your neighborhood nurse...your neighborhood nurse students take practice from classroom to community...

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO • 2016

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F T H E M A R C E L L A N I E H O F F S C H O O L O F N U R S I N G

YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD NURSESTUDENTS TAKE PRACTICE FROM CLASSROOM TO COMMUNITY

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Niehoff magazine is published annually for alumni and friends of Loyola University Chicago's

Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing

E D I T O R

Scott Alessi

CO M M U N I C AT I O N D I R E C T O R

Megan Troppito

A R T D I R E C T O R

Ted Yee

D E S I G N E R

Joseph Darrow

S E N I O R W R I T E RErinn Connor

CO P Y E D I T O R

Anna Gaynor

P H O T O G R A P H E R

Natalie Battaglia

CO N T R I B U T O R S

Zoë Fisher (’17), Kristen Hannum, Lauren Krause (BA ’10), Drew Sottardi

Additional photography: Heather Eidson, Oscar H. Izquierdo, Mark Patton,

Erik Unger

O N T H E COV E R

Niehoff senior Katie Kazimir gets to know one of her patients at the Pat Crowley House in Rogers Park at the

start of the fall semester. PHOTO BY NATALIE BATTAGLIA

CO N TAC T US

T O C H A N G E YO U R A D D R E S S O R U N S U B S C R I B E

F R O M O U R M A I L I N G L I S T

[email protected]

C L A S S N O T E SSubmit class notes—including

your full name, degree, and class year—at

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Q U E S T I O N S O R CO M M E N T S

Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations

Loyola University Chicago Health Sciences Division

2160 S. First Ave. Maywood, IL 60153

At the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, we know our students, faculty, and staff are capable of extraordinary things. In this year’s issue of Niehoff maga-zine, we take a look at what they’re accomplishing outside of the classroom and beyond Loyola’s campuses.

We learn about students serving the communities of Rogers Park, Edgewater, and Uptown through Loyola’s Community Nursing Center, which has been operating for more than 30 years (page 10). We find out more about the journey of an undergraduate student to Albania, where she saw firsthand the difficulties of rural health care abroad. And we see the spiritual and vocational growth of a group of students when they journey to Lourdes, France, to assist pilgrims with their journey to the healing waters (page 13).

In addition, you’ll learn about some of the research presented by nursing faculty at this year’s annual Palmer Symposium (page 16). Some of our research faculty are now housed in the new Center for Translational Research and Education, which opened in April and allows for collaboration between all groups of the Health Sciences Division and the Loyola University Health Systems research faculty (page 6). This new facility allows our research-ers to continue their work in translational research to truly make a difference for patients.

Regardless of whether they’re in the classroom, in the workplace, out in the commu-nity, or on the other side of the globe, members of the Niehoff community understand our work is driven by a strong moral responsibility rooted in our Jesuit mission. We are constantly providing a transformative education to prepare the next leaders in the health professions to enhance the health of people, systems, communities, and the world. We thank you for your support of that mission.

IN THIS ISSUE

The global classroomPreparing for the practice of nursing is an international experience.

Developing Corps valuesAlum Matthew Thielker is help-ing to improve the health of communities in Cambodia.

DEPARTMENTS 4 FRONTLINES 16 DISCOVERY 20 ALMA MATTERS

Your neighborhood nurseA longstanding program connects Niehoff students to local residents in need of care.

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FROM THE DEANVICKI A. KEOUGH

(MSN ’91, PhD ’98), APRN-BC, ACNP, FAAN

GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND

VICKI A. KEOUGH (MSN ’91, PhD ’98), APRN-BC, ACNP, FAANDean, Marcella Neihoff School of Nursing

NIEHOFF 2016 54 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO

The first ever Health-EQ Conference, held this spring at the Center for Translational Research and Education on Loyola’s

Health Sciences Campus, launched a discussion to find innovative solutions to health inequalities in the community. This effort marks the first steps toward new initiatives to tackle health disparities, a key priority of “Plan 2020: Building a More Just, Humane, and Sustainable World,” Loyola’s five-year strategic plan.

Loyola alum Dr. Terry Mason (BS ’74), one of three keynote speakers at the con-ference, said that health disparities don’t arise by accident. “Why do health dispari-ties exist? Because they’re supposed to,” said Mason, the COO of the Cook County Department of Public Health. “Look at the history of our country and how pub-lic policy and laws have created social and racial constructs, housing inequality, and much more.”

Mason argued that limited public health resources need to be focused on the populations who need them the most and noted that difficult ques-tions need to be asked to address the root causes of health inequalities. “We need to ask why certain children aren’t prepared for high school, why they’re engaging in risky behavior,” he said.

Dr. Julie Morita, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said it is also important to consider the unique needs of different populations. “In the past people thought if they gave everyone the same type of treatment or prevention, that was the answer,” she said. “But that’s not taking into account where they live or their circumstances.”

Morita outlined as an example the city’s Healthy Chicago 2.0 plan, which includes goals such as lowering the teen birth rate, increasing school attendance rates among homeless and LGBTQ youth, and making housing affordable for all. “We’re trying to focus on (the question

of) what does each person need to have a good outcome? We’re making sure we’re targeting our resources and efforts towards those who need it most so they can have healthy and successful lives.”

Closing the morning session was Dr. Bechara Choucair, senior vice president of Safety Net Transformation and Com-munity Health at Trinity Health, who not-ed Trinity’s hospitals are focusing more on getting out into the communities and learning their health needs rather than just seeing them for hospital visits. “We’re deploying community health workers to specifically help people living in poverty,” he said.

Following these talks, participants dispersed into groups to discuss tangible actions the University can take to ad-dress some of the issues brought up. Their ideas were focused in three areas: research, education, and community. The main issues they are looking to prioritize are environmental exposures, the stress and trauma of violence, housing inequal-ity, and mass incarceration.

Dean Vicki Keough, PhD, APRN-BC, ACNP, FAAN, considered the conference a success. “Today was an extremely impor-tant first step in developing meaningful strategies to address health disparities and inequalities,” she said.

LEARN MORE • LUC.edu/Plan2020

Campus kicks off effort to address health disparities

2020PLAN

Loyola alum Terry Mason (BS ’74)

HEALTH EQUITY

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STUDENTS

Niehoff’s new class

FRONTLINES


FRONTLINES

hen Mary (Bagby) Pazdur (BSN ’74, MSN ’78) was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, there was little mystery about the

struggle ahead. For more than 30 years, she had been an oncology nurse, a job she remained dedicated to even as some of her colleagues left the emotionally grueling field. She also stood by the side of her husband, Dr. Richard Pazdur (MD ’76), who for two decades had been the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s key figure in approving new cancer treatments. The couple, united by their dedication to fighting the dis-ease, knew exactly what to expect from Mary’s battle with cancer, which ended in 2015.

