Donna S. Blackburn PhD, RN

Professor of Nursing
Office: AC 113C
Phone: 270-745-3579
Email: donna.blackburn@wku.edu

Dr. Blackburn graduated from Western Kentucky University with ASN ’70 and BSN ’80 degrees. She received a MSN degree from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing where she completed the Family Nurse Practitioner program in 1986. She graduated with a PhD in Nursing Science from Vanderbilt University in 1998.  

She served as Department Head of Nursing at WKU for 8 years. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate students during her tenure at WKU.  She currently teaches the following graduate courses: Theoretical Foundations; Graduate Nursing Research; Research Application; and Nursing, Politics and Health Policy. She also teaches two graduate courses in the Nursing Administration concentration that focus on leadership/management and its application in the capstone internship.

Dr. Blackburn is a member of the ANA/Kentucky Nurses Association, the National League for Nursing, and Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. Research interests include: family functioning, chronic illness and cultural sensitivity. She has published articles about coping with a chronic illness cognitive-behavioral interventions for women with rheumatoid arthritis and learning intercultural competence.