Biography
Jan Oosting (FKA Kaminsky), PhD, RN-BC (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS). She is a distinguished Nurse and scholar who has devoted her career to championing LGBTQ+ rights. She spent her childhood in Brooklyn, New York, and northern New Jersey, and attended Douglass College at Rutgers University (2001), where she achieved Phi Beta Kappa status and was a Women’s Studies and History major, with a minor in Spanish. Whilst at Rutgers she had many opportunities to participate in the research process, and completed her undergraduate honors thesis on the history of the LGBTQ+ movement at Rutgers University from the 1960s to the year 2000.
After graduation, she was fortunate to work in research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where she developed an unwavering passion for nursing and decided to pursue her education to become a Registered Nurse (RN). During and after earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from The Johns Hopkins University in 2004, Jan worked in various healthcare settings including hospitals and clinics. During her tenure in these settings, she witnessed the marginalization and discrimination that many LGBTQ+ individuals experienced when seeking healthcare services.
Jan’s experiences motivated her to make a difference, so she returned to school to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) with a focus on the health issues of vulnerable populations. Fortunate to have made this educational choice as the Jonas Foundation formed a fellowship program for NYC area nurses who wished to go into educational positions in the NYC metro area, she was among the eight inaugural Jonas Nursing Scholars in 2008 (a number that has since grown into the thousands). Her dissertation, which she successfully defended in 2012, focused on the child discipline practices of a group of mothers who had their young children with them in an incarcerative setting. She graduated again from The Johns Hopkins University in 2012 and spent the next several years as an Assistant Professor and Acting Executive Director of Nursing at Kean University in New Jersey.
In 2017, Jan accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Nursing at The City University of New York School of Professional Studies, where she has worked tirelessly to deliver the highest quality educational opportunities to every student she encounters. She is deeply dedicated to, and her work is aligned with, the CUNY mission and vision to increase educational access, equity, and success for all students. Her teaching, scholarship, and service during the past six years at CUNY is detailed across this Commons site.
Jan continues to inspire and educate future generations of nurses to provide compassionate and equitable care to all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Examples of her service include: Representative to the CUNY SPS Governing Council, Member of the SPS Committee on Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity, and serving on the CUNY LGBTQI+ Council as SPS representative. She recently spearheaded a successful effort to bring SPS into the CUNY-wide LGBTQIA+ Consortium for the 2023-24 academic year, with a $40,000 grant for student-focused programming.
Throughout her academic and professional career, Jan has been a fervent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and health equity. She has authored articles and book chapters, and has served as an invited speaker at professional organizations, academic conferences, healthcare provider offices, among others. She has given expert testimony to the New Jersey legislature and has been used as a source in such publications as “Cosmopolitan” magazine.
Jan has served on several committees and boards related to LGBTQ+ health, including the board of North Jersey Pride and as the founding director of Rad Family, a social support network serving transgender and non-binary children and their parents and families. She received her American Nurses Association’s American Nurses Credentialing Center Board Certification in Nursing Professional Development. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her advocacy work, including the “Yankees Nurse Hero” award from the New York Yankees.
Her legacy in the field of LGBTQ+ healthcare will be one of unwavering determination, dedication, and passionate advocacy.
In addition to her professional career, Dr. Jan Oosting, PhD, RN-BC is also a proud parent to three teenagers, who she is proud to have shepherded through a global pandemic whilst pursuing her academic career; and who remain her greatest inspiration to make the world just a little bit more equitable.
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