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NursingU N I V E R S I T Y O F M A R Y L A N D

Spring/Summer 2012 Volume VI, Issue IThe Magazine of the University of Maryland School of Nursing

Through groundbreaking science—conducted in the lab, at the bedside,and in the community—the School’snurse researchers are pushing the

boundaries of knowledge.

MEETING THE NEED FOR MORE NURSES | PIONEERS IN NURSING SCIENCE | ACUTELY EQUIPPED

SOLVING THE PUZZLEOF BETTER HEALTH

FROM CELLSTO SOCIETY:

Political CloutSchool of Nursing students traveled to Annapolis inFebruary to meet with legislators during the School’sannual Advocacy Day. Here, students Rebecca Babb,David Crews, Joel Forsythe, and Merab Okeyeo waitfor the School to be recognized on the floor of theSenate. More than 30 students participated in theevent. (See p. 4.)

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2 Letter from the Dean

3 NewsA boost for the Wellmobile program,Convocation 2012, priming thepipeline, better care for veterans,meeting the need for more nurses,empowerment through posters,and more.

11 ForecastWhat are some surprising waysthat nurses will impact the futureof health care?

16 DiscoveryReducing the overuse of Cesareansections, obese nurses more stressed,collaborating to improve the lives ofthose with HIV, and more.

34 Alumni PulseNews of our alumni

42 PhilanthropyStories of giving

Pioneers in Nursing ScienceToday’s flourishing research program at theSchool got its start some 50 years ago. Through-out the ensuing decades, faculty investigatorsmade important gains in advancing the theoreticaland empirical basis for nursing practice.

From Cells to SocietyThrough groundbreaking science—conducted inthe lab, at the bedside, and in the community—the School’s nurse researchers are pushing theboundaries of knowledge.

Acutely EquippedNow completing his second year teachingTrauma, Critical Care, and Emergency Nursingat the School, alumnus Bimbola Akintade ispassionate about bringing his clinical expertiseas an acute care nurse practitioner tothe classroom.

U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A R Y L A N D S C H O O L O F N U R S I N G

Features

Departments

Spring/Summer 2012 Volume VI, Issue I

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2 | SPRING/SUMMER 2012

THIS ISSUE OF NURSING is focused onways in which nursing scholarship andscience make a difference—from cell tosociety.The practice of nursing,whichemphasizes evidence-based research, thecornerstone of nursing science—has beenexpanding and developing from FlorenceNightingale’s era until today.The sheerscale and complexity of today’s researchdemands that all scientists move beyondthe boundaries of their particular disci-plines and look at new models of teamhealth care.Nurse investigators areuniquely positioned to lead this effort—to overcome silos in search of newapproaches to delivering excellent healthcare and improving the quality of life.

The University of Maryland School ofNursing is an integral unit of a research-intensive university that is home to someof the most influential leaders andinnovative thinkers across the nationand around the world.Our impact isunderscored by numerous top 10rankings from U.S.News &World Report.Our remarkable progress is highlighted byour recent advancement in researchfunding received by the National Insti-tutes of Health (NIH)—a move from33rd place in 2007 to 19th in 2011.Thereare very few schools of nursing in thenation that have a robust bench sciencegroup like ours.Having researchersinvolved across the “cell to society”spectrum enables bench- and population-focused investigators to collaborativelyexplore the genetic basis and interven-tions for the prevention and managementof disease.Research at the School ofNursing is closely aligned with the goalsset forth by the mission of the NationalInstitute of Nursing Research’s StrategicPlan, Bringing Science to Life.

As it has been so aptly stated:“There’sa reason it’s the ‘National Institutes ofHealth’ and not the ‘National Institutesof Science.’We expect the NIH to beactively involved in translational research.Yes, you get the basic science done, butwe want to know, how does that helpus lead healthier lives?”

In this issue of NURSING, you canread about our various groundbreakingresearch activities in Muscular Dystrophy,neuropathic numbness and residualeffects of cancer and AIDS treatments,addiction, nerve damage and painresulting from chemotherapy, thebenefits of physical exercise for hipfractures, the impact of pets on hearthealth, hard-to-reach populations,nurse-midwifery care, and needlestick/blood exposure studies.

Our health care system inexorablydemands improved alliances to moreeffectively manage patient needs.Asevidenced daily by our true collaborativespirit, our School remains committed toeducating and inspiring the investigatorsof the future.We offer our studentsmultiple opportunities to gain the inter-professional experience they need tobecome part of the health care workforcein all capacities.We will continue toidentify proactive, innovative solutions,through interdisciplinary approaches, toforge new paths that allow us to advancecutting-edge science, disseminate ourfindings by translating science intopractice, and improve our health caresystem.Clearly, our faculty, students, andalumni will rise to the challenges andmeet the demands of the future.

D E A N ’ S L E T T E R NursingUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Spring/Summer 2012Volume VI, Issue I

University of Maryland NURSING is apublication of the University of Mary-land School of Nursing. The magazineinforms readers about faculty, student,and alumni involvement in nursing edu-cation, research, practice, and leader-ship, and serves as a tool for connectingalumni and other constituents with theSchool of Nursing.

editorial board:Patricia Adams, Editorial DirectorSusan G. DorseyMarjorie FassLaurette HankinsKaren KauffmanShannon McClellanKathryn MontgomeryPatricia MortonRobin NewhouseRebecca Wiseman

contributors:Patricia AdamsChristen BrownleeDan CaugheyStacey ConradLauren GlennLaurie Legum

design and editorial:Clipper City Media11459 Cronhill Drive, Suite A-B,Owings Mills, MD 21117Jeni Mann410-752-3504www.clippercitymedia.com

consulting editor:Sue De Pasquale

art director:Cortney Geare

photography:David AndersonRichard LippenholzJustin Tsucalas

University of Maryland NURSING is pub-lished twice a year by the University ofMaryland School of Nursing, Baltimore,Md. We welcome comments, sugges-tions, and story ideas from alumni,partners, and friends. Please send allcorrespondence to the editorial director.

send correspondence to:Patricia AdamsExecutive Director of CommunicationsUniversity of Maryland School of Nursing655 W. Lombard St., Suite 311DBaltimore, MD 21201Phone: 410-706-4115Fax: [email protected]

Copyright © 2012 University ofMaryland School of Nursing.

Sue De PasqualePatricia FanningLaurette HankinsCynthia SikorskiJoe SugarmanMary Zajac

Janet D.Allan, PhD,RN,FAANDean and Professor

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF NURSING | 3

DURING A CEREMONY held at theSchool of Nursing in January,representatives from CareFirst BlueCrossBlueShield presented a check for$955,276 to the School to funda three-year grant in support of theGovernor’s Wellmobile Program.

“We are here to celebrate the launchof a very special collaboration, which isgoing to have an important impact onthe health care of some of the mostvulnerable children, adults, and familiesacross three rural upper Eastern Shorecounties,” said Kathryn LothschuetzMontgomery, PhD, RN, NEA-BC,associate dean for strategic partnershipsand initiatives.

The grant will fund primary careand enhanced care management forunderserved and uninsured populationsin Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbotcounties.Through partnerships andcollaborations with health care systems,this model aims to reduce unnecessaryrehospitalizations and emergencydepartment utilization by filling thegap in the existing health caresystem infrastructure.

“In addition to delivering primarycare services and providing a holistic

approach to servingpatients, you take yourshow on the road,” saidMariaTildon, JD, CareFirstsenior vice president forpublic policy andcommunity affairs.

Administered bythe School of Nursing, theWellmobile Programconsists of nurse-managedtraveling health clinicscreated by statute in 1994.The dual mission of theprogram is to providehealth services for under-served communities and uninsuredindividuals and to serve as a trainingsite for School of Nursing students.The public-private partnership hadexpanded to four vehicles but thenshrank in 2009 due to economicpressure brought on by the recession.Budget cuts had reduced the programto one geographic region and smaller-scale, community-focused initiatives.

Maryland Delegate JoselinePena-Melnyk, JD, a member of theWellmobile Board of Directors, alsopraised the CareFirst grant.“We need

public-private partnerships.We cannotdo it alone,“ she said.

Susan Antol, MS, RN, an assistantprofessor at the School of Nursing anddirector of theWellmobile Program said,“We hope to develop a model that addsvalue to the community and supportshospitals, primary care practices, and thelocal Federally Qualified Health Centerin building a seamless network of healthcare, especially in this time of healthcare reform.”—Patricia Fanning and Patricia Adams

School Receives Grant to Support Wellmobile Program

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THE SCHOOL OF NURSING has achievedits highest-ever ranking in research fundingfrom the National Institutes of Health (NIH),advancing to 19th place among nursingschools receiving research funding from

NIH. The School has steadily improved in thisprestigious ranking in recent years.

The rankings are based on the amount ofresearch dollars awarded by NIH to each school. These competi-tive grants are reviewed by NIH experts for their scientificmerit and program relevance. In fiscal year 2011, School ofNursing faculty members attracted more than $2.6 million in NIH

grants. In FY 05, by comparison, the School ranked 58th, with lessthan $500,000 in NIH funding. Faculty members are conductingresearch in areas such as chronic pain, impulsivity and drugabuse, neuromuscular disorders, and bone health.

“This achievement is a tribute to our School’s leadership andto our esteemed nurse scientists,” says Susan G. Dorsey, PhD, RN,FAAN, associate professor and associate dean for research.“Grants from NIH are among the most competitive, so this isquite an accomplishment for our faculty and our School.”

Research at the School produces distinctive, peer-reviewedinquiry to shape the profession of nursing and the health careenvironment. By advancing research, the School builds sustain-able programs, including collaborative, participatory networkswith other disciplines, organizations, and communities, Dorseynotes. Research is infused in the School’s educational andpractice initiatives. —P.A.

School of Nursing Advancesin NIH Research Rankings

School of Nursing, University of Maryland, and CareFirstofficials, along with other colleagues, partners, and friends,gathered to celebrate the new Wellmobile grant.


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Students and Faculty Travel toAnnapolis for Advocacy DaySCHOOL OF NURSING FACULTY AND STUDENTS traveledto Annapolis in February to meet with legislators during theSchool’s annual Advocacy Day. Armed with materials thatdemonstrated the School’s impact in strengthening the deliveryof health care in the state, more than 30 students visitedlegislative offices, and several shadowed individual lawmakers.

Students encouraged legislators to support funding for theLoan Assistance Repayment Program and to continue to supportGovernor Martin O’Malley’s budget request for the Universityof Maryland. They also told lawmakers that they are thankfulfor having access to top-notch faculty and a variety ofclinical opportunities.

Carolyn Quattrocki, JD, executive director of the governor’sOffice of Health Care Reform (OHCR), addressed the group onhow the nursing profession is likely to be affected by the state’simplementation of the Affordable Care Act.

“We view it as providing a toolkit,” she said, adding that thefederal law gives the OHCR “a lot of discretion to implementhealth care reform and make changes in our state that workwell for Marylanders.”

Montgomery County Sen. Nancy King, a member of the BudgetCommittee, told students how important it is for them to takeadvantage of this opportunity to have their voices heard.

“I see budgets from all schools and there are many differentsubjects,” she said. “If you don’t come down here [to Annapolis]to highlight your subjects, they could get lost among the rest.Make it a point to come. It makes a difference.”

Heather Boulanger, a Clinical Nurse Leader student whoshadowed Baltimore City Del. Keith Haynes, said of her experi-ence, “I felt so privileged to have the delegates take an interestin the needs and ideas of the students in their jurisdictions. Theynot only allowed us to shadow them but also to be engaged intheir meetings.” Boulanger said she was honored to have spentthe day with Del. Haynes. —P.A. and P.F.

Event Recaps

“TEACHING BETTER, WorkingSmarter: Practical Strategies,” was thetheme of a conference presented bythe School of Nursing’s Institute forEducators in Nursing and HealthProfessions, held March 7 atthe School.

Keynote speaker Greg DeBourgh,EdD, RN,ANEF, professor, Universityof San Francisco School of Nursing,urged attendees to change theirteaching focus from “coveringcontent” to teaching “CPR”—Cognition (advanced reasoning andclinical judgment skills); Process(mental processes of learning,application, and process); and Role

(thinking as a nurse: professionalcompetencies). DeBourgh alsostressed the Essentials of NursingEducation (Core Competencies forCurrent and Future Nurses) ofTeamwork and Collaboration,Evidence-based Practice, QualityImprovement, Informatics, Safety,and Patient-Centered Care.

“With the growing facultyshortage, nurse educators are doingmore with less,” said Carol O’Neil,PhD, RN, CNE, associate professorand co-director of the Institute forEducators in Nursing and HealthProfessions.“This conferenceprovided nurse educators with

valuable information on how toimprove teaching methods and workmore effectively.” —P.A.

Del. Keith Haynes and student Heather Boulanger.

Conference Offers Practical Teaching Strategies for Nurse Educators

Carol O’Neil, Greg DeBourgh, Dean Janet Allan,and Susan Bindon


NEARLY 200 PEOPLE attended the ninth annual Evidence-BasedPractice conference,“Practice Based on Evidence: the Future ofNursing,” held at the School of Nursing in April.The goal of theconference was to prepare nurses to understand their role in thefuture of nursing and the application of evidence, and to recognizethe need for leadership in shaping the future of health care.

Daniel J. Pesut, PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN, professor ofnursing and senior faculty fellow at Indiana University, deliveredthe keynote address,“Creating the Future of Health Care throughAppreciation, Influence, and Control: Using the AIC Model toCreate a 21st-Century Health Care System.”

In speaking about leadership, Pesut said,“There is somethingmore important than leadership and the mantra of leadership.The essence of leadership really is about influence. Rather than talkabout leadership, my wish is that more and more nurses becomeaware of and consciously and intentionally use the influence theyhave in their sphere of activity.”

The conference highlighted the eight recommendations in the2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the Future of Nursingthat establish professional, academic, and clinical direction for thenursing profession and how those recommendations will impact therole of nurses in transforming the health care delivery system.Thedevelopment and application of clinical evidence in the practice ofnursing and the translation of evidence to improve health careoutcomes were also addressed during the two-day conference. —P.A.

RESEARCH OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS hasdemonstrated a reduction in mortality in breast cancerpatients, due in no small part to advances inchemotherapy. The decision to recommendchemotherapy to cancer patients has traditionallybeen based on anatomic prognostic factors.However, recent research suggests that biologicfactors can be used to personalize chemotherapytreatment. These factors and their implications werediscussed by Daniel F. Hayes, MD, professor andclinical director of the Breast Oncology Program,University of Michigan Cancer Center, at the 2012Komen Distinguished Lecture, held at the School ofNursing in March.

In the lecture, “Determining Who GetsChemotherapy for Breast Cancer: Biology vs.Anatomy,” Hayes explained that in the past, allwomen with small tumors that were completelyremoved with surgery were offered adjuvantchemotherapy.However, most ofthese women arecured by surgery anddo not need theadditional treatment.Hayes identifiedvarious biologicalcharacteristics of anindividual tumorthat may predictwhether she willrespond to hormone therapy or to adjuvantchemotherapy. He also presented data showing thatsome women with aggressive tumors will not benefitfrom chemotherapy, while others will derive greatbenefit. Still others can be effectively treated withhormone therapy alone. He cautioned, however,that it is still not possible to predict with a greatdegree of certainty an individual’s likelihoodof surgical cure, or her response to chemotherapy.However, he said, clinical trials are under waythat may shed additional light on these problems.—P.A.

EBP Conference Focuseson the Future of Nursing

Sheila Bryson-Eckroade, MEd, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, acting chief nurse executive,Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System; Kathryn LothschuetzMontgomery, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, associate dean for strategic partnerships andinitiatives; and Daniel J. Pesut.

Komen LectureAddresses Implicationsof Chemotherapy

Daniel F. Hayes

DECKED IN ACADEMIC REGALIAand wearing big smiles, the School ofNursing’s Class of 2012 processed into the1st Mariner Arena to the strains of “Pomp andCircumstance,” on Friday, May 18, tocelebrate the successful completion of theirnursing degrees. The state’s largest class ofnurses—648 strong—included 282 Bachelorof Science in Nursing, 333 Master ofScience, 21 Doctor of Nursing Practice, and12 PhD graduates.

