Col. Marla De Jong – Advancing Nursing Science through Leadership and Knowledge

A 2005 PhD graduate from the UK College of Nursing, Colonel Marla De Jong, PhD, RN, CCNS, FAAN, currently serves as interim associate dean for research and director of the Faye Glenn Abdellah Center for Military and Federal Health Research. She also serves as senior Air Force advisor to the dean of the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing. Prior to this, she served as dean of the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.

Col. De Jong earned her BSN from Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa in 1998. Shortly after, she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in The United States Air Force and began active duty service in 1989. She went on to earn her MSN from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, in 1996 and her PhD from the UK College of Nursing in 2005. From Dec. 2006 to Dec. 2007, Col. De Jong deployed to Baghdad, Iraq as program manager for the Joint Theater Trauma System (JTTS) and has since held several leadership positions in the U.S.

Her research interests include the prevention of hypothermia, the effectiveness of buccal pulse oximetry, clinical experience and learning style of aeromedical evacuation crew members, clinical knowledge development and linkages between anxiety and outcomes for patients with heart failure. Col. De Jong has published 40 journal articles, nine book chapters and a book, and she is a member of nine professional organizations where she has served on national committees, developed practice standards and more.

Col. De Jong is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Hewlett Packard Award from the University of Maryland School of Nursing (SON); the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Flame of Excellence Award; the Carolyn Williams Nursing Award from the University of Kentucky; the Air Force Field Grade Nurse of the Year Award; the Defense Meritorious Service Medal; the Meritorious Service Medal with 4 oak clusters; and the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Colonel De Jong was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Nursing Hall of Fame in 2011. The next year, she was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.