Diana Swihart

Diana Swihart, PhD, DMin, MSN, APN CS, NPD-BC, CPP Dr. Swihart is currently a Clinical Lead for National Specialty Programs with the National Center for Patient Safety, VHA. An author, speaker, researcher, educator, mentor, and consultant, she holds graduate degrees in nursing and leadership and doctorates in theology, ministry, and ancient Near Eastern studies (archaeology). Dr. Swihart is a Certified Preceptor Professional (CPP) and the CEO & Managing Partner for the American Academy for...See more

Diana Swihart, PhD, DMin, MSN, APN CS, NPD-BC, CPP Dr. Swihart is currently a Clinical Lead for National Specialty Programs with the National Center for Patient Safety, VHA. An author, speaker, researcher, educator, mentor, and consultant, she holds graduate degrees in nursing and leadership and doctorates in theology, ministry, and ancient Near Eastern studies (archaeology). Dr. Swihart is a Certified Preceptor Professional (CPP) and the CEO & Managing Partner for the American Academy for Preceptor Advancement and co-authored Building Your Professional Portfolio: Essential Tools for Healthcare Providers. Inducted into the American Academy of Nursing as a Fellow (FAAN, 2015), her work in establishing Preceptor Specialty Practice and professional preceptor certification was recognized nationally and internationally. She also co-authored Shared Governance: A Practical Approach to Transforming Interprofessional Healthcare with Dr. Robert Hess, is a consulting partner, and serves on the Forum for Shared Governance Advisory Board. Dr. Swihart has enjoyed many roles in her professional career, practicing in widely diverse academic, clinical, and nonclinical settings, including having served on numerous advisory boards (i.e., Journal of Nursing Regulation) and completed multiple terms as an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet(R) Appraiser and as an ANCC Accreditation Commissioner. Robert G. Hess, Jr., PhD, RN, FAAN Dr. Hess is an educator, editor, author, consultant, the founder and CEO of the Forum for Shared Governance, and the webmaster for sharedgovernance.org and careerwhisperer.org. Dr Hess splits his time between the Forum and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary where he has served as an officer on various levels. His formal education includes a degree in comparative religion from Temple University, a nursing diploma from Frankford Hospital in Philadelphia, a master's degree in nursing administration from Seton Hall University, and a doctorate in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, where he studied organizational theory at the Wharton School. Retiring in 2019 from various companies that owned Nurse.com (formerly Nursing Spectrum and Nurseweek), Dr Hess was the Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Executive. He was employed as a formal representative, thought leader, and network connection. In the 25 years before this last role, Dr Hess was the Executive Vice President, Education Programs & Credentialing, leading the largest continuing education providership in the world for nurses, as well as 23 additional health professions, including physicians and pharmacists. He led the largest CE providership in nursing and the first-ever winner of the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Accreditation Premier Program Award, 2007, which was awarded twice again. Capping his work as a commissioner and appraiser, he was the vice chair of ANCC's Commission on Accreditation. An award-winning author, Dr. Hess has written about 200 articles for numerous journals and coauthored two books on shared governance with Dr. Swihart, whom he met through ANCC. In 2008, Dr. Hess was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing for his work in shared governance. Dr Hess is the world's leading researcher on professional governance, a term he popularized in 1993. He developed the only current valid and reliable instruments, the Index of Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG), and the Index of Professional Governance, which measures governance by professionals, and Council Health, which evaluates shared governance councils in healthcare organizations. The IPNG has been translated into at least a dozen languages. In 2018, he... See less