Kathleen Buckley, PhD, RN, IBCLC,associate professor and chair of the FacultyCouncil, welcomed graduates, familymembers, faculty, and friends.

Janet D. Allan, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean andprofessor, who will be retiring this year,shared many words of wisdom with thegraduates in her Convocation address.

When describing her mentor—a headnurse she encountered during her undergrad-uate program who was technically, ethically,and personally responsible, proficient, and

authentic—Dean Allan said,“I challenge you now to identifyfor yourself a particular mentorthat you will call upon in stressfulsituations when you need apersonal model of excellence.”

“Knowing what is right in anysituation is often very complex,but the more we practice, thebetter we get at it,” she said. “Asnurses, we are endowed by oureducation with the capacity to beethical and we cultivate thatendowment by daily practice, which includesconstant questioning of what we see takingplace around us as it affects both patientsand nurses, and then talking about it withother nurses—not in a judgmental way, butin a way that brings forth all the relevantvalues that could be attached to a decisionor situation.”

Later in the day, School of Nursinggraduates participated in the University of

Maryland, Baltimore Commencementceremony at 1st Mariner Arena, whereFreeman Hrabowski, III, PhD, president of theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County,delivered the Commencement address. PeterBuerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN, Valere PotterProfessor of Nursing and director of theCenter for Interdisciplinary Health WorkforceStudies at Vanderbilt University Medical Cen-ter, received an Honorary Doctor of Sciencedegree at the Commencement ceremony.—P.A.


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Event Recaps

Convocation 2012648 Graduates Receive Degrees

Honorary degree recipient Peter Buerhaus andDean Janet Allan.

Master’s grad Kris Killius led the Commencement procession.

DNP grads Suzie Burke-Bebee, Christy Dryer, and Susan Bindon.


Lit by a Fireto Succeed

VICTORIA ANTHONY never dreamed shewould be become a nurse. The challengesshe faced to enter and eventually finishnursing school were overwhelming. Butshe faced those obstacles head on andcompleted her Bachelor of Science inNursing degree in December 2011 throughthe School of Nursing’s program at theUniversities at Shady Grove (USG).

When Anthony was growing up in Mont-gomery County, she came home from schoolone day to find that her mother had movedout due to extenuating circumstances.

“This was more than my dad couldhandle,” says Victoria. “He tried to commitsuicide by taking pills and then he tried toshoot himself.” Eventually her father washospitalized for threatening to kill his wife,her boyfriend, and himself. The children wereleft on their own with no parents to care forthem. They had no place to go. The familyhouse was sold, and the children went theirseparate ways.

Anthony had been volunteering at theRockville Fire Department since age 16 andwas able to live at the station in exchangefor 48 hours of work a week. She stayed fornearly four years and became part of anew family.

“I was the only female living at the station,and I worked extremely hard to prove myselfto the guys,” she says. Because of her stature(she is 6 feet tall) and the strength shegained from being an athlete, Anthony wasable to bear the burden of carrying more than

100 pounds of equipment, which is requiredof all firefighters.

While she was happy and successful inher firefighter role, her desire was to becomea nurse, specifically an emergency roomnurse. Working hard to make ends meet withher full-time job at a hotel desk, Anthonystruggled to pay for tuition, books, and feesfor nursing school. So, she applied for aKendall Scholarship at USG.

When she got a call saying that she hadwon the scholarship, she thought it onlycovered books. “When I found out that itcovered tuition, too, I almost dropped thephone!” she says. “I asked if she had the rightperson. I couldn’t believe it!”

The Clifford and Camille Kendall Scholar-ships, established in 2005, are for USGstudents who demonstrate financial need,show high potential for success, intend toremain in Maryland after graduation, anddemonstrate prior service to others.

Anthony is currently an emergency roomnurse at Montgomery Medical Center in Olneyand serves as a master firefighter for theRockville Volunteer Fire Department. —P.A.

BSN grads from the Universities at Shady Grove: David Crews,Shamia Wyche, Kristen Dizon, Vanessa Castelino, and Richard Camer.

Dean Janet Allan delivers Convocation address.


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KALICIA THOMAS wanted to be a nurseever since a high school internship in anOB/GYN office. But the North Carolinanative joined the military after graduationfrom high school, eventually earning the rankof Army Sergeant First Class. By 2011, after 13years of military service and equipped with anAssociate of Science degree from BlackhawkCollege in Moline, Ill., Thomas was ready for achange and ready to become a nurse. Sheenrolled at the University of Maryland Schoolof Nursing last fall and began work towardher Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree asa college junior. It was, Thomas recalls,“a rough transition.”

“Being in the military, I thought I could takeanything, but nursing school was the mostdifficult thing I’ve ever done in my life,” shesays. She felt overwhelmed by the challengesof juggling family life with school and strug-gled with the advanced coursework. “Itrained as an Ammunition Specialist,” sheexplains. “I know about bullets; I don’t knowabout humans.”

Enter School of Nursing AssistantProfessor Vanessa Fahie, PhD, RN, andthe Chrysalis Project.

Funded by a $941,219 grant from HealthResources and Services Administration,part of the U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services, the Chrysalis Project is athree-year project launched in July 2010.It is designed to “increase the pipeline ofnurses from backgrounds traditionallyunderrepresented in nursing, including racialand ethnic minorities, and educationallyand economically disadvantaged students,”says Fahie.

One part of the Chrysalis Project isaimed at students such as Thomas, who areentering their junior year of nursing schooland transitioning from institutions where theytook their prerequisites. “Nursing requiresstudents to think more critically, make clinicaljudgments,” explains Fahie. “Students needto change the way they think, study, andprocess material. It’s a major adjustment.”

Throughout their junior and senior years,the students in the project (10 at the School ofNursing’s Baltimore location and 10 at theUniversities at Shady Grove) meet in smallstudy groups and with tutors, and are pro-vided with mentors in clinical courses “to helpthem understand and reinforce the concept of

learning for life and not just for a test as theydevelop leadership skills,” say Fahie.

“Having Dr. Fahie reach out to me made ahuge change,” says Thomas, who went fromearning D’s to earning B’s in one semester,thanks to one-on-one tutoring. “I’m proud I’mstaying on top of my studies.”

In their third semester, School of Nursingstudents are asked to complete a healthprevention service project for high schoolstudents as a way of “reaching back andbringing along aspiring nurses,” says Fahie.During the fourth semester, Chrysalis Projectmentors help students prepare for theirlicensing exam and beginning leadership roles.

The second part of the Chrysalis Project isaimed at reaching students even earlier intheir academic journey—while they are inhigh school. Currently, the project offers men-toring and support to 30 Dundalk High Schoolsophomores who have applied for and havebeen accepted to the school’s Health CareersClub, which focuses on readying them for therigors of college. Participating students com-mit to a structured study program requiringeight additional hours of English, math, andscience each week. In return for their partici-pation, students receive a small stipend.

Fahie and two other nursing colleaguesmeet the students for lunch three times aweek for health career talks, college searchdiscussions, and guest speaker presenta-tions. “These students often don’t have rolemodels who emphasize the importance of ed-ucation,” says Fahie. “They’re often the firstgeneration in their families to go to college.”

Fahie and her team also organize collegetours and run a two-week academic summercamp that offers SAT preparation and coach-ing in “pyscho-social skills—so they knowhow to communicate with teachers andprofessors—and financial literacy, so theycan avoid the pitfalls of college debt.”

Deja Adams, a 16-year-old who wants tobe an RN, praises the network available to herand the help she has received in writingcollege essays and applying for scholarships.She already has her sights set on Notre Dameof Maryland University and is confident abouther chances of studying there. “The mostimportant thing I learned is to keep going andnot give up,” she says. —Mary K. Zajac

Priming the Pipeline

Vanessa Fahie (second from left) has an informal hallway chat with Dundalk High Schoolstudents Nairouz Youssef, Dharminder Singh, Dave Cross, and Javier Reyes.

Better Care for VeteransDEAN JANET ALLAN announced inApril that the School of Nursing willbe participating in the Joining ForcesCampaign—an initiative to furthereducate our nation’s three million nursesso they are prepared to meet the uniquehealth needs of service members,veterans, and their families.

Led by the American NursesAssociation,American Academy ofNurse Practitioners,AmericanAssociation of Colleges of Nursing, andthe National League for Nursing, incoordination with the Departments ofVeterans Affairs and Defense, more than150 nursing organizations and 500nursing schools have committed toeducating current and future nurses onhow to recognize and care for veteransimpacted by post-traumatic stressdisorder (PTSD), traumatic braininjury (TBI), depression, and othercombat-related issues, in ways appropriateto each nurse’s practice setting.

“Whether we’re in a hospital, adoctor’s office, or a community healthcenter, nurses are often the first peoplewe see when we walk through thedoor. Because of their expertise, they

are trusted to be the frontline ofAmerica’s health care system,” saidFirst Lady Michelle Obama who,along with Dr. Jill Biden, announcedthe commitment from nurses acrossthe country to serve our veteransand military.

“Nurses are at the center ofproviding lifesaving care in communitiesacross the country—and their reach isparticularly important because ourveterans don’t always seek care throughtheVA system,” said Biden.“Thiscommitment is essential to ensuringthat our returning service men andwomen receive the care they deserve.”

The School of Nursing’sparticipation in the Joining ForcesCampaign is in keeping with itslongstanding involvement in educatingmilitary nurses and veterans.TheSchool’s current student body includes18 active-duty military, 52 veterans,and six active-duty or veterans who areenrolled in the doctoral program.Fifty-two of these students are onthe GI Bill.

Dean Allan noted that the Schoolof Nursing established the Walter

Reed Army Institute of Nursing in1964—a four-year program subsidizedby the U.S.Army in which graduateswere obligated to serve for three yearsin the U.S.Army Nurse Corps (ANC)following graduation. More than 1,100nurses graduated from the programbefore it ended in 1978.An innovativepartnership initiated with the ANC in2007 brought six ANC officers to theSchool to be utilized as nursing faculty,at no cost to the School, to help addressthe nursing faculty shortage.

“Since nurses make up the largestsegment of the professional health careworkforce—and they are the mosttrusted among all professions—it is onlyfitting that nurses and nursing schoolsare at the forefront of this importantnational campaign,” said Dean Allan.

The invisible wounds of war, PTSDand TBI, have impacted approximatelyone in six of our troops returningfrom Afghanistan and Iraq—more than300,000 veterans.And since 2000,more than 44,000 of those troops havesuffered at least a moderate-grade TBI.

Nursing leaders also havecommitted to disseminating effectivemodels for care and to sharing themost up-to-date information on theseconditions across academic and practicesettings. By working to expand thebody of clinical knowledge in thisarena and by partnering with otherhealth care providers and institutions,nursing leaders across the nation willcontinue to advance high-qualitytreatment for these conditions inevery community.

For more information aboutthe Joining Forces initiative, visithttp://www.aacn.nche.edu/joining-forces.—P.A. and P.F.

“Because of their expertise, [nurses] are trusted to bethe frontline of America’s health care system.”

—FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA

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TWO SCHOOL OF NURSING FACULTYMEMBERS were among the 16 recipientsof 2012 University System of MarylandBoard Regents Faculty Awards.Theawards are the highest honor presented bythe board to exemplary faculty members.Presented in four categories, the awardshonor excellence in mentoring, publicservice, scholarship, and teaching.Eachaward carries a $1,000 prize provided bythe institutions and the University Systemof Maryland Foundation.Vanessa P. Fahie, PhD, RN,

assistant professor, received an award formentorship. Fahie has devoted her careerto developing projects that impacteducationally and environmentallydisadvantaged students.Her three-foldapproach has been to prepare undergrad-uate nursing students to provide qualityhealth care to diverse populations, toincrease the sensitivity of students inhealth professions, and to encourage

high school students to furthertheir education by participatingin the “college completer”program,which she designedand spearheads (see p. 8).Fifty percent of those studentsin her Career ReadinessProgram now take rigorouscourses, and 80 percent appliedto and enrolled in collegesacross the nation.Karen Kauffman, PhD, RN,

CRNP, associate professor and chairof the Department of Family andCommunity Health,was honored forher public service.As a member of theNational Public Policy Committee,Kauffman served to propose advocacystrategies for federal, state, and localpublic policy issues and was instrumentalin expediting access to Social SecurityDisability and Supplemental SecurityIncomes for people with early onset

Alzheimer’s Disease.A board-certifiedgerontological nurse practitioner, herwork reaches far beyond Maryland andnational borders. She recently chaireda committee task force to update thestatements of ethics written forprofessionals around the world.

“We are extremely proud of Dr. Fahieand Dr.Kauffman,” said Dean Janet Allan.They exemplify the quality and standardsof our school’s faculty.”—P.A.


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Two Honored withUSM Regents Awards

William E. “Brit” Kirwin, chancellor, University Systemof Maryland (USM); Karen Kauffman; Vanessa Fahie;Patricia Florestano, chair, USM Board of Regents; andJay A. Perman, president, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Welcome New FacultyBELINDA CLIFFORDMSN, RN, CPOCEClinical Instructor

MARY LYNN DAVIS-AJAMIPhD, MBA, NP-CAssistant Professor

AMY DANIELSBSNAssistant Director,Clinical Simulation LabsClinical Instructor

KELLY FLANNERYPhD, RNAssistant Professor

VICTORIA SELBYMSN, RN, PMHNP-BCClinical Instructor

CLIFFORD DAVIS-AJAMI DANIELS FLANNERY SELBY

F O R E C A S T

What are some surprising ways that nurses will impactthe future of health care?

Mazen El Ghaziri,MPH, BSN, RNCurrent PhD Student, Vice President,Doctoral Student OrganizationUniversity of Maryland School of Nursing

As an international student from Lebanon,I realize that professional nurses are activelychanging the health care sector in bothdeveloping and developed countries acrossthe globe. Learning from the experience ofthe U.S. and other developed countries, thescope of nursing practice in developingcountries is expanding. This change in scopewill put nurses at the forefront of the healthcare sector, both as gatekeepers andproviders of more accessible and equitableservices. Nurses will work in interdisciplinaryteams to provide high-quality, cost-effectivecare. The role and impact of nurses in globalhealth initiatives will be significant, as theirscope expands beyond the boundaries of thehospital, and the country, to the globe—affecting health care outcomes of individualsand populations. Findings from nurse benchscientists and nurse researchers at themolecular, cellular, and biobehavioral levelswill change health care practices and thusbe a driving force for policymaking.

Christina Calamaro,PhD, CRNPAssistant ProfessorUniversity of Maryland School of Nursing

I believe that no other profession under-stands the comprehensive needs of patientsbetter than nursing. Nurses will be the keyexperts in health care delivery and the publicwill notice! We will be on the frontline,developing and testing different mechanismsto assist patient navigation through thehealth care system. Nursing will then developfeedback systems to evaluate the effective-ness of these strategies in improving quality,cost, and satisfaction with care in diversepatient populations and communities—especially underserved populations. Nurseresearchers will play a pivotal role in collect-ing data on outcomes, such as functionalstatus, health-related quality of life, patientexperience, and patient access to care. Wewill play a critical role in providing this keyresearch data back to providers so they canchange and modify care processes.Nursing will assist in developing paymentsystems that reward providers for shareddecision-making, patient satisfaction, andpatient-centered care.

Karen A. McQuillan, MS ’86,BSN ’81, RN, CNS-BC, CCRN,CNRN, FAAN, Clinical Nurse SpecialistR Adams Cowley Shock Trauma CenterUniversity of Maryland Medical Center

Undoubtedly, nurses will continue to definepractice with evidence generated fromnursing research. These findings will directhealth care providers with key ways tointegrate new technology into practice.Nurses will be instrumental in defining themost effective strategies to facilitate contin-ued professional development among careproviders. As frontline care providers andstrong patient advocates, nurses will playa pivotal role in determining best practicesfor care of patients living much longerwith chronic disease and end stage organdysfunction, as well as at the end of life.Implementing research findings into practicewill continue to strengthen nursing’s lead asdrivers of excellent patient care. As trustedclinicians and strong advocates for high-quality patient care, nurses will strengthentheir voice as valued leaders and policy-makers. Nursing leaders will be more andmore sought after to provide a voice whenimportant policy changes are decided.



Meeting the Needfor More Nurses

A MORE FLEXIBLE PATH TO THE DNP

The current supply ofadequately preparednursing school faculty iswoefully inadequate tomeet current and future

enrollment needs, says PatriciaMorton, PhD ’89, MS ’79, RN,ACNP, FAAN, professor and associatedean for academic affairs.

Despite the demand for nurses inMaryland, in 2005 the number ofqualified students who could notbe accepted into entry-level nursingprograms in Maryland was 2,357, dueprimarily to a lack of qualified faculty,notes Morton. Maryland nursing deansand directors identified a need for anadditional 112 full-time and 152part-time nursing faculty—a figurethat represents more than a25-percent increase.

Recruitment of nurses into facultypositions is ever more challengingbecause the doctoral degree is thedesired credential for a nurse educatorin many institutions of higher educa-tion. Historically, schools of nursingonly offered a research-focused PhDdegree, but now nurses can choose thepractice-focused Doctor of NursingPractice (DNP) degree.

With her first NSP II grant awardedin 2006, Morton and her team launchedthe School of Nursing’s DNP program.Now, with funding from a second NSPII grant, they are building on that workby converting the current face-to-facein-class DNP program at the Schoolto an online and blended (online andface-to-face) learning format withflexible scheduling. Currently enrolledstudents and those who have inquiredabout the program clearly indicate a

desire for online and blended-learningformats, Morton notes. Conversion toan online and blended format, she says,will allow nurses with inflexible workschedules and those who reside in ruralareas of Maryland to take part in theprogram and thus significantly increasethe number of faculty—and ultimatelybedside nurses—for Maryland.

EXPANDING CLINICAL INSTRUCTION

Professor Mary EttaMills, ScD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, and AssistantProfessor Linda Hickman,PhD, MBA, RN, FACHE,

received funding for a second NSP IIgrant,“Master’s Preparation of StaffNurses to Expand Clinical InstructionCapacity.” The funding of $1,936,042extends from July 1, 2009, throughJune 30, 2014.

The purpose of this grant, Millsexplains, is to increase the number ofnursing faculty who are hospital-basedclinical instructors through partnershipsbetween the School of Nursing andselected hospitals. By identifying,recruiting, mentoring, and graduatingstaff nurses as master’s-prepared clinicalinstructors, says Mills, schools ofnursing in Maryland will be able toaccommodate increased enrollmentof undergraduate nursing studentsthrough enhanced access to necessaryclinical experiences.

The project builds on the success ofa previous NSP II grant with Universityof Maryland Medical Center andFranklin Square Medical Center

N E W S

THE SHORTAGE OF REGISTERED NURSES is a major threat to the nation’s

health, as evidenced by a report released in February 2012 by the U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, which indicated that within the next eight years, 1.2 million

additional nurses will be needed to fill new positions and replace those retiring

from the profession.

In an effort to meet this need for more bedside nurses, the Health Services

Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) has contracted with the Maryland Higher

Education Commission (MHEC) to administer the Nurse Support Program II. NSP II,

which was developed by Dean Janet Allan and her peers—in collaboration with

health care providers—focuses on expanding the capacity to educate nurses and,

therefore, concentrates on the nursing educational system, including schools

offering nursing programs and hospitals. Funding for NSP II is being provided

through a 0.1 percent increase to the rate structure of all hospitals retroactive from

July 1, 2005. Approximately $8.8 million is available annually for NSP II.

At the School of Nursing, faculty members have received grants through NSP II

to tackle the nursing faculty shortage through a variety of innovative strategies:

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by addressing both the need to fillexpected vacancies in the nurse work-force and reduce the nursing facultyshortage.To increase the number ofnursing faculty beyond the scope of thefirst grant, the researchers developedan expanded strategic partnershipbetween the School of Nursing,AnneArundel Medical Center, Baltimore-Washington Medical Center, GoodSamaritan Hospital of Maryland,Mercy Medical Center, Shore HealthSystem: Easton and DorchesterHospitals, and LifeBridge HealthSystem: Sinai Hospital of Baltimoreand Northwest Hospital.

As a direct result of this partnership,there is a planned increase of 100master’s-prepared nurses to fill thevoid in the clinical instructor facultyranks.As of the end of the 2011 fallsemester, says Mills, there were 52students enrolled.

EASING THE TRANSITION FORNEW FACULTY

The School of Nursing’sInstitute for Educators inNursing and HealthProfessions was awardeda four-year, $1 million

grant designed to enhance thepreparation of nurses for faculty roles,which will directly impact the qualityof nursing education by preparingnurses to meet the health care needs ofMaryland residents.This grant buildson the track record of the Institute inoffering high-quality educationalprograms and resources since itsinception in 2004, notes Carol O’Neil,PhD, RN, CNE, associate professor,whoco-directs the Institute with ProfessorLouise S. Jenkins, PhD, RN.

A program to orient and guidenurses transitioning from clinical rolesto teaching roles is under developmentand will be offered for the first timethis year.This orientation will be

offered both online and in face-to-faceclassroom learning environments andwill be expanded into a graduate-levelelective course offered to School ofNursing graduate students in master’sand doctoral programs, O’Neil says.

Current nursing faculty in Marylandwill be supported with ongoinginitiatives that include an online FacultyResource Center, small workshops, andan annual conference.These activitieshave the added benefit of increasingaccess to faculty development resourcesas well as facilitating ongoingnetworking and collaboration.

DEVELOPING A STATEWIDEPRECEPTOR PROGRAM

With $433,000 in NSP IIfunding, Professor JaneKapustin, PhD, CRNP,BC-ADM, FAANP,assistant dean for the

master’s and DNP programs, andAssistant Professor Janice Hoffman,PhD ’06, RN, CCRN, assistant deanfor the baccalaureate program, areco-directing a project to increase thenumber and preparation of clinicalregistered nurse preceptors available towork with nursing students from allpre-licensure RN programs in Maryland.

Based upon findings from theNursing Executive Center, academicpractice gaps continue to grow, notesKapustin, and this project is one strategy

to better prepare entry-level nursingstudents for the realities of currenthealth care settings. RN preceptorsmay complete the course—designed asa self-paced online educationalprogram—before or after they assumethe role of preceptor for students.Thegoal is to prepare at least 225 RNpreceptors in the state of Maryland overthe next three years, Kapustin says.

Launching in June 2012, the programincludes seven modules designed toprepare participants for the roles andresponsibilities of being a preceptor.Content includes assessing learningneeds and styles, clinical teachingstrategies, facilitating critical thinking,managing learning experiences withculturally diverse students, conflictresolution, and legal and ethicalchallenges.The program is free to allregistered nurses in Maryland, and acertificate is provided upon completionof all modules. In the event that theRN wishes continuing education units(CEU’s), these are available for a nomi-nal fee of $30.An advisory board withrepresentatives from selected health careagencies throughout Maryland andeducators from the School of Nursingwas established to provide input tocourse content, marketing, and programevaluation. RN preceptors andagencies will also be invited to evaluatethe program after completion.—Sue De Pasquale

N E W S

“DESPITE THE DEMAND FOR NURSES IN MARYLAND, IN 2005

THE NUMBER OF QUALIFIED STUDENTS WHO COULD NOT

BE ACCEPTED INTO ENTRY LEVEL NURSING PROGRAMS IN

MARYLAND WAS 2,357, DUE PRIMARILY TO A LACK OF

QUALIFIED FACULTY.” —PATRICIA G. MORTON, PhD ’89, MS ’79, RN, ACNP, FAAN

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THIS SPRING, the walls of FrederickMemorial Hospital were graced for thefirst time with posters from the Schoolof Nursing’s Senior Poster Practicum inEvidence-Based Practice (EBP).

EBP has become a cornerstoneof the School’s four-year curriculum.It follows four basic steps: converting aproblem into an answerable question;searching through research to find thebest evidence; appraising the evidencefor validity and usefulness; and applying

the evidence to clinical practice.For students at the Universities atShady Grove (USG), the poster displaymarks the culmination of theirEBP experience.

The students were encouraged tobase their presentation topic on experi-ences gathered during their 180 hoursof clinical practicum—from the mosteffective way to treat a specific type ofinfection to the most effective methodfor nurses to communicate patientreports during a shift change.

The creation and display of thestudent posters aims to start a conversa-tion and effect real change.“Weencourage students to go back to theirpreceptor and unit to share theirfindings from their EBP practicum.Students are learning they have theautonomy to shape practice, which isvery empowering,” says Denise Owens,MS, RN, clinical instructor and facultycoordinator for the School of Nursing’sProgram at USG.Jana Goodwin, MS, RN, clinical

instructor and course coordinator atUSG explains the importance of EBP

in nursing.“In EBP, nurses are taught tounderstand what they are doing, whatworks, and what doesn’t work basedon research findings rather thanrelying on the past apprenticeshipmodel, where students followed theirmentor without question. EBP is aboutempowering nursing students andteaching them why they’re doingsomething so they’re more confidentwith patients, which in turn results inbetter patient outcomes.”

Through the Senior PosterPracticum, Cheryl Cioffi, DNP,RN,ANP-BC, OCN, director ofnursing professional and clinicaldevelopment at Frederick RegionalHealth System, hopes that FrederickMemorial Hospital nurses and

students will engage in a reciprocallearning experience.

“The posters will highlight theevidence related to the student’s chosenpractice topic, which will reinforcethe ‘why’ behind what nurses do andchallenge nurses to consider new waysto do things based on current evidence.It is becoming the norm to expect thatnurses be involved in scholarly activitiessuch as EBP and research projects, andthat they share their work throughactivities such as poster presentations.This exhibit should be a positive andrewarding experience for the studentsbecause it will also help them under-stand that what they are learning inschool does translate into the actualpractice environment.

“The nurses who review the posterswill also benefit because many havenever completed a formal EBP project.The project will hopefully generateinterest and draw RNs back intoeducation when they see what thestudents have accomplished,” says Cioffi.—Laurie Legum

N E W S | S P O T L I G H T O N S H A D Y G R O V E

Empowerment Through Posters

“The posters will highlight the evidence related to the student’schosen practice topic, which will reinforce they ‘why’ behind whatnurses do and challenge nurses to consider new ways to dothings based on current evidence.” —CHERYL CIOFFI, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, OCN

Students Josephine Ta (left) and Cherie St. Bernard (right)explain their poster to Clinical Instructor Mary Pat Ulicny.


C A R E E R C H A N G E R | N E W S

AS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, Christina Boord neverreally considered a career in teaching. Then she accepteda college scholarship that required she teach in an area ofcritical shortage for at least four years after graduation.Fortunately, Boord’s intended major, chemistry, metthat criterion.

“I met two amazing chemistry teachers during my studentteaching who made me realize what a great choice I hadmade,” she says. “From the very beginning I always founda way to make a connection with my students and strived toinspire them to be the best they could be.” Following thebirth of her twins in 1998, Boord left teaching. She continuedto stay involved in the education field, however, by servingas a chemistry tutor.

Then, in 2004, Boord’s mother was diagnosed withcolon cancer. “During my mother’s illness I found myself

researching everything from her prognosis to treatmentoptions and what implications all of this would have—notonly for her but also my father. I credit a family friend whohappens to be a pastoral nurse at our church for openingmy eyes to the unique role that nurses play in patients’ lives.She was my mother’s educator, cheerleader, advocate,and at times her caregiver,” says Boord.

Shortly after Boord’s mother passed away, hermother-in-law was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.“This experience showed me a completely different side tohealth care, one that I am afraid to say I’ll never forget,”she says. “It was obvious at doctor’s appointments and atchemotherapy treatments that she was just another patient,”says Boord.

Her mother-in-law often had to wait hours for chemotherapy,and Boord felt that she was not prepared for what to expect,or educated about her options. “I felt that my mother-in-lawwas put through unnecessary procedures that did notprolong her life. I think had she been treated with compas-sion and sincerity she would have found great comfort ratherthan frustration,” says Boord.

The contrast in these two experiences motivated Boordto enter the School of Nursing in fall 2011 to earn a Bachelorof Science in Nursing degree. “Nursing offers me the bestof all that I enjoy: the challenge and fascination of thesciences, the chance to engage in meaningful educationalopportunities, as well as having a positive impact on thelives I touch,” she says.

“As a nurse, I want to encourage people to learn abouttheir condition and explore what options they have,” saysBoord, who is likely to pursue a specialty in oncology andeventually return to school to earn a Doctor of NursingPractice degree. She recommends that patients and theircaregivers ask questions if they don’t understand something.

“It’s okay not to understand something. With my mom,her doctor would tell her things, which she would go backand research on her own. She would have her questionsprepared as to why or why not something was beneficial.Patients need to remember they’re active participants in theircare, not passengers being taken for a ride.” —L.L.

“As a nurse, I want to encourage peopleto learn about their condition andexplore what options they have.”

The Perfect Formula

Christina Boord


D I S C O V E R Y

TODAY, RATES OF CESAREAN SECTION(CS) in the U.S. have soared to 32.9 percentof all births, more than twice the rate of15 percent recommended by the WorldHealth Organization. The result: avoidablecomplications and higher health costsrelated to childbirth.

“We want to understand the factorsthat influence the use of CS, to minimizethe morbidity and mortality related to useof the procedure,” says Mary Regan PhD, RN,assistant professor at the School of Nursing.“Mortality rates for neonates delivered by CSare 2.4 times higher than vaginal deliveries,the babies are twice as likely to suffer seriouspulmonary complication requiring admissionto Neonatal Intensive Care, and they have anincreased risk of developing childhoodasthma. Similarly, women who have CS birthshave an increased likelihood of pregnancy-related maternal death and severe morbidity,including postpartum hemorrhage, woundinfections, postoperative adhesions, chronicpelvic pain, rehospitalization, and increasedrisk of adverse outcomes in subsequentbirths,” Regan notes.

Regan conducted a 2010 study funded bythe National Institute of Health’s EuniceKennedy Shriver National Institute of ChildCare and Human Development. The researchfocused on building knowledge about whatwomen want from their birthing experienceand about what informs their choices abouttheir mode of birth—which is essential tounderstanding the role of maternal demandin the use of CS, says Regan.

The women, who were recruited throughsocial media sites and prenatal classes, wereinterviewed twice, once between 36 weeksand term and again within six weeks postna-tal. There were 42 vaginal births among the49 women who completed the study, of whichsix were home births. The remaining sevenwomen had Cesarean sections.

“In the study, birth choicewas influenced by women’sperception of risk. On oneside you have women whosee the use of childbirthtechnological interventions,such as fetal monitoring,epidural or CS as a way tomitigate risk to the fetus,while the other side seesthose same technologicalinterventions as a risk tofetal well-being,”says Regan.

According to Regan, themore women knew aboutchildbirth, the more likelythey were to have homebirths, opting to go outsidethe health care systementirely. “These women did not want routinelyused interventions for the management oflabor and believed that home birth was thebest option to avoid them,” she says.

Regan found that the women in the studywho articulated the least knowledge andpreparedness for birth were significantly morelikely to be admitted to the hospital earlierin labor and have more interventions thanwomen who had a clear birth plan. “Thesewomen were not as articulate about the risksand benefits of early interventions andweren’t making choices from an informedplatform,” says Regan. Of the seven womenwho had Cesarean sections, four of themwere admitted early in labor and had multipleinterventions including continuous fetalmonitoring and epidural anesthesia.In addition, even though maternal demandfor Cesarean birth is often cited as a majorfactor influencing the use of CS, particularlyin very educated women, only one of thewomen in the study requested that modeof birth.

Regan believes that there is a very definiteplace for CS in contemporary perinatalpractice, but that reducing overuse isnecessary to optimize health outcomes.

“CS is needed but probably not in33 percent of births. My interest is in findingways to normalize use of the procedure sothat we can minimize risk to mothers andbabies,” she says. Regan intends to followup with a new study that will examine whenroutine procedures are used during laborto determine if the timing influences theneed for CS.

“I want to stress that I’m not saying thatwomen shouldn’t have CS,” she says.“Rather, my goal is to optimize outcomesby finding out when to use interventions sothat they don’t increase the risk of CS.For example, is it better to hold off on givinga woman an epidural and instead utilizenoninvasive management strategies suchas mobility and hydrotherapy, both ofwhich have been shown to reduce amother’s perception of pain until laboris well established.” —L.L.

Reducing the Overuseof Cesarean Sections


D I S C O V E R Y

WHEN SCHOOL OF NURSINGpostdoctoral fellow Kihye Han, PhD,RN, undertook her study of factors thataffect obesity in nurses, she knew fromher own experience that job stress andextended shifts could lead to weightfluctuations. She just didn’t realizehow prevalent the effect was.

In her study,“Job Stress and WorkSchedules in Relation to NurseObesity,” published in the Journal ofNursing Administration (Volume 41, Issue11) and conducted in collaborationwith Professor Alison Trinkoff, ScD,RN, FAAN, Professor Carla Storr,ScD, RN, and Associate ProfessorJeanne Geiger-Brown, PhD, RN, Hanfound that 55 percent of the 2,103nurses in a cross-sectional survey wereoverweight or obese (that is, having aBody Mass Index over 25), and one ofthe primary causes was the now-standard 12-hour workday.

Working 12-hour shifts poses itsown unique set of issues, explains Han,including disrupted sleep and eatingschedules, unhealthy snacking, and littletime for non-work social interactions.A regular schedule of exercise can alsobecome compromised.

The seed of Han’s workwas planted in her own

experience as an Intensive Care Unitnurse in her native Korea, where acombination of stress and adverse work-ing conditions led to her own erraticweight loss and gain.When she arrivedin the U.S. for postgraduate work shesays she was “shocked there were somany people who were obese.”A fur-ther shock was the lack of research onthe effects of obesity in her own field.

Even though the percentage of obesenurses is slightly lower than the rate of

obesity in the general population,the challenges of long hours andhigh stress are still pertinent bothin terms of nurses’ health and inpatient care. Not only can nurses’adverse working conditions affectpatient outcome, says Han, but“health care providers should alsobe role model providers for patients.”Or, as Trinkoff explains:“Peopleassume that someone who hashealth knowledge is going to be

personally healthy.”

Further, the physical demands of the12-hour shift can cause more nurses toleave the profession as they age and areunable to perform the physical dutiesof the job, adds Trinkoff.The nursingprofession is poised to experience“a real loss of expertise and practicethat can make health care better … ifschedules preclude people workingwhen they get to a certain age,” she says.

The nature of nurses’ work can alsocontribute to them placing patient

well-being above their own.“A nurse’sday is long, and it’s difficult to get toa meal, so nurses snack along the way,eat candy at the desk,” says Trinkoff.“In these jobs, one cannot really ‘paceoneself.’” Instead, nurses often rely onthe mentality of “just keep going.”

Han’s study offers several suggestionsto make the workplace more supportiveof nurses’ health. If shorter shifts are notpossible, Han and her colleagues suggestan institutionally supported system ofbreaks for exercise, meals (rather thanunhealthy snacking at a nurses’ station),and even napping.

Trinkoff is seeking funding foran intervention designed to test a com-bined focus on diet, sleep improvement,and physical activity.

For Han, who eventually plans toreturn to Korea to continue her work,the study has broad implications.“InKorea, the work environment is follow-ing the American style more and more,”she explains.“The American present isthe Korean future.We need to considernurses’ health for patients’ health.”—M.K.Z.

Obese Nurses More Stressed, Less Active

“People assume that someone who has health knowledgeis going to be personally healthy.”

—ALISON TRINKOFF, ScD, RN, FAAN

“IT’S A HARD THING TO TELL PEOPLEthey have HIV because it changes theirlives forever,” says Marjorie Buchanan,MS, MPH, RN, a clinical instructor atthe School of Nursing with 46 yearsof service.

But through a new interdisciplinaryprogram headquartered at Universityof Maryland’s Institute of HumanVirology (IHV), nursing students andmedical students are learning to testfor HIV and then deliver the results topatients.“Nurses usually don’t have tobear bad tidings to patients,” saysBuchanan.“This gives students a newsensitivity to physicians. It’s mucheasier to understand how difficult thisis when you have to be the one todeliver the message yourself.”

The program is part of theJACQUES Initiative, a national pilotprogram and provider of a multitude ofHIV services—from primary care andcommunity outreach to education andsupport groups. In spring 2009, theinitiative launched the first phase ofProject SHALEM, which concentratedon engaging and training members ofBaltimore’s faith-based communities tobe certified HIV testers.The result?Some 5,500 Baltimoreans were testedin five years.

The results were so impressive, saysDerek Spencer, MS ’99, BSN ’90,

CRNP, executive director of theJACQUES Initiative,“we thought, ‘if avolunteer can do this, then certainlywe can do this with medical andnursing students.’”

Since fall 2011, Phase II of ProjectSHALEM,“Preparing the Future,”has trained more than 70 School ofNursing students, 30 School ofMedicine students, and four facultymembers in HIV testing and linkage tocare, in partnership with the Maryland

Department of Health and MentalHygiene (DHMH), through a didacticand hands-on curriculum.

Students begin the programwith HIV 101, a three-hour sessionsponsored by JACQUES that teachesstudents about HIV, the current stateand efficacy of treatment, and what itis like to live well with HIV.This isfollowed by an all-day session at theDivision of Infectious Disease andEnvironmental Health, DHMH, where

D I S C O V E R Y | B O U N D A R Y B R E A K E R S

Students Collaborate toImprove Lives of Those with HIV

Marjorie Buchanan administers an OraQuick test to a patient.

“That HIV is now a chronic disease and that people living withHIV can live a normal lifespan and be treated from a place ofwellness rather than sickness is eye-opening to students.”

—JAMIE MIGNANO, MPH, MSN, RN



University SummitAddresses HIV CrisisIn April, building on the success ofthe JACQUES Initiative, the Universityof Maryland in Baltimore broughttogether faculty and students fromall six of the University’s professionalschools for a conference aimed ataddressing the crisis of HIV. Theinitiative positions the University atthe forefront of achieving the goals ofthe President Obama’s National HIVand AIDS Strategy (NAIDS).

The goals of the NAIDS that thesummit addressed include reducingnew HIV infections, increasingaccess to care and improving healthoutcomes for people living with HIV,reducing HIV-related health dispari-ties and inequities, and achieving amore coordinated response to thenational HIV epidemic. Mirroring thenational strategy, Baltimore’s HIVStrategy calls for reducing HIV/AIDSby 25 percent locally by 2015.

The summit highlighted each ofthe University of Maryland’s profes-sional schools and their role in thefight against HIV. It also providedopportunities for students andfaculty to come together to adoptnew approaches that magnify theimpacts of both their personal andcollective efforts to advance thegoals of the NAIDS through acampus-wide HIV strategy. —P.A.

students learn to use the OraQuicktest, which can produce accurate HIVresults in 20 minutes.The studentsalso engage in role-playing to practice

the challenge of talking about testresults with a patient.

Then, under the direction ofSchool of Nursing faculty members,nursing students participate in one offour clinical groups that put theirnew skills into practice in variouscommunity centers, including Paul’sPlace and Bon Secours CommunityWork Program, Safe House, PowerHouse Church, and East SideFamily Center.“From a teachingand learning point of view,” saysBuchanan,“it is an incredibleexperience.What students canlearn about caring for people withchronic and communicable diseasethrough this project is extraordinary.It influences how they will carefor everyone.”

“That HIV is now a chronicdisease and that people living with

HIV can live a normal lifespan andbe treated from a place of wellnessrather than sickness is eye-openingto students,” adds Jamie Mignano,MPH, MSN, RN, program directorfor Development and InformationDissemination for the IHV.“Studentsare empowered to have an impact onboth individual and public health byidentifying cases of HIV and linkingthem to care and treatment.Theyhave the ability to use these skills asstudents and also apply them to theirfuture practice.”

Spencer says he has seen manyinitially reticent students blossom,though most students, he says, haveexpressed an enthusiasm for theopportunity to interact with clientsat such an intimate, personal level.“Students are so inspired by theability to influence a crisis [like HIV]in their lifetime,” says Spencer.

Clinical Nurse Leader graduateBrenda Harkins, MS ’12, agrees.While she admits that talking toclients about test results can be achallenge,“it’s a strange mix [offeelings],” she explains.“You don’twant to tell them [they have HIV],but at the same time, if they have it,we hope we find them.” The range ofclient reactions—from nonchalanceto denial to excitement—has alsosurprised her, and she’s been touchedby “the quick connection you canmake with a person because they’reso exposed.They decide to trust youwith their HIV status, so they trustyou with other things.”

According to Spencer, plans areunder way to continue growing the“Preparing the Future” program byinvolving students enrolled at otherUniversity of Maryland professionalschools including the Schools ofPharmacy, Law, Dentistry, andSocial Work. —M.K.Z.

Derek Spencer delivers remarksat the HIV Summit.

Learning evidence-based testing procedures.


AfterWorldWar II, the shift in nursing education from hospitaltraining schools to academic settings made possible, evenmandated, the development of nursing as a scientific discipline.As nursing education moved into universities and colleges,nursing leaders increased their efforts to make nursing researchthe basis for professional practice.No longer bound by tradition,intuition, and authority, nurses began to analyze long-acceptednursing procedures and articulate new nursing concepts andtheories.“Nursing science,” a novel term when first used in theearly 1950s, became familiar to successive generations of nursingstudents who learned to ask questions, think critically, and useresearch as a basis for their practice.

Between the 1950s and 1970s, the School of Nursinggradually built a strong faculty that was equipped to undertakeresearch.By the late 1970s, the faculty was extensively involvedin research and publishing—including books, chapters, andarticles, as well as clinical studies on patient care and health caredelivery.When the School’s doctoral program began in 1979,it was one of the few in the nation designated for nurses.The program, aimed at providing visionary leadership for theprofession, emphasized research and theory development andthe preparation of scholars and researchers who would advancethe theoretical and empirical basis for nursing practice.

Pioneers in Nursing ScienceBy Dan Caughey Despite a nursing tradition dating back to Florence Nightingale, nursing

research has only emerged as a systematic study within the last 50 years.

Prior to the mid-1900s, nursing superintendents found that the demands of

maintaining an efficient nursing service left little time for sustained investiga-

tion and inquiry. And in an educational setting emphasizing obedience and rigid

discipline, nursing students were not encouraged to question or analyze.

Barbara A. Smith (left)and Kathleen Landers,research supervisor, consultwith an exercise client.(circa 2005)

Professor Emeritus MaryV. Neal, PhD, RN, FAAN,who served on the faculty from 1968 to 1983, studied prema-ture infants here in the late 1960s and 1970s.Her work was thebasis for further investigations into the care of premature infantsinvolving motion, handling, and stimulation.Today, prematureinfants have closer contact with their caregivers and earlierinstitutional discharge than was thought possible in Neal’s day.She was recognized as a Living Legend by the AmericanAcademy of Nurses in 1996 for her leadership in strengtheningthe scientific basis of nursing practice.

During the late 1970s through the 1980s,ProfessorCarolynWaltz, PhD, BSN ’63, RN, FAAN, attained nationalprominence with her work in the area of outcome evaluationresearch.An alumna of the School,Waltz joined the facultynear the end of Dean Marion Murphy’s tenure (1966-1978).She was one of the first nurse educators to introduce theconcept and practice of formal comprehensive programeducation evaluation in schools of nursing.

Associate Professor Karen E. Dennis, PhD, RN, examinedthe influence of emotional states, self-esteem, and confidence onweight loss and also examined links between body fat locationin obese people and subsequent effects on heart disease.Herwork during the late 1980s and 1990s showed that confidencewas a determinant in weight loss, something that is still stressedtoday, and that upper body fat was a factor in higher rates ofheart disease among women.Denise Korniewicz, DNSc, RN, FAAN, a professor at

the School in the late 1990s, became the nation’s first nurseresearcher to examine barrier quality and protection in vinyland latex gloves.After analyzing nearly 12,000 surgical gloves,she determined that non-latex gloves showed a slightly higher

degree of failure rate than latex gloves. She found that providerscan help guard against glove defects by double gloving and bychanging gloves often, especially when using non-latex glovesin higher-risk surgeries.Korniewicz is now an internationallyrecognized researcher whose work continues to inform the fieldof infection control.Deborah Shelton, PhD, RN, FAAN, an associate

professor at the School in the late 1990s, investigated thebehavior and treatment of youth offenders with behavioraldisorders. She examined the treatment costs and patterns ofservice for children and teens within the juvenile correctionsystem. In a landmark study, she found that more than halfof the young offenders had symptoms of emotional disorders—including anxiety, behavioral problems, and substanceabuse—and they weren’t receiving treatment for these problems.Her findings ignited interest among child advocacy groupsand lawmakers in Maryland,who have since enacted thenation’s first legislation requiring mental health and drug abuse

screening of all juvenile offenders.After the law was passed, thestate launched pilot programs at several detention centers toensure that assessments and treatment services were provided tothe youth offenders after the screenings.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s,Professor Barbara Smith,PhD, RN, FAAN, conducted a series of studies, the first of itskind, on the use of exercise and nutrition as an intervention forindividuals with AIDS, especially looking at the effects exercisehad on depression related to AIDS medications.Through hergroundbreaking work and subsequent inquiries, researchersdetermined that exercise has a profound impact on managingdepression, and exercise treatments are now prescribed as partof a treatment plan for AIDS patients.


L I V I N G H I S T O R Y

Left to right: Mary Neal uses her specially designed rocking hammock. (circa early 1960s);Karen Dennis consults with a patient on the effects of obesity on the heart. (circa late 1980s);Denise Korniewicz compares barrier quality of non-latex and latex surgical gloves. (circa late 1990s)

EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION OFNURSES may be a primary goal of the Schoolof Nursing, but its faculty and studentsalso conduct some of the nation’s mostsignificant research in the health carefield. With feet firmly planted inboth the lab and the communityat large, researchers at theSchool are ideally suited tomeet the challenges in anever-changing world of21st-century health care.

From RNA and DNAmodeling to global healthissues and everything inbetween, research is conductedboth in the lab and in the com-munity, and in many cases both.

“Traditionally, we’ve thought oftranslational science or research as beingfrom bench to bedside and then bedside toimplementation,” says Associate Dean forResearch Susan G. Dorsey, PhD ’01, MS ’98,RN, FAAN,“but I think now we realize thereare plenty of places where you could go from

bedside to bench. Or from bench to bedside toclinical implementation and back.The point isthat investigators from the School of Nursingare involved in groundbreaking science that

occurs at all of these levels.” Collaborationis key, of course, and researchers are

actively involved in partnershipswith government, researchers atother universities, and withhospitals and communitiesthroughout the nation.“Wedon’t do our research inisolation or within fourwalls,” says Dorsey. “There

are collaborative partners oncampus, off campus, and in

interdisciplinary fields.None of usare working in isolation.”

From studies investigating nervedamage (and resulting pain) in patientsreceiving chemotherapy, to the impact of pets onheart health, to the nature of conductingbasic science research, investigators at theSchool of Nursing are at the forefront oftranslational science.

Through groundbreaking science—conducted in the lab,

at the bedside, and in the community—the School’s

nurse researchers are pushing the boundaries of knowledge.

Solving the Puzzle of Better Health

FROM CELLSTO SOCIETY:

22 | SUMMER/SPRING 2012


“We don’t do ourresearch in isolation or

within four walls. Thereare collaborative partnerson campus, off campus,and in interdisciplinaryfields. None of us are

working within isolation.”—SUSAN G. DORSEY, PhD, RN, FAAN

MUSCLE DEGENERATION is a hallmarkof Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).Children born with DMD may have anabnormal gait. By age 12, they may beconfined to a wheelchair;most with thisform of muscular dystrophy will die bytheir mid-20s from respiratory orheart failure.

For researchers, understanding thecause of muscular degeneration—partic-ularly the role that calcium-signalingplays in muscle degeneration—may holda key to prevention.And specifically forRamzi Khairallah, PhD, that meansapproaching the problem from“upstream”: In other words, not justunderstanding the effects of the injury,but what happens throughout themuscle when the injury occurs, from thefirst contraction all the way down tomuscle damage.

