Director, Continuing Education Program
Chief, Leadership, Education, Analysis, Development & Sustainment (LEADS)
J7 Education & Training Directorate
DHA Civilian
Silver Spring, United States
Dr. Lolita T. O'Donnell, is an Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and medical-surgical clinical nurse, currently serving as the Division Chief of the Leadership Education Analysis Development Sustainment (LEADS) Division and as the Director for the Defense Health Agency (DHA) J-7 (Education & Training) Continuing Education Program Office (CEPO).
Through utilization of advanced technology in webinars and conferences, Dr. O’Donnell has successfully conducted educational events, outreach & dissemination with continuing education/continuing medical education offerings to over 102,622 healthcare providers across DoD since 2018.
Prior to joining the DHA J-7 staff, Dr. O’Donnell was an original member of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) staff. Her leadership in concept of operations planning and organization design were critical to DCoE’s establishment in November 2007.
In addition, Dr. O’Donnell served as an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the College of Nursing and Health Science, George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia (2003-07).
From 1990 to 2003, she accumulated extensive experience in nursing quality management, Joint Commission Accreditation, regulatory compliance, sentinel event and incident report management, case management and quality improvement leadership experience at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC.
Dr. O’Donnell’s military experience includes serving as a Clinical Nurse in the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps (1988-1993) and as a Flight Nurse in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Corps. Following her deployment in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield, Dr. O’Donnell was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for excellence in nursing care.
Dr. O’Donnell completed her doctoral studies and graduate work in Nursing Administration, Policy Ethics and Research at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Dr. O’Donnell is also an adjunct nursing professor of the Graduate Nursing Online Program, Excelsior College.
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