voice, fall 2014

Fall 2014

william f. connell school of nursing

Educating and training

a diverse nursing

workforce

The many faces of nursing

2 voice | fall 2014

deanSusan Gennaro

editorMaureen Dezell

managing editorTracy Bienen

art directorDiana Parziale

contributorsTimothy Gower

Zak Jason

Judy Rakowsky

Debra Bradley Ruder

photographersCaitlin Cunningham

Gary Wayne Gilbert

Lee Pellegrini

Professional Event Images, Inc.

Voice is published by the William F. Connell School of Nursing and the Boston College Office of Marketing Communications.

Letters and comments are welcome:

[email protected]

Communications SpecialistWilliam F. Connell School of Nursing Boston College140 Commonwealth AvenueChestnut Hill, MA 02467

Dear Friends,

In the past few months, I have

heard from many alumnae about the

tribute to Cushing Hall published in

the spring issue of Voice magazine.

People have told me they appreciate

the opportunity to look back to such

an important time in nursing history

and the history of nursing at Boston

College. I, too, appreciated the article,

which gave us an opportunity to pass

on a broader awareness of the legacy

of the Connell School as we look

ahead to our next chapters.

I am grateful to have had the pleasure of meeting Dean Rita P. Kelleher

when I first came to Boston College. She helped me to think about

the direction in which the Connell School should go as we build on

the shoulders of the giants who came before us. Dean Kelleher never

stopped looking forward and never lost her passion for ensuring that

nursing students had what they needed to excel.

So while I am sad as we leave Cushing Hall, I know that Dean Kelleher,

and all those who worked so diligently in the past to prepare the best

nurses, would be glad that we will soon have the space and equipment

we desperately need to educate Boston College students as well as

prepare nurse leaders for the future.

Yours,

Susan Gennaro Dean

voicefrom the deansusan gennaro

Photograph: Gary Wayne Gilbert

boston college william f. connell school of nursing 3

Fall 2014

contents

news

4 CSON named a National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence, alumni honored at reunion, student and faculty accolades

letters

6 Thoughts and opinions on the “Tribute to Cushing Hall” (Voice, spring 2014)

features

7 Move to Maloney Hall Enhancing clinical

learning in the new nursing lab

8 Finding truth

in the numbers Associate Dean Sean Clarke and the power of data

10 The many faces of nursing Educating and training a diverse nursing workforce

14 Welcoming new faculty New faculty bring

expertise in gerontology, dementia, and community health

faculty publications

17 Simulations that teach “thinking like a nurse”

Study offers RN staffing lessons from Mass. health reform

10

5 14

www.bc.edu/cson

17

Clockwise from above:

Associate Dean Sean Clarke.

Angela Zablotny ’15 (center) with her neighbors in South Africa.

Elisabeth Bailey, clinical instructor.

Graduate student Nina Wujech.

Students train in the clinical learning lab.

7

4 voice | fall 2014

newsby zak jason

AnnouncementThe Connell School of Nursing was

named a National Hartford Center of

Gerontological Nursing Excellence. The

organization focuses on developing facul-

ty, advancing nursing science, facilitating

adoption of best practices, fostering lead-

ership, and designing policy around the

issues of optimal health and quality of life

for older adults.

EventsMartha Jurchak, Ph.D. ’96, executive direc-

tor of the Ethics Service at Brigham and

Women’s Hospital, and Ellen Robinson,

M.S. ’83, Ph.D. ’97, nurse ethicist at

Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute

for Patient Care and co-chair of the MGH

Optimum Care Committee, received the

sixth annual Dean Rita P. Kelleher Award

for outstanding leadership at this year’s

Connell School reunion May 31. After

Dean Susan Gennaro presented the award,

Jurchak and Robinson took part in a panel

discussion on nursing ethics with Connell

School faculty members Pamela Grace and

Richard Ross, S.J.

Faculty newsThe American Academy of Nursing

inducted Associate Professor Marie Boltz

as a Fellow in October.

The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Associ-

ation selected Assistant Professor Stewart

Bond as a 2014 Research Scholar to continue

his research, which examines the ability

of palliative care professionals to recog-

nize and differentiate between delirium,

dementia, and depression.

Associate Professor Jane Flanagan received

the Distinguished Nurse Practitioner of

the Year Award from the Massachusetts

Coalition of Nurse Practitioners for her

leadership in advancing nursing and the

APRN role. Also, the Society of Rogerian

Scholars elected Flanagan its president.

Indiana University School of Nursing

named Professor Dorothy Jones one of its

Top 100 Alumni Legacy Leaders during

the school’s centennial celebration week-

end in June.

Purdue University School of Nursing hon-

ored Associate Professor Pat Tabloski as a

Golden Graduate during the school’s 50th

anniversary celebration. She also received

the 2014 Distinguished Alumna Award

from the University of Rochester School

of Nursing in October. While in Rochester,

Tabloski delivered the annual Clare Denni-

son Lecture, titled “Challenges and Oppor-

tunities for Gerontological Nurses.”

NursePractitionerSchools.com named

Lelia Holden Carroll Professor Judith

Vessey one of its top 25 pediatric nursing

professors.

