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DaiWai Olson, Ph.D.,  R.N.

DaiWai Olson, Ph.D., R.N.

Titles and Appointments

Professor

Endowed Title
Distinguished Teaching Professor
School
Medical School
Department
Neurology | Neurological Surgery
  • Biography

    Joined UT Southwestern: 2012

    Clinical Interests: He worked as a staff nurse from 1986 to 2018. His work is focused on developing a more comprehensive understanding of how nursing care contributes to patient outcomes following acquired brain injury.

    Trainee Education: As the director of the Neuroscience Nursing Research Center (NNRC), he leads three training initiatives for nurses interested in research:

    • Engaged Nursing Students Partnering In the Research Experience (ENSPIRE)
    • Boot Camp for developing a research protocol 
    • Fellowship to allow nurses to lead and complete a clinical research study 

    Research: His SCOPUS h-index of 48 builds from over 400 publications. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing and the co-chair of the international Curing Coma Campaign. As an invited lecturer or visiting professor, he has had the pleasure of presenting his work in 40 US states, 12 countries, and 6 continents.

    Affiliations: He is a member of the Southwestern Academy of Teachers, a Fellow of the Neurocritical Care Society, and director of the NNRC.

  • Education
    Undergraduate
    Scott Community College (1986), Nursing
    Undergraduate
    Teikyo Marycrest University (1997), Nursing
    Graduate School
    University of N C-Chapel Hill (2007), Nursing
  • Research Interest
    • Curing Coma
    • Impact of nursing care on outcomes for neurocritical care patients
    • Intracranial pressure monitoring
    • Research methodology
  • Publications
    Does intracranial pressure vary based on external ventricular drainage? A real-world clinical observation study
    Kwon D, Riskey L, Kamal A, Doyle BR, Louthen B, Marshall JL, Ruxmohan SD, Salter A, Olson DW Australian Critical Care 2025 Mar 38
    Nursing Myth, Meet Nursing Evidence
    Olson DW Journal of Neuroscience Nursing 2025 Feb 57 1
    Quantitative pupillometry as a potential biomarker in early concussion assessment
    Bashir MM, Olson DW, Miller NT, Bunt SC, Cullum CM Journal of Clinical Neuroscience 2025 Feb 132
    Evaluating Advance Practice Provider–Driven Initiatives to Reduce Time to Treatment
    Fairchild P, Nairon EB, Denbow M, Olson DW Journal for Nurse Practitioners 2025 Jan 21
    The Nursing Lens Contribution to Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Neurocritical Care
    Olson DM Journal of Neuroscience Nursing 2024 Dec 56 193-194
    Implementation of a Novel Seizure Assessment Tool for Unified Seizure Evaluation Improves Nurse Response
    Cubria T, Nairon EB, Landers J, Joseph S, Chandra M, Denbow ME, Hays R, Olson DW Journal of Neuroscience Nursing 2024 Dec 56 245-249
    Implementing MATRIX acuity tool to improve nursing satisfaction on a stroke and epilepsy monitoring unit
    Ilao C, Nairon EB, Cuffee M, Olson DW Applied Nursing Research 2024 Dec 80
    Critical Care Clinicians' Knowledge of Post-Intensive Care Syndrome
    Lobos PG, Nairon EB, Denbow M, Olson DW, Wilson JE AACN advanced critical care 2024 Dec 35 300-306
    Anisocoria After Direct Light Stimulus is Associated with Poor Outcomes Following Acute Brain Injury
    Doyle BR, Aiyagari V, Yokobori S, Kuramatsu JB, Barnes A, Puccio A, Nairon EB, Marshall JL, Olson DW Neurocritical Care 2024 Dec 41 1020-1026
    There Is Significant Within-Subject Variation in the Time from Light Stimulus to Maximum Pupil Constriction Among Healthy Controls
    Kamal A, Kim Y, Salter A, Gunna S, Nairon EB, Olson DW Journal of Clinical Medicine 2024 Dec 13
  • Books

    Featured 

  • Honors & Awards
    • D-Magazine Excellence in Nursing
      Award for Excellence in Nursing Research (2021)
    • Excellence in Nursing Award
      D-Magazine. Dallas TX. (2021)
    • The World Federation of Critical Care Nurses 2020 Best Paper Award
      "Lack of standardization in determination of intracranial pressure.” Published in CONNECT: The World of Critical Care Nursing. (2020)
    • Visiting Professor
      Queensland University of Technology in Kelvin Grove Australia (2019)
    • Presidential Citation
      Neurocritical Care Society (2018)
    • Southwestern Academy of Teachers
      (2017)
    • Suzanne Smith Mentoring Award
      London, England (2016)
    • Fellow, Neurocritical Care Society
      (2014)
    • Presidential Citation
      Award for recognition from the Neurocritical Care Society (2013)
    • North Carolina Great 100
      Recognition for top 100 nurses in N.C. (2011)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • American Association of Critical Care Nurses (1990)
    • American Association of Neuroscience Nurses (2007)
    • American Heart Association (2009)
    • International Association of Nurse Editors (2015)
    • Neurocritical Care Society (2005)
    • Sigma Theta Tau (1997)
    • Society of Critical Care Medicine (2002)