Since 2014, Dr. Dana Bjarnason has served as the Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer for OHSU Healthcare and as Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the OHSU School of Nursing. She received her initial nursing education at the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as valedictorian upon graduation in 1981. She relocated to Texas in 1982, and graduated in 1993 with highest honors from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Care Administration. In 2000, she completed a Master’s degree in the Medical Humanities, awarded by the UTMB Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She holds a doctorate in nursing from the same school, conferred in 2007. In 1994, Dr. Bjarnason was awarded a certificate in nursing administration.

Dr. Bjarnason is active in a number of professional nursing organizations including Sigma Theta Tau International, the Oregon Action Coalition, the Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives, the Oregon Nurses Association and the American Organization of Nurses Executives. She has received numerous awards and recognitions including being named as one of twenty outstanding nurse leaders in Houston, receiving the 4th Annual Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award from the Texas Organization of Nurse Executives and being inducted into the UTMB School of Nursing Hall of Fame.

Dr. Bjarnason regularly presents at the local, state and national level and has authored and edited peer-reviewed articles for professional journals. She is committed to working with nurses to create safe, high quality environments that enhance patient care and does so through her scholarly interests including safety culture, end-of-life care, moral leadership, and professional practice.