71: Deborah Discenza and Suzanne Staebler: Leading the Way to Improved Care for Preemies

The Health Crossroad with Dr. Doug Elwood and Dr. Tom Elwood

Deborah Discenza is a leading patient advocate for babies born prematurely. Combining careers in technology and publishing, Ms. Discenza has initiated several different outlets to raise awareness and education around preemies, including Preemie Magazine, PreemieWorld, and her book The Preemie Parent’s Survival Guide to the NICU which she co-authored with little man Director/Producer Nicole Conn. Her work focuses on providing information to parents in simple terms to enhance health literacy, critical when parents are dealing with the very challenging environment of a neonatal intensive care unit. For her work in this area, Ms. Discenza has been widely recognized and is a founding member of many organizatons as well as a regular author to several publications. She has received awards for her work and continues to be very active helping to promote better awareness for parents and others in the health field.Suzanne Staebler has been a leading voice in the field of neonatal nursing for almost 25 years. Currently, she maintains her practice the Pediatrix Medical Group of Tennessee, in Nashville and has a healthcare/health policy consulting business. Previous positions included APRN leadership positions and faculty appointments within neonatal nurse practitioner programs. Suzanne also is active on multiple different national organizations including acting as the Governing Council Chair of the National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners and sits on the board of directors for the National Association of Neonatal Nurses. Suzanne graduated from Baylor University before obtaining her nursing degrees from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and Texas Christian University. She is a board-certified Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and has authored articles on the subject of the health policy implications of regionalization.