Debora Dole, PhD, CNM, is the Vice Dean of Academic Affairs at Georgetown University School of Nursing. She has been a certified nurse midwife since 1992 and is active in clinical practice. Dole started an independently owned midwifery practice directly out of midwifery school in an area of Ohio where women did not have access to midwifery care or women’s health care providers. She has also worked in community clinics and high-risk urban health centers in areas with some of the highest infant mortality rates in the country.

Dole received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina. She received her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing with a community health focus from the University of Cincinnati.

“It was my doctoral work that I can say impacted my practice as a midwife the most by providing the opportunity to reflect on and deconstruct what it meant to be a midwife and care for women in their own way.”

Dole’s research interests focus on community-based participatory research methods that engage women and their communities in identifying the issues most important to them and finding solutions. Additional interests include researching group models of care and how those models can meet the unique needs of women and their families.

The shortage of qualified women’s health care providers continues to create barriers to accessing quality care for women and their families. Dole believes it is her responsibility to educate future midwives and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioners (WHNPs) who will provide access to high-quality care for women that is desperately needed in their communities.

“Jesuit values are embedded in everything Georgetown University stands for: striving for excellence, pursuing social justice, care of the individual person, developing the whole person (heart, mind, and soul), teaching and modeling reflective practice, critical thought, and responsible action. Georgetown University has provided me with an opportunity to teach to the mission. The online delivery of the program allows us to reach more students in more areas of the country so they can make a difference in their own communities.”

“It is the health of women that drives the health of a nation. Midwives and WHNPs focus on improving the health of women across the lifespan. It is a privilege to care for women and their families at the most vulnerable times of their lives.”

Dole teaches NURO-733 Seminars in Advanced Women’s Health, which is a course she developed to provide students with advanced knowledge and understanding of complex issues in women’s health. This course builds on the foundational courses of NURO-548 Advanced Physiology & Pathophysiology, NURO-544 Advanced Concepts in Pharmacology, NURO-528 Advanced Health Assessment, and NURO-510 Introduction to Reproductive Health Care of Women. The course is designed to encourage critical thinking and clinical problem solving, using case-based learning and student-led group discussion. Students become the content experts in a chosen area of women’s health and share their learnings with colleagues, enhancing everyone’s knowledge base.

Medical University of South Carolina
Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Medical University of South Carolina
Master of Science in Nursing, Midwifery Concentration

University of Cincinnati
Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing

Dole, D. (project director), VanHook, C., Boyers J., & Crawford, R. (2016–2017). Developing a Collaborative Model of Care for High-Risk Pregnancies Using Centering Pregnancy^®. March of Dimes Regional Ohio Chapter.

Dole, D. (project director), VanHook, C., Boyers, J., & Crawford, R. (2015–2016). Integrating the Community Health Worker Role Into the Group Prenatal Care Model. March of Dimes Regional Ohio Chapter.

Dole, D. (project director), Crawford, R. H., VanHook, C., Boyers, J., & Green, L. (2014–2015). Integrating Mental Health Case Management Into Antepartum Group Care Model (Centering Pregnancy ^®). March of Dimes Regional Ohio Chapter.

Dole, D. (project director) & Boyers, J. (2013–2014). Integrating Incentives Into Antepartum Group Care Model (Centering Pregnancy ^®). March of Dimes Regional Ohio Chapter.

Brydon-Miller, M. (principal investigator), Dole, D. (co-principal investigator), & Vaughn, L. (co-principal investigator) (June 2011). A.I.M. for Better Health—A nine-county community health needs assessment in collaboration with the Action Research Center at UC and Health Care Access Now, funded by community stakeholder consortium.

Dole, D. (principal investigator) & Shambley-Ebron, D. (co-investigator) (January 2009). Cultural Meanings of Mothering in African-American Adolescent Mothers. Dean’s Research Award.  

Shambley-Ebron, D. (principal investigator) & Dole, D. (co-investigator) (May 2008). Cultural Transmission of Sexual Knowledge, Values and Beliefs: An Ethnographic Study of Young African-American Girls. Association of Community Health Nurse Educators.

Shambley-Ebron, D. (principal investigator) Dole, D. (co-investigator) (May 2007). Cultural Preparation for Womanhood in Urban Black Girls. UC University Research Council.

Dole, D., Boyers, J., Centner, R., & Greene, L. (2016). Expanding the Group Care Model in Underserved Populations: The Community Connection. Ohio Infant Mortality Summit: Aiming for Equity. Ohio Department of Health, Cleveland, Ohio.

Munroe, T., Dole, D., Hudson, S., Rosenthal, M., & Johnson, C. (2016). Centering Pregnancy: A Focus on High-Risk Prenatal Care, Student Training, Outcomes and Reporting on Patient/Provider Satisfaction. Ohio Infant Mortality Summit: Aiming for Equity. Ohio Department of Health, Cleveland, Ohio.

Dole, D., Muglia, L., Clasgens, A., & Dumoulin, C. (2016). March for Babies Panel: Bringing Research and Discovery to the Community. The Impact of CenteringPregnancy^® on Building Healthy Communities for Mothers and Babies. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Dole, D., VanHook, C., Boyers, J., & Roland L. (June 2015). Integrating Mental Health Case Management into the Antepartum Group Care Model. American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) 60th Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Vankuiken, D., Dole, D., O’Brien King, M., & Harland, B. (June 2014). Advancing Holistic Leadership: A Vision of Cura Personalis, Care of the Whole Person, for Nursing Faculty. American Holistic Nurses Association 34th Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon.