Alumni newsAnn Riley Finck ’66 received an honorary

Doctor of Nursing Science degree at

Boston College’s 2014 Commencement.

Merrimack College named Carol Glod,

M.S. ’83, Ph.D. ’95, provost and senior vice

president for academic affairs.

Above: Ellen Robinson and Martha Jurchak at reunion. Photograph: Professional Event Images, Inc.

Below: Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J., and Ann Riley Finck. Photograph: Lee Pellegrini

Right: Stewart Bond. Photograph: Caitlin Cunningham


Susan A. LaRocco ’76 received a Fulbright

Scholarship to teach at the University of

Jordan in Amman in 2014–15. She is a

professor of nursing at Curry College in

Milton, Massachusetts.

The American Academy of Nursing

inducted Annie Lewis-O’Connor, Ph.D. ’07,

and Diane Cheryl Berry, M.S. ’97, Ph.D.

’02, as Fellows in October. Lewis-

O’Connor is senior nurse scientist and

director of the Coordinated Approach to

Recovery and Empowerment (CARE)

clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Berry is associate professor at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel

Hill’s School of Nursing.

Texas Children’s Hospital gave Mary

Therese Pfeffer ’12 its Rookie of the

Year Award.

Arlene Stoller, M.S. ’12, received a 2013

Excellence in Gerontological Nursing

Award from the National Gerontological

Nursing Association.

John Welch, M.S. ’12, traveled to Liberia

in October and spent a month caring for

patients with the Ebola virus. He works

with Partners in Health, where he is the

nursing director for the Ebola response.

Student newsSeven Boston College undergraduates,

including CSON’s Sabrina Caraffa ’15,

Nora Jean-Baptiste ’14, and Patience

Marks ’15, spoke about their health

experiences at the inaugural Health

Talk event, sponsored by the Connell

School of Nursing and the Office of

Health Promotion with support from

the Robsham Theater Arts Center.

Meghan Crann, M.S. ’14, received a 2013

Jeremy Knowles Preceptor Fellowship

from Massachusetts General Hospital,

where she is a staff nurse on the general

medicine unit.

Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) awarded

Laura Mata ’16 a scholarship to support

study abroad in Ecuador. She was one of

21 FEA Scholarship winners selected from

a pool of 900 applicants.

Nina Wujech, M.S. ’15, participated in a

five-day medical mission in her home

country of Cameroon, where she con-

ducted free cancer, hypertension, and

diabetes screenings and also offered free

treatment, medication, and counseling.

Angela Zablotny ’15 studied in Durban,

South Africa, where she conducted inde-

pendent research on schoolgirls’ expe-

riences with menstruation as expressed

through body mapping.

PhilanthropyAn anonymous donor committed to

a $3 million gift, which will establish

the Connell School’s second full aca-

demic chair.

After supporting annual clinical immer-

sion trips to Nicaragua for seven years,

the Countess Moira Charitable Foundation

endowed the Connell School with $1 mil-

lion to sustain its existing international pro-

grams and provide experiences for future

nursing students in perpetuity. Kathleen

Gray ’84 sits on the foundation’s board.

The Connell School’s main lab in Maloney

Hall will be named in honor of Boston

College alumni Scott Brown ’79 and his

wife Tracy Burnett Brown, who graduated

from the school of nursing in 1980. The

couple, who are parents of two Boston

College graduates, have made a gift to the

University to support the education of

nurse leaders.

In memoryLouise Marie Gratienne Pare ’65 died at

her home in Lewiston, Maine, on July 14,

2014. She was 75.

Tell us your [email protected]

The body map created by a 16-year-old South African, who wrote, “The first time I got my period I felt so stressed because I did not know what happened with my virginity.” Photograph courtesy: Angela Zablotny

6 voice | fall 2014

letters

Dear Dr. Gennaro:

the cover of voice magazine

depicting Cushing Hall grabbed my

interest. Reading the tribute to this symbol

of the Boston College School of Nursing

brought back memories of my years as a

student during the early 1980s and 1990s

and as an adjunct faculty in the 2000s.

As an older RN undergraduate—and

one of a few RN to BSN students that

struggled to make sense of the academic

requirements while caring for children

and working part time—I found salvation

in the library on the top floor of Cushing

Hall. The library was a haven in which

I could gather the knowledge to move

through my coursework and to understand

nursing as a science. This foundation

fostered the development of a different

nursing career for me.

When I became a doctoral student in

the early 1990s the library was gone, but

the top floor of Cushing Hall had become

the classrooms where my classmates and I

became scholars. I came back again in the

2000s to teach the research course during

the summer on the 2nd floor of Cushing

Hall and experienced the wonders of the

afternoon sun in the summer on the front

of Cushing Hall!

It was a building. But Cushing Hall

contained the most caring, supportive

environment in which to learn. It intro-

duced me to colleagues and faculty

that I am still connected to as friends,

co-investigators, and mentors. For

Cushing Hall and Boston College,

I am eternally grateful.

Sincerely,

diane l. carroll ’82 Ph.D. ’93, RN, FAAN

thank you for the spring 2014 issue of Voice devoted to the history of

Cushing Hall. As a member of the last

class to graduate before Cushing was

built, I was eager, when asked, to offer my

experience as a member of that cohort.

