Donna Zimmaro Bliss is a Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing in Minneapolis, MN. She is a Horace. T. Morse-University of Minnesota Alumni Association Distinguished Teacher. Donna received her BSN in 1981 from Villanova University College of Nursing, Villanova, PA, and her MSN in critical care nursing in 1985 from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Bliss received her PhD in 1992 from the University of Pennsylvania and was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and was recently awarded the Leadership in Continence Award by the Wound Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society and Hollister-Inc.
Dr. Bliss' research program focuses on incontinence and associated skin damage. She has numerous publications about these topics and has made presentations globally. Dr. Bliss' research has been supported by federal, foundation and corporate grants. She recently completed a clinical trial investigating the effect of dietary fiber to reduce fecal incontinence. She is currently funded by the National Institute for Nursing Research for 2 studies: one will determine whether there are ethnic and racial disparities in incontinence and skin damage in nursing home residents and the factors associated with those disparities and the second is to identify the literacy and care needs of family/friend caregivers of individuals with dementia related to incontinence and skin damage management.
Dr. Bliss is the current Director of the Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses Society Center for Clinical Investigation. She serves on the Education Committee and Nurses Committee of the International Continence Society. Dr. Bliss is section editor of the Spotlight on Research section of the Journal of Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing. She is a member of the Editorial Board of Nursing Research and the Journal of Gerontological Nursing.