Barbara (Hartman) Berner devoted her life to her family and her career to nursing. She was born in Windsor Connecticut and spent her formative years in New England. Her first building block in her chosen career was to get a bachelor’s degree in nursing despite the majority of nursing programs being at the diploma level at that time.

Just prior to her senior year in college, unknown to her, Berner made a life changing summer trip with a friend. There she met her future husband, Jim Berner, a medical student. After a year’s long distance-relationship, the two married in 1968. By then, the Viet Nam war was in progress; her husband was in the military, and he was sent to the war zone as a general medical officer. Berner was left with a newborn, and away from her family, but she persisted with her nursing career through work and volunteering.

After his return from Viet Nam, Jim was in his second year of internal medicine residency in Arizona when the couple had some vacation time and decided to explore Alaska. They visited Southeast Alaska. They fell in love with the area and Sitka in particular, and Jim talked to the Medical Director at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital, just across the bridge from Sitka. When they got home a job offer was waiting for Jim from Mt. Edgecumbe.

The young family which now included two sons, Jeff and David, moved to Sitka, Alaska in 1974. Their third son, Mark, was born at Mount Edgecumbe hospital. They built their own house there from scratch. Berner still talks about how wonderful it was to discover her ability to conquer new skills as she worked on the wiring and plumbing from how-to books. In 1979 she took a position as Nurse Epidemiologist at the U.S. Indian Health Service Hospital in Mt. Edgecumbe and became the first Infection Control Nurse at that hospital. Berner developed the protocols and procedures used by the 27-bed facility. She had also met her first nurse practitioners, a new nursing specialty that drew her to the next step of her career. She was intrigued with the new role in nursing and decided that if she ever had the opportunity, she would take on that challenge.

That opportunity did arise when Jim was offered a second residency in Pediatrics through the Indian Health Service in Portland, Oregon. The family moved temporarily to Portland while keeping their Alaska residency, because they knew they wanted to return to their home, Alaska. Berner applied to the Oregon Health Sciences University MSN Nurse Practitioner Track and was accepted into the program. It had been 15 years since her BSN completion, and she felt some trepidation going into a graduate program. But her organizing experience learned with multiple moves, housebuilding, and now three small boys served her well. She would do her homework with the boys at the dining table in the evening. Her emerging leadership skills came into evidence when she served as President of the Graduate Student Organization at OHSU for 1982-1983 and was awarded the Oregon Health Sciences University Dean’s Award for Leadership.

The Berners returned to Alaska in 1983 and relocated to Anchorage for Jim’s final year of pediatrics residency which proved to be the place with the most opportunities for the whole family. Berner’s career took a new turn and she moved to the next level after being offered a position at the Anchorage Training Center for Alaska’s Community Health Aide Program (CHAP). This Indian Health Service program remains unique to Alaska in the U.S. but has been borrowed and modified for use around the world. It trains indigenous people from remote villages in the State to provide primary care services under remote medical supervision. Berner found this to be a life-changing experience. She worked closely with CHA/Ps and learned so much about their way of life and view of the world. She began to see the world in a different way and developed a new respect for this unique program and village culture. She excelled at the job and made lasting contributions to the program.

As an instructor and when soon promoted to Training Coordinator, Berner positively impacted health care services in rural Alaska. She recognized the abilities that were unique to indigenous peoples in developing their knowledge of health care. She researched ways to tap into those abilities and developed teaching methods that best fit their learning styles. Her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Efficiency of information processing as a function of language dominance and learning style” was shared with faculty and providers who worked with CHA/Ps throughout Alaska. She also gained a statewide perspective on health care education that she was later to use to enrich the nursing programs at UAA. In addition, she worked with public health providers from several other countries including Canada, and Australia to share information about the CHAP Program with the possibility of using the CHAP Program as a model for rural health care access in their communities.

Berner loved her work with CHAP and demonstrated her exceptional writing skills as a contributor to the Community Health Aide/Practitioner Manual (1987). Her leadership and organizational skills were essential as she oversaw development of the standards for two important certification boards: one for certifying CHAs as practitioners (CHPs); one for certifying training centers across the state, providing consistency of training. She also was awarded two certificates in recognition of outstanding contributions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and recognized for “outstanding contributions to the mission of the Alaska Native Health Service” resulting in nomination for Category II for the Outstanding Federal Employee of the Year 1989.

