University of Virginia Nursing Dean Emerita Dorrie K. Fontaine Selected for 2019 Leadership Award

University of Virginia (UVA) School of Nursing Dean Emerita Dorrie K. Fontaine was recently selected for the 2019 Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award. Fontaine will be honored at a reception on October 15. She is known for her focus on creating a healthy work environment, fostering interprofessional education, and furthering efforts of inclusion and diversity in nursing.

The award was first given in 1998 to honor the memory of Zintl, an accomplished writer and journalist who served as chief of staff to the UVA president until her untimely death in 1997 at age 45. According to news.virginia.edu, the award recognizes a female employee who has given an “unusually high degree of service to the University, within and beyond the expectations of the position” and “whose excellence in work makes a direct and significant impact on the core academic enterprise.”

Fontaine retired from her position as Dean on July 31. She is taking a sabbatical this year and helping colleagues co-edit a book titled, “Caring for Ourselves, Caring for Others: A Self-Care Handbook for the Student Nurse.”

Fontaine is a former trauma and critical care nurse. She founded UVA’s Compassionate Care Initiative in 2009 with a mission of alleviating human suffering through developing compassionate caregivers and systems. The initiative nurtures students, faculty, staff, and clinicians to become resilient and know that caring for themselves provides a foundation for the safe and exceptional care of others. Fontaine is also a past president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the largest specialty nursing organization in the world, and past president of the Virginia Association of Colleges of Nursing.