Daria Waszak (DNP, RN, CNE, COHN-S), clinical associate professor at Rutgers University School of Nursing, has been appointed executive director of the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing, effective July 1. She was approved for the role by the board of directors of NJCCN, a state-established center housed at the nursing school.

Waszak assumes the leadership role from Edna Cadmus (PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN), who retired July 1 as a clinical professor at Rutgers School of Nursing and the executive director of the NJCCN.

“Dr. Waszak has been a valued Rutgers Nursing colleague and member of the NJCCN leadership team. I’m confident she will shine in her new executive director role,” Cadmus said. “With Daria at its helm, I look forward to seeing the center continue to offer evidence-based workforce solutions and advocate for the nursing workforce of New Jersey.”

Waszak previously served as NJCCN’s assistant director for little over one year. She joined the Center and the School of Nursing faculty on July 15, 2024. During her time at the Center, she has been actively engaged in the acute care nurse, school nurse, and APP transition into practice program in the implementation and evaluation phases of these initiatives. She serves as co-investigator in the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Growing Apprenticeships in Nontraditional Sectors (GAINS) grants to help support these programs.

She has published results of these programs in peer-reviewed journals and presented at state and national conferences. Waszak also serves as co-investigator on a funded study by the National Council of State Boards of Education on the Exploration of the Integration of LPN Workforce into NJ Acute Care Settings. She has participated in the data reports generated by the center this year and testified on behalf of the center on workforce bills, sharing the data from our reports to help legislators make informed decisions.

Dr. Waszak represents the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers on the NCSBN Burnout and Long-Term Care sub-analysis team and on the National Nursing Workforce Survey Team in 2026. She serves on the Communications and Marketing Committee for the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. She will be joining the Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program Advisory Board in July 2025. She also serves on the Advocacy Committee for the Organization of Nurse Leaders of New Jersey (ONL-NJ).

Within the School of Nursing, Waszak is a member of the Division of Advanced Nursing Practice, which comprises master’s, post-master’s, and doctoral programs. Before coming to Rutgers, she was associate dean and associate professor at Felician University. 

She earned her DNP in Health Systems Executive Leadership from the University of Pittsburgh, a MS in Nursing Administration/Occupational and Environmental Health from the University of California, Los Angeles and her BS in Nursing from San Diego State University.  She is board-certified as a Nurse Educator, certified eTeacher, and Apple Teacher with a clinical background in occupational health, forensic and emergency nursing.

About NJCCN

The New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing was established at Rutgers School of Nursing by New Jersey statute (P.L.2002, c116) on December 12, 2002. NJCCN’s mission is to be the dominant voice on nursing workforce solutions in NJ.  The center serves as a future-oriented research and development organization to develop and disseminate objective information and provide an ongoing strategy for the allocation of state resources directed toward the nursing workforce.