ICN SPECIALIST AFFILIATE

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Katherine Fornili

DNP, MPH, RN, CARN, FIAAN
Dr. Katherine Fornili has a baccalaureate degree in nursing and a masters’ degree in public health from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in community/public health nursing with an emphasis on addictions nursing from the University of Maryland-School of Nursing (UMSON). As a doctoral student, she served in internships at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Dr. Fornili is the current President of IntNSA (2018-2020) and has previously served 3 terms on the IntNSA Board (2004-2006; 2012-2014; 2014-2016) plus another term as President-Elect (2016-2018). She has also served as Policy Consultant/Chair of the IntNSA Health Policy Task Force during those terms. She has been a fellow in the International Academy of Addictions Nursing (FIAAN) since October 2016. A public health nurse for over 36 years, Dr. Fornili has served in leadership roles in substance use disorder services at the city, state and national levels since 1997, and has been certified in addictions registered nursing (CARN) since 1999. Her main interests include substance screening and brief intervention (SBIRT), pharmacological therapies (specifically buprenorphine initiatives), health/behavioral health policy, and racial and socio-economic health disparities. A full-time Assistant Professor at the UMSON since 2005, Dr. Fornili provides clinical instruction in community/public health nursing in Baltimore City, where she and her students work with formerly homeless men with histories of drug/alcohol addiction and/or incarceration. She teaches an undergraduate elective course in addictions nursing, as well as nursing theory and other core didactic and practicum courses in the DNP program. She is a faculty liaison on an Academic/Practice Partnership Grant, where she assists in behavioral health education and training for local hospitals, and develops practicum experiences and opportunities for DNP students to implement evidence-based practice change projects. She is working with colleagues to develop an undergraduate focus area, and a 12-credit graduate certificate program in addictions nursing to help nurse practitioner students prepare for the CARN-AP and the DATA-2000 practitioner waiver.