Despite the realization that she had a poor prognosis, Richard says that Mary remained sup-portive, practical, and compassionate through-out her illness. She fought to take part in one experimental study with a class of treatment that her husband had no authority over, but when it and other treatments failed, Mary recog-nized and accepted it. She eventually asked her attending physician to put her in hospice.

“One of the greatest gifts my wife gave to me was how she approached her disease,” says Richard, who recently returned to Loyola to speak at the opening of the University’s new

Center for Translational Research and Educa-tion. “Cancer can bring out the best or the worst in people. Because of who she was and her religious background, she approached it with great courage.”

Mary first met Richard in 1979 when she was working as an oncology nurse at Chicago’s Rush Presbyterian Hospital. Richard had just earned his MD from Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine and was beginning an oncology fellowship. The two had never crossed paths on campus but im-mediately bonded over their Loyola connection. They were married in 1982.

Richard became the director of the FDA’s Of-fice of Hematology and Oncology Products and recently he was named the first acting director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, part of Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative to accelerate cancer research and make more treatments available to patients. And be-ing at Mary’s side during her battle with cancer has given him a new perspective on his work.

“Mary’s death underscored for me the impor-tance of getting drugs out sooner to patients,” he says. “It also made me understand the impor-tance of drug toxicities. Until you’ve lived with those drugs’ toxicities on a 24-hour basis, you don’t really understand what it’s like.”

A lifelong battle against cancer

New research center opens in MaywoodResearchers showed off their new state-of-the-art labs this spring in celebration of the grand opening of Loyola’s Center for Translational Research and Education. The 225,000-square-foot structure is the biggest and most complex building in University history, housing more than 500 faculty, staff, and students from the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Stritch School of Medicine, The Graduate School, and Loyola University Health Systems.

More than 200 people turned out for the opening, and guests were given tours of the various labs by researchers who study everything from heart failure to obesity in underserved populations to in-novative new cancer drugs. Each floor has study space for students along with a mix of wet labs (where typical test tube and microscope research is done) and dry labs (where more patient-focused research is conducted). The second and fourth floors have open atriums that invite collabora-tion between labs and scientists.

“We are called to make a difference as ‘persons for others.’ The scientists working in this beautiful new building are just that,” says Health Sciences Division pro-vost Margaret Faut Callahan, CRNA, PhD, FNAP, FAAN. “They are making discoveries that are poised to have a profound effect on people’s lives.”

HEALTH SCIENCES CAMPUS

COMMENCEMENT 2016

NIEHOFF’S CLASS OF 2016 celebrated their commencement on May 11. This year’s class included 340 undergraduates receiving bachelor’s degrees, 72 students receiving master’s degrees, and 12 stu-dents receiving Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees. Niehoff alumna Ann Scott Blouin (MSN ’80), RN, PhD, FACHE, executive vice president of customer relations for The Joint Commission, encouraged this year’s graduates to be always mindful of the importance of their work. “I believe that working in health care is a higher calling,” she said in her commencement address. “There is nothing more impor-tant to the success of our society than intelligent, evidence-based, and compassionate health care.”

“Looking back at my time at Loyola, the knowledge and experiences I have gained have helped me grow both intellectually and personally. Whether it’s caring for my patients holistically as a nurse or advocating for social justice rights, my time at Loyola has taught me to pursue my passions and give my all in everything that I do.”—Niehoff student Lisa Lieu (’17), one of 25 students inducted into the Maroon & Gold Society at Loyola’s sixth annual Weekend of Excellence. The society recognizes rising seniors who demonstrate an Ignatian commitment to lead-ership, academic excellence, and service to others.

READ MORE • LUC.edu/lisalieu

WEEKEND OF EXCELLENCE

Giant leap forward

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Mary Pazdur is pictured with her husband, Richard, shortly before her death in 2015.


FRONTLINES

IN THE CLASSROOM

ast fall, Jennifer Zitzner, PhD, mixed her personal life with her teaching life and was rewarded with a heart-warming surprise from her

students. While her mother was battling uterine cancer, Zitzner decided to use her mother’s experiences as a teachable moment for the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing students in her Clinical Microbiology class.

“As her cancer has related to the immune system and microorganisms, I have shared some of her journey with the students,” Zitzner says. “For me, this was nothing out of the ordinary, since I often share stories of my family. However, the nursing students took it to heart.”

Zitzner’s commitment to wanting to see her students succeed in what is traditionally a challenging course made them want to do something special for her and her family. Near the end of the semester, the class presented her with 41 handwritten notes of support and encouragement to be given to Zitzner’s mother. The unexpected gesture brought Zitzner to tears. She said it helped her mother’s outlook on her radiation treatment.

“I have tried my best every lecture to give each of my students the education they need to be successful nurses,” she says. “What they have done for me and

my family has taken the expansion of knowledge that Loyola strives to pro-vide and transformed it into the care for others that I believe Loyola means when it describes a ‘transformative educa-tion.’ They are not yet practicing nurses, but the care and compassion they have exhibited makes them the embodiment of the Loyola experience.”

They also told her that they would walk in honor of Zitzner’s mother in the Relay for Life, held this past April in Gen-tile Arena. The students also dedicated a luminary in her honor, a paper bag containing votive candles that feature the honoree and are lit after dark at the Relay for Life event.

Before their final exam, Zitzner want-ed to be the one to surprise her class. Normally, to ease her students’ nerves, she would play a stress reliever video of her children having fun. This time, it was a video of her mother thanking the class for their support and sharing that she would be there to meet them at Relay for Life. Zitzner and her mother also stated they would like to be in the audi-ence for the students’ nursing school graduation in 2018.

“After reading the handwritten notes, she decided to make the video, picked out her best hat and best shirt, put on a little bit of makeup—and felt good,” Zitzner says. “When I played the video, there were few dry eyes in the house.”

•

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: The Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing received new adult, child, and infant simulation mannequins over the summer, which are now in use at the simu-lation lab in the Mundelein building on the Lake Shore Campus. Niehoff students are able to participate in simulation exercises on both the Rogers Park and Maywood campuses.

