An accomplished figure in the fields of nursing and critical care nursing, Dana Black, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CCRN-CMC gravitated toward her profession at a young age as she was influenced by her mother, who also served as a nurse. Motivated by strong family support and a passion to help others, she prepared for her career by earning an Associate in Science in registered nursing in 2007. She then joined the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Houston Northwest Medical Center, where she excelled as a registered nurse from 2007 to 2012. She followed that appointment by becoming a registered nurse at AMN Healthcare for two years and subsequently excelled within the Critical Care Unit at CHI St. Joseph Regional Health System in Bryan, Texas from 2014 to 2020. Additionally, in the midst of her tireless career, Ms. Black obtained both a Bachelor of Science in nursing and a Master of Science in nursing education from Chamberlain University in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Since 2020, Ms. Black has utilized all of her training and prior experience to find success as a Clinical Educator of Critical Care Services at CHI St. Joseph Regional Health System, a role through which she instructs ICU staff members at two hospitals; manages an impressive residency program for new graduate nurses; and provides didactic classes, online education, and basic competency lessons for bedside nurses. Every day, she’s driven by a love for improving patient outcomes and sharing her love for her vocation with all the nurses around her. She has been incredibly proud of the way she has run the residency program, which was floundering and not offering proper training to its students when she inherited it. Upon taking over, she organized it into a structured process with clear goals laid out and various types of classes.

Outside of her main endeavors, Ms. Black has provided countless free flu and COVID-19 shots to her community each year through the organization and educates community service groups, such as the police department, on the flu. In addition, she lends her expertise to committees involving leadership, peer review, evidence-based practice communities, and process development. Her volunteerism extended to the American Association of Critical Nurses, for which she conducted surveys evaluating applications for scholarships and revamped cardiac medicine certification exams. In response, the organization showed its gratitude with an award. She has maintained membership with such organizations as the Association for Nursing Professional Development.

Looking ahead, Ms. Black aspires to continue developing what she has already started, feeling that she has only begun to scratch the surface of what she can do professionally. As it has always been, her priority is to keep growing and motivating others with her passion for nursing, as well as expanding the use of current evidence-based practice, which many practitioners, she believes, tend to overlook. She also plans to keep contributing to the organizations she’s affiliated with and not only bringing the latest best practices to nurses at her facility and maximizing them for the good of her patients but also improving her methods of developing projects that advance her professional goals. Married for nearly three decades, Ms. Black has a daughter and attributes much of her success to the support she gets at home.