Interview with Dianne Bartels

Abstract

Dr. Dianne Bartels begins her interview by describing her interest in healthcare and her experiences in nursing school and as a nurse at University of Minnesota Hospital. In relation to her work as a nurse at University Hospital, she reviews medical technologies, relations among different members of the staff, Florence Julian and Marie Manthey’s leadership, the development of primary nursing, and the relations between nursing staff at the Hospital and the School of Nursing. Dr. Bartels then discusses all of the following topics in relation to her career in nursing: her time at Mary Crest College in Davenport, IA and the University of Washington; her return to Minnesota as associate director at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park; concerns about nursing shortages; her experiences as associate director at University of Minnesota Hospital; the push for a doctoral program in the School of Nursing; the emergence of Diagnosis-Related Groups; issues around nursing unions; the emergence of HIV-AIDS; abortion services at University Hospital; and the effects of budget constraints on the creation of new programs. In relation to her work at the Center for Bioethics (the Center for Biomedical Ethics at its inception in 1985), Dr. Bartels covers the following topics: the creation and funding of the Center; Dr. Paul Quie’s leadership; the responsibilities and functions of the Center; the placement of the Center in the AHC rather than the Medical School; major bioethical issues the Center faced; her own leadership within the Center; Art Caplan as director of the Center; Jeffrey Kahn as director of the Center; her doctoral research; and ethical issues in genetics and genetic counseling. She concludes with a reflection on the expansion of the Center for Bioethics.