Dr. Barbara S. Turner is Elizabeth P. Hanes, Professor of Nursing and Director of the Executive Leadership Specialty in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program. She earned graduate degrees in hospital administration and perinatal nursing before receiving her Ph.D. from the University of California at San Francisco. She has held senior administrative positions in military medical centers, including Chief of Clinical Nursing at Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington State and Consultant to The Army's Surgeon General. Following her retirement from the Army Nurse Corps as a Colonel, she established the Center for Nursing Research at Duke and held the position of Associate Dean for Research for 13 years.
Dr. Turner's research interests focus on the effect of nursing intervention on critically ill newborns, including exogenous surfactant administration, endotracheal suctioning, high-frequency ventilators, and airway management. She has published widely in journals, books, monographs, and computer-assisted instruction. Dr. Turner reviews nursing journals in critical care, neonatal nursing, and nursing research. She consults nationally on accreditations and grant writing. She is active professionally in the American Academy of Nursing, American Nurses Association, North Carolina Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International.
Dr. Turner started her career in Physical Education because she "didn't want to be 40 and look silly on a basketball count". She played basketball for the university but changed her major to nursing because of the close interaction with families. She fell in love with caring for critically ill newborns and their families- especially first-time parents. As with most military members, she then transitioned to leadership positions. She has lived and worked in the US, Europe, Asia, and Central America. Meanwhile, she still plays basketball on an over-40 men's team and doesn't care if she looks silly!
Teaching doctoral students is a joy- she loves seeing them progress in their scholarly projects and shares their excitement when their project is published in professional journals.