PRESTIGIOUS HONOR: Sheila Haas (MSN ’74), PhD, RN, FAAN, former dean of the Niehoff School of Nursing, received the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Margretta Madden Styles President’s Award. Haas was recognized for her outstanding leadership and her many years of work in the areas of advanced education, translational research, care coordination, and ambulatory care nursing.

A final exam in treating the human condition

Jennifer Zitzner teaches her anatomy and physiology lab in the Life Sciences Building on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus.

In the 2017 U.S. News & World Report ranking of the country’s best graduate schools for nursing, the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing master’s program tied for 40th out of 259 schools—up 11 spots from the previous year. U.S. News this year also added a category ranking Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs, with Loyola coming in 36th out of the 149 schools ranked. The rankings, which are based in part on peer assessments, take into account such factors as faculty credentials, research ac-tivity, program size, and students’ undergraduate GPAs.

Climbing the ranks

Match making

CELEBRATING HUMAN DIGNITY: The 17th biennial conference of the Interna-tional Consortium of Parse Scholars (ICPS) took place this September in Chicago. ICPS, named for Niehoff Distinguished Professor Emeritus Rosemarie Rizzo Parse, promotes nursing as a unique discipline concerned with human dignity and quality of life.

ANNUAL TRADITION: The welcoming of new BSN and ABSN graduates to the profession of nursing continues with the annual pinning ceremony, which this year will take place on May 5 at the Mundelein Auditorium on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus.

NIE H O FF N O TE S

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HEALTH SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT seniors cel-ebrated their second annual Match Day on October 13. A group of 69 students opened their envelopes simultaneously to reveal their internship place-ment. This year, the envelopes were handed out by Loyola’s new president, Jo Ann Rooney, JD, LLM, EdD (above left), who spoke to students about her own experiences in health care administration.

“They’ve worked so hard to get here,” said Mary-Margaret Sharp-Pucci, EdD, MPH, director of the undergraduate Health Systems Management pro-gram. “This is one of my favorite days of the year.”


YOURNEIGHBORHOODNURSE

For more than three decades, Niehoff students have been gaining experience outside the classroom—and transforming lives in the local community • BY ANNA GAYNOR

n a bright Thursday afternoon, a small group of students meet on the first floor of Pat Crowley House, a Rogers Park apartment complex for seniors who need assisted

care. Sitting in the community living room for their first day, the nursing students get debriefed on the home’s residents and their daily activities. Walking in late are Katie Kazimir and Sara Reilly—Kazimir’s first home visit went longer than they expected thanks to a talkative patient and a temperamental little dog. “He was very protective of her,” Reilly says, half-joking. Fortunately, Kazimir and Reilly weren’t checking up on the dog. Once a week for the next semester, the two will come to that patient’s home to help her manage her chronic health problems.

All of these students are part of Loyola’s Com-munity Nursing Center program. Throughout this semester, they will do home visits in the Rogers Park, Edgewater, and Uptown communities for those who cannot afford home health care. Stu-dents, like Kazimir and Reilly, will look at a number of things for each patient: their general health, housing situation, mobility, and ability to do daily chores. If students find that a patient can’t man-age certain activities or afford certain necessities anymore, they will work to match that patient with a government agency or nonprofit that can help.

“We keep people out of the hospital by inter-vening earlier with chronic diseases,” says Monica Dillon (BSN ’82), project director of the Community Nursing Center. “We do a lot of education, but we do a lot of assessments and try to intervene before the diabetic becomes out of control.”

For Kazimir’s patient, she will need to assess her vitals, change bandages, answer questions, and help with any other health issues she might be hav-ing. “It’s a much slower environment,” Kazimir says. “The pace is more relaxed, where as in the hospital everything is going really quickly and your day flies by. You have to be constantly thinking on your feet. This is stopping and being with the patient.”

Every semester, roughly 40 students are divided into groups to be led by instructors like Jennifer Lucas (BSN ’02, MSN ’07), a Loyola alum who is working with the Pat Crowley House group. Each of these students is assigned two patients, one at the house and another in the community. Students make visits in pairs, which means four home visits per week.

This experience teaches students what happens when patients leave the hospital. During visits, a student will ask patients to show them the medica-tions and instructions they received from their doc-tor or the hospital. For financial reasons or due to a miscommunication, patients might not have got-ten a prescription filled, didn’t make that follow-up appointment, or don’t have the support system

Senior nursing student Katie Kazimir works with resident Lillian Stratigakes at the Pat Crowley House in Rogers Park.

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in place to follow a doctor’s instructions. It’s a les-son that Lucas finds stays with them after gradu-ation. “Even some former students who are now nurses in the ICU, as they’re discharging a patient they start to think, ‘Oh wait, is home care set up?’ Are the supplies there? Do you have a home health nurse? Who’s going to help you with your bandages?’ ” Lucas says. “So they start thinking more holistically.”

Humble beginningsThe Community Nursing Center started in

the unheated basement of St. Ignatius Church in Rogers Park, but since its beginning in 1981, it has grown into an integral part of the north side com-munity. Dillon was a student at the center in 1982, started working at the nursing center in 2014, and was named director this summer.

“You’d be surprised how much it hasn’t changed,” she says. “We still have the same mis-sion to reach out to probably the most vulnerable seniors in the community. The Nursing Center continues to be a critical safety net.”

Today, students have started seeing patients with increasingly more complicated health issues. For many, the visits are what allows them to stay in their homes. “There’s nothing else like it,” says Pam Andresen, who was the director of the center from 1988 to 2010. “We have had grant funding over the

years, but we’re mainly supported by the Univer-sity, and they have supported us since 1981.”

New students don’t just treat individual pa-tients, most of whom are seniors. They’re teaching public health classes in addition to those home visits. Classes have taught preschoolers the best way to brush their teeth, wash their hands, and even cough and sneeze. Students might do a series of prenatal classes, talk about healthy eating at Loyola’s farmers market, or discuss treating arthritis at senior centers.

For all of these programs though, the Com-munity Nursing Center makes sure listen to the community first and foremost.

“In community health, it’s important to know what the population needs so we’re not going to teach them something they have no interest in,” Andresen says. “At the senior center, if we had gone and talked about preventing falls, which would be actually a very good thing to teach, but if they felt like, ‘oh I’m safe, I’m not going to fall,’ they probably would not have even shown up.”

