Herr named Robert Wood Johnson fellow
Keela Herr, professor and chair of the Adult and Gerontology Area of Study in the UI College of Nursing is one of 20 nurse leaders nationwide selected as a 2007 Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow.

The three-year fellowship program is designed to strategically position the voice of nursing across many sectors of the economy in a health care system undergoing unprecedented change and challenges.

"Nurses should have a pivotal role in leading the redesign of health care to meet the demands of a rapidly aging society," Herr said. "The Executive Nurse Fellowship is an intensive opportunity to enhance leadership skills, build critical relationships and networks, and access amazing resources both in and outside the health care industry. The  collaborative possibilities in the fellowship for improving health care in our country are very exciting."

As part of the fellowship, Herr will undertake a leadership project — focusing on a national initiative to improve pain assessment and management in nursing homes — with funding support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and matching funds from the University.

Beginning in fall 2008, the UI College of Nursing will admit one class of 75 traditional BSN undergraduate students rather than two classes. A critical nationwide shortage of nursing faculty has driven the College's shift to more emphasis on advanced graduate degrees. Full story...

Study will examine impact of
care processes on fall prevention
Dr. Marita Titler, clinical professor, leads a research team which will study the impact of nursing care processes on the quality of patient outcomes, regarding the prevalence of patient falls and injuries from falls. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded a $300,000 grant for the two-year study which will involve the participation of 190 patient care units from 45 hospitals in the U.S.

Pain control following TKR studied
Assistant Professor Dr. Barbara Rakel, has received a $2.1 million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research to advance the study of pain control methods for older adults following total knee replacement surgery.

  Alumni class notes

Here is a random sampling of alumni news. See if your class is represented on the alumni news page of our web site.

1945
Edith Henningsgaard Miller, GN 45, former longtime mayor of Astoria, OR, was honored in September with the unveiling of the Edith Henningsgaard Mezzanine as part of the restoration of the historic Liberty Theater in downtown Astoria.

1970
Marcia Goldsborough is the nurse case manager in Out Patient Psychiatric Care at Veteran’s Hospital in Iowa City. She teaches Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior , is on the Violence Prevention Team, and the parasuicide aggregate review committee.

1973
Kate Caston, MA 73, PhD 94, transitioned to Long Beach, CA after Hurricane Katrina. She works as a nurse educator at VA Long Beach Healthcare facility.

1987
Carla Rosenblum, BSN 87, MSN, graduated with her second master's degree in anesthesia nursing in December 2006 from Texas Wesleyan University. She works in a rural hospital in Summit County, Colorado, the heart of ski country.

2000
Monica Crim, BSN, MSN 00, has worked as an APN in LaHarpe, IL. for the past 10 years. She has purchased the Family Rural Health of LaHarpe, PC practice, a rural health clinic in which a physician is on site once every two weeks.

Huston assumes STTI presidency

Carol (Jorgenson) Huston, BSN 77, has been inaugurated as president of Sigma Theta Tau International.

Read an in-depth profile of this remarkable nursing leader in Reflections on Nursing Leadership.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recognized the caliber of the College's Master of Nursing and Healthcare Practice, and approved a plan to transition the program to an academic masters.

If you have earned the MNHP, you are invited to complete the requirements for the Master of Science in Nursing: Clinical Nurse Leader degree. This distinction will open up greater opportunities for leadership roles and higher earnings. It's also the first step to earning a PhD or the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. Most of the coursework for this degree can be accomplished online. The option for MNHP alumni to enroll will be available only until Fall of 2011. See the MNHP alumni web page for details and frequently asked questions.

Nearly 225 healthcare professionals attended the 18th Annual Long-Term Care Conference and Leadership Workshop Nov. 8 – 9 in Coralville, IA.

Focus of the Nov. 8 Leadership Workshop was the Needs, Environment, Stimulation and Techniques (NEST) approach, an important strategy in providing high-quality person-centered care to older adults. The Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals addressed the topics of surveyors and person-centered elder care.

The Nov. 9 conference discussed evidence-based strategies for infusing a person-centered culture into the care of elders with behavioral challenges. Sessions introduced interventions including wheelchair biking, animal assisted therapy, simple pleasures, and guided imagery.

The keynote address touched on key elements of culture change in long-term care and the roles of nurses and nursing assistants in leading the culture change.

As part of the proceedings, Ann Fountain, of Milestones Adult Day Health Center, was recognized for her innovative approaches to adult care with the Nurse Leader Award which carries a $1,000 award.

The events were presented by the UI College of Nursing Adult and Gerontology Area of Study, the Gerontological Nursing Interventions Research Center, the John A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, and Evercare.

Scholarships and grants boost
geriatric nursing capacity

The Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence (HCGNE) at Iowa has awarded pilot and mentoring grants to the following individuals: Mentoring Grants – Deidre Thornlow, Duke University, and Barbara Head, University of Nebraska. Pilot Grants – Claudia Chaperone, University of Nebraska; Sandra Ramey and Debra Schutte, University of Iowa; and Pamela Lindsey, Illinois State University.