Khairallah, a postdoctoral fellow atthe School of Nursing, spent 18 monthsas a researcher studying DMD,muscledegeneration, and the effects of poorlyregulated calcium on muscle fibers in aSchool of Nursing-sponsored lab ledby Professor ChristopherWard, PhD.

In most healthy people,when amuscle is injured it eventually repairsitself. For instance, after a strenuousworkout, a person might feel sore fromthe associated strain on his muscles, buthe’ll fully recover with a little rest andtime. In patients with muscular dystrophy,however, those muscles take considerably

longer to repair, and in some cases neverrecover at all—the result of excessivecalcium building up inside the muscle,making it less apt to properly heal.

To better understand the sorts ofmuscular injuries DMD patientsexperience—and, subsequently, gain abetter idea of how to prevent them—Khairallah was able to use an existinganimal model of DMD to re-create astretching injury similar to what a humanmight experience.He then studied howcalcium enters the cell every time themuscle is stretched.Ultimately,Khairallahsays, he found that every small stretchproduces a signal that amplifies calciumentry into the cell. In DMD muscle, thatsignal is tremendously increased, leadingto degeneration.

“Using a drug that is approved fora different disease,” he continues,“wewere able to prevent injury in the DMDanimal model.” The idea, he says, is toeventually develop a treatment that mightprevent calcium buildup from happening,rather than waiting for an injury to occurand then treating that. —Lauren Glenn

24 | SUMMER/SPRING 2012

AT THE CE L LU LAR L EVE L

An “Upstream” Approach to Muscle Degeneration

POPULAT ION - BAS ED STUD I E S

Improving Protection for Personal Care Assistants

“THERE ARE 3 MILLION PEOPLE today who provide home or nursing home care andare either not licensed or certified or have at a minimum 75 hours as a certified nursesassistant,” says Professor Jane Lipscomb, PhD, RN, FAAN. “They provide a huge safetynet for people who need to be cared for outside the formal medical system, yet manydon’t receive any of the protections those trained in health care receive.”

In 2009, Lipscomb and fellow researchers looked at one of the most dangerousaspects of the job—needle sticks—in a study that compared occupational bloodexposure between unlicensed home-care workers and registered nurses (RNs) whoprovide home care.

Lipscomb and other researchers surveyed more than 1,000 personal care assistants(PCAs) and RNs regarding blood exposure. They found that while PCAs experience bloodand body fluid contact at one-third of the rate of RNs, PCAs who handled needles orchanged wound dressings were at an increased risk of injury when compared with RNs.

After gathering information from the focus groups, Lipscomb, working in partnershipwith a Chicago-based home health care service, led a day-long intervention involving

Ramzi Khairallah examining calcium release from muscle cells.

PAIN, says Assistant Professor CynthiaRenn, PhD, MS ’98, RN, is a hot-button issue in the research world today.And if anyone understands pain, it’s apatient who’s undergoing chemother-apy who may experience it on multiplelevels, particularly a form of nerve paincalled painful peripheral neuropathy—a sensation in the extremities that canbe agonizing.

In many cases, that pain can beattributed to nerve damage resultingdirectly from the chemotherapy drugs.In the worst circumstances, a physicianmight be forced to alter—or evenstop—therapy.And, while physiciansand scientists realize that somethingabout these drugs attacks the nervoussystem, no one understands exactlywhy or how, says Renn.Through herresearch, Renn hopes to gain a betterunderstanding of why chemotherapydrugs cause such nerve damage.“Wewant to prevent it from happening andreduce the impact on patients,” she says.“Or, if we can’t stop it, we at least

want to make theirpain lessen.”

To do that, Rennand her colleaguesdeveloped an animalmodel similar to whathumans experiencewith chemotherapy—including allodynia, ora painful response to anonpainful stimulus.“Generally with pain,when nerves becomeinjured, they becomehyperactive,” sheexplains.“As a result,they respond witha bigger bang forthe buck than unin-jured ones.”

With an animalmodel in place, Rennand her colleagues are analyzing thechemotherapy drug oxaliplatin—chosen because of its common use—todetermine whether the resulting nervedamage is occurring in the central

nervous system, which consists of thebrain and spinal cord, or the peripheralnervous system, which connects thebrain and spinal cord to the rest of thebody and carries the signals needed forsensation and movement. (Renn’sresearch team, she says, speculate it’shappening in both.) Understandingthe pathway by which chemotherapy-induced pain is transmitted, sheexplains, is an important step in figuringout how to prevent it.

Ultimately, Renn says, the goal is todevelop a medication or therapy thatmight alleviate or prevent the pain.“Alot of the (pain) signaling pathways arealready pretty well mapped,” Renn says.“We could potentially find a drug thatwill block that pain or prevent it fromoccurring.” —L.G.


presentations to more than 1,000 PCAs on protecting oneself from blood exposureand how to avoid other hazards on the job. Among other initiatives, Lipscomb and hercolleagues worked with pharmacies in the area to get them to provide homeboundpatients with proper disposal containers for needles. “A number of injuries occurwhen a home health care worker goes to change a patient’s sheets and because thatpatient is a diabetic and had been giving themselves insulin in bed, needles end up inthe sheets.”

Six months after the initial intervention, Lipscomb led a “booster” training session,and now her research partners at the University of Illinois at Chicago have an ongoinggrant to continue training PCAs.

“PCAs are a population that’s really quite invisible, but they’re beginning to receivemore attention on the policy front, as we try to figure out how to care for our agingpopulation outside of an acute-care setting,” says Lipscomb. —Joe Sugarman

AN IMAL MODE LS

Understanding—and Halting—Pain in Chemotherapy

Cynthia Renn measuring cell culture medium.


ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, some200,000 Americans suffer from spinalcord injury, and between 12,000 and20,000 people sustain new injurieseach year, according to the Centersfor Disease Control.

In addition to experiencingloss of motor function, peoplewith such injuries often endureneurogenic pain from damage tonerves in the spinal cord. For somesufferers, this pain, or an intenseburning or stinging sensation, canbe unremitting—severely impactingtheir quality of life.Susan G. Dorsey, PhD’01, MS

’98, RN, FAAN, associate dean forresearch at the School of Nursing,and Alan Faden, MD, director ofthe School of Medicine’s OrganizedResearch Center for Shock,Trauma,and Anesthesiology, have received$3.5 million in funding from theNational Institutes of Health toadvance their work aimed atimproving pain in spinal cordinjured patients.

The new collaboration buildson earlier work in which theyand their colleagues identified apromising neuroreceptor “target”for future study.

“We have done extensivework together looking at whythere is reduced pain when youmanipulate this target—a receptor

known as trkBT1—in mice,” saysDorsey, who is director of theNational Institute for NursingResearch P30-funded University

of Maryland, BaltimoreCenter for Pain Studies.

“We’ve uncoveredthe fact that thisreceptor gets ‘turnedon,’ or ‘upregulated,’when you have pain ornoxious stimuli. Inpreclinical studies inmice that lack thisreceptor, locomotorfunction improvedsignificantly morequickly, and theyexperienced less spinalcord injury pain thanin animals with thisreceptor intact.”

The researchers alsofound that the “geneticsignature” in the spinalcord is significantlydifferent in animalswithout the receptor.

One possibleexplanation for theirfindings, says Dorsey, isthat in mice lackingthe receptor, there isa smaller lesion volumeand greater white matter sparing,factors that influence locomotorrecovery and pain after injury.

With the significant amount ofnew funding, Dorsey, Faden andtheir team will conduct cell culture

studies and further animal studies toexamine specifically how regulationof this receptor affects locomotorfunction and pain. Noting the

highly collaborative nature of thework (it is unusual to have twoprincipal investigators on a singlegrant from different schools withinthe university, in this case Nursingand Medicine), Dorsey says she isvery excited about the potential forwhat lies ahead.

“We have this therapeutic target,”she says.“Now we have to under-stand how it and its associatedcellular pathways can be manipu-lated to improve pain and functionin patients. But first we have tofigure out how to target thisreceptor … and find out: Is it adruggable target?”—Sue De Pasquale


Targeting Pain in Spinal Cord Injury

“We have this therapeutic target. Now we have to understandhow it and its associated cellular pathways can be manipulatedto improve pain and function in patients.”—SUSAN G. DORSEY, PhD, RN, FAAN

Susan Dorsey, director of the University of Maryland, BaltimoreCenter for Pain Studies, also leads the School of Nursing’sresearch efforts as the new Associate Dean for Research.

CANCER AND AIDS used to be certaindeath sentences. But with the influx ofdozens of antiretroviral drugs andcancer chemotherapeutics, manypatients now treat these diseases aschronic conditions they can live withfor decades, with the right treatment.Like all drugs, these compounds aren’twithout their side effects, but patientsoften have one consequence that fartops the rest: neuropathy, a numbness,tingling, burning, or shooting pain thatusually starts in the toes and fingersand gradually may move up the limbsover time.

In the realm of side effects,neuropathy is uniquely awful, saysAssistant Professor Sherrie Lessans,PhD ’10, RN. “It’s so painful forpatients that they sometimes say they’drather stop a lifesaving treatment thancontinue with this [pain],” she says.

Even for those patients whocomplete their therapy and beat theirillness, the pain continues for the restof their lives, she adds.“Since the painand sensory problems linger on,

they’re left with this enduring legacyof their illness,” she says.

When Lessans started herdoctoral research at the School in2003 with mentor Susan Dorsey andDorsey’s colleague, Cynthia Renn,the researchers were already pursuingwhat might cause this drug-inducedneuropathy—information that, in turn,

might lead to a way to prevent or healit.Almost since these therapies enteredthe market decades ago, doctorsnoticed that some patients developedsignificantly less neuropathy than

others. Some mouse models ofneuropathy also had fewer symptomsthan others.What could causethese differences?

A key part seems to be a moleculecalled brain-derived neurotrophicfactor (BDNF). BDNF was alreadyknown to be critical during embry-onic development, but researchersnow understand that it’s critical tothe health and survival of matureneurons as well.Through a series ofexperiments, Dorsey, Renn, andLessans experimentally manipulatedfirst the level of BDNF in mice andthe availability of a receptor for theBDNF molecule in the animals’ spinalcords.These studies demonstratedthat BDNF plays a critical role inthe development of drug-inducednerve pain.

If researchers can develop therapiesbased on this evidence to administerwhile patients receive their HIV orcancer treatments, Lessans says, patientscould eventually receive moreconcentrated doses of these drugswith fewer drawbacks.

“Patients could get in and out ofchemo quicker,” she adds,“and get onwith their lives.” —Christen Brownlee


AN IMAL MODE LS

Finding a Culprit in Neuropathy

“[Neuropathy is] so painful for patients that they sometimessay they’d rather stop a lifesaving treatment than continuewith this [pain].” —SHERRIE LESSANS, PhD, RN

Sherrie Lessans pipetting antibodies.


PAT I ENT STUD I E S

The Making of an Addict

THE THINKING on what causes drug andalcohol abuse has changed over the pastfew decades.Rather than considering sub-stance abuse a personal failing, researchersnow recognize it as a disease caused bybiological factors. But exactly what thosefactors are still remains largely unknown.

However, research by AssociateProfessor Lynn Oswald, PhD, RN, andher interdisciplinary team of investigatorsat the University of Maryland Schools ofNursing and Medicine and the JohnsHopkins School of Medicine is turningup some interesting clues into the originof these disorders, all centering arounda brain chemical known as dopamine.Though less than 1 percent of connec-tions between the brain’s cells, known assynapses, take up and use dopamine, thischemical plays a surprisingly large rolein many human behaviors, includingmotivation, responding to rewards,attention, and various aspects of learning.

It also plays a pivotal part in substanceabuse,Oswald says.Virtually all drugs ofabuse raise dopamine levels in the brain.

“We know that chronic drug abusechanges how the dopamine systemfunctions,”Oswald explains.“But it’s alsopossible that there may be alterations inthis system that predate drug use andmake some people more vulnerable toabuse drugs.”

Researchers have also long knownthat genetic factors may influence howdopamine acts in a person’s brain and thatstress can change the way dopamineaffects the brain.Could stressors plusindividual differences in the dopaminesystem set a person up to becomean addict?

Although the study is still in progress,early findings suggest that one of thereasons why people with certainpersonality traits may be prone to abusedrugs is that they may have a greater

neurochemical response to them thanpeople without these traits.Oswald andher colleagues have also comparedindividuals who have experienced asevere childhood trauma, such as childabuse, to those who haven’t.None ofthese healthy individuals had anydiagnosed substance abuse problems.Findings recently presented at theAmerican College on Neuropsychophar-macology showed that people withchildhood traumas had greater releasesof dopamine in the brain following

HOW DOES THE CARE given by advancedpractice registered nurses (APRNs) compareto that provided by physicians and otherhealth care teams without APRNs?

That was the question School ofNursing colleagues Associate Professor MegJohantgen, PhD, RN and Assistant ProfessorLily Fountain, MS, CNM, RN, investigatedwhen they collaborated with nine otherresearchers on their recent study, “AdvancedPractice Nurse Outcomes 1990-2008:A Systemic Review.” Their research suggeststhat APRNs garner similar and in someways better outcomes than their physiciancounterparts.

Although anecdotal evidence had ledmany to the same conclusion for years, upuntil their research project, there had beenno systemic investigation of previous studies,notes Johantgen. “Conducting a study like thiswas really a great opportunity to apply the

synthesis approach that has been usedprimarily in clinical trials and pharmaceuticaltesting to a broad question about advancednurse practice compared to other providers,”she says.

While the study examined all advancedpractice nurses, Johantgen and Fountainconcentrated on studies examining outcomeswith certified nurse-midwives. The researchsynthesized 69 previously conducted studies.They found that nurse-midwives can produceoutcomes as good or better than care deliv-ered by a physician, while typically relying lesson drugs and/or Cesarean sections.

“Our study enables consumers to look atmaternity issues scientifically,” says Fountain.“It’s one thing to say, ‘I hear that midwiveshave lower C-section rates,’ but another to saythat all of the literature for the past 20 yearssays yes, Cesarean rates are lower with mid-wifery care. And, if a woman cares about that,


The Best Kept Secret in Maternity Care


amphetamine than those without thishistory—thus, potentially experiencingmore pleasure from this drug.Thisgroup also appeared to be morereactive to stressors, revealed in a surveythat asked them to rank how stressfulthey considered typical life events.

By delving further into whythese differences exist,Oswald says,researchers can develop betterways of directing treatments tosubstance abusers.

“We know that treatment forsubstance abuse now is only moder-ately effective, at best,” she says.“If weunderstood more about the neurobiol-ogy that underlies these risks, then wemight be able to develop specifictreatments that better target the sourceof the problem.” —C.B.

she now has much stronger evidence tobolster that claim.”

Both researchers note that nurse-mid-wives have long played an important rolein helping underserved populations withprenatal care and birth, but their role hasoften been misunderstood. “Midwivesmay be the best-kept secret in maternitycare,” says Fountain. “But there are a lotof misperceptions about nurse-midwives.People think that we only do home births,for instance, but 95 percent of births thatnurse-midwives attend are in the hospital;less than 1 percent are home births.”

Fountain notes that with all the changesin health care, relying more on nurse-mid-wives for maternity care is an increasinglyviable option. “These findings come at areally key time for changing the maternitycare system for the better,” she says.—J.S.

LIKE RAMZI KHAIRALLAH (p.24),researcher Luke Michaelson,PhD ’12, RN, is interested inDuchenne musculardystrophy (DMD) and therole calcium plays in musclewasting.Michaelson’sresearch examines howcalcium entry duringmuscle activation maycontribute to the musclewasting seen in the mouseversion of DMD.

“A unique aspect ofskeletal muscle is that itdoes not require externalcalcium to contract,”Michaelson says.“Duringmuscle activation, calciumrelease from internalintracellular stores is

critical for activating contraction.While a small influx of calcium into thecell occurs with every contraction, it does not contribute to contraction butserves to replenish intracellular calcium stores.” In the mouse model ofDMD, excessive calcium influx enters the muscle during depolarization.Scientists believe that transiently high calcium conditions within dystrophicskeletal muscle can be linked to muscle fiber degeneration,which underliesthis devastating disease.