A lasting impactDillon, Andresen, and Lucas all have stories

about the work students have done—whether it was helping a veteran get reconnected with a VA hospital, finding pro bono help for a patient who hadn’t been to a dentist in over a decade, or

THE GLOBAL CLASSROOM

ursing and medical students at Loyola take service trips all over the world—from Rome to Mexico to Belize—but nursing student Tiffany Vuong (’17)

picked a more unusual destination: Albania.The small country in southeast Europe is mostly

known for its beautiful coastlines, but Vuong went with another purpose in mind. She traveled there with Volunteers Around the World, an organiza-tion that has special medical and dental outreach destinations worldwide. “Since I started nursing

school, I have always wanted to experience work-ing in an international setting and to seek deeper understandings about patients with different backgrounds,” says Vuong.

That’s a goal for many students in the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. Niehoff students have an opportunity to practice nursing in multiple destinations across the globe, including service trips to Belize, Rome, England, and France. Such trips involve health care education, clinic work, and spiritual care. Many students also participate

Preparing to work in the world of modern health care has taken some Niehoff students around the world to serve the needs of diverse populations • BY ERINN CONNOR

Berat, Alabania

“As an instructor, I can see over the last six years, all of the little semesters add up. Everything that they’ve done each semester has now completely changed this person’s life.”

—Jennifer Lucas (BSN ’02, MSN ’07)

convincing a patient to visit the ER where she was told her body was in the process of shutting down.

Nursing students take pride in changing someone’s life for the better, but sometimes these changes take place over years, not weeks. During Lucas’ first semester at the Nursing Center, a new resident moved into the Pat Crowley House. When Lucas and her students sat down with the woman, they asked if there was any health issue she wanted help with.

Turns out, the resident had a goal: lose 100 pounds using a food journal. For that first se-mester though, she just wrote down her meals in the journal. The second semester, she asked the students to circle foods she shouldn’t be eating. Next, she wanted to know what she could have to replace the foods previous students had circled. And after she had lost those 100 pounds, another group of students helped her revisit and lower the amount of medications she was taking.

“Sometimes the students only see a small piece of the puzzle. They may say, ‘I don’t think I’m really helping this person or doing much,’ ” Lucas says. “As an instructor, I can see over the last six years, all of the little semesters add up. Everything that they’ve done each semester has now completely changed this person’s life.”

Next upBack at the Pat Crowley House, Carla Dannug

and Lauren Baranovskis are still sitting in the liv-ing room while some of their fellow students are being introduced to their patients. The residents Dannug and Baranovskis have come to meet are out, so they’re writing brief notes introducing themselves to leave behind. This is a big leap from their previous classwork. Before this, these students were primarily in a hospital environment working alongside a nurse.

“I definitely think that this experience of being on your own, it gives you a wakeup call of, ‘Oh, I’m actually graduating next year,’ ” Dannug says. “There’s so many preventative measures that you can take in helping them from ever even going to the hospital.”

The two are joining a long line of nurses who have benefited from the center—no matter what path or specialty they choose afterward.

“I’m kind of realizing this is the reason I went into nursing,” Baranovskis says. “This really pins it on the head: getting out into the community and preventing people from getting into hospitals to begin with.” L

in Ignatian Service Immersion trips offered by University Ministry that focus on addressing health inequalities and their causes in countries around the world.

Vuong traveled to Albania earlier this year with four other Loyola students and two stu-dents from Valdosta State University in Georgia. Before even getting on the plane, Volunteers Around the World interviewed local doctors to figure out where the underserved communities were and who needed the most help. During the two-week trip, the mobile clinic consisting of Vuong and other volunteers travelled to four vil-lages: Pashalli, Bistrovice, Vokopole, and Skrevan, all in the city of Berat in the south-central part of the country.

Albania is one of the poorest countries in Eu-rope as it has suffered from an unstable govern-ment for many years. It has no centralized health system, and infectious disease and chronic illnesses are often left untreated. Most people cannot afford the quality care available at private hospitals, and a majority of the population live in rural areas, adding another obstacle to getting treatment. Throughout her time in those villages, Vuong and her fellow volunteers were able to


I want to embrace and console my grieving patients; listen to what my patients have to say, even if it’s as simple as what their favorite color is; and I want to go above and beyond to help my patients feel cared for.”

The annual 10-day trip in May, where students assist the Lourdes Medical Bureau with the bathing of the sick in the grotto waters, has been a Niehoff tradition for the past nine years. The story of the grotto traces back to the mid-19th century when a young St. Bernadette saw visions of a woman, believed to be the Virgin Mary, who told her to dig up a spring at a certain spot in the grotto. Since then, healing properties of the wa-ter have become internationally known, and the Catholic Church and the Lourdes Medical Bureau have identified 69 cases of diseases cured, with 7,000 more unconfirmed cures recounted.

The sick come to Lourdes to drink or bathe in the waters of the grotto in the hopes of experi-encing those curative powers. The Loyola Niehoff students are there to assist the pilgrims as they move through the grotto.

“The trip helps the nursing students under-stand the significance of touch, eye contact, and communication with patients,” says P. Ann Solari-Twadell, RN, PhD, MPA, FAAN, an associ-ate professor of nursing and director of Global Experiences and International Studies at Niehoff. Solari-Twadell accompanies the students on the trip each year. “It also emphasizes the significance of religious beliefs and rituals to people strug-gling with illness and loss,” she says.

People from all walks of life come to Lourdes, and students find that spiritual care overcomes language and other barriers. “The power of touch and smile can go a long way in helping someone and making them feel comfortable,” says Kath-erine Lyons (’17). “It taught me the importance of going above and beyond when treating patients and being in their room more than to just give medications and check vitals.”

Kunzer, whose mother’s confirmation name is Bernadette, saw going to Lourdes as a faith-strengthening experience. Her mother kept a bottle of Lourdes holy water on her dresser as a reminder of her faith, and Kunzer knew this trip would mean a lot to her. She even had an op-portunity to bathe in the water herself after many days of helping other women in the grotto.

Solari-Twadell says students who go to Lourdes are personally transformed. Alumni often tell her how their experiences in Lourdes

help nearly 250 patients, some with potentially serious illnesses who were unable to find proper treatments elsewhere.

Vuong says she saw children with prolonged ear infections and adults with diabetes who couldn’t get to the city for a checkup or the ap-propriate medications. “Our mobile clinic was the closest thing to health care that many of them had ever received,” she says.

Their work mainly consisted of shadowing and assisting doctors, taking vital signs and patient histories, and educating patients on nutrition, hygiene, and more. Despite the language barrier and sometimes long lines for treatment, Vuong says the appreciation from patients was palpable. Seeing the limited access to medical treatment firsthand helped solidify her desire to bring care to disadvantaged populations.

