Barbara Trehearne, PhD, RN is VP of Clinical Excellence, Quality, and Nursing Practice and of Primary Care at Group Health Cooperative in Washington State. She is responsible for supporting clinical excellence and quality throughout the care delivery system, providing leadership for the development and support of nursing professionals at Group Health, and for Infection Control and Employee Health.
An active participant in local, regional and national nursing issues, Dr. Trehearne has long advocated for the continued development of nursing leaders. She has been instrumental in the development and design of multiple educational programs for nurses. Through her membership in the Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives, she founded and developed with other colleagues the Northwest Nursing Leadership Institute to prepare future leaders in nursing. She also coordinates an off-campus baccalaureate completion program for Group Health RNs and lectures in undergraduate and graduate programs in the Seattle area. She teaches extensively in the area of leadership, clinical delegation, scope of practice and professional nursing practice. Her doctoral dissertation examined the role of the nurse executive and perceptions others have about the role.
Dr. Trehearne has worked for Group Health for more than 30 years in roles that include nursing education, staff development, nursing administration, and quality. She is also an Associate Dean of Clinical Practice at the University of Washington School of Nursing and an Adjunct Faculty member at Seattle Pacific University.
Dr. Trehearne is a graduate of Riverside White Cross School of Nursing, and holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Ohio State University and her PhD from the Union Institute in Ohio.
Dr. Trehearne is a past chair and current member of the Washington Center for Nursing’s board of directors, a fellow in the Western Academy of Nursing and the Center for Nursing Leadership, and a member of numerous nursing associations. Honors she has received include the Distinguished Career Award from the Northwest Organization of Nursing Executives, the Mountain West Region NurseWeek Nursing Excellence Award for Advancing and Leading the Profession and Outstanding Health Care Executive from the Seattle Business magazine.