We were a distinct and happy community

of women who visited the campus for

science classes, but who saw 126 Newbury

Street as our professional home. We were

welcomed when we arrived on campus

on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Although

“running the gauntlet” was a metaphor

we employed humorously to describe

our experience of walking through Lyons

Cafeteria with hundreds of male students

looking on, there was no public humilia-

tion of us by the men. Descriptors such as

“catcalling” and “mooning” are, therefore,

entirely inappropriate. We were not disre-

spected by the men, nor would I choose to

disrespect them (then or now) with such

characterizations.

When I first read the article in which I

was referenced, I felt misunderstood and

misrepresented by the description of my

lived experience. In retrospect, it occurs to

me that gender roles of the mid 1950s are

difficult to appreciate in 2014. Maybe you

just had to be there!

elizabeth m. grady ’59

Dear Editor,

from 1969 to my retirement in 2002, I enjoyed teaching in Cushing

Hall, first with Deans Margaret Foley and

Rita Kelleher, then with Mary Dineen, and

last with Barbara Hazard. (I now teach

part time with Dean Susan Gennaro.)

A graduate quoted in the spring 2014

issue of the Voice magazine article empha-

sized that the opening of Cushing Hall

made students feel they belonged “at”

Boston College—they had a home. The

preposition changed from “at” to belong-

ing “to” BC over time.

These years brought transformation in

spaces where students gathered to learn

and socialize. The clinical skills lab moved

from a basement location where tall

students avoided bumps from overhead

heating ducts. Fourth-floor facilities with

state-of-the-art simulated patient models

replaced “Mrs. Chase.” Current students

at all levels can integrate critical thinking

and skill practice in simulation labs that

will be enlarged at Maloney Hall.

While students once populated the first-

floor lounge and the fourth-floor library,

they now often fill the fourth-floor corridor

to await competency testing or to pack

supplies for service trips. In Cushing 001,

where I truly loved teaching NU120, Scope

of Human Development, the lectern now

resembles an airplane cockpit with all the

electronic equipment controls.

Cushing Hall may have to step out of

the way for “progress” but will be long

remembered for the students and teachers

and deans the building served.

Sincerely,

jean a. o’neil Ed.D., RN, Associate Professor Emerita;

Part-time Faculty, Academic Support

Provider, and Consultant


seymour butt, chester chest, and surgical sally have been confined to tight quarters in Cushing

Hall’s clinical learning center since the 1990s. Next

summer, the instructional manikins will move with the

rest of the Connell School of Nursing to Maloney Hall,

where they will take up residence in the School’s new

2,000-square-foot nursing lab. An expansive, state-of-

the-art facility that is twice as large as its Cushing Hall

counterpart, the new lab will house five exam rooms and

a primary 12-bed clinical learning space.

Located on the second floor of Maloney, the school’s

new instructional center will feature a complement of

teaching tools and accessories, including bedside patient

monitors, IV pumps, portable vital sign machines, med-

ication administration units, crash carts—and a new

cohort of anatomical models that can mimic heart and

lung sounds and various human conditions.

“The increase in space will allow greater access to

experiential learning,” which builds students’ skill sets,

said Amy Smith, director of the Connell School’s clinical

learning and simulation center. “The beauty of simula-

tion,” added Smith, “is that students are able to practice

skills and gain confidence in a realistic and supportive

environment prior to entering the hospital setting.”

The Maloney Hall lab resources are expected to

enhance student learning at all levels, Smith continued,

from foundational skill-building to advanced simulation

exercises that challenge critical thinking.

In addition, students will have increased access to elec-

tronic documentation, so they can report their findings

of wounds, surgical sites, and other simulated problems,

according to Eileen Sullivan, assistant lab director.

The Connell School’s main lab in Maloney Hall will

be named in honor of Boston College alumni Scott

Brown ’79 and his wife Tracy Burnett Brown, who grad-

uated from the school of nursing in 1980. The couple,

who are parents of two Boston College graduates, have

made a gift to the University to support the education of

nurse leaders. n

Enhancing clinical learning in Maloney Hall

Photography by Caitlin Cunningham

movE to mAlonEy

Students in Health Assessment across the Life Span, taught by Associate Professor Robin Wood, in Cushing Hall’s main nursing lab.

“I began to see ways to use research to

ask questions that are central to the pro-

fessional issues that drive nursing,” says

Clarke, who came to the Connell School of

Nursing this fall as a professor and associ-

ate dean for undergraduate programs.

Clarke is an internationally recognized

expert on the makeup and management

of nursing organizations and how they

affect patient health and safety. He

also studies the well-being of nurses;

for example, how factors such as staff-

ing levels influence patient mortality.

Clarke’s research has bolstered lobbying

efforts by nursing associations to enact

legislation aimed at ensuring appropri-

ate nurse-patient ratios, such as the law

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick

signed in June that limits the number of

patients assigned to registered nurses in

hospital intensive-care units. Clarke has

also investigated issues that directly affect

nurses’ working lives, from the risk of

sharps injuries to job burnout.