“Being able to witness the health disparities and the lack of proper medical treatment helped me recognize the privileges that I held being in a developed country,” she says. “It also taught me to be more patient and flexible in terms of working with a unique health care team, which consisted of local Albanian doctors, nurses, and other students who wished to pursue their careers in different areas of health care.”

Vuong has continued pursuing international service opportunities, including a research trip to Uganda to do AIDS research this past summer. She encourages her fellow Niehoff students to seek out the same kinds of opportunities. “It is very important for us, as future health care profession-als in a developed country, to have these similar exposures abroad,” she says. “Because of this experience, I’ve realized that the scope of nursing practice does not just end with taking good care of our patients. It is also about challenging and educating ourselves to be more culturally compe-tent and globally aware.”

Lessons in patient careA more common destination for Niehoff students is Lourdes, France, where the legacy of St. Berna-dette—the patron saint of illness—has turned a small town into a pilgrimage destination for the sick. The Sanctuary at Lourdes and the baths with-in see more than five million people pass through every year, and for 10 Loyola nursing students, it is a chance to witness the power of spiritual care.

“Many of my fellow volunteers in the baths taught me the importance of touch and the art of caring,” says Lauren Kunzer (’17). “As a nurse,

“[Lourdes] taught me the importance of going above and beyond when treating patients and being in their room more than to just give medications and check vitals.”

—Niehoff senior Katherine Lyons

helped them later on in difficult moments with patients and their families. “They’ve told me that Lourdes made them better equipped in handling patient deaths or giving bad news,” Solari-Twadell says. “And most of the time they say their response is just being with the patient and their family, not necessarily doing or saying anything.”

Kunzer, who currently works as a nurse assistant at Lurie Children’s Hospital, is already implement-ing the lessons she’s learned from her trip. “I try to slow down my [tasks] and get to know my patients

a little better,” she says. “Not only have I gotten to know many people’s stories, I feel like I’ve actually formed a relationship with families I work with. When I see them in the hall, I always remember to wave and smile. Lourdes taught me that the little things in nursing practice can make a huge impact on your patient.” L

SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS • To help fund the students who will travel to Lourdes next spring, visit LUC.edu/lourdesgiving

Lourdes,France

People travel from around the world to visit the famous healing waters of the grotto in Lourdes, France.

Tiffany Vuong recently spent time working in a mobile clinic in Albania, where local resi-dents often have trouble accessing treatment. “Our mobile clinic was the closest thing to health care that many of them had ever received,” Vuong says.


MARGARET FAUT CALLAHAN, CRNA, PhD, FNAP, FAAN

Niehoff alumna Margaret Faut Callahan (BSN ’74), provost of Loyola’s Health Sciences Division, will receive this year’s Joan L. Shaver Illinois Outstanding Nurse Leader Award. The award recognizes individual achievement and excellence in nursing leadership through hard work, commitment, and dedication to serving the health care needs of people in Illinois. It is named for Joan Shaver, who founded the Power of Nursing Leadership event in 1998.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS

Lisa Burkhart (PhD ’02), RN, MPH, received the Graduate and Professional Student Asso-ciation Faculty Member of the Year award.

Mary Byrn (PhD ’11), RN, was awarded the New Investigator Award from the Midwest Nursing Research Society for the Women’s Health and Transitions in Childbearing Re-search Interest Group.

Jorgia Connor, PhD, RN, director of Niehoff’s four-year BSN program, received a Sigma Theta Tau International small grants award for her proposal, “Cumulative Life Stress, Cellular Aging, and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Filipino Women.”

Shannon Hulett, MSN, RN, CNL, a candidate for Doctor of Nursing Practice, was awarded the Heritage Nursing Scholarship, established by Gundersen Medical Foundation to celebrate nursing accomplishments and encourage ad-vanced nursing practice. She was also awarded the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society Graduate Scholarship.

Linda Janusek, PhD, RN, FAAN, received the Distinguished Research Scholar Award from the Physiology Behavior Genomics and Society

Research Interest Group at the Midwest Nursing Research Society Conference.

MariJo Letizia (BSN ’79, PhD ’96), RN, APN/ANP-BC, FAANP, was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Alexian Brothers Health System through December 2018.

Patricia Sheean, PhD, RD, was awarded the Oncology Nutrition Dietetics Practice Group research grant award for her project, “Utilizing computed tomography to explore the associa-tions between lean soft tissue, symptom burden and quality of life in women with metastatic breast cancer.”

Sheean also received a professional travel scholarship from the Dietitians in Nutrition Sup-port Dietetics Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to attend Clinical Nutrition Week in support of dietetic teaching efforts.

Frances Vlasses, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, received a 2016 ASU/AONE Interprofes-sional Fellowship in Innovative Health Leadership. Over the next year Vlasses will be joining a cohort of other leaders in four immersion experiences at innovation centers in Boston, Cincinnati, northern California, and Phoenix.

FACULTY RECOGNITION

19TH POWER OF NURSING LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE HONOREES

The shopper’s dilemmaThe challenges

of eating healthy in a food desert

BY ZOË FISHER (’17)

ating healthy starts with picking the right foods from grocery store shelves, but what happens when the options in the aisles

are much more limited? Joanne Kouba, PhD, RDN, LDN, associate professor and director of Niehoff’s dietetics education programs; and Annemarie Cahill (BSN ’98, MSN ’06), FNP, MSN, RN, clinical nursing instructor; sent a group of 20

dietetic, nursing, and medical students from Loyola to find out.

As part of a research project on food availability in Maywood, presented at this year’s Palmer Research Sym-posium, students were sent into the neighborhood with a shopping list. They quickly discovered there are no grocery stores in Maywood and instead found that most residents do their shopping at mom-and-pop shops, gas

station mini-marts, or dollar stores. The research project is similar to one Kouba managed in 2007, where she compared food availability in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood to that of Oak Park.

The 2007 study paired Loyola stu-dents with community residents and a geographer. In the new study, students were separated into collaborative teams with at least one representative of each discipline and sent out to collect data.

Early on, the students found it difficult to confirm the location of food sources. Some places they found listed on the internet had closed, and when students drove through the neighborhoods, they also discovered stores that weren’t listed online. Once in the stores, students shopped for 60 items from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan and checked the avail-ability, price, and quality of each item. They found that the most common food source, gas station mini-marts, don’t sell fresh fruits or vegetables. The only two items from the list that they found in all surveyed stores were juice and salt.

