UNMC College of Nursing and Nebraska Health System will host Paula Rieger as its 12th Visiting Nurse Scholar, March 3 and 4. Rieger is director of international affairs for the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Alexandria, Va.
Rieger has more than 20 years of experience in the field of medical oncology, and specializes in biotherapy and cancer genetics, including working as a nurse practitioner in the clinical cancer genetics program, division of clinical cancer prevention at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She served as president of the Oncology Nursing Society from 2000 to 2002.
During her visit, Rieger will make presentations on campus and in the community, as well as consult with UNMC and NHS faculty, staff and students. Her March 3 lecture, “A Primer in the Evolving World of Genetics in Health Care,” will be from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. (CST) in the UNMC College of Nursing, Cooper Auditorium. It also will be broadcast live to: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Teachers College, Room 202; UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division, Room 144W; and the UNMC College of Nursing West Nebraska Division, Room 205.
Rieger has made more than 150 national and international presentations at scientific and professional meetings on biotherapy, cancer genetics, symptom management, and other cancer related topics. She has authored more than 60 manuscripts, books, and monographs on the topics of genetics, cancer, and biotherapy, and served as a consultant in the production of numerous educational videotapes for both patients and healthcare professionals.
She received her master of science in nursing degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston after receiving her bachelor of science in nursing degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She also has a bachelor of science in biology and has completed a post master’s nurse practitioner program at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Rieger has received many outstanding awards, including Oncology Nursing Society/Schering Corporation Excellence in Biotherapy Award in 1992 and the International Patient Education Council’s Outstanding Patient Educator Award in 1993. She was co-recipient of the Susan Baird Oncology Excellence in Writing Award in 1994. Rieger was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1997. In 1999, she received the Oncology Nursing Society/Ortho Biotech Fatigue Initiative through Research and Education Excellence Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the management of patients with cancer-related fatigue.