Joanne Disch (pictured) has served as a chief nurse executive in two major medical centers and has held numerous national leadership positions.

She’ll discuss “Nursing Leadership: From the Bedside to the Boardroom” at 5 p.m. April 23 at the E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Theater in the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. A reception will follow the lecture.

Disch, a clinical professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing  in Minneapolis and president of the American Academy of Nursing will deliver the lecture on behalf of the Elizabeth McIntosh and Jerry Durham-College of Nursing Alumni Endowed Lecture in Nursing Science at UMSL.

Disch serves on the boards of Aurora Health Care and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership. From 2006-08 she served as a board member and then chairman of the national board of AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons. She also served as president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Her research has centered on nurse-physician relationships and quality and safety within health-care organizations.

The event is free and open to the public, however, reservations are requested. Call 314-516-6849 or e-mail gillettem@umsl.edu.

The Elizabeth McIntosh and Jerry Durham College of Nursing Alumni Endowed Lecture in Nursing Science was established in 1999 in honor of the original director of the Barnes School of Nursing, once housed at UMSL, and the former dean of the College of Nursing, respectively.