An unexpected finding was that many items in stores weren’t priced. While students were surveying one conve-nience store, they found a carton of expired eggs. When they asked the store manager the price, he shrugged and said, “‘I don’t know, $8?’” Another team of students had a similar story, but this time the eggs were $1.

Students were surprised to learn that neighborhood residents encounter these types of barriers on a regular basis when shopping for food. “It makes getting what you need more difficult and intimidating sometimes,” says Kouba.

Currently, Kouba is working with the Proviso Partners for Health (PP4H) com-munity group to address chronic disease in Maywood. When it comes to managing and preventing diseases, she says, there’s nothing more crucial than a healthy diet. A recent PP4H project provided 100 salads a day for students at Proviso East High School, providing a faster, healthier lunch alternative.

For Maywood residents with limited food access, Kouba suggests they seek out food at community gardens or farm-er’s markets. She also says residents could connect with community organizations or shop owners to explain their needs.

One goal of the project was to bring students of different disciplines together to understand their different profes-sions. Cahill adds that the experience left many students awestruck. She says it was important for the students to learn about the obstacles patients face in order to advise them more effectively. “Practitio-ners of the future should understand the community,” she says. L

PALMER RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

LINDA JANUSEK, PhD, RN, FAAN

This year’s SAGE award will be presented to Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing Endowed Chair for Research Linda Janusek. Recipients of this award meet four criteria: they make a significant impact on the lives and careers of others, serve as an advi-sor by sharing their wisdom and experience, act as a guide in helping others along their career path toward leader development, and enlighten those around them.

E

DISCOVERY


Pamela Andresen, PhD, RN, coauthored “Implementation of an Obesity Prevention Intervention in an American Indian Head Start Program,” published in the Journal of Community Health Nursing.

Kathleen Bobay, PhD, RN, was among the coauthors of two articles published in the Journal of Nursing Administration. “Models of Discharge Care in Magnet Hospitals” appeared in the journal last October, followed by “A Model for Hospital Discharge Preparation: From Case Management to Care Transition” in December.

Two recent volumes on nursing feature chapters written by Lisa Burkhart (PhD ’02), RN, MPH, an expert on spirituality and spiritual care. Elsevier’s Fundamentals of Nursing has a chapter by Burkhart on spiritual health, and her chapter on “Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice” appears in the fourth edition of Middle Range Theories: Application to Nursing Research and Practice (Wolters Kluwer).

Jorgia B. Connor, PhD, RN, published “Cultural Influence on Coping Strategies of Filipino Immigrant Nurses” in the May issue of Workplace Health & Safety.

Regina Conway-Phillips (MSN ’94, PhD ’11), RN, coauthored “Sisters Saving Lives: Instituting a Breast Health Protocol to Address Breast Cancer Disparities on the Southside of Chicago,” which was published in the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. Conway-Phillips and Linda Janusek, PhD, RN, FAAN, also coauthored the forthcoming article “Exploring Spirituality Among African American Women: Implications for Promoting Breast Health Behaviors,” scheduled to appear in Holistic Nursing Practice.

The new book Nursing’s Greatest Leaders: A History of Activism (Springer, 2016) features a chapter on American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, entitled “Angel of

the Battle Field,” written by Karen Egenes, EdD, RN, chair of the health promotion department, and Fran Vlasses, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, chair of the health systems, leadership, and policy department.

Patricia Friend (BSN ’86, PhD ’99), APN-CNS, AOCNS, AGN-BC, director of oncology specialty tracts in the MSN program, published two recent articles in the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology. Friend coauthored “Optimizing the Teachable Moment for Health Promotion for Cancer Survivors and their Families” with alumna Melissa Frazelle (MSN ’15), APN, FNP-BC, and also coauthored the article “Multi-Gene Panel Testing for Hereditary Cancer Risk” with Alyssa Grissom, MSN, APN, AGCNS, OCN.

Trisha Leann Horsley, PhD, RN, CHSE, CNE, was a coauthor of two recent publications in Clinical Simulation in Nursing. “Substitution of Clinical Experience With Simulation in Prelicensure Nursing Programs: A National Survey in the United States” appeared in the journal last November and “High-fidelity Simulation in Undergraduate Nursing Education: A Review of Simulation Reviews” was published in July. Jennifer O’Rourke, PhD, APN-BC, CHSE, associate dean of graduate programs, was among the coauthors of the second article.

Linda Janusek, PhD, RN, FAAN, coauthored a chapter in the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society’s Primer of PNI Research entitled “Epigenetics and Chromatin Organization: The Impact of Stress and Adversity over the Lifespan.” She also coauthored (with Dina Tell, PhD, and two other Loyola faculty members) “Relationship of Childhood Adversity and Neighborhood Violence to a Proinflammatory Phenotype in Emerging Adult African American

Men: An Epigenetic Link,” in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

Dean Vicki Keough (MSN ’91, PhD ’98), APRN-BC, ACNP, FAAN, coauthored “Unique Educational Needs of Emergency Nurse Practitioners” to appear in the Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal. She also wrote the article “Get that resume just right,” which appeared in CAN Connections.

Carol Kostovich (PhD ’02), RN, CHSE, was a coauthor of an article in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development entitled “Initial development of a patient-reported instrument assessing harm, efficacy, and misuse of long-term opioid therapy.”

ABSN Program Director Janet McCarthy (MBA ’95, MSN ’96), RN, and Trisha Leann Horsley, PhD, RN, CHSE, CNE, were among the coauthors of “Developing a Foundation for Interprofessional Education Within Nursing and Medical Curricula” in the journal Nurse Educator.

Cathlin Poronsky (BSN ’75), PhD, APN, FNP-BC, chair of the Department of Health Management and Risk Reduction and director of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, coauthored “Human papillomavirus infection and vaccination,” published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.

Eric Roberts (DNP ’13), FNP-BC, ENP-BC, and alumnus Michael Gooch (DNP ’16) coauthored “Pharmacologic strategies for treatment of poisonings,” in Nursing Clinics of North America.

Karen L. Saban (BSN ’86, MSN ’90, PhD ’06), RN, APRN, CNRN, FAHA, associate dean for research, and Linda Janusek, PhD, RN, FAAN, were among the coauthors of two recent articles. “The Man I Once Knew: Grief and Inflammation in Female Partners of Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury” was published in Biological

FACULTY PUBLICATIONS

n studying the quality of life of women with type 2 diabetes, Sue Penckofer, PhD, RN, FAAN, came upon an interesting finding. While

conducting a therapy group that was intended to help women realize that diabetes affects their mood, Penckofer heard from several participants that they felt a bit better after their doctors had given them vitamin D. Penckofer herself had been taking vitamin D but stopped after a blood test showed her level was too high. “About six to eight weeks after I stopped taking the vitamin D, I felt really kind of down,” she says. “I thought, ‘this is exactly what the patient was telling me.’ ”

This led Penckofer, who after more than 30 years at Loyola’s Marcella Niehoff School of Nurs-ing recently became the first nursing professor to be named a Distinguished University Research Professor, to look deeper into the connection between vitamin D and depression. She found that there had been very little research done on the subject at the time and she began studying how the vitamin affects the mood of women with diabetes.

“Twenty-five percent of people with diabetes have depression. It’s a huge problem,” Penckofer says. “With the results of that

study, we found that people got significantly better with vitamin D. When we compared the data, the improvement that people got from eight weeks of group thera-py was almost the same amount of improvement from taking the vitamin D for 12 weeks.”

She has been working on a randomized study and reports that so far it appears people are getting significantly better, although it will take more than a year to determine whether it is due to the drug. “I’m just so ex-cited if it really proves to be true that vitamin D can improve the mental health of diabetic women, because this is something that is so cost-effective,” she says. “It would be great if you could take this vitamin D and not have to take an anti-depressant, which has so many side effects.”

Penckofer, who began teach-ing at Loyola in 1984, says she has been passionate about research

dating back to her own under-graduate studies. Early on her focus was primarily on women’s cardiovascular health, including looking at outcomes of women who had cardio bypass surgery and later exploring the role of estrogen in protecting the heart. After receiving questions from the Diabetes Association about the connection between diabetes and menopause, Penckofer’s research shifted to women with type 2 diabetes, leading her to her current studies on vitamin D.

“We’ve been really lucky in recruiting people and we have a big following in the Maywood community,” she says. “For us this is really a win-win. We make a lot of friends in the Maywood com-munity and we’ve had some won-derful things happen because of our study.”

Penckofer is honored to be Niehoff’s first Distinguished University Research Professor and feels Loyola’s mission makes it an ideal place for her to do her research. “Loyola is all about embodying the human spirit,” she says. “This is reflected in the work we do with the Loyola University Health System and their patients. We are trying to nurture the mental health of patients so they can take better care of themselves and their families.” L

THE BENEFITS OF VITAMIN D FOR WOMEN WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES

Sue Penckofer, PhD, RN, FAAN

$2.5 MILLION • Chromatin Organization as a Predictor of Stress-Induced Immune Dysregulation, NIH/NCI, Linda Janusek, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Herbert Mathews

$984,414 • IPCP PATH, HRSA-16-06S, Di-ana Hackbarth, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Frances Vlasses, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN

$116,966 • Nutrition Evolution, Westlake Health Foundation, Joanne Kouba, PhD, RDN, LDN

$43,007 • Nurse Faculty Loan Program, HRSA, Barbara Velsor-Friedrich (BSN ’74, MSN ’78), PhD, RN, FAAN,

$22,193.35 • Developing a patient inven-tory to facilitate patient-centered care delivery, IPA with VA, Lisa Burkhart (PhD ’02), RN, MPH

$15,009 • Research to Support an Orga-nizational Culture of Spiritual Care in VA Patient Care, IPA with VA-ONS, Lisa Burkhart (PhD ’02), RN, MPH

$15,000 • Community Nurse Coordina-tor Position for LCNC, Washington Square Health Foundation, Vicki Keough (MSN ’91, PhD ’98), APRN-BC, ACNP, FAAN, dean, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing

$5,000 • Bollywood Dance Intervention to Promote Physical Activity among Asian Indi-an Adolescents and College Going Females: A Pilot Study, American Nurses Foundation

$5,000 • Conceptualizing Student Experi-ences of Psychological Safety in Simulation Through Grounded Theory, Sigma Theta Tau International, Carol Kostovich (PhD ’02), RN, CHSE

$4,922 • Cumulative Life Stress, Telomere Health, and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Filipino Women, Sigma Theta Tau

$2,500 • Utilizing computed tomography for body composition assessment in women with metastatic breast cancer to examine as-sociations with symptom burden and quality of life, Oncology Nutrition, Patricia Sheean, PhD, RD

$1,000 (each) • GUMSHOE Mentor/ Mentee grant, National Research Mentoring Network, Lindsey Garfield, PhD, RN, APN, and Regina Conway-Phillips (MSN ’94, PhD ’11), RN

FUNDINGResearch for Nursing and “DNA methylation and the social gradient of osteoporotic fracture: A conceptual model,” appeared in the journal Bone. Saban is also a coauthor of “Perceived Health, Caregiver Burden, and Quality of Life in Women Partners Providing Care to Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury,” which will be published in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.

Patricia Sheean, PhD, RD, coauthored several recent articles. “Study Design and Protocol for Moving Forward: A Weight Loss Intervention Trial for African-American Breast Cancer Survivors,” appeared last December in BMC Cancer. The Journal of Cancer Survivorship published “Assessing the Prevalence of Compromised Bone Health Among Overweight and Obese African-American Breast Cancer Survivors: A Case–Control Study.” Sheean also coauthored “Measuring Abdominal Circumference and Skeletal Muscle From a Single Cross-Sectional Computed Tomography Image” in the March issue of the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

Lisa Skemp, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, coauthored “Why would an obstetrical nurse be interested in gerontology?” which was published in the Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Skemp was also a coauthor of the Journal of Research Practice article “Using culturally informed strategies to enhance recruitment of African Americans in dementia research: A nurse researcher’s experience.”

Sandi Tenfelde (MSN ’96), PhD, RN, APN, and Dina Tell, PhD, were among the coauthors of “Triathlete Risk of Pelvic Floor Disorders, Pelvic Girdle Pain, and Female Athlete Triad” published in the journal Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery.

Frances Vlasses, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, coauthored the Nursing Economic$ article “Developing Staff-ing Models to Support Population Health Management and Quality Out-comes in Ambulatory Care Settings.”

I

DISCOVERY


Mary Sue Gorski (PhD '04) worked for 20 years as a nurse at a practice in Washington, where she saw patients ranging from babies to senior citizens. Over time, she grew frustrated by the barriers patients faced on a daily basis. So Gorski left her practice and came to Loyola, where she focused her doctoral research on the relationship between state-level policy and quality of care nursing in homes. Though she admits to missing her days in practice, Gorski feels she can have a greater impact on the lives of patients in her current role by working to remove those barriers she saw her own patients struggle to overcome.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD

ALMA MATTERSCALENDARA Loyola homecoming for Niehoff alums

CELEBRATION OF THE MAGIS Donovan Reading Room, Cudahy Library • 5 p.m.

