Get to Know Me
Colleen Ditro is a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), certified nurse practitioner, and the lead Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) for the orthopedics, pain and wound care teams at ¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾«Æ·/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. She is on the medical advisory board of the Little People of America, is the camp nurse for Camp Seneb, a summer camp for children with skeletal dysplasia, and teaches nursing students as an adjunct faculty member at West Chester University. She’s been a pediatric nurse since 1987, and is a past board member of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and the Pediatric Orthopaedic Practitioners Society (POPS). Colleen joined ¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾«Æ· in 2004, and earned Nurse of the Year honors for all of ¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾«Æ· in 2013.Â
Why I Treat Children
I have wanted to be a pediatric nurse since I was 16 years old, when my brother passed away from leukemia. His nurses took such great care of him, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I jumped at the chance to join the skeletal dysplasia team at ¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¾«Æ·. I saw that it was an opportunity to be part of a close-knit team and something I could jump into whole-heartedly. I really feel passionate about taking care of the families and children we see.
What I'm Passionate About
I’m passionate about providing high-quality care to families — family-centered care, where we make sure the whole family is included and provided for. Our families often come quite a distance for care and I want to make sure they leave feeling it was worth the trip, that everything fell into place for them and they’re satisfied with the care they got. I’m also passionate about nurses. I teach nursing at West Chester University, and do all I can to help them become great nurses and know how to provide high-quality care for families and children.
How I Try to Make A Difference
I really try to help families in our skeletal dysplasia program connect with resources and with other families with similar conditions and circumstances. We have families from all over the world, so if I can make the connection for a family on the west coast, for instance, with another family of a child with a similar condition in their part of the world, they don’t have to feel like they’re out there by themselves.
