Donna Paris, DNP, RN, CCRN, CNE serves as Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing and teaches in the traditional undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program in Abilene, Texas. Her focus is chronic disease process and pharmacology. Dr. Paris was awarded Outstanding Faculty of the Year by her students in 2015 and again in 2020, the Interprofessional Faculty Development Award in 2016 and 2018, the President's Excellence in Interprofessional Teamwork in 2018, and the Exceptional Mentoring Award for the Abilene campus in 2023.
Prior to her transition to academia, she served as education coordinator for a step-down unit in southern Illinois. Her nursing practice includes over 40 years of nursing experience in cardiovascular medicine, including the coronary care unit, transplantation, cardiac rehabilitation, cardiovascular case management, and electrophysiology. She also has her certification in critical care nursing (CCRN) and is a certified nurse educator (CNE).
Dr. Paris serves as a member of the Texas Nurses Association, American Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau, and the American Association for Critical Care Nurses. She is active in her church and has served on multiple medical mission trips abroad. She is a member of the Big Country Human Trafficking Coalition.
Dr. Paris received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma, and her Master's Degree in Nursing Education from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing in Lubbock, Texas. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in Executive Leadership at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing. Her capstone project was entitled "The School-age Child: Does Homeless Mean Healthless?"
Interests
- Cardiology
- Clinical simulation
- Heart disease
- Interdisciplinary teamwork
- Nursing
- Pharmacology