Danielle Leone-Sheehan, PhD, RN
Education and Certifications
- Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing, Boston College
- Master of Science in Nursing, Boston College
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Saint Anselm College
- Certified Watson Caritas Coach®
Focus and Interests
- Watson Caring Science: Application in clinical practice
- Spiritual Intelligence and Spiritual Nursing Care
- Critical Care Nursing
BIO
Dr. Danielle Leone-Sheehan is a registered nurse with over 10 years of clinical experience working in adult critical care, and presently, is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Merrimack College, helping to develop a new nursing program. She has a Master’s of Science in Nursing as an Adult Clinical Nursing Specialist and PhD in Nursing from Boston College. Danielle has broad interests in nursing theory-based care, nursing spiritual care, and Watson’s Caring Science. Danielle’s dissertation research focused on intensive care unit nurses’ experience of the third Caritas Process® of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. This Caritas Process is described as the cultivation of one’s own spiritual practices and personal self, moving beyond ego-self to transpersonal presence. In addition to teaching at Merrimack College, Danielle is very involved in the International Association for Human Caring (IAHC) for over 7 years, serving on the Marketing and Communications and the Conference committees and recently elected to the Board. She has completed the Watson Caring Science Institute’s 6-month intensive Caritas Coach Education Program® for further self-growth and to be a leader in transforming nursing education. Danielle has published on Spiritual Knowing for Nursing, as well as authoring a chapter on Watson’s Caring Science in the recent 10th edition of Nursing Theorists and Their Work textbook.