At a time when hospital administrators

are under pressure to improve patient

safety while curbing spending, Clarke

maintains that data has never been more

important. “The purpose of research is

to drive practice decisions, but it’s also to

drive management decisions,” he says.

“I think we have an obligation to think

about what kinds of data are going to

by timothy gower


Growing up in Ottawa, Canada, Sean Clarke dreamed of becoming a scientist.

Doing volunteer work at hospitals as a college student convinced him that

nursing was his destiny. But it was while he was pursuing his doctorate that

Clarke’s fascination with science put him on a path to conducting ground-

breaking research on patients and the people who care for them.

Finding truth in the numbers

Associate Dean Sean Clarke and the power of data

8 voice | fall 2014


facilitate better decisions in the long run

that will be in patients’ interests.”

Outgoing, energetic, and an engaging

conversationalist, Clarke’s research focus

and personality make him a perfect fit

for Boston College according to Susan

Gennaro, dean of the Connell School.

“Sean looks at the way care is delivered

and asks whether there is a better way to

deliver it,” says Gennaro, who has known

Clarke since the 1990s. “He’s very intel-

ligent and motivated, but also very caring

and concerned. A perfect blend of the

right and left brain.”

Clarke became interested in nursing

while attending the University of Ottawa,

where he received his bachelor’s degree

in 1988. He pursued a master’s and a

doctorate in nursing at McGill University

in Montreal, where he worked closely

with Nancy Frasure-Smith, a noted social

scientist who studies how psychological

factors influence the risk for cardiovas-

cular disease. “That’s where I learned

how to ask research questions and use

big data sets to get answers,” says Clarke.

Clarke did post-doctoral work at the

University of Pennsylvania, where he

eventually became an associate profes-

sor. At Penn, his mentor was Professor

of Nursing and Sociology Linda Aiken,

known for her seminal research on the

impact of, and remedies for, nursing

shortages. A number of his 118 published

articles are collaborations with Aiken.

They include a pair of massive studies

published in the Journal of the American

Medical Association that were among

the first to quantify how nursing perfor-

mance and working conditions affect

patient outcomes.

In one, for example, Clarke and his

colleagues showed that hospitals with

high patient-to-nurse ratios tend to have

relatively higher mortality rates among

surgery patients.

At the same time, Clarke cautions that

common assumptions about nursing

and patient well-being are often too sim-

plistic. “People would like to believe that

it’s a very straightforward set of circum-

stances that tell us whether patients will

do well or not do well,” says Clarke. To

the contrary, his research suggests that

simply adding more staff to a nursing

unit, for example, won’t necessarily

improve patient outcomes. What’s

needed is the right mix of nurses, led

by managers who create a healthy,

positive work environment.

In 2008, Clarke was named an

associate professor at the University

of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg

Faculty of Nursing. At Bloomberg, his

lectures were wildly popular. “Few stu-

dents skip class even though they don’t

need to show up; Clarke records all of

his lectures and posts them online,”

noted the Bloomberg School’s magazine,

Pulse. “It’s not the same—he’s better in

person,” student Stephen Ng told the

magazine. “Sean makes a potentially

boring course super fun.”

Clarke returned to McGill in 2012

to become the first director of the

university’s new Nursing Collaborative

for Education and Innovation in Patient

and Family-Centered Care, created to

strengthen ties between the schools of

nursing and medicine. But when

approached about the associate dean

post at the Connell School, Clarke was

intrigued. (So was his wife, Beth McNutt-

Clarke, an advanced practice nurse who

specializes in wound management and

who comes to the Connell School as a

clinical instructor, teaching community

health, see p. 16.)

Clarke says he is eager to collaborate

on research with new colleagues at

Boston-area hospitals. “Other cities are

health care hubs,” he observes, “but

Boston is first on everybody’s list to be

a researcher and health professional.”

However, it was his new role at the

Connell School that convinced Clarke

to pack up the house and make the move

from Montreal. “I was aware of the excel-

lent tradition of undergraduate education

BC has. The school seems to be a place

where a lot of people with different back-

grounds all find ways to contribute to

the mission,” says Clarke. “That was

really appealing to me.” n

Clark’s research suggests “that simply adding more staff to

a nursing unit won’t necessarily improve patient outcomes.

What’s needed is the right mix of nurses, led by managers

who create a healthy, positive work environment.”

10 voice | fall 2014


growing up in brooklyn, jimmy yang ’17 was riveted in his high school

biology classes. But he had never considered nursing until shortly before he was due to arrive on campus as a freshman in 2013. A first-generation college student whose parents emigrated from China, Yang got an e-mail from the Connell School of Nursing inviting him to apply to KILN (Keys to Inclusive Leadership in Nursing). The five-year-old program recruits and prepares stu-dents from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in nursing to succeed academically and in their profession.

“Coming into school, my first few days were a little awkward,

a little intimidating,” says Yang. “Now it just feels normal.”

With help from his mentor, Richard Ross, S.J., a clinical

instructor in the nursing school, and support from KILN, Yang

says he enjoyed a successful freshman year.

Undergraduates who look like Yang and male faculty were

anomalies at the Connell School until recently. So were grad-

uate students such as Deborah Washington, M.S. ’93, Ph.D.

