About Deidra

Deidra has worked as a staff RN in the St. Cloud Hospital since 2008. From infants to elders, she has provided direct patient care in the acute care hospital setting, most recently within the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. Deidra graduated from the College of St. Benedict with a Bachelor of Arts degree specializing in music performance and completed her Master of Music in music performance from the University of Minnesota. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at St. Cloud State University and earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice specializing in Integrative Health & Healing from the University of Minnesota. As a part of her doctoral work, Deidra helped to create a business case and program proposal for an integrative therapies program at the St. Cloud Hospital. She has also served as adjunct nursing faculty for the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University.

Deidra’s J&J Nursing Innovation Fellow Journey

Deidra was drawn to the Fellowship because it provided staff nurses unique opportunities to innovate. She had recognized an urgent need: mitigating a severe lack of awareness among nurses about perinatal mental health challenges. She saw parents suffering in silence and realized that nurses, the ones closest to the bedside, were best equipped to recognize the signs of mental health struggles and provide birthing people and new parents with the care they need. The Fellowship allowed Deidra to develop a unique partnership with Postpartum Support International and the leadership at St. Cloud Hospital, implementing a program for nurses to receive Perinatal Mental Health Certification (PMH-C), a certificate that arms nurses with the knowledge they need to integrate effective mental healthcare into the experience of perinatal patients. Though the PMH-C is not yet accredited, Deidra is working closely with a committee at PSI to finalize the national accreditation of the certificate (I.C.E./NCCA) and make it more widely accessible and desirable for employees of hospital systems across the country.

For Deidra, the Fellowship has inspired confidence and fresh drive to effect change on a larger scale. Sharing what she’s learned through the Fellowship with her colleagues and coworkers back home, she believes that opportunities like the Fellowship are just as valuable for staff nurses as they are for researchers. Deidra hopes to extend her Fellowship experience to begin working in healthcare policy and advocacy, but never wants to venture too far and lose her connection to the bedside.