Perioperative Clinical Nurse Specialist
96th Medical Group
Maj Danielle Lawton began her Air Force career in 1996 as an enlisted surgical services
craftsman. With over 20 years of perioperative experience, she has served as a surgical
technologist, sterile processing technician, and operating room nurse across multiple
military treatment facilities.
She earned her BSN from Norfolk State University in 2014 and commissioned into the
Air Force Nurse Corps. From 2016 to 2021, she served at the 316th Medical Group,
Joint Base Andrews, MD, as a clinical staff nurse, operating room nurse manager, and
robotic surgery coordinator. In 2021, she was competitively selected for the Air Force
Institute of Technology (AFIT) program. She earned her MSN in 2023 and is currently
pursuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice at the Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences.
Maj Lawton is board-certified as an Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)
and currently serves as the Perioperative CNS and Sterile Processing Element Chief at
the 96th Medical Group, Eglin AFB, FL. She has led multiple evidence-based initiatives
to improve surgical safety and instrument processing. She co-authored “A Clean You
Can Trust: Using an Evidence-Based Bundle to Transform Point-of-Use Treatment for
Reusable Medical Devices at a Military Treatment Facility” and presented nationally on
malignant hyperthermia through the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses
(AORN). She is a lifetime AORN member and active in the American Nurses
Association and the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists.