Nursing Faculty & Staff

Moreen O. Donahue is the Beatrice Hofstadter White Endowed Chair for Nursing Education and Research, System Senior Vice President & System Chief Nursing Officer at Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN), which includes Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital, Norwalk Hospital, Western Connecticut Home Care (formerly The Danbury Visiting Nurse Association) and Western Connecticut Medical Group.  Prior to joining WCHN, Dr. Donahue was Sr. Vice President, Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Greenwich Hospital and has held executive leadership positions in home care and hospice. 

She also was the Project Coordinator for a federal grant, “Transitioning Advanced Practice Nurses to the Practice Doctorate: The Doctor of Nursing Practice Program”.

Dr. Donahue’s areas of research include patient safety, patient satisfaction, nurse empowerment and transitioning advance practice nurses to doctoral education.  She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing.  She is the recipient of the Dean’s Legacy Award, Case Western Reserve University and the Visionary Leader Award, Greenwich Hospital.

Dr. Donahue was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2011, and was selected for the 2015 Fellowship in Innovative Health Leadership offered by Arizona State University and the American Organization of Nurse Executives in partnership with the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Innovation.

Dr.  Donahue completed her BSN degree at Boston College.  Following this, she earned an MS degree in education from the State University of New York and her MSN in nursing and DNP degrees from Case Western Reserve University.  She is also Board certified as a nurse executive at the advanced level and has achieved national certification as a Home Care and Hospice executive.

Dr. Donahue has made significant contributions to nursing and health care delivery.  Specific areas of focus include patient safety, preventing workplace violence and advancing quality care through development of innovative partnerships across a variety of settings.  She has provided leadership for several grants: a project focused on empowering nursing assistants to use SBAR communication funded by the Donaghue Medical Research Foundation, a Geriatric Family Centered Care initiative funded by the Division of Nursing, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and grants from the State of Connecticut focused on providing educational opportunities for nurses.  She is also responsible for helping to develop a hospital-based cohort model for DNP degrees from Case Western Reserve University (funded by HRSA).  Dr. Donahue is widely published in nursing and health care literature and has presented her research nationally and internationally.

Selected awards and honors

• 2012  VHA Travel Scholarship Recipient
• 2011  American Academy of Nursing Fellowship
• 2005  Dean’s Legacy Award, Case Western Reserve University
• 2004 Visionary Leader Award, Greenwich Hospital
• 2001  Quality Award, Greenwich Hospital  

When nursing students stop by to meet Dakota during her office hours, they’re likely to get more tail wags and puppy kisses than discussions on which nursing courses to take. Click here to read Dakota's story.