic) providing leadership training and research and curriculum development, and a research scholar award (Scotland). My commitment to international work also resulted in being one of the first US Certified Global Nursing Consultants with the International Council of Nurses (ICN).

I served as an AACN New Deans Mentor and as expert for the Academic Leadership Competencies of Nursing Deans. I serve on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the National Institute for Nursing Research (FNINR), as an FNINR Ambassador, and as Editor-in-Chief of Building Healthy Academic Communities. I received my bachelor’s degree from Niagara University, master’s degree with a specialization in maternal and women’s health nurse practitioner from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and my doctoral degree at the University of Rochester.