Addiction Specialist, Emergency Department - Massachusetts General Hospital

Dawn Williamson is an Advanced Practice Nurse for Addictions Consultation in the Emergency Department at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Ms. Williamson responds to the treatment needs of both individuals and families with addiction and mental health issues in the emergency setting. As part of her responsibilities, she provides training and supervision of the clinical staff, develops and implements policies relating to patient care, and provides assistance with establishing treatment plans.

Ms. Williamson received her BSN from the University of Massachusetts and her Masters in Science in Adult Mental Health Nursing from Northeastern University. She is Board Certified as a Clinical Specialist in Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. She is also a Certified Advanced Practice Addictions Registered Nurse. With twenty-eight years of nursing experience she has practiced in both the public and private sector prior to coming to The Massachusetts General Hospital.

Ms. Williamson is a member of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) and helped author position statements for the association on Medical Evaluation of Psychiatric Patients and on Substance Abuse and the Emergency Care Setting. She is a member of the ENA’s national committee for Emergency Department Psychiatric Care. She also belongs to the International Nurses Society on Addictions. She has given numerous presentations on addiction treatment. She authored the chapter on alcohol intoxication and withdrawal states for Sheehy’s Manual of Emergency Care, as well as, the module on substance abuse for Mosby’s eLearning course, Handling Psychiatric Emergencies.