NANAINA 2002-2004 Board

Pres | Secretary | Treasurer | Immediate Past Pres
Member-at-Large | Student Member

President:

Roxanne Struthers, PhD, RN

Roxanne Struthers is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, holds an adjunct assistant professorship in the University of Minnesota American Indian Studies Department and an adjunct clinical appointment at the School of Nursing and Hygiene at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Roxanne is an enrolled member of the Red Lake Ojibwe tribe in Minnesota and was born and raised on the White Earth Reservation in Northwestern Minnesota. She is a member of the Midewewin Lodge and picks indigenous medicines. Dr. Struthers has worked for a Tribal Health Program and for the Indian Health Service in providing health care to American Indian people. Roxanne has a Baccalaureate in Nursing from Bemidji State University, a Masters Degree in nursing with a focus in rural health from the University of North Dakota and a Doctorate in Nursing from the University of Minnesota.

She has certifications in Holistic Nursing, Transcultural Nursing and Healing Touch. Her research interests include holistic health, indigenous healing, American Indian health, health care, and nursing.

Roxanne and her husband, James, have four grown children and 2 grand daughters. Roxanne likes to travel and spend time with her grand children.

E-mail: [email protected]

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Secretary:

Debra M. Smith, RN, PHN, MS

Deb Smith was born and raised on the Fond du Lac Reservation in northeastern Minnesota. She is enrolled through her father’s tribe, the Shoshone of Wind River Wyoming. Deb received her baccalaureate in Nursing from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN in 1977. She received her master’s in Public Health Nursing from the University of Minnesota in 1997. She is currently the Director of Public Health Nursing for the Fond du Lac Reservation.

Deb has nursing experience in hospital nursing, coronary intensive care, home care, nursing education and public health nursing. She was a Certified Diabetes Educator and Diabetes Nurse Clinician and was the Manager for the Duluth Diabetes Center in the early 1990’s. She taught in the first class of nursing students at the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and she is currently on the Nursing Advisory Committee for that institution. Deb is active with many state health committees and task forces. She is currently a board member and officer for the local hospital in Cloquet, MN.

Deb and her husband Ed have three children in post-graduate, college and high school. Deb and her family enjoy traveling and spending time at their cabin.

E-mail: [email protected]

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Treasurer:

Bette Keltner, PhD, RN (Cherokee)

Bette Keltner is currently Dean at Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies. Her work in the fields of disability and cultural competence are prominent in practice, research, and system development. Prior to joining Georgetown University, Dr. Keltner served as a vice president for Honda of America Manufacturing, a corporate officer responsible for medical and health services affecting nearly 13,000 workers and 45,000 covered lives.

Dr. Keltner has been professor, senior scientist, and research administrator in major universities holding appointments in nursing, psychology, and public health. Her many professional activities include serving six years on NICHD Study Section, a second term for the Secretary’s Advisory Council on Infant Mortality, and as member of a National Research Council panel to establish disability standards for the Social Security Administration. Dr. Keltner’s research portfolio includes more than $10 million in sponsored support.

She has served two terms as President for the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association and is a founding member of the National Coalition for Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations.

At Georgetown, Dr. Keltner has expanded programs, dramatically enhanced selectivity and research funding, and established the interdisciplinary Center for Health and Education, CHERITH, named for Wadi Cherith where Elijah was nourished by ravens and a stream in the desert. The mission of CHERITH is to address the needs of the underserved, depicted by three great faith traditions as the stream in the desert. Dr. Keltner’s work is directed toward improving health and well-being for all people.

E-mail: brk.georgetown.edu

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Immediate Past President:

Lillian Tom-Orme, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN (Navajo or Dine')

Lillian Tom-Orme was born and raised on the Navajo reservation in northern New Mexico. She received her nursing and public health education from Utah where she is currently Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine Health Research Center at the University of Utah. She is currently co-PI on a national prospective study to determine the effects of physical activity, dietary, and lifestyle on health outcomes in American Indian and Alaska Natives. She also serves as Native American Research Liaison to the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Tom-Orme serves on numerous local, regional, and national committees including the American Diabetes Association, Office on Women's Health Panel of Experts, and the Advisory Committee to the Center for Health Disparities and Minority Health/National Institutes of Health. She is current President of NANAINA, past Chair of the American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawai'ian Caucus of the American Public Health Association, Board member of the Native Research Network, and member of the Network for Cancer Control Research among American Indian and Alaska Native Populations.

She has several publications on diabetes, women's health, and transcultural
health. Dr. Tom-Orme and her family live in Park City, Utah.

E-mail: [email protected]

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Member-at-Large:

Ursula Knoki-Wilson, RN, CNM, MSN

Ms. Ursula Knoki-Wilson, RN, CNM, MSN is the Director of Nurse-Midwifery Service at Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility and the Indian Health Service(IHS) Chief Clinical Consultant for Advance Practice Nursing. She also serves as a Community Liaison to assist the Chinle Service Unit Health Advisory Board with their health planning activities.

Ursula is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) and serves as President of the Four Corners State Chapter of ACNM. Other professional memberships include Sigma Theta Tau, Honor Society of Nursing, New Mexico Indian Nurses’ Association, the American Public Health Association and the IHS National Council of Nursing.

Following the attainment of her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado, Ms. Knoki-Wilson received her Master of Science in Nurse Midwifery from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. She is a member of the Navajo Nation and was born in Farmington, New Mexico. She began her IHS career in 1970. Over the years, she has held positions in Public Health Nursing, in Pediatric Outpatient Nursing, as a Staff Nurse Midwife and as Supervisory Nurse Midwife. She also served as Dean of an Associate Degree Nursing Program at the formerly Navajo Community College, now Dine College as well as an assistant professorship in the School of Nursing at Northern Arizona University. She has served as adjunct faculty and/or consultant to Schools of Nursing at University of New Mexico, University of Utah, Arizona State University, University of Colorado and Georgetown University. She has lectured nationally on integrating cultural aspects of care to Navajo and Native American patients.

E-mail: [email protected]

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Student Member:

Misty L. Wilkie, RN, MS

Misty L. Wilkie currently lives in Wadena, MN with her son, Zachary. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe located in Belcourt, ND. She grew up on multiple Indian Reservations and has valued the relationships she formed with reservation members. Her nursing education started with an Associate in Science degree from the Hibbing Community College in 1997. She then obtained an Associate in Arts in 1999 from the Hibbing Community College and a Bachelor of Science from the Bemidji State University. In 2003 Misty received her Master of Science (Adult Health focus) from the University of North Dakota. Currently, she is enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing and expects to complete it in May 2006.

Misty has experience as a Maternal and Child Health Nurse on the Bois Forte Reservation in northern Minnesota, in both hospital nursing and as a graduate research assistant. Her goal is to improve health care for American Indians as well as provide knowledge on organ donation and is working toward increasing the number of American Indians who are willing to be organ donors.

E-mail: [email protected]

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