It was during this time that Berner became much more active in the Nurse Practitioner movement. Nurse Practitioners had been recently recognized as independent providers in Alaska and were authorized to practice in this new role but were subject to many roadblocks because this was a step outside the traditional nursing role. Berner recognized the importance of supporting and strengthening the profession and became active on both the state and national level. She joined the Alaska Nurse Practitioner Association (ANPA), became a leader in the organization, and served as President for a total of five years. Berner also recognized the importance of developing a strong relationship with the national organization, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), later to be called the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. The need to have a strong national support system and close connection with what was happening nationally was critical to continuing efforts to strengthen nurse practitioner practice in Alaska. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the AANP and served as National President in 1990.

In 1994 Berner joined the Section of Epidemiology, Division of Public Health, State of Alaska and developed and initiated the first federally funded Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (BCCEDP) in Alaska. The program is designed to provide breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services to low income, uninsured and underinsured women in Alaska at no cost to them. Berner’s work with the CHAP and the ANPA had provided her with statewide knowledge of health care issues and local providers that served the BCCEDP well as services were initiated. As developer and coordinator of the Program, Berner has had an immense impact on the health of Alaskan women in need throughout the State. She provided ongoing oversight and continuing education in communities throughout the State. The program, developed by Berner, is still in place today.

During this time Berner also completed a Doctorate in Education from Boston University in Massachusetts. Her major in program planning, administration and adult education prepared her for the next step in her career.

In 1998, Berner accepted a position at the School of Nursing at UAA as faculty and then as Director of the School of Nursing for a total of 19 years. The School of Nursing comprises the largest program within the College of Health at UAA. She influenced improvement of the entire nursing program as well as serving as a model for the nursing students on a teaching and individual level. She supervised 55 faculty and 18 staff in three statewide nursing programs from associate to graduate degrees. She had oversight of an annual budget of over $8 million. All of the nursing programs, including the doctoral program, received full national accreditation during her tenure. It was also during this time that Berner was appointed to the Alaska Board of Nursing, a position she maintained for five years. She was elected Board Chair for two terms.

Much of Berner’s research, publications and presentations have centered on education. She also served on a national task force developing clinical training standards for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN). Considered an expert, Berner served as a guest editor for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) journal and a manuscript reviewer for the AANP and the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. In addition, for five years Berner was a grant reviewer for Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), for federal funding of advanced practice nursing programs. Her national exposure and expertise made her a trailblazer in nursing education which she brought back to UAA. Berner considers herself lucky to come into the nurse practitioner field in the beginning of its development. It gave her the opportunity to strengthen and influence the profession on a state and national level.

Berner initiated the first clinical doctoral program for nurses in Alaska. Establishing that Doctoral Program at UAA would take 8 years. The impetus for the development of this program lay in her recognition of the critical need for a clinical educational foundation that meets the needs of a rapidly changing and much more complex health care environment. The highest level of education is crucial for nurse practitioners to function effectively both as health care providers and as leaders shaping the future of health care in Alaska. Her work involved heading a task force, guiding development of curriculum, and making presentations to legislators, statewide organizations and the UAA Board of Regents. She successfully obtained $300,000 of additional funding from the state legislature to hire graduate faculty for the Program. The program is in place and nationally accredited.

Over the years Berner has received numerous state and national awards for her achievements. In reflecting on her career, Berner feels her work on establishing the Doctorate in Nursing Program at UAA was a highlight in her achievements. It took years of commitment, patience and the ability to present ideas confidently to differing groups to reach success.

At times in her life, Berner would sometimes question her ability to tackle new challenges. Mentors throughout her career were helpful and supportive. Kay Lahdenpera, a public health nurse and manager of the Anchorage Municipal Family Planning Clinic, where Berner volunteered for 15 years was a particular influence. The mentors who helped her inspired Berner to become a mentor herself to many nurses and students. Her major constant support has been from her family. Having her husband, Jim, and her three sons, Jeff, David, and Mark encouraging her in each of her endeavors provided her with the persistence and stamina to take new steps in her career. Their love and caring made a huge impact and helped her succeed. She is indebted to them.

Now retired, Berner spends much of her time with her family. She and her husband Jim have been married for 54 years. Their three sons live near them and they have all followed their parents in health care professions. David and Mark are physicians. Jeff is a family nurse practitioner. They have each married strong, creative, independent women, Melissa, Vanessa, and Amanda, who have now become as daughters. Berner and her husband have eight wonderful grandchildren whom they love to spoil.

Berner has advice from what she has learned in 50 years of nursing, “Be willing to go outside your comfort zone. Be comfortable with your discomfort. Believe in your abilities to take those risks, because if you don’t try, you are never going to know what you could have achieved”.