’12, now the director of diversity for Patient Care Services

at Massachusetts General Hospital, who is black. While

Washington was pursuing her degree during the 1990s, she

recalls, she never saw “a classmate who looked like me.”

Yang, Washington, and Ross represent the new face of nursing

at the Connell School—and an essential evolution in the future

of health care, according to Catherine Y. Read, an associate pro-

fessor and KILN’s director, who recently left the role of associate

dean for undergraduate programs after nine years.

“Health care is never going to be fixed until we have a

nursing workforce that complements the diversity of the com-

munity,” she says. For that to happen, rigorous undergradu-

ate nursing programs such as the Connell School’s have to

become more diverse.

“When I first started on the job as associate dean, I saw a lot

of students not reaching their potential,” says Read. Students,

including males, would leave the Connell School or wouldn’t

achieve what they could. “They didn’t see themselves as leaders,”

she continues. “We wanted to scout the kids that may or may not

have gotten through the [undergraduate nursing program].”

To that end, Read spearheaded the Connell School’s effort

to secure federal funds to launch KILN as a three-year pilot in

2009. At first, KILN focused on undergraduates, recruiting

top high school students, then mentoring and offering intense

tutoring and grants, and providing funds to cover ancillary

costs such as conference fees and travel. In 2012, a $540,000

Price Family Foundation grant made it possible for CSON to

continue to expand KILN, opening it to 10 graduate students

and 40 undergraduates.

by judy rakowsky


The many faces of nursing

Jimmy Yang meets with his advisor, Richard Ross, S.J.


The KILN program offers “a forum, a shared culture” for

students who might otherwise hesitate to express themselves,

says Nina Wujech, a nurse practitioner graduate student in her

third year and a native of Cameroon. It also provides resources

(grants and stipends, for instance) to help those who otherwise

might not be able to afford to pursue professional opportu-

nities to do so. With money from the program, Wujech, for

example, was able to attend a conference in Florida, where she

made enduring professional contacts who offered a glimpse of

real life in the field.

The KILN approach is not necessarily

new—scholarships, intervention, and tutoring have been

around for many years. KILN’s strength, says Read, is the way

it tailors support to each student. “It’s not one size fits all.

Everybody can be successful.”

KILN now serves 43 undergraduates and 10 graduate

nursing students in a school of 385 undergraduates and 295

master’s degree candidates. In addition, during the past five

years, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in

Nursing program has provided $10,000 scholarships to more

than 40 students from underrepresented minority groups

and disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds who are

accepted to the Connell School’s accelerated master’s in nurs-

ing program.

“There is intention behind the message of diversity and

inclusion” at the Connell School, says Washington. The

changes come from a more constructive approach than the old

quota system of affirmative action, she points out. “Today the

admissions people and deans and employers look at diversity

around the question `Who is not here?’ Now we ask if we have

Muslims and men and someone who is out and comfortable

with his orientation.”

The proportion of Connell undergraduates who are AHANA

(African, Hispanic, Asian and Native American) doubled to 20

percent since 1994, and reached 25 percent during some of

“ When health care providers see someone who looks like them or comes from a similar

background, there is a level of comfort there.”

— danny willis, associate professor and chair, Diversity Advisory Board

Above: Ji Won Lee ‘15 with her advisor, Danny Willis.

Right: Nina Wujech (right) and her patient Bette Darling at Tristan Medical, Raynham.


the past five years. The male undergraduate enrollment has

increased from three percent in 2004 to more than 11 percent

of the incoming class in 2014.

The KILN and the New Careers in Nursing programs com-

plement efforts to diversify the faculty as well.

“There’s this commitment to diversity in the school,” says

Associate Professor Danny Willis, department chair and head

of CSON’s Diversity Advisory Board. Broadening participa-

tion in the faculty also is an ongoing effort, says Willis, one

of five males of the 53 full-time faculty members. “Diversity

is a value we teach and a major part of what goes on inside

the building. It is also congruent with our mission as a Jesuit

university.”

The overarching goal of diversity in nursing practice,

Washington says, is culturally competent care. It is a prac-

ticed skill, she says, that can be taught in a course but goes

far beyond bullet points. It is essential to establishing a rap-

port with the patient in a most intimate relationship.

“As a black woman, I’m trying to reach a black patient about

diabetic foot care and I can sit down and say ‘I can tell you

the way your mama would tell you,’” Washington says. “I get

laughter and camaraderie going and he may do this one thing

I’m insisting on.”

It’s not possible for each patient to have a nurse from their

ethnic or racial background or gender, she says, but students

need to put their cultural identity “out front and be a part of

who they are and how they interact.”

There will still be patients who refuse nurses from a particu-

lar background to be part of their care team, says Washington.

Racism and bias are part of our culture and the relationship

with a nurse is profoundly intimate, she continues.

Willis says diversity is a thread that runs through the entire

curriculum, as faculty members bring up inclusivity in the

classroom and encourage research that focuses on health dis-

parities in vulnerable communities and populations.

It also encompasses the way the school encourages students

and graduates to take leadership roles to improve public health.

