Donna Ver Steeg, an emerita faculty member from the UCLA School of Nursing, died of natural causes on Aug. 28 in Sacramento. She was 86.
She received a B.S. in nursing in 1951 from Stanford University; an M.S. in nursing in 1967 from UC San Francisco; and an M.A. in 1969 and Ph.D. in 1973, both in sociology, from UCLA.
Ver Steeg joined the faculty in 1973. During more than two decades of teaching, she also served as assistant dean of student affairs, section chair of primary ambulatory care and associate dean for academic affairs under Dean Mary Reres. She served on four UC statewide committees on professional licensure and curricula, nursing and nursing education, and undergraduate and remedial education. She received a leadership award for her nine years of service on the California Area Health Education Center System Statewide Program Advisory Committee.
Ver Steeg, a nurse sociologist, focused her work on defining and advocating for the recognition of nursing’s place in academia and the delivery of health care. Her research included analysis of staff nurse tasks, the development of family nurse practitioner curricula, the socialization of advanced practice nurses and a computerized taxonomy for nursing diagnosis.
Ver Steeg helped pioneer the evolution of physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners, and authored one of the key scholarly articles on these two career tracks. From 1972-73 she served on the Advisory Committee on Physicians’ Assistants and Nurse Practitioners for the California State Board of Medical Examiners. She eventually led the nurse practitioner program at UCLA, working to "spearhead a successful effort in Sacramento by the CNA to require nurses to achieve standards of practice for certification as nurse practitioners."
She was president of the California Nurses Association from 1979 to 1981. In 1992, she received the Jean Sullivan Award from Region Six of the California Nurses Association for her “significant contributions in pioneering the expansion of the nursing role, enhancing professional image at the state and national level,and contributing to the literature regarding nursing issues and practice.
Ver Steeg was part of the group that worked with the political structure on campus, in the community and in Sacramento to build the Louis Factor Building, which houses the School of Nursing.
At her retirement, she said “I came back to graduate school while a mother of three young children because of what I wanted to do in nursing. Many of the goals I have advocated have been achieved.”
After her retirement, Ver Steeg continued to advocate for nursing issues and was the faculty adviser for the history committee that worked on the publication of "The History of the UCLA School of Nursing," published in 1999 to celebrate the school's 50th anniversary.
A memorial service and reception for Dr. Ver Steeg will be held on Sunday, Oct. 9, from 2–4 p.m. in the Charles E. Young Grand Salon. In lieu flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the UCLA Foundation with a note on the check or in the letter, “School of Nursing-In Memory of Donna Ver Steeg.” Mail to: UCLA School of Nursing, Office of Development and Alumni Relations, 700 Tiverton Avenue, Factor Building 2-244, Los Angeles, CA 90095.