Lori M. Gdanetz, PhD, RN, PCCN

WCSI CCEP® Program Director
WCIS Caritas Coach®
Assistant Professor/Associate Director Gannon University Villa Maria School of Nursing


Lori Gdanetz is a nurse educator and associate director at Gannon University’s Villa Maria School of Nursing located in Erie, Pennsylvania in both graduate and undergraduate programs. Lori has also held a position as adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado, Denver College of Nursing facilitating a 9-credit Nursing Education Certificate Program. Through the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, Lori is board certified in Adult Progressive Care.

Lori became a Caritas Coach in 2016. Lori received her nursing degree from Pennsylvania State University, master’s in nursing education at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD at University of Colorado, College of Nursing in the Caring Science track. In her PhD program Lori used the Caritas Processes®, Ways of Knowing, and Aesthetics in her research “Transpersonal Caring Relationships as Part of an Online Educational Environment”. Lori has published, presented, and continues to be active in research utilizing Unitary Caring Science and the Caritas Processes® associated with her passion for online education and honoring as well as discovering an individual’s lived experience.