Broadening participation in the field is essential to this effort,

Willis says. “When health care providers see someone who

looks like them or comes from a similar background, there is

a level of comfort there. This congruence and match can trans-

late to health care at a higher level.”

Connell is fortunate to have great faculty and students and

an administration that leads, Willis adds. But it’s ongoing

work. “The goal would be to see everyone as a human being,”

he says. n

Deborah Washington (center) leads a unit-based training at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Marie Boltzassociate professor

Marie Boltz, Ph.D., RN, GNP-BC, was close to her grandpar-

ents. But she was dismayed by the inferior medical care they

sometimes received as they aged. Her early days in nursing

opened her eyes to the complexity of treating older patients,

which stirred her passion for gerontology. “I felt the need to

advocate for the specialized needs of older people in my own

practice,” says Boltz. She comes to Boston College as a tenured

associate professor after seven years at the New York University

College of Nursing, where she received her doctorate. Boltz

recently completed a pilot study of a “family-centered” pro-

gram designed to promote the recovery of older patients with

acute illnesses, in which nurses at two hospitals systematically

involved family members throughout all stages of a patient’s

treatment.

“We’re making sure family members have information they

haven’t had historically,” says Boltz, whose paper describing the

pilot study of this novel intervention will appear in the Journal

of the American Geriatric Society. She is widely published and

has edited several books, including Evidence-Based Geriatric

Nursing Protocols for Best Practice (Springer, 2011). In 2013,

Boltz was named a fellow of the Gerontological Society of

America. She was inducted into the American Academy of

Nursing in October 2014.

New Facultyby timothy gower




Kyung Hee Leeassistant professor

There was a time when some doctors believed that people with

dementia lose the ability to form emotions. Growing evidence

suggests that’s not the case, though dementia patients often do

struggle to describe how they’re feeling. “As nurses, we need

to pay attention to their emotional expression,” says Kyung

Hee Lee, Ph.D., RN, GNP-C, M.P.H, whose ongoing research

suggests that changes in dementia patients’ countenance, body

posture, and tone of voice can give caregivers a better under-

standing of their psychological status and physical needs.

Lee grew up in South Korea and studied nursing at Yonsei

University in Seoul. She came to the United States to pursue

her doctorate at the University of Michigan, where she wrote

her dissertation on how emotion and cognition influence

wandering behavior in dementia patients, graduating in

2011. Her next move was to Duke University, where she was

a post-doctoral fellow before she came to Boston College as

a tenure-track assistant professor. At the Connell School, she

will continue studying the emotional well-being of dementia

patients and teach courses in the gerontology program.

“My goal as a teacher,” says Lee, “is to build a bridge between

practice and research.”

Elisabeth Baileyclinical instructor

Elisabeth Bailey, M.S. ’07, RN, PMHCNS-BC, is convinced

that nurse practitioners can help fill the increasing shortage of

child and adolescent psychiatrists in the United States. Bailey

is trained in both psychiatric and pediatric nursing and her

interest is in “bringing the two together,” she says. “Primary

care providers treat most kids with psychiatric needs, and they’ll

often tell you they don’t feel prepared to manage these patients.”

Bailey, who expects to receive her Ph.D. in nursing practice

from Northeastern University in 2015, is writing a doctoral dis-

sertation on why nurse practitioners (especially in primary care)

lack training to treat psychiatric conditions in young people,

and ways to remedy the problem.

Bailey received her master’s in nursing from Boston College

in 2007. She returns as a clinical instructor and teaches

Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing across the Lifespan.

Bailey most recently served as director of psychiatric services

at the Manville School, a day school for children with emo-

tional and behavioral problems that is part of the Judge Baker

Children’s Center in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. For

her, seeing children overcome profound psychological chal-

lenges offers singular rewards. “It’s a real privilege to be part

of that process,” she says. “It’s very inspiring to see that kind of

human resilience.”


Beth McNutt-Clarkeclinical instructor

Beth McNutt-Clarke, M.Sc.A, M.B.A., RN, CWOCN,

believes her specialty—wound management—is critical for

the well-being of both patients and hospitals. McNutt-Clarke,

who obtained her master’s degree in nursing from McGill

University in Montreal, most recently served as an advanced

practice nurse at Toronto’s Bridgepoint Hospital, where she

oversaw management of wounds such as pressure ulcers.

“With some knowledge and good assessment, you can actually

prevent a lot of pressure ulcers,” says McNutt-Clarke, noting

that these common hospital-acquired wounds are painful

and can take several years to heal. Severe cases, which can

cost hospitals upwards of $60,000, also put a strain on

clinical budgets.

Her other passion is community health nursing, which she’ll

teach as a clinical instructor at the Connell School. “Students

need to learn not just nursing skills, but how to interact with

people,” says McNutt-Clarke, who is a vocal proponent of the

value of strengths-based nursing, an emerging treatment

approach that eschews formulaic prescriptions and promotes

health by exploring how patients can help themselves. “I feel

like I’m a detective and I’m going to find the best way to work

with a patient,” she says.