Current research, he notes, continues to explore the mechanismsresponsible for controlling this type of calcium influx in the muscle—something Michaelson and his colleagues at the School of Nursing hopeto investigate.

“Unfortunately there’s nopharmacological therapy thatexists to completely inhibit theprocess of muscle wasting associ-ated with DMD,”Michaelson says.“We’re trying to find differentpathways that are implicated inthe muscle-wasting process,whichwould open avenues for us orothers to limit muscle fiber loss.My work suggests that excessivecalcium influx during depolariza-tion could be another potentialtarget for preventing musclefailure associated with DMD.”—L.G.


When Calcium Signals Trouble

Luke Michaelson dissecting muscles.

What an mdx flexor digitorum brevismouse muscle fiber looks like when viewingit through the epifluorescent microscope,x20 magnification, excitation wavelength360nm emission: 515nm. This musclefiber had been loaded with the calciumindicator dye Fura-2 AM.


HEALTH CARE RESEARCH in this country has typically been conductedas a one-way street with researchers asking questions or conductingexperiments without much pre- or post-study engagement withtheir research participants. But one of the many goals of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Institute (PCORI), created by Congress as partof the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aims to turn thatparadigm on its head, creating more of a partnership betweenresearcher and study participants.

During the winter,Karen Kauffman, PhD, CRNP-BC,associate professor and chair,Department of Family and CommunityHealth, and a team of University of Maryland researchers, includingprincipal investigator Daniel Mullins, PhD, a professor in the Schoolof Pharmacy, received one of four contracts from the PCORI todevelop a set of standards that should be followed by futureinvestigators conducting research on“hard-to-reach” populations.

“While the goals for PCORI are many, the goal for this particularcontract was to create standards for engaging people who are oftenunder-represented in research, such as minority populations, thosewith low socioeconomic status, and those with physical orcognitive impairment, so that they will be part of the process fromstart to finish, learn about the results of the research, and be betterinformed to make decisions to improve their health,” says Kauffman.

Over the course of four very busy weeks, the team conducted20 focus groups with 160 people throughout Maryland.The


Changing the Culture of Health Care Research


Pets: Good for Your Health

WHEN ERIKA FRIEDMANN, PhD, ANDSUE THOMAS, PhD, RN, FAAN, startedtheir research on how pets might affectcardiac health in the 1970s, dogs, cats,and their ilk were pleasant enough butweren’t thought to be any powerhouse ofpublic health. Sure, pets might havepsychological benefits for humans, butfew researchers had even imagined thatdogs or cats might have a physiologicalimpact as well, especially on vulnerablepopulations such as the heart attackpatients and the elderly in assistedliving facilities.

“There was this general idea that petsare good,” Thomas says, “but we wantedhard science to back it up—not justwhether they’re nice to have, but whetherthey might have real health benefits.”

To investigate this question, Friedmann,now a professor at the School of Nursing,and Thomas, now assistant dean for theSchool’s PhD program, began looking atwhether pet ownership could predictsurvival after a year in patients who hadsevere heart disease. The results wereclear: Pets exerted their own positive,independent effect in keeping thesepatients alive.

“It was the first real evidence that petscould influence physiologic health out-comes,” Friedmann says—findings that ledthem to several more decades of researchon exactly what pets can do.

Nowadays, after publishing numerouspapers on how pets can affect cardiachealth, the duo and their colleagues areheaded into a new area: the effect of

companion animals on general decline inassisted living facility residents. Recently,these researchers started a pilot study inwhich skilled handlers brought dogs intothese facilities, asking residents to dothings for these animals that many hadstopped doing for themselves. Though theresearchers haven’t yet analyzed the data,it’s clear that many patients are willing—which helps them to maintain vital skills.For example, Friedmann says, one generallyinactive resident with Parkinson’s diseasewas willing to take treats from a plastic bagand feed a dog, a monumental task for himthat took several minutes.

“Pets give many people a reason to getup in the morning,” Friedmann says.“They’re beneficial in ways we’re stilldiscovering.” —C.B.

Karen Kauffman


purpose of the focus groups was to glean from the participantstheir recommendations about everything from how to presentinformation about the study beforehand to the best ways ofdisseminating post-study findings.

Through the focus groups, the researchers identified threeguidelines for developing standards for research conductedaccording to the PCORI philosophy: 1. Establish trust withpartners to build bridges for engagement. (“There’s a lot oftalk devoted to building and maintaining trust, but doing ittakes a long time and is rarely done well,” notes Kauffman.)2. Pre-engagement with the community before any mention ofresearch takes place. (“This is done by actively participating incommunity events, partnering with community representativeson non-research projects, and in other ways,” says Kauffman.)3. Person-centeredness. (“People make health care choices andparticipate in research based upon who they are as individualpersons, not just as patients.”)

Kauffman says the PCORI Methodology Committee wasset to provide its report to its Board of Governors inMay. “We are thrilled to have been involved with this projectbecause we believe in its intent so passionately,” she says.“Part of health care reform is to reframe health care research aswe know it today so that people are better able to evaluatehealth care options and make informed health care decisions.”—J.S.

HIP FRACTURES inthe elderly are anenormous publichealth problem in theU.S. and elsewhere. Inthis nation alone, morethan 320,000 peoplesuffer a hip fractureeach year. The conse-quences are often dire.Hip fractures candramatically affect a patient’s mobility, social connections,and mental outlook. Nearly half of patients never regain vitalfunctions that they performed effortlessly beforehand, such aswalking or bathing themselves. In the first year after a hipfracture, nearly a quarter will die.

But a hip fracture doesn’t have to be the beginning of the end,says Professor Barbara Resnick, PhD ’96, RN, CRNP, FAAN,FAANP, the Sonya Ziporkin Gershowitz Endowed Chair inGerontology at the School of Nursing. “Having a hip fracture canbe an opportunity to change health behaviors, engage in morephysical activity, and improve bone health,” she says.

Toward this end, Resnick and many other researchersin the School of Nursing and the School of Medicine have beenengaged for decades in the Baltimore Hip Studies (BHS).

Jay Magaziner, PhD, chair of the School of Medicine’sDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health and executivedirector of the BHS, says that when the studies started in 1984,he and his colleagues’ main goal was to gather information onthis then obscure problem. Through observational research, theteam put hard numbers to hip fractures, generating many of thestatistics that are now routinely used to describe this problem.

Now, nearly 30 years later, says BHS director Denise Orwig,PhD, researchers are testing interventions aimed at getting thesepatients back to baseline, or beyond.

Recently, Resnick led a study that tested how motivation mightencourage hip fracture patients to exercise—a pivotal means tohelp them regain their health. Some patients worked out witha trainer who did exercises with them. Others went through thesame exercises with a trainer who also encouraged them andpointed out the health benefits. A third group received just verbalexercise instruction but received similar motivational pep talks.Surprisingly, those who received verbal motivation engaged inthe most physical activity.

It’s just one step, Resnick says, in helping hip fracture patientshelp themselves. —C.B.


Toward Better RecoveryAfter Hip Fracture

Interview by Laurie Legum

At a time when nursing schools across the nation are

facing a shortage of qualified faculty, great teachers

are in high demand. Meet a relative newcomer to the

faculty arena who is flourishing: Bimbola Akintade,

PhD ’11, MBA, MHA, MS ’05, BSN ’03. Now into

his second year teaching Trauma, Critical Care, and

Emergency Nursing at the School, Akintade is

passionate about bringing his clinical expertise as

an acute care nurse practitioner to the classroom.

In the interview that follows, Akintade tells why he’s

quickly come to love being a nurse educator.

Why did you decide to pursue nursingas a profession?My journey to becoming a nurse, which retrospec-tively seems like a blur, has been a rather interestingone. I originally went into nursing because I thoughtit would provide me with an opportunity to savemoney for medical school, as my childhood dreamwas to become a physician. Once I understoodwhat the nursing profession was about and realizedhow much of a difference I could make for mypatients and their families, I determined that themost important professional decision I could makewas to become a nurse.

Why did you decide to go into teaching ratherthan stay in the clinical arena?After working for two years as an acute care nursepractitioner in the Trauma/Surgical Critical Caredepartment at Washington Hospital Center, I waspresented with an opportunity to pursue my

Bim Akintade thrives in his role as a nurse educator.

AcutelyEQUIPPED



doctoral degree at the School of Nursing. Followingcompletion of my PhD, I found myself at a crossroads, notsure how to combine my clinical expertise and my researchdegree. My original goal was to transition bench research tothe clinical arena.When I was offered a position as assistantprofessor at the School teaching courses including Diagnosisand Management of Complex Acute Care Problems andAdvanced Pathophysiology of the Critically Ill, andformulating and conducting clinical simulations, it seemedthe next logical step in my journey and a perfect way tocombine my clinical and academic practice.

Why did you choose to teach at the University ofMaryland School of Nursing?There are several reasons why I opted to teach here.Thegraduate program is very competitive, and it is one of thetop programs in the nation. Being a graduate of the Schoolalso had a tremendous impact on my decision. I’m a proudproduct of the program and feel a strong connection to it.I had a great experience as a student, and my goal as afaculty member is to build on all of the positive aspectsof the program.

What does your clinical experience bringto the classroom?As a faculty member, it’s been invaluable to have hadfirsthand experience in the subjects that I teach.Workingat a highly acclaimed teaching hospital, with a well respectedSurgical Critical Care team, in a Level One trauma departmenthelps tremendously when teaching students how to approachand engage critically ill patients.This experience enables meto incorporate my critical care expertise as a guide in theclassroom to help students relate theoretical knowledge withpractical application.

How has the move toward evidence-basedpractice affected your teaching?It’s had a tremendous impact.When I first entered theSchool’s Acute Care Nurse Practitioner master’s specialty in2005, there wasn’t an EBP component. Now, being back onthe other side as a faculty member, I see EBP intertwinedthroughout the program. EBP has filled a gap of knowledgein the clinical arena by developing a process—from begin-ning to end—on how to implement evidence into practice.The School has done a superb job of incorporating EBP intothe nursing curriculum and empowering students to evaluatecurrent clinical practice, find gaps or ways to improve thispractice, and conduct interventions; and it’s giving studentsthe tools to evaluate outcomes of these interventions onthemselves and patients.

Did you make any special preparation to transitionfrom clinical work to academia?I have not completely transitioned from clinical practiceto academia because my position as a faculty member in theTrauma Critical Care/Clinical Nurse Specialist programrequires that I hold a dual appointment. I work 80 percentat the School of Nursing and 20 percent at WashingtonHospital Center to maintain clinical skills. In preparationfor my faculty role, I was assigned two mentors from theprogram: KathrynVonReuden, MS, RN, CNS, FCCM,associate professor and interim director for the Trauma,Critical Care, and Emergency Nursing master’s specialty, andfellow faculty member Jocelyn Farrar, DNP, CCRN,ACNP,assistant professor.They took the time to advise me andhave provided me with the framework to build on.

What do you find rewarding about beinga nurse educator?Being a nurse educator is different from everything I haveever done. It is rewarding because it provides me withan opportunity to give back to my alma mater, but mostimportantly, it gives me an opportunity to be a mentor tonurse practitioner students. Based on my experiences asa former student and my current experience as a workingnurse practitioner, I can help them avoid clinical pitfallsand guide them toward their clinical goals, in addition towriting and publication opportunities.

Bim Akintade conducts a class in Advanced Pathophysiologyof the Critically Ill.


Alumni PulseC L A S S N E W S A N D N OT E S

1940sJane Brown Johnson,DIN ’47, and her husband,Wesley, moved to Oak CrestRetirement Community inParkville, Md., four years ago.Jane is very involved withactivities at Oak Crest andat her church. She alsovolunteers as a docent forUMSON’s Living HistoryMuseum and is chair of theUMSON Alumni Associa-tion’s Fellowship Committee,a position she has held formore than 30 years. Janehas four grandchildren andenjoys visiting them as oftenas possible.

Thelma I. Kleckner,DIN ’47, BSN ’72, MS ’74,serves as a docent at theUMSON Living HistoryMuseum. She enjoys reading,working crossword puzzles,exercising, socializing withfriends, spending time inPennsylvania with her family,and attending plays. Klecknerwas a member of the plan-ning committee for her 65thUMSON reunion, held April28, 2012, where she enjoyedreuniting with some ofher classmates.

1950sMiriam Dunbar, DIN ’52,enjoys gardening and spend-ing time with her family—a son and a daughter, bothof whom live in Maryland.She worked at the Universityof Maryland MedicalCenter for her entire career,primarily in the medicalsurgical unit.

Ann Davis, DIN ’52, isretired and has two sons,both of whom live out ofstate. She enjoys gettingtogether with friendsand traveling.

1960sBarbara Sue EdwardsBrown, BSN ’62, worked

as a visiting nurse with thePhiladelphiaVisiting NursesAssociation after graduatingfrom UMSON. She movedto Indianapolis in 1963 andworked in med-surg at theUniversity of Indiana Hospi-tal. She took time off toraise her children, and thenwent back to work parttime in geriatrics and schoolnursing. She retired in June2000, after working as a

school nurse for 20 years inMaryland and Pennsylvania.Barbara has three childrenand six grandchildren. Shemoved 20 times in 50 yearsof marriage (it will be 50years in August 2012), due toher husband’s job, and nowresides in Bethany Beach,Del. She enjoys traveling,serving as a volunteer in

her community and in herchurch, and visiting herfamily in Ohio, Conn.,and Pa. She was among themembers of the Class of1962 who celebrated their50th reunion on April 28.

1970sKathleen Kelly Bransford,BSN ’70, lived in Berlin,Germany, and worked in a

military hospital after gradu-ation. When her husbandwas deployed toVietnam, shereturned to the U.S. and hadher first child. Her first “real”job was in Cleveland, Ohio,where she was introduced topediatric psychiatry.After herhusband finished law school,they had another son andremained in Ohio for afew years before moving toWashington, D.C. She wasshocked to find there wereonly 10 pediatric psych bedsin all of D.C., so she tooka job in psych and workedwith older teens and youngadults until her third childwas born. She is amazedat how her pediatric psychexperience helped her stay

Mildred “Millie” Omar Horodynski, PhD, BSN ’72, FAAN,was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursingin October 2011. She is currently a professor in the College ofNursing at Michigan State University. Her theory, research,education, and policy work promotes healthy feeding practicesand obesity prevention for at-risk children. Her research focusedon identifying the origins of eating habits and developingprograms to modify those behaviors through parent education.

Susan K. Newbold, PhD ’06, MS ’83, RN-BC, FAAN, FHIMSS,created the Nursing Informatics Boot Camp, a two-day, intensivecourse that focuses on current informatics trends and issues inhealth care. It includes content for nurses who are interested inbecoming ANCC board-certified informatics nurses, as well asother clinical professionals who are working in informatics andwould like to become exposed to the course topics. Newboldis presenting the boot camp across the U.S.


level-headed while raisingthree children and living ina very busy political citywith a very busy lawyerhusband. Kathleen becameinterested in art and venturedinto enamel work, which iswhat she is doing today.

Linda Anne Brockwell,BSN ’71, moved to Arizonain 2008, got divorced a yearlater, took back her maidenname, and has not lookedback since. She says theweather is awesome, herjob is fantastic, and thepeople she works with areincredible. She is currentlyserving as Chief NursingOfficer at WickenburgCommunity Hospital inWickenburg,Ariz.

Barbara Hudson, BSN ’75,spent several years as anArmy nurse, with herfirst assignment as chargenurse on a 10-bed cardiacstep-down/19-bedHematology/Oncologyfloor. She then spent severalyears working in RecoveryRoom/Surgical ICU (Army)and Cardiothoracic ICU(civilian) units. She latertried Psych/ChemicalDependency and home

health nursing. She movedto Louisiana last summerand got her Louisiana RNlicense. She now works fora safety school that conductsdrug tests and is teachingU.S. Coast Guard-approvedMedical Care Providerclasses for maritime workers.