Dole, D., Toole, K., Vath, K., VanKuiken, D., Weathers, C., & Copass, P. (2013). Integrating IPE into Family Nurse Practitioner Education: The Inter-Professional Practicum-Community Collaboration Experience. 9th Annual Faculty Development Workshop, University of Kentucky, College of Nursing, Lexington, Kentucky.

Dole, D. & Nypaver, C. Paper presentation (June 2012). Evaluating Clinical Readiness in Distance Learning Programs. American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) 57th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Long Beach, California.

Dole, D. & Nypaver, C. Paper presentation (June, 2012). A Collaborative Approach to Improving Health for Women and Infants in an Urban Community. American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) 57th Annual Meeting & Exposition, Long Beach, California.

Dole, D. & VanKuiken, D. (2012). Using a Community Health Needs Assessment to Identify Mental Health Priorities in Ethnic Minority Populations. Voices of Ethnic Minorities: Social-Ecological Perspectives of Health and Well-Being Research Symposium. American Psychological Association (APA): The Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues Division 45 Conference, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

VanKuiken, D., Taylor, J., Vaughn, L., Dole, D., & Jacquez, F. (2012). Community Academic Partnerships: Using Mixed Methods to Initiate Systemic Regional Health Care Change. Eighth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI), University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.

Griebling, S., Vaughn, L., Arndt, A., Dole, D., & VanKuiken, D. (2012). Participatory Tools for Data Collection. Eighth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI), University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.

Taylor, J., Vaughn, L., Griebling, S., Jacquez, F., & Dole, D. (2012). The Qualitative Consultant: Benefits and Challenges of Working with Non-Profits to Move Beyond Survey Research. Eighth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI), University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.

Dole, D. Paper presentation (2011). Using Photovoice to Hear the Voices of African-American Adolescent Mothers. Guaranteed Symposium on Maternal Child Health, Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS) Annual Meeting and Conference, Columbus, Ohio.

Shambley-Ebron, D., Dole, D., & Karikari, A. Paper presentation (2011). Cultural Preparation for Womanhood in Urban Black Girls. Transcultural Nursing Society Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Dole, D., Beery, T., & Shell, D. Roundtable presentation accepted (2011). Building a Sense of Community in an Online Environment: Challenges and Successes. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Dole, D. Paper presentation (2010). Using Photovoice to Hear the Voices of African-American Adolescent Mothers. American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado.

Dole, D. Oral presentation (2010). Peace or Violence: Our Professional Language. University Hospital, University of Cincinnati Resident Education Lecture Series.

Dole, D. Oral presentation (October 2009). An Intersectional Approach to Understanding Cultural Meanings of Mothering in African-American Adolescent Mothers: Through Their Own Eyes! International Qualitative Heath Research Conference, Vancouver, B.C.

Dole, D. Poster (October 2009). An Intersectional Approach to Understanding Cultural Meanings of Mothering in African-American Adolescent Mothers: Through Their Own Eyes! Advances in Qualitative Methods Conference, Vancouver, B.C.

Dole, D. Poster (May 2009). An Intersectional Approach to Understanding Cultural Meanings of Mothering in African-American Adolescent Mothers. American College of Nurse-Midwives Annual Meeting (ACNM), Seattle, Washington.

Dole, D. Poster (March 2009). An Intersectional Approach to Understanding Cultural Meanings of Mothering in African-American Adolescent Mothers: A Pilot Study, Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS), Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Dole, D. & Nypaver, C. (2008). Lessons Learned in Distance Education Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) Roundtable.

Dole, D. (2008). Midwifery Collaborative Model of Care University Hospital Resident Education Lecture Series.;

Dole, D. (2008). Management of Normal Labor University Hospital.

Dole, D. & Shambley-Ebron, D. (2016). Cultural meanings of motherhood through the eyes of African-American adolescent mothers. Advances in Nursing Science, 39(2), E1–E16.

Shambley-Ebron, D., Dole, D., Karikari, A. (2014). Cultural preparation for womanhood in urban African-American girls: Growing strong Black women. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. Published online May 6, 2014. DOI: 10.177/1043659614531792
http://tcn.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/05/06/1043659614531792 External link 

Griebling, S., Vaughn, L., Howell, B., Ramstetter, C., & Dole, D. (2013). From passive to active voice: Using photography as a catalyst for social action. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(2), 16–28.

Dole, D., Nypaver, C. (2012). Nurse-Midwifery: Art and science making a difference in the health of women. Nursing Clinics of North America, 47(2), 205–13. DOI: 10.1016/j.cnur.2012.02.008

Burrows, A., Suess, R., Thomas, J., Dole, D., Woods, A. (2012). Riding the wave: Student researcher reflection on the action research process. Journal of Action Research in Education, 20(2), 291–312.

Excellence in Teaching Award
ACNM Foundation Award
May 2016 and May 2004

Excellence in Teaching Award
University of Cincinnati
May 1996

Exemplary Service Provost Recognition for Development of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program
Xavier University
May 2013

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