Meet Hall of Fame Inductee Colonel Marla J. De Jong
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Colonel Marla J. De Jong is Associate Dean for Research, and Director of the Faye Glenn Abdellah Center for Military and Federal Health Research. In addition, she serves as Senior Air Force Advisor to the Dean of the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing. Colonel De Jong earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Grand View College in Des Moines, IA in 1988. In 1988, she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force and began active duty service in early 1989.
During her first assignment to Offutt Air Force Base (AFB) NE, Colonel De Jong served as Medical-Pediatric and Special Care Unit Clinical Nurse, and Infection Control Officer. After earning a Master of Science Degree in Trauma/Critical Care Nursing in 1996 from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, she was assigned as Assistant Nurse Manager in the Coronary Care Unit at Wilford Hall Medical Center (WHMC), Lackland AFB, TX and subsequently as Intensive Care Unit Clinical Nurse Specialist and Nurse Manager of Cardiology Services at Keesler Medical Center, Keesler AFB, MS.
Colonel De Jong earned a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in 2005 from the University of Kentucky, and then was assigned as Executive Director of Research at WHMC. From December 2006 to October 2007, she deployed to Baghdad, Iraq as Program Manager for the Joint Theater Trauma System (JTTS). Colonel De Jong served as Air Force Program Manager at the Department of Defense Blast Injury Research Program Coordinating Office at Fort Detrick, MD, from 2008 to 2009, and Executive Director of the TriService Nursing Research Program (TSNRP) from 2009-2011. Most recently, she served as Dean of the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine.
Colonel De Jong’s contributions have shaped military and civilian clinical practice, the delivery of healthcare, education, research, and health policy. She executed the Air Force’s largest research protection program for 400 studies. While deployed, she managed a trauma registry for 9,000 combat casualties, wrote the first air transport policy, performed 16 staff assistance visits to combatant commanders and clinicians to improve processes, developed functional requirements for healthcare information specialists, infused JTTS priorities into a NATO-operated hospital, and coordinated 10 clinical practice guidelines, contributing to the highest combat casualty survival rate in history. She developed a military blast injury research database for 324 studies worth $710 million to inform Congress of research collaboration among 7 federal agencies, and identify urgent funding priorities. Colonel De Jong mapped a new direction for TSNRP, reengineered 10 grant awards, matured programs of research, and assured the future of military nursing research. As Dean, she fostered a culture of unprecedented education and training excellence, established training polices, executed the faculty development program, modernized the Franzello Aeromedical Library, and achieved maximum accreditation from the Community College of the Air Force and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Colonel De Jong is well-known for her scholarly achievements. She informed clinical practice and closed research gaps by conducting funded research regarding prevention of hypothermia, the effectiveness of buccal pulse oximetry, clinical experience and learning style of aeromedical evacuation crew members, clinical knowledge development, and linkages between anxiety and outcomes for patients with heart failure. She has published 40 journal articles, 9 book chapters, and a book, and served as editorial board member and manuscript reviewer for several nursing journals. As a member of 9 professional organizations, she established organizational goals and initiatives, planned educational events, lectured at local, regional, and national meetings; served on national committees, and developed practice standards.
Colonel De Jong is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Hewlett Packard Award from the University of Maryland School of Nursing (SON), the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Flame of Excellence Award, the Carolyn Williams Nursing Award from the University of Kentucky, the Air Force Field Grade Nurse of the Year Award, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with 4 oak clusters, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Colonel De Jong was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Nursing Hall of Fame in 2011. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2012. In 2014, she received the University of Maryland SON Distinguished Alumni Award and the Grand View University Distinguished Alumni Award.
