Dr. Bernadette Melnyk
Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk is currently the Associate Vice President for Health Promotion, University Chief Wellness Officer, and Dean of the College of Nursing at The Ohio State University. She also is a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Ohio State’s College of Medicine.
Dr. Melnyk earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from West Virginia University, her Master of Science degree with a specialization in nursing care of children and pediatric nurse practitioner from the University of Pittsburgh, and her PhD in clinical research from the University of Rochester where she also completed her post-master’s certificate as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
She is a nationally/internationally recognized expert in evidence-based practice, intervention research and child and adolescent mental health, and is a frequent keynote speaker at national and international conferences on these topics. Dr. Melnyk has consulted with hundreds of healthcare systems and colleges throughout the nation and globe on how to improve quality of care and patient outcomes through implementing and sustaining evidence-based practice. Her record includes over 19 million dollars of sponsored funding from federal agencies as principal investigator and over 180 publications.
Dr. Melnyk is co-editor of four books, including Evidence-based Practice in Nursing & Healthcare: A Guide to Best Practice, Implementing EBP: Real World Success Stories, the KySS Guide for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Screening, Early Intervention and Health Promotion, and Intervention Research: Designing, Conducting, Analyzing and Funding. A Practical Guide for Success, an American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award. Dr. Melnyk is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and the National Academies of Practice, and recently served a four-year term as one of only two nurse practitioners on the 16-member United States Preventive Services Task Force. In addition, she serves as a member of the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Behavioral Health Steering Committee, the National Institutes of Health’s National Advisory Council for Nursing Research, and the Centers for Disease Control Laboratory Best Practices Workgroup. Dr. Melnyk also serves as associate editor of the journal, Worldviews on Evidence-based Nursing.
She has received numerous national and international awards, including the Audrey Hepburn Award from Sigma Theta Tau International, the Jessie Scott Award from the American Nurses Association for the improvement of healthcare quality through the integration of research, education and practice, the 2012 Midwest Nursing Research Society Senior Scientist award, and the NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research’s inaugural director’s lectureship award. She also has been recognized as an Edge Runner twice by the American Academy of Nursing for founding and directing the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners’ KySS child and adolescent mental health program and her COPE Program for parents of preterm infants. Dr. Melnyk also was recently inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International’s Research Hall of Fame.