Maria Perrotta, BSN ’75,received her MSN fromCatholic University in 1983and her nurse practitionercertificate from GeorgeWashington University in

1989. She has worked at theHealth Clinic at Universityof Maryland, College Parksince fall 1991. She recallsattending UMSON andliving in Parson’s Hallbefore the Inner Harborwas renovated. She hasmemories of eating meals

in the University Hospitalcafeteria when the windowswere open to the fresh air.

1980sStephanie Johnson-Dean,BSN ’80, is a clinical nurseIV at Duke University HealthSystem in Raleigh, N.C.

Mary Ann BruchalskiAron, BSN ’82, is a clinicalresearch coordinator atMorristown MedicalCenter in Morristown, N.J.

She earned an MSN fromRutgers University in 1990.

Laurel Ann PhippsMoody, BSN ’82, is aHealth Services Specialistfor Baltimore CountyPublic Schools. She earneda master’s degree in

Health Care Administrationfrom University ofMaryland UniversityCollege. She is currentlypursuing a MSN atStevenson University,with an anticipatedgraduation date ofAugust 2012.

Ann Tierney Scheele,BSN ’82, is an RN atSibley Memorial HospitalinWashington, D.C.

Dawn Marie KopfDonovan, BSN ’84, livesand works in Bogart, Ga.She earned her MBA andis the owner of DonovanLegal Health Consulting.

LTC Denise RoskovenskyMcCormick, BSN ’84, is apsychiatric nurse practitionerin the U.S.Army, and is

currently stationed atKatterbach Medical Clinicin Germany.

Cynthia Proctor Jackson,BSN ’87, is employed asa GYN nurse coordinatorat Faculty Physicians, Inc.,in Baltimore.

Margaret C. Wilmoth, PhD, MS ’79, BSN ’75, RN, FAAN, has beenappointed the first dean of the newly reorganized Byrdine F. LewisSchool of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University(GSU). In addition to the nursing school, Wilmoth will lead GSU’sprograms in nutrition, respiratory therapy, and physical therapy.In 2009-2010, Wilmoth was a Robert Wood Johnson Health PolicyFellow and spent 18 months working in Washington, D.C. with Fellowsfrom other health disciplines. She has served as a brigadier generalin the Army Reserves since 1981, and was the first nurse and the firstwoman to command a medical brigade as a general officer.

Janice M. Chance, BSN ’75, was a guest speaker at thepre-concert ceremony for the VAlentines for Veterans Concert,held Feb. 18, 2012, at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.She spoke about her volunteer work to honor the memoryof her son, Jesse Melton III, a Marine Captain who was killedin 2008 while serving in Afghanistan. She is a member of theGold Star Mothers (GSM), a group of mothers who have losttheir sons and daughters during military service. She hasserved as chaplain for both the state and national chaptersof GSM. Chance currently volunteers at the Walter ReedNational Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and atthe Baltimore VA Medical Center.


Melanie Heltsley Osley,MBA, BSN ’87, obtainedher Associates in RiskManagement Designationfrom the Insurance Instituteof America. She also has certi-fications in health care qualityand risk management and isa Distinguished Fellow of theAmerican Society of Health-care Risk Management. Osleycurrently works as a seniorClinical Risk ManagementConsultant with MedicalProtective, a Berkshire Hath-away Company, providingrisk, quality, and patientsafety consultative services forhospitals, physicians, dentists,and surgical centers fromMaine to Maryland. She ismarried to Robert Osley, agraduate of the University ofMaryland Medical School’sFifth Pathway program andhas lived in Connecticut for23 years.

1990sDerek E. Spencer, MS ’99,BSN ’90, is executivedirector of the JACQUES

Initiative, Institute of HumanVirology, University ofMaryland School ofMedicine.The mission of theJACQUES Initiative is toprovide a holistic caredelivery model that provideslong-term treatment successfor urban populationsinfected with HIV.The focusis to decrease the morbidityand mortality associated withHIV through care delivery,while providing earlyintervention services throughactivities such as testing,outreach, and linkage to care.

Vivian Ebbesen-Fludd,MS ’94, is currently anindependent consultant inSt. Croix, U.S.VirginIslands. She previously servedas Executive Director ofFrederiksted Health Care, Inc.

She has also served asCommissioner of Healthfor the U.S.Virgin Islands—the first nurse to holdthat position.

Joanna Aulick Smith,BSN ’97, is employed as apatient advocate at IndianaRegional Medical Centerin Indiana, Pa. She iscurrently pursuing an MSdegree in Health SciencesLeadership at St.VincentCollege in Latrobe, Pa.

StacyWalsh-Pouch,MS ’00, BSN ’97, iscurrently employed as a nursepractitioner at Walter ReedNational Military MedicalCenter in Bethesda, Md.

DonnaWestervelt, MS ’98,CRNP, CDE, is a nursepractitioner for the Diabetes

Management Service at JohnsHopkins Bayview Hospitalin Baltimore, specializing inthe evaluation and treatmentof diabetes and its effect onperipheral nerves. She is alsointerested in working withpatients to manage diabetesthrough the use of insulinpump therapy and continuousglucose monitoring.

Renee John Repique,MS ’99, RN, has accepteda permanent appointmentasVice President, ChiefAdministrative Officer forMental Health, and ChiefNursing Office (CNO) forMental Health and Correc-tional Health Services atJackson Health System inMiami, Fla. He went toJackson in 2008 as the firstCNO for Jackson MentalHealth Hospital. He iscurrently a DNP studentat Duke University Schoolof Nursing.

2000sWendy Tolpa, BSN ’00,is currently working as acertified neuroscience nurseat INOVA Health Systemsin Falls Church,Va.

Kerri Gemmell Godwin,BSN ’01, RNC-OB,RNC-EFM, a labor and

Digna M. Wheatley, BSN ’96, was honored last February byher high school, the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, in theVirgin Islands. As student council president for the Class of1988, she organized and led more than 1,200 Kean HighSchool students on a march to the Legislature and Govern-ment House to request appropriation to build the school’sfirst gymnasium. As a result of her efforts, $600,000 in fund-ing was secured, and the gymnasium was built in the early1990s. In 2004, the Virgin Islands Legislature passed a bill toname the gym in Wheatley’s honor, and in February 2012, thegym was renamed the “Digna Marie Wheatley Gymnasium.”She is currently employed as Risk Manager at Howard CountyGeneral Hospital in Columbia, Md.

Patricia Gonce Morton, PhD ’89, MS ’79, RN, ACNP, FAAN, professor andassociate dean for academic affairs at the University of Maryland School ofNursing, co-authored a 34-chapter, 500-page book, Essentials of CriticalCare Nursing: A Holistic Approach, with Dorrie Fontaine, PhD, MS ’77, RN,FAAN, dean of the University of Virginia School of Nursing.

A L U M N I P U L S E | C L A S S N O T E S


delivery nurse since 2001,is currently enrolled in theSchool of Nursing’s Masterof Science program, nursinginformatics specialty. She isemployed at Johns HopkinsBayview Hospital as anRNC OB.

Elisabeth Agbor-Tabi ’02,earned a MPH in policyand finance from the JohnsHopkins Bloomberg Schoolof Public Health in 2006,got married in 2007, andmoved to NewYork City.She completed a PresidentialManagement Fellowshipat the U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Servicesin 2008. She is currentlyworking in global healthas Senior Manager, ClinicalServices, at ORBIS Interna-tional in NewYork City.

Amy Sharpe Bazuzi,BSN ’03, was employed asa staff RN at the Birthplaceat MedStar Franklin Square,Baltimore, following gradua-tion. She was cross-trainedin labor and delivery,mother-baby, and high-riskpregnancy/ante partum. Shemoved to Springfield, Ill., in2008 and worked in the BirthCenter at St. John’s Hospital.Amy was recently certifiedby the National CertificationCorporation in InpatientObstetrics. She moved to theQuad-Cities area on theMississippi River that servesas the border between Illinoisand Iowa.

Staci Bruce, MS ’07, isemployed as a Public Health

Nurse Senior, RN II, attheVirginia Departmentof Health, ChesterfieldHealth District.

Brooke Corridon, BSN ’07,is employed as an RN in theEmergency Department ofAnne Arundel MedicalCenter in Annapolis, Md.

Jennifer L.Villa Bethell,MS ’10, BSN ’08, isworking at the AmericanNurses Credentialing Centerin Silver Spring, Md., whereshe is responsible for manag-ing and developing contentfor the Magnet LearningCommunities website.

Joey Goldberg, MS ’09,is an Emergency DepartmentRegistered Nurse at MedStarMontgomery MedicalCenter (MMMC) in Olney,Md. He is co-chair of theMMMC Nursing Collabora-tive Governance DesignTeam,the organization’s firstprogram of this type.

Jolaade A Adeyeye,BSN ’10, is working as anRN at Northwest Hospitalin Randallstown, Md.

Joyell Arscott, BSN ’10,is currently enrolled inthe PhD program atDuke University Schoolof Nursing.

Ashley Conran, BSN ’10,is a Clinical Nurse IV atMedStar Health, FranklinSquare Hospital Center,Baltimore. She is currentlystudying forensic nursing atJohns Hopkins University.

Chimene O. Doue,BSN ’10, is a staff nurseat Dimension Healthcare,Prince George’s HospitalCenter in Cheverly, Md.

Ye Ji Jeon, BSN ’10,is currently employed asan RN at Lorien NursingHome in Columbia, Md.

Jennie Marie Beck,MS ’11, is engaged toMichael Anthony Robinson,II. She is an RN at SinaiHospital in Baltimore.

Erica Cirillo Brinkley,DNP ’11, was promotedto associate professor at theCommunity College ofBaltimore County after

earning her DNP from theSchool of Nursing in 2011.

Nicole Brynes, BSN ’11,was married to SamuelHoffman (also a nurse) inJune 2011.They now live inMinnesota, where Nicole isemployed at the Mayo Clinic.

Alumni Share Your News!If you have information to share about what’s happening in your life—new jobs, familyevents, awards, advanced degrees, marriages, etc.—please share it with us so we caninclude it in the Alumni News & Notes section of NURSING magazine. Photos arewelcome! Submit your updates online at http://nursing.umaryland.edu/alumni/update,email your news to [email protected], or mail to Cynthia Sikorski, associatedirector of alumni relations, University of Maryland School of Nursing, 655 W. LombardStreet, Suite 209W, Baltimore, MD 21201. Questions? Call 410-706-0674.(Please note that we reserve the right to edit submissions for length and clarity.)

IN MEMORIAMElizabeth C. Carroll, DIN ’40

Nina Katherine Kiddy Casey,BSN ’52

Edna S. Clement, DIN ’41

Bonnie Carey Clingan, BSN ’63

Mary L. Elliott, BSN ’52

Dorothy G. O’Halloran, BSN ’93

Elizabeth A. Hamblet, MS ’70

Eloise D. Hanna, DIN ’47

Margaret F. Hart, MS ’96

Joan V. Klag, DIN ’48

Margaret Valliant Lidard,BSN ’62

Donna Mae Mahrenholz,PhD ’90, MS ’82

Barbara S. Miller, BSN ’09

Marjorie Brigham Miller,DIN ’44

Mary Randolph, BSN ’45

Rosie Louise Stanfield,MS ’83, BSN ’80

This list includes noticesreceived by the University ofMaryland School of Nursingfrom September 1, 2011,through May 17, 2012.


A L U M N I P U L S E | P R O F I L E S

As an internationally recognized expert onAlzheimer’s disease, ANN MORRISON, PHD ’02,MS ’85, CS, RN, has headed research studies on thetreatment, epidemiology, and care-giving issues relatedto dementia care; provided clinical care for dementiapatients and caregivers; and lectured extensively on thetopic of Alzheimer’s disease research and care of theAlzheimer’s disease patient, caregiver, and family.

She notes that, contrary topopular opinion, most familiesdon’t turn to nursing homesto care for their ailing familymembers.“Due to costs,emotional attachment, andcultural obligations, 90 percentof Alzheimer’s patients arecared for at home,” saysMorrison, who recentlylaunched her own privateconsulting firm, MorrisonAssociates LLC, which offerscounseling for individual

families as well as health care institutions—includingThe Copper Ridge Institute, a dementia specificresearch and education center, and the JohnsHopkins Division of Geriatric Psychiatry.

“My work covers a wide range [of care].I help families manage loved ones medically andbehaviorally, do therapeutic work, and help [inform]the economics of in-home care. It’s very rewardingto put all of these components together.”

While earning her PhD, Morrison wasinvolved in the development and first drug trialsof compounds aimed at slowing the ravages ofAlzheimer’s disease.“I was on the frontlines of thisresearch, one of very few nurses involved in thestudy, and I think I destroyed the notion that nursescould contribute little to research. I think thedoctors in the study realized,‘Wow, she knowsthings,’ which I do—thanks to my education atthe School of Nursing,” says Morrison.

Over the course of her career, Morrison hasserved on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Schoolof Medicine in the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry.At Hopkins, she also served as director of the JohnsHopkins Memory Center Caregiver and FamilyProgram, and as an education specialist for Hopkins’Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. She alsoserved as the Millicent Radlick Nurse Scholar atThe Copper Ridge Institute. —Laurie Legum

EMILIE DEADY, MSN, MGA, BSN ’72, whocelebrated her 40th School of Nursing reunion inApril, says that the catalyst for her varied career innursing was a job she took at a nursing homeduring college.

“I went to college for one year and worked in anursing home and loved it,” says Deady,who thenenrolled in a three-year diploma program. She wenton to work as head nurse in a surgical unit recoveryroom at the Community General Hospital in Sterling,Ill., and then on the medical floor of GeorgeWashing-ton University Hospital, before returning to nursingschool full time to earn her Bachelor of Science inNursing degree from the School of Nursing.

In 1979,Deady became President/CEO for theVisiting Nurses Association (VNA) of NorthernVirginia, a position she heldfor 20 years. She also startedVNA Community Hospice,where she helped establishmajor programs, strategicplans, community linkages,and communications systems.

Deady’s most far-reachingpost came when she signedon as deputy director of theOffice of Medical Services inthe U.S. Peace Corps. In thatposition,where she servedfrom 1999 to 2007, she wasresponsible for the administrative operations of healthcare provided to 7,000 volunteers in approximately70 countries.“Working for the Peace Corps, I had tore-familiarize myself with communicable diseases,such as malaria, and I gained a new understanding ofgeography,” says Deady.

As deputy director, she had to understand theclinical competencies of each developing country todetermine who to post there,whether a host countryphysician should be hired, or if a physician or nursepractitioner had to be sent in to manage medical care.

Now retired,Deady continues to stay active innursing by serving as a consultant for home healthand hospice care and as a volunteer with theVNA.“Having the ability to reach people in their homesand serve as catalyst for change is very rewarding,”she says. —L.L.

Family FirstA Far-Reaching Career


E V E N T S | A L U M N I P U L S E

< DEAN JANET ALLAN and Joyce Rosenblatt,MS ’73, hosted a brunch for Central Floridaalumni on Jan. 21 at the Nancy Lopez Golf Clubat The Villages. The event brought alumnitogether to learn more about the many excitingdevelopments at the School of Nursing.

Front row: Sandra Schoenfisch, MS ’76; Janice Ulmer, PhD ’91;Dean Janet Allan; Joyce Rosenblatt, MS ’73; Shirley Edwards,BSN ’78; Dale Creighton, BSN ’58; and Brenda Lockley, MS ’85.

Back row (left to right): Claudette Clunan, BSN ’72;Mary Charlene Ricciuti, BSN ’77; Wanda Wade Abbott, BSN ’75;Daniel O’Neal, BSN ’66; and Gail Burke, BSN ’75.

> SCHOOL OF NURSING alumni in the Naplesarea connected with fellow alumni and learnedmore about the School’s continued growth and

accomplishments at a luncheon hosted by DeanJanet Allan and Maureen Robinson on Jan. 20 at

the Port Royal Club in Naples, Fla.

Front row: Patricia Morton, PhD ’89, MS ’79; Carolyn CookHanda, BSN ’63; Joan Bird-Eisenhauer, BSN ’56; and

Eugenia Kiser, DIN ’47.

