The Institute’s Doug Schell has become one of a handful of American nurses with special certification in multiple sclerosis.
In November of 2006, Schell passed the certification examination prepared by the International Organization of Multiple Sclerosis Nurses (IOMSN), whose mission is to establish and perpetuate a specialized branch of nursing in multiple sclerosis.
IOMSN’s certification test covers clinical care, research, patient advocacy and other issues related to MS care.
Schell joined the Institute’s staff in 2000 after working as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in critical care. He says nurses who specialize in MS have a different type of relationship with patients than other nurses.
"Because MS is a chronic problem, we have lots of long-term patients,” he says. “We get to know the patients well, and develop long-term relationships with them."
Schell received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Kansas in 1989. After working in a psychiatric hospital, he entered nursing school at the University of Texas at Austin. He became an R.N., and then went on to receive his master’s degree in nursing, and became a nationally certified Clinical Nurse Specialist in 1999.