Melissa Pérez clinical instructor

Melissa Pérez, M.S. ’12, RN, WHNP-BC, has spent the last

three and a half years working as a labor and delivery nurse in

an eight-bed unit for high-risk pregnancies at Boston Medical

Center (BMC). Among her patients are women who are

addicted to drugs or inmates from area prisons, a population

with which she is grateful to work. “You are taking care of

people who will hang on your every word and appreciate the

education and the resources. It’s nursing as an art and science,”

says Pérez.

After earning her nursing degree at Villanova University

in 2009, Pérez continued her education at Boston College,

receiving her master’s degree in nursing in 2012, specializing

in women’s health. She taught maternal and child health at the

Connell School on a part-time basis in the 2012–13 school year,

and now returns as a clinical instructor in that field. Besides

giving classroom lectures, Pérez will oversee six to eight stu-

dents as they train at BMC and other area hospitals. “I am

really going to miss my patients,” she says, “but they’ll still

be with me through my students.” Pérez has done extensive

volunteer work in the United States and abroad, and dreams of

leading a group of Boston College students on a relief mission

to Central America. n


jane ashley

Ashley, J., & Stamp, K.D. (2014, September). Learning to think like a nurse: The development of clinical judgment in nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education, 53(9), 519–525. doi:10.3928/01484834-20140821-14

susan desanto-madeya

Darcy, A.M., Murphy, G.A., & Desanto-Madeya, S.A. (2014, July/August). Evaluation of discharge telephone calls following total joint replacement surgery. Orthopaedic Nursing, 33(4), 188–197. doi:10.1097/NOR.0000000000000062

joyce edmonds

Edmonds, J.K. (2014, June/July). Clinical indications associated with primary cesarean birth. Nursing for Women’s Health, 18(3), 243–249. doi:10.1111/1751-486X.12126

jane flanagan

Arcari, P.M., & Flanagan, J.M. (2014). The development of a mind-body-spirit certification program in nursing. Journal of Holistic Nursing. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0898010114547112

Flanagan, J.M. (2014). Virtual issue: Integration of NNN into EHRS. How are we doing? Introduction by editor. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)2047-3095/homepage/custom_copy.htm

Flanagan, J.M. (2014, June). The electronic health record: Moving toward the goal of nursing diagnosis decision support. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, 25(2), 67. doi:10.1111/2047-3095.12040

holly fontenot

Hill, A.L., & Fontenot, H.B. (2014, October/November). Beliefs and practices of obstetric care providers regarding umbilical cord clamping. Nursing for Women’s Health 18(5), 413–419. doi:10.1111/1751-486X.12149

susan gennaro

Fierz, K., Gennaro, S., Dierickx, K., Van Achterberg, T., Morin, K.H., & De Geest, S. (2014, July). Scientific misconduct: Also an issue in nursing science? Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(4), 271–280. doi:10.1111/jnu.12082

Budin, W.C., Gennaro, S., O’Connor, C., & Contratti, F. (2014, October-December). Sustainability of improvements in perinatal teamwork and safety climate. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 29(4), 363–370. doi:10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000067

VanDevanter, N., Gennaro, S., Budin, W., Calalang-Javiera, H., & Nguyen, M. (2014, July/August). Evaluating implementation of a baby friendly hospital initiative. MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 39(4), 231–237. doi:10.1097/NMC.0000000000000046

Gennaro, S. (2014, July). Writing: Ensuring the stars align. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(4), 217. doi:10.1111/jnu.12098

Gennaro, S. (2014, September). What do you need to read? Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(5), 303. doi:10.1111/jnu.12100

Simulations that teach “thinking like a nurse” Connell School researchers found clear distinctions between second- and third-year nursing students’ clinical judgment and reasoning skills in high-fidelity simulations, Associate Professor Jane Ashley and Assistant Professor Kelly Stamp reported in the September issue of the Journal of Nursing Education.

Junior nursing students are more likely to “think like a nurse” than sopho-mores according to the researchers, who videotaped simulation sessions in which students were presented with a postoperative “patient”—a high-fidelity manikin—who developed a common clinical problem. They then conducted interviews to explore what students were thinking, feeling, and doing during the simulations.

The researchers found that sophomores, whose postoperative “patient” had developed hypoglycemia, did little preplanning before the simulation and relied mainly on vital signs, visual cues, and common sense. The juniors, whose patient was having a heart attack, were more likely to use analytical reasoning to focus assessments, test hypotheses, and problem solve. Ashley and Stamp concluded that sophomores need to hone skills in noticing and interpreting patient symptoms while juniors can be given problems with increasing complexity.