Back row (left to right): Dorrie Fontaine, PhD, MS ’77;Dean Janet Allan; Ellen Brahim, BSN ’79;

Helen Dearborn, BSN ’61; Laurie Rockelli, PhD ’08;Deborah Chapa, PhD ’06; and Christine Pintz, PhD ’06.

Florida AlumniEnjoy January Events


A L U M N I P U L S E | E V E N T S

2012 Alumni Reunion CelebrationTHE ANNUAL SCHOOL OF NURSING ALUMNI REUNION was held Saturday, April 28. More than 130 alumni,faculty, and guests gathered at the School to celebrate class years ending in “2” and “7.” Members of theClass of 1962, celebrating their 50th anniversary, were inducted as the new Heritage Class. To enjoy morephotos from the event, visit http://nursing.umaryland.edu/alumni/events.

1. 2012 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDDean Janet Allan, left, presented Dorrie K. Fontaine, PhD, MS ’77, with the Schoolof Nursing’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award. Fontaine is the Sadie Heath CabanissProfessor of Nursing and dean of the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Nursing.Her passion for critical care nursing underlies her distinguished career as aclinician, scholar, researcher, educator, and professional leader.

2. NEW HERITAGE CLASS – THE CLASS OF 1962The Class of 1962 celebrated its 50th Anniversary and its induction into theSchool of Nursing’s Heritage Class. Its also attained the highest Reunion ClassGift participation rate–28 percent!

Row 1, (left to right): Norma Kempfer Francis, Doris Chamberlain Cooper,Susan Kimmel Seiler Lerner, Barbara Maier Floyd, Dean Janet Allan.

Row 2, (left to right): Miriam Holland Levy, Ann Meyers Harrison, Hermi Nudo,Joan Meredith, Mary Todd Garcia.

Row 3, (left to right): Helen Ross Johnson, Frances Zorn Callahan, Ann Seymour Madison,Harriet Kincaid Leap, Nancy Stevens White, Gwen Wise Callahan.

3. CLASS OF 1967Row 1, (left to right): Carol Davidson Tessman, Cecilia “Chita” Brun Del Re Abbott,Nancy Peck Sullivan, Patricia Bonville Falkler, Dorothy Early Douglas, Dana Den HerderWetter, Dean Janet Allan.

Row 2, (left to right): Carol Wagner Capozzoli, Carol Demsey Fordham, Anne HammerlundCole, Barbara Degraw Hobbs.

Row 3, (left to right): Susan Laibe Clark, Peg Brown Trimble, Jo Gail Hunt Wenzel,Judith Grove Flemmens, Betty Callahan Rehkemper.

1.

2.3.


E V E N T S | A L U M N I P U L S E

4. CLASS OF 1972Seated (left to right): Mary MorphetBrown, Karen Johnson Cucina,Jean Clark, Natalie “DeDe” KiernanRook, Melinda Michaels Stewart,Doris Wilson.

Standing, (left to right): Mariah DolanMcCarthy, Debbie Nanni Dang, JeanJones, Emilie Deady, Patti Hong, AliceO’Keefe Demarais, Barbara SmithDorsch, Barbara Strasberger, DianneMackert, Patti Wise, Cathy DempseyWood, Jane Wobbeking, Cheryl Battee.

5. THE CLASS OF 1982 –LARGEST TURNOUT!Through the extraordinary efforts ofMindy Serp Doring, Diane StanoskiMichalek and Mary Kay Ratigan,the Class of 1982 enjoyed thelargest turnout at the reunion, with21 classmates gathering to reconnectand celebrate their 30th Reunion.

6. THE CLASS OF 1947 –CELEBRATED THEIR 65TH REUNIONStanding (left to right): ThelmaKleckner, Georgia Rosus Boulmetis,Mary France Dennis, Rusty Brandon,Jane Brown Johnson, andAnn Cochran Hubbard.

Seated: Christine Raab Weber.

Reunion 2013 festivities will honor undergraduate classesending in “3” and “8.” Save the date and come to

Baltimore to reconnect with classmates and renew yourpride in the University of Maryland School of Nursing!Look for your invitation in fall 2012. To volunteer as a

Class Representative, contact Cynthia Sikorski, associatedirector of alumni relations, 410-706-0674

or [email protected] http://nursing.umaryland.edu/alumni

for more information.

SAVE THE DATEFOR REUNION 2013 – Saturday, April 27, 2013!

5.

4.

6.


P H I L A N T H R O P Y

Throughout our lives, we are presented with situations that test our mettle. Juggling classes,jobs, and family commitments. Trying to land the ideal position, surviving grueling work schedules,coping with the heartache of losing a patient. Fielding challenges with colleagues, family crises,and even personal health difficulties. We gather our strength, our determination, and our courage,and we strive to do our utmost, to be our best.

Nurses take action; they intervene for the better and make a difference. The pay and/orhours may leave something to be desired, and the recognition is often less than deserved. But,the enormous sense of satisfaction in achieving the end result is unequivocal: The patient hasimproved, the health care delivery system is streamlined, the nursing student fully realizes his orher potential, the research discovery is translated from bench to bedside—things are betterbecause of nurses’ contributions.

At the University of Maryland School of Nursing, the far-reaching impact of our tripartite missionis consistently demonstrated by the achievements of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Yetwithout private funding, the School of Nursing could not maintain its high standards. To those whohave made the decision to give back, please accept our deepest gratitude. And to those who havenot yet done so, we respectfully ask that you consider making a contribution. Regardless of the sizeand designation of your gift, you will be making a statement that you want to make a difference.

With sincere thanks,

Laurette L. HankinsAssociate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations

Makingan impact.

Influencingchange.

Giving back.

Meeting a Critical NeedAS A HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCHER at Lockheed Martin, Joseph Kelly, PhD, MBA, MS ’85,BSN ’77, heads a team of health care researchers who support the Department of Defense ClinicalQuality Management Program by conducting research to improve clinical care for patients.

Kelly credits his education at the School of Nursing for providing him with a strong foundation inboth the business and health care fields. “The School gave me a broad background in nursing thatgave me my start in the profession,” he says. “The clinical experience I gained and the graduateeducation I received at the School gave me some of the credentials I needed to be competitive forselection into the University of Pennsylvania’s MBA/PhD dual degree program.”

Though Kelly had been a longtime donor to the University of Maryland, he has stepped uphis support for the School of Nursing within the last five years. “Not only did the School make mycareer possible, but it continues to educate nurses who are critical to the health care

system. The School of Nursing is in the business of creating good nurses. I want to aide them in their mission,”says Kelly.

Currently, Kelly makes outright gifts to support master’s students in nursing management, which was his areaof concentration. Within the next five years he will add a planned giving component to his support. “I don’t thinkwe ever have enough good managers in nursing,” he says.

Kelly also supports the School’s Wellmobile Program, which consists of nurse-managed traveling healthclinics that provide health services for underserved communities and uninsured individuals. The mobile unitsalso serve as training sites for School of Nursing students.

“Access to health care is critically important to all people. Unfortunately, in the United States it is difficult toget health care if you don’t have money or a job. I think it’s important to help those who don’t have access to getthe health care they need. That access includes, of course, prevention and education, not just care for existingconditions,” says Kelly. —Laurie Legum

P R O F I L E S | P H I L A N T H R O P Y


CareFirst Commitment works in partnership with organizations throughout the entire Baltimore and Washington metro region to improve the quality of, and access to, health care in our communities.

University of Maryland School of Nursing

Building a Healthier Community

Visit: www.carefirstcommitment.comAn independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Giving is ContagiousHEDDY HUBBARD, PhD, MPH, BSN ’73, says that her education at the School of Nursingprepared her for both her 30-year career at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aswell as her current position as director of guidelines for the American Urological Association.

“Having a nursing background has proven to be immensely beneficial. It has provided me with athorough and exceptional understanding of a vast array of medical conditions and treatments, andgiven me firsthand experience in health care delivery, thereby providing a thorough understandingof the policy as well as clinical issues involved in health services and systems,” she notes. “Nursinghas also provided me with the education and experience to be a critical thinker and an excellentimplementer of ideas and initiatives. It has allowed me to view patients and their conditions in aholistic way, which includes their families and communities.

Hubbard, who has made continued gifts of outright support, feels passionate about supportingher alma mater because she understands the importance of maintaining quality education to attract top-tiernursing students. “I worry that in the future we will not have enough nurses to care for our aging population.Nursing, to me, is a wonderful profession, and I want to contribute to it as much as possible. The School ofNursing is a top-ranked school, and therefore I want to donate to its future,” says Hubbard.

Hubbard’s parents were big proponents of education and were very supportive of their daughter’s nursingeducation, so she has also established a scholarship fund in their name. “I always think of my contribution as‘in honor’ of them,” she says.

Hubbard’s financial contributions to the School are, in part, a way to give thanks for her own good fortune.“I have a wonderful family, splendid friends, a terrific career, and a very fulfilling life. I enjoy ‘giving back’ for allof the blessings I have. Giving is also a wonderful example that I pass on to my children, and, in a way, it iscontagious,” she says —L.L.

DOROTHY CALAFIORE, DIN ’51, DrPH, MS, BSN, spent26 yearsworking for the United States Public HealthService—a nursing career highlighted by the work she didin helping to develop a vaccine for measles.

As a recipient of a scholarship to attend nursing school,Calafiore felt passionate about giving back to the institutionthat enabled her to pursue nursing.Before her passing in2007 she created a charitable gift annuity and also createda bequest that would leave a scholarship, named after her,to the School of Nursing.This year,Rachael Kersey was one

of three scholarship recipients who benefited from Calafiore’s philanthropy.Following her graduation from University of Maryland,College Park,Kersey

applied to the School of Nursing to pursue her BSN because of its national ranking,she says, and because she loved the educational atmosphere and diversity that theUniversity of Maryland fostered.

“I feel honored to be chosen for the Dorothy Calafiore scholarship, and it hasmotivated me to challenge myself academically and set high standards of achievement,”she says.“Alleviating even some amount of my student loans has been extremelybeneficial in planning for my current and future educational needs. I plan on returningto nursing school to pursue an advanced practice degree.Having less debt willabsolutely make it much easier to accomplish this,” says Kersey.—L.L.

Her Legacy Lives OnTHE LOUISA PARSONSLEGACY SOCIETYIN GRATITUDE TO OUR MEMBERS

Estate of Robert AgetonJanet D. AllanAnonymousFloraine B. ApplefeldEstate of Carolyn V ArnoldEstate of Zabelle S. Howard BeardAnn Bennett, MS ’69Marjorie Stamler BergemannJean L. Bloom, DIN ’46Estate of Mary J. BrewerEstate of E. L. Bunderman, DIN ’31Ann Ottney CainEstate of Dorothy C. Calafiore, BSN ’51Shirley E. Callahan, DIN ’52Avon B. ChisholmEstate of Gladys B. and Lansdale G. ClagettEstate of Bonnie L. Closson, BSN ’61Claudette Clunan, BSN ’72Stephen CohenRegina M. Cusson, MS ’79Celeste A. Dye, BSN ’66Mary H. Gilley, DIN ’44Lura Jane Emery, MS ’79Julie Fortier, MS ’68Carolyn Cook Handa, BSN ’63Sharon Hanopole, BSN ’66Barbara Heller-WalshEstate of Marie L. HesselbachEstate of Kjerstine K. Hoffman, DIN ’47Margaret H. Iles, DIN ’53Catherine Ingle, BSN ’61Estate of Mary McCotter JacksonJune Jennings, BSN ’47 and E.R. JenningsJeanette Jones, MS ’70Jean W. Keenan, DIN ’48Debbie G. Kramer, MS ’79, BSN ’75Cynthia P. Lewis, BSN ’58 and Jack C. LewisMargaret A. McEntee, MS ’73Estate of Wealtha McGunnMyrna Mamaril, MS ’93Estate of Lois MarriottBeverly Meadows, MS ’84, BSN ’69Joan L. Meredith, BSN ’62Sharon L. Michael, BSN ’71Nancy J. Miller, BSN ’73Patricia Gonce Morton, PhD ’89, MS ’79Lyn Murphy, MS ’01 and John MurphyElizabeth O’Connell, MS ’74, BSN ’73Daniel O’Neal, BSN ’66Harriet Palmer-Willis, BSN ’68Charlene Passmore, BSN ’77Ann E. Roberts, BSN ’93Linda E. Rose, PhD ’92Estate of Amelia Carol Sanders, DIN ’53Patricia A. Saunders, BSN ’68Estate of William Donald SchaeferPhyllis J. Scharp, BSN ’50Sandra Schoenfisch, MS ’76Ruth C. Schwalm, MS ’66Beverly SeeleyDeborah K. Shpritz, MS ’82, BSN ’78

and Louis ShpritzEstate of Betty Lou Shubkagel, BSN ’54Estate of Anna Mae SlacumNancy T. Staggers, PhD ’92, MS ’84Estate of Marie V. Stimpson, MS ’89 BSN ’84Jacquelyn Jones Stone, MS ’71Courtney Ann Kehoe Thomas, BSN ’66

and James P. Thomas*Virginia D. Thorson, BSN ’55Estate of Norma C. Tinker, BSN ’48Estate of Martha C. Trate, BSN ’48Joella D. Warner, BSN ’64Estate of Patricia Yow

*Deceased

Whether you wish to support scholarships, research, faculty positions, or other areas ofneed, there are several methods by which you can benefit the School of Nursing andfuture generations of nursing students and patients. A planned gift can be designed toachieve your financial and philanthropic goals and also makes you eligible for member-ship in our Louisa Parsons Legacy Society.

SOME POPULAR TYPES OF PLANNED GIFTS INCLUDE:

BEQUESTS AND OTHER GIFTS: After providing for your loved ones, you can designate a gift to theSchool of Nursing. Charitable bequests can include cash, securities, real estate, or other property.They may be for a specific percentage of your estate, a fixed-dollar amount, or the part remainingafter fulfilling other bequests.

LIFE INCOME GIFTS: These enable you to make a gift to the School of Nursing while receiving anincome for life. Benefits also include federal income and state tax deductions, increased income fromlow-yield assets, and preferential capital gains tax treatment on gifts of long-term appreciated property.

Many of our alumni and friends, like Dorothy, have already discovered that a planned gift can bean invaluable component of their financial and charitable planning. Whether you are seeking tosatisfy current income and estate tax needs, diversify a portfolio, liquidate a business, prepare forretirement, or make low-yielding assets more productive, a carefully crafted planned gift mayprovide a solution that satisfies your needs.

If you would like to learn more about making a planned gift, or about membership in our LouisaParsons Legacy Society, please contact us. We are available to work with you and your advisorsto create a personalized plan.

Laurette L. HankinsAssociate Dean for Developmentand Alumni RelationsUniversity of Maryland School of [email protected]

Thomas F. Hofstetter, JD, LLMSenior Director of Planned GivingUniversity of Maryland, [email protected]

M E D I C I N E O N A M I SS I O N S M

Medical CenterUniversity Marylandof

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Rites of SpringThese four jubilant members of theClass of 2012 were among 648 School ofNursing graduates who earned degrees atCommencement on May 18—the largestclass of nurses in the state. For more on theday’s festivities, see p. 6.

SUMMER INSTITUTE IN

NURSING INFORMATICS

National and Global Priorities

in Informatics and Health Care

Conference: July 18-20

Preconference Tutorials:

July 16-17

For information,

call 410-706-3767 or go to:

http://nursing.umaryland.edu/

sini

MILLICENT GEARE

EDMUNDS LECTURE

September 20

For information,

call 410-706-3767 or go to:

http://nursing.umaryland.edu

DEAN’S DISTINGUISHED

FRANKLIN LECTURE

October 16

For information,

call 410-706-3767 or go to:

http://nursing.umaryland.edu

TRAUMA, CRITICAL CARE,

AND EMERGENCY NURSING

MASTER’S SPECIALTY

30th Anniversary Celebration

November 2

For information,

call 410-706-0674 or go to:

http://nursing.umaryland.edu/

alumni/events

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDBaltimore, MDPermit #7012

Office of Communications655 West Lombard StreetBaltimore, MD 21201http://nursing.umaryland.edu

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