"Florence Nightingale was the first nurse to
write about the impact of the environment on human health.
My goal is to assure the education of young and old so all
people understand and appreciate that protecting our
environment protects lives and quality of life."
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Vivien De Back
Director Emerita
Alverno College School of Nursing
For over 40 years Dr. De Back has been involved in
nursing education and practice redesign. She was Director of
Alverno College School of Nursing in Wisconsin for 13
years. She directed the U.S. National Commission on
Nursing for 6 years, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
She directed the National Nursing Image Campaign in
cooperation with the Ad Council raising over $700,000 to
improve the image of Nursing in the USA.
De Back was Editor of the
International
Nursing Review
(INR) for 4 years, the official Journal of the International
Council of Nursing, Geneva Switzerland. Building on a 70
year history of informing nurses throughout the world, the
INR was re-launched in 2000 to become a peer reviewed
publication. Dr De Back continues to review
manuscripts for publication in the INR, Nursing Outlook and
Nursing Matters.
She was Clinical Professor at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she assisted the School of Nursing
in grant proposal development and increasing community
involvement in the School’s activities. She taught on
subjects such as Public Policy, Nursing Education Reform and
Systems Change. She retired from the university in
1996.
For three years De Back was Senior Consultant to Eastern
Europe for
Project HOPE, assisting in redesign of nursing
education and practice in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary
and Romania. She was consultant to the University of
Asmara , Eritrea, Africa developing nursing curricula
in the College of Health Sciences and was instrumental in
bringing four Eritrea nurses to Western Michigan University,
USA to obtain their baccalaureate degree in nursing.
De Back is a frequent consultant, presenter and writer on
“change” in health care. Although retired, she
continues to serve on boards & committees of local, state
and national, nursing, consumer & health care groups
including
Common Cause, Wisconsin, The
Alliance for Retired Americans, Wisconsin, the Editorial
Board of
Nursing Matters and
Nursing Outlook, and board member,
St. Martin of Tours Food Pantry.
De Back received a BSN from Alverno College, MS from
College of Racine and PhD from University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has received numerous awards
from nursing and community groups. In 2004
Wisconsin Nurses Association rededicated the leadership
award, The Vivien De Back Nursing Leadership Award.
She is a fellow of the
American Academy of Nursing
Back to Wisconsin Women
Forward for Environmental Education page
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