Brianne Black, BSN-PhD student in Gerontology at the UI College of Nursing was chosen as this year’s Evercare Scholar. The award carries a $12,000 scholarship. Evercare is one of the nation’s largest healthcare coordination programs, and has established the scholar program to support future leaders in long-term care.

Pauline Nguyen has been named the Hartford Foundation/AACN Creating Careers Gero Nurse Practitioner Scholar, a full scholarship that will fund her entire Geriatric Nurse Practitioner program of study, along with a monthly stipend. This program was created to help schools of nursing to expand opportunities for students to establish a career in geriatric advanced practice nursing.

1.2 million grant will further gero-psych
nursing education

The Hartford Center at Iowa is one of three to receive a four-year $1.2 million grant to ensure nurses have the most recent evidence-based guidelines for caring for elders with mental health issues.

Researchers at Iowa, the Universities of Pennsylvania and Arkansas, will scan the existing geropsychiatric nursing curricula nationwide. They will then work to include core geropsychiatric nursing competencies in nursing education programs to offer new geropsychiatric nursing curricula to nursing schools across the U.S. at no cost.

The grant is made possible by the John A. Hartford Foundation. The American Academy of Nursing will act as project manager, overseeing the use of the funds at each of the three centers.

Planning grant initiates Nursing Home Collaborative

The five Hartford Centers nationwide have been awarded a one-year, $500,000 planning grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies to develop a HCGNE Nursing Home Collaborative to improve the quality ofcare provided in nursing homes to very frail elders with complex and unstable health care needs.

This planning grant lays the groundwork for a future five-year program to improve care for frail elders by using a research-based professional nursing practice model that can be widely implemented and translated to a national standard.

Young Gero program stronger than ever
Iowa undergraduate nursing students interested in working with older adults can gain valuable experience early in their academic careers, thanks to the Young Gero Nurse Clinician Program.

Students are paired with expert faculty and clinicians to immerse them in the latest gerontological practice and research. Participation in the program is at an all-time high with 15 students enrolled for the Spring 2008 semester.

The Young Gero Nurse Clinician Program is sponsored by private donors and the Hartford Center.

 

The following is a message from Bridget Hoffman, who has been appointed the UI Foundation director of development for the College of Nursing.

Investing in a healthy future
Graduates of the University of Iowa College of Nursing are making tremendous strides in nursing education, practice, and research, both in the state of Iowa and across the nation. These women and men help develop the ideas and innovations that will improve health care for us all.

Without generous private support, UI nursing graduates would not be able to achieve this level of excellence.

That’s why I relish the chance, in my new role as director of development for the UI College of Nursing, to work with alumni and friends like you in giving Iowa nursing students the best educational experiences possible.

I came to the college from my former position as associate director of development for the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the UI Foundation, and I am familiar with the UI College of Nursing and its outstanding performance.

I would like to thank you for your generous contributions. From the halls of the Nursing Building to the pages of Nursing Network, evidence of your generosity is everywhere.

Together, we can strengthen the field’s connections between patients and professionals, research and resources. We also can enhance nursing students’ educational opportunities and bolster the college’s high national rankings.

I would welcome the opportunity to talk with you about how you can invest in a healthier future by contributing to any area or program within the UI College of Nursing. It’s an honor to help build on the success of the only state-supported, higher-degree nursing program in Iowa.

For additional information about supporting the college, please contact Bridget Hoffman at bridget-hoffman@uiowa.edu or at 319-335-3305 or 800-648-6973.

To make a gift for the college online today, please go to: www.givetoiowa.org/nursing

 

Murtis Gordanier Smith, GN 50, and the late Andrew Clark Smith BA 50, MD 52, of Waterloo, Iowa, made a gift of $60,000 to establish the Murtis Gordanier Smith and Andrew Clark Smith, MD, Scholarship Fund in the UI College of Nursing. This endowed fund will provide one or more annual scholarships to deserving students in the college.

Dr. Jan Denehy,associate professor emerita, (right) is shown with Assistant Professor Dr. Barbara Rakel. Denehy’s mother, Ruth E. Cessford, sponsored one of Rakel’s suites in the new Roberta V. and Armando F. Montoya Suite for Nursing Research in honor of her daughter.

Your gifts, large or small, are greatly appreciated and help further our mission of educating the next generation of nursing leaders.

 

I have heard from a number of alumni and enjoy every contact. Please keep the news coming. Your successes are important to us and your classmates. -- Liz Swanson

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your classmates. To send your news or to UNSUBSCRIBE, call 319-335-7006 or e-mail elizabeth-swanson@uiowa.edu.

The University of Iowa College of Nursing
50 Newton Road, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1121
Phone: 319/335-7018 or 800-553-IOWA (4692) ext. 5-7108

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