Both groups consistently introduced themselves and practiced safety checks and hand hygiene, but showed room for improvement in communicating with physicians and patients. When communicating with the doctor, for example, “most students left out significant data, gave information out of sequence, and were reluctant to make recommendations for care.”



pamela grace

Robinson, E.M., Lee, S.M., Zollfrank, A., Jurchak, M., Frost, D., & Grace, P. (2014, September/October). Enhancing moral agency: Clinical ethics residency for nurses. The Hastings Center Report, 44(5), 12–20. doi:10.1002/hast.353

ellen mahoney

Mahoney, K.J., Sciegaj, M., & Mahoney, E.K. (2014, summer). The future of participant direction in aging services. Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, 38(2), 85–93. generations.metapress.com/content/FK1U2724XK763060

tam nguyen

Tran, T.V., Nguyen, T.H., Wang, K., & Phan, P. (2014, October). Comparing traditional body mass index and Joslin Diabetes Center’s Asian body mass index in predicting self-report type 2 diabetes. International Journal of Social Science Studies, 2(4). Advance online publication. doi:10.11114/ijsss.v2i4.487

judith shindul-rothschild

Shindul-Rothschild, J., & Gregas, M. (2014, March). Patient turnover and nursing employment in Massachusetts hospitals before and after health insurance reform: Implication for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 14(3–4), 151–162. doi:10.1177/1527154414527829

kelly stamp

Ashley, J., & Stamp, K.D. (2014, September). Learning to think like a nurse: The development of clinical judgment in nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education, 53(9), 519–525. doi:10.3928/01484834-20140821-14

judith vessey

Feeg, V.D., Candelaria, L.M., Krenitsky-Korn, S., & Vessey, J.A. (2014, September) The relationship of obesity and weight gain to childhood teasing. Journal of Pediatric Nursing. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2014.08.011

danny willis

Ye, L., Malhotra, A., Kayser, K., Willis, D.G., Horowitz, J.A., Aloia, M.S., & Weaver, T.E. (2014, May). Spousal involvement and CPAP adherence: A dyadic perspective. Sleep Medicine Reviews. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2014.04.005

lichuan ye

Ye, L., Malhotra, A., Kayser, K., Willis, D.G., Horowitz, J.A., Aloia, M.S., & Weaver, T.E. (2014, May). Spousal involvement and CPAP adherence: A dyadic perspective. Sleep Medicine Reviews. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2014.04.005

Gillis, C.M., Poyant, J.O., Degrado, J.R., Ye, L., Anger, K.E., & Owens, R.L. (2014, October). Inpatient pharmacological sleep aid utilization is common at a tertiary medical center. Journal of Hospital Medicine 9(10), 652–657. doi: 10.1002/jhm.2246

Ye, L., Pien, G.W., Ratcliffe, S.J., Bjornsdottir, E., Arnardottir, E.S., Pack, A.I., Benediktsdottir, B., & Gislason, T. (2014, September). The different clinical faces of obstructive sleep apnoea: A cluster analysis. European Respiratory Journal. Advance online publication. doi:10.1183/09031936.00032314ERJ


Study offers RN staffing lessons from Mass. health reformDespite rising hospital admissions under the state’s health insurance reform law, nurse staffing in Massachusetts hospitals has remained flat. That portends possible trends under federal health care reform, according to an analysis by Associate Professor Judith Shindul-Rothschild and Senior Research Statistician Matt Gregas.

In a paper published in Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice in March, the researchers examined patient turnover and RN employment in Massa-chusetts, New York, and California nonfederal hospitals between 2000 and 2011—both before and after Massachusetts passed its landmark health insurance law in 2006.

Massachusetts had significantly more admissions per bed than California and New York in 2009 and 2011, signaling that health care reform increased access to hospital services for previously uninsured residents—and foreshad-owing rising demand under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was modeled after the Massachusetts law, Shindul-Rothschild and Gregas note.

They found, however, that the number of RNs employed in Massachusetts has not kept pace with the intensity of patient turnover and demand for hospital services. With hospitals everywhere facing pressure to curb costs and improve efficiency of care, the researchers say their findings “are a reminder that the cost-containment provisions that also accompany health insurance reform may restrain hospitals from increasing RN staffing even in the face of rising admissions.”

Research summaries by Debra Bradley Ruder

Register for one course to update your skills, or enroll in a certificate program to take the next step in your career. Start at any time and select courses that fit your individual needs and goals.

•ClinicalResearchCertificate

•RNRefresherCertificate

•IVCertificate

•MedicalSpanishCertificate

•ClinicalSkillsforAdvancedPracticeNurses/ Graduate Students

Join us for a free information session

rn refresher certificate program Thursday, January 15, 201511:00 a.m.

clinical research certificate programWednesday, February 4, 20156:00 p.m.

Learn morewww.bc.edu/ce

Expand your knowledge. Advance your career.

continuing education

Contact us

[email protected]–552–4256

140 Commonwealth Avenue

Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

www.bc.edu/cson

non-profit org.u.s. postage paid

boston, mapermit #55294


140 Commonwealth Avenue

Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

www.bc.edu/cson


Save the dateJoin the Connell School for our upcoming Pinnacle lecture

Antonia M. Villarruel Ph.D., FAANMargaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing

University of Pennsylvania

School of Nursing

Director

University of Pennsylvania

School of Nursing

World Health Organization

Collaborating Centre for Nursing

and Midwifery Leadership

monday, march 16, 2015 5:00 p.m.yawkey center, murray room

This event is free of charge to all School

of Nursing alumni, faculty, and friends.

Courtesy: University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Read more and RSVP at www.bc.edu/pinnacle.

voice, fall 2014

Documents

nursing students

nursing history

history of nursing

faces of nursing

nursing science

new nursing lab

diverse nursing workforcethe

boston college students