Noted blogger, media pundit and oncology nurse Theresa Brown – also a New York Times columnist, author and former English professor who left academia for a career in health care – will address students at the University of Virginia School of Nursing in the annual Zula Mae Baber Bice Lecture, to be held Nov. 7 at 12:30 p.m. in the Jordan Hall Conference Center.

Brown’s lecture, "RN-MD Collaboration: A Work in Progress," will address one of the more vexing issues facing the health care system today.

In her writing, Brown regularly tackles difficult issues with poignancy: offering a glimpse of gun maiming and death in a hospital trauma unit and morgue; reminding patients, not so tongue-in-cheek, that July is the worst time for a hospital visit, given the new crop of medical residents; and outlining the practicalities behind her support of the Affordable Care Act.

Brown is the author of “Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between” (HarperStudio 2010), which chronicles the challenges facing a first-year nurse while exploring the deep connections forged between people in the hospital. She was a regular contributor to the New York Times’ “Well” section, and also writes for Scrubs magazine, CNN.com, the American Journal of Nursing and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She is a member of the National Advisory Council for the Hunter College Center for Health, Media and Policy, and lives in Pennsylvania.

The Bice Lecture is held in conjunction with the School of Medicine’s Medical Center Hour.

Named for long-time former nursing dean Zula Mae Baber Bice, who earned her nursing diploma in 1940 and a bachelor of science in 1950 from U.Va., this annual lecture – which invites eminent nursing leaders to speak on pertinent health issues of the day – was established by the School of Nursing Alumni Association in 1975.

School of Nursing alumni, Health System employees, students, parents and the community are invited to attend the event, free of charge. A reception will follow.  Parking, for a fee, is available at the Health System’s 11th Street Garage or the lots and garages on the Corner.