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January 9, 2003

Obituary — Corrinne M. Barnes

A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. March 31 in Heinz Chapel for Corinne M. Barnes, professor emeritus of pediatric nursing at the School of Nursing, who died on Nov. 19, 2002. She was 74.

Barnes received her bachelor’s in nursing education from Pitt in 1960, a master’s in nursing care of children in 1963 and a doctorate in 1974. Her published research and doctoral dissertation were instrumental in bringing about important changes in intensive care units in children’s hospitals throughout the U.S.

Barnes began her career at Allegheny General Hospital. In 1963, she became the first pediatric clinical nurse specialist at Children’s Hospital. She joined Pitt’s nursing faculty in 1960, serving as a pediatric nursing educator and program director for more than 30 years. She also was editor of the Maternal-Child Nursing Journal.

On her retirement in 1994, she created the Corinne M. Barnes Doctoral Scholarship to encourage and support nurses who conduct research in the nursing care of children. Patricia Burkhart, the first recipient of the scholarship, and now assistant professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, said Barnes inspired many students to become leaders in the field of pediatric nursing.

Barnes served on the Maternal-Child Health Advisory Board of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She was instrumental, with Dolores Wilden, in the development of The Caring Program for Children, the first private sector primary health care program for children in the country. She was a founding member of the National Society of Pediatric Nurses, a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. She received the School of Nursing’s Distinguished Alumna Award and was honored as a Carlow College “Woman of Spirit.”

“Dr. Barnes was a wonderful facilitator of networking, and a role model in encouraging nurses to give back to the profession,” said Thelma Patrick, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, a former student and faculty member in Barnes’s program.

Nursing Dean Jacqueline Dunbar-Jacob recalled Barnes as a person truly dedicated to her life’s work. “Corinne Barnes had such a strong commitment and motivation to pediatric nursing, that it was as much leisure activity for her as it was a work activity. She was truly one of those people who found great pleasure in their work.”

Filed under: Feature,Volume 35 Issue 9

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