The Dnp Professional: Translating Value from Classroom to Practice

Linda Benson, DNP, ACNP-BC, CPHQ has been a nurse for over 40 years working in acute care and critical care settings. She has held a variety of positions including staff nurse, charge nurse, clinical preceptor, unit-based clinical instructor, critical care clinical nurse specialist, acute care nurse practitioner and clinical quality specialist for various Departments of Nursing. Her education has consisted of a BS and MS in Adult Health from the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNYAB). This was followed by a post Masters certificate from the University of Rochester and ended in the terminal Nursing degree of the DNP from Madonna University. Her DNP capstone project concentrated on the impact of a nurse practitioner rapid response team on sepsis outcomes. After obtaining her DNP degree she focused on performance improvement as a Clinical Quality Specialist for Tampa General Hospital Department of Nursing. She has held adjunct faculty positions at SUNYAB and Western Michigan University teaching BSN and MSN students. She has disseminated new knowledge and creative solutions through over 35 podium presentations at regional and national levels as well as 10 poster presentations. In addition she has published in multiple peer-reviewed journals predominantly as the primary author. Throughout her career she has chosen to give back to her profession having precepted and mentored numerous nurses at all degree levels.