This annual year-end event, honoring health systems management and exercise science graduating seniors and their fami-lies, emphasizes the connection between Niehoff alumni and Loyola's Jesuit principle of magis, the dedication to giving, doing, and being more for others. The event in-cludes a magis pledge and blessing as well as an award ceremony.

HONORS AND PINNING CEREMONYMundelein Auditorium • 6:45 p.m.

The Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing welcomes the Class of 2017 into the nurs-ing profession with the annual pinning ceremony and awards presentation. The pinning ceremony is a long-standing tradition representing the transition from student to nurse.

MARCELLA NIEHOFF SCHOOL OF NURSING COMMENCEMENT Gentile Arena • 10 a.m.

Celebrate Niehoff's graduates as we honor and bid farewell to the Class of 2017.

ALUMNI BLESSING OF THE HANDS MASS AND ANNUAL AWARDS BRUNCH

Madonna della Strada Chapel and Mundelein Auditorium • Time to be announcedDon't miss this annual opportunity to reconnect with fellow Niehoff alumni as part of Loyola's Alumni Weekend. All nurs-ing alumni are invited to have their hands blessed at the morning Mass, which will be followed by the annual awards brunch celebrating the achievements of Niehoff alumni. Participants are also invited to join in the additional Alumni Weekend events offered Friday through Sunday, including the Alumni BBQ, Loyola under the Stars, and a University-wide Mass and Brunch.LUC.edu/alumniweekend

LEARN MORE • To find out about more upcoming events for Niehoff alumni or to learn how you can get involved, visitLUC.edu/nursing/alums or e-mail us at [email protected]

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On a hot weekend in early June, Niehoff alumni returned to

the Lake Shore Campus to reconnect with old friends, rejuvenate their

spirits, and remember their days as nursing students at Loyola.

Niehoff alums started their weekend with spiritual enrichment on

the morning of Saturday, June 11, when they gathered in Madonna

della Strada Chapel for the annual tradition of the Blessing of the Hands

Mass (pictured above). After Mass the group moved to Mundelein Au-

ditorium for food and fellowship at the Alumni Awards Brunch, which

honored two outstanding alumni (see bios on opposite page).

The festivities were part of a full schedule of events at Loyola's Alum-

ni Weekend, which also included family fun, live music, plenty of deli-

cious food, and a great chance to reunite with old friends from across

the entire University. Alums like Kathy Boyle Grady (BSN '76), right, also

left their mark on the event by signing the Alumni Weekend banner.

Good food, good friends: Niehoff alumni had an opportunity to reconnect during the annual Alumni Brunch, held in Mundelein Auditorium on June 11.

ALUMNI WEEKEND

Julie Donalek (BSN '64) has carried out Niehoff's mission of cura personalis, or care for the whole person, throughout her career. Donalek cultivated her passion for working with low-income com-munities at Cook County Hospital, where she eventually became head nurse. She later earned her master's degree from DePaul and a PhD from Rush in psychiatric nursing.

While volunteering at a halfway house, Donalek developed an interest in working with patients suffering from mental illness. For the past nine years, she's been a volunteer at All Saints Episcopal Church in Chicago, where people come for food and conversation but can also seek out health care services. Donalek says her own faith has guided her philosophy of caring for patients in both prac-tical ways, such as taking their blood pressure, and in more holistic ways by listening to their stories while serving them a meal.

SPIRIT OF ST. IGNATIUS AWARD


ALMA MATTERS

t age 15, Sharon O’Keefe (MSN ’76) received her first job offer—a position at a bakery in

Chicago’s Jefferson Park neigh-borhood. Although it wasn’t her dream job, O’Keefe embraced the challenge. “There was a notion that you come to work every single day and you do the best possible job

that you can within that role, and it didn’t matter what role you were in,” she says. “That was embedded in me early on.”

O’Keefe, this year’s Damen Award winner for the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, credits her Chicago roots as the foundation of her career, including her time at Loyola. “As a Chicagoan, I was proud

of the fact that I worked there and received my graduate degree in nursing," she says. "I think it set the stage for everything I did after.”

As president of the Univer-sity of Chicago Medical Center, O’Keefe handles the integration of patient care and medicine with the research-driven mission of the University of Chicago Biological

Niehoff alumna Erin Mahoney (MSN ’11) has emerged as a leader in the Loyola University Health System (LUHS), and her hard work has earned her the distinction of being named the 2016 LUHS Fanchon Knight Nurse of the Year.

Mahoney has served in many roles on the lung transplant team, including procurement coordinator, post-transplant coordinator, nurse practitioner, and now as lung transplant admin-istrator. “She does not treat her current position as means of separating herself from the RNs she supervises,” says fellow nurse Erica Dixon, RN, who nominated Mahoney for the recognition. “Instead, she sees the opportunity to help us.”

Mahoney ran the 2016 Hustle Up the Hancock with Loyola transplant patients and has been

instrumental in keeping the transplant program in compliance with various governing bodies. Dixon notes that Mahoney is able to balance clinical work with patients while multi-tasking as an administrator. “She reminds us of where we've been, where we are, and where we are headed,” Dixon says. “She expects excellence from her staff but returns excellence to those very employees.”

The Fanchon Knight Nurse of the Year award was established by the family of Fanchon Knight, a beloved nurse who passed away in December 2005 after working at Loyola for nearly 30 years in a variety of roles. At the time of her death, she was caring for head and neck cancer patients in the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center.

Sciences Division. She particularly enjoys her walks around the medical center, where she interacts with pa-tients daily. “To me, it's very difficult to think about being in a service industry such as health care and to not have a deep interest in the lives of everyone,” she says.

As a leader in health care, O’Keefe learned to take risks early in her career, a skill she picked up at Loyola. “You begin to appreciate that both the work environment and educa-tional environment teach you to take risks and take action,” she says.

That philosophy has led her to a successful career in health care, beginning as a staff nurse and transitioning to executive leadership. Her focus, she says, is on creating high-performance health care orga-nizations while developing a culture that fosters creativity, risk-taking, and diversity of thought.

Along the way she's also earned plenty of accolades. In 2013, Modern Healthcare listed O’Keefe as one of the 100 most influential people in health care and one of the top 25 women leaders in health care. In January 2015, Healthcare Purchasing News honored her with its “SURE” Award for Excel-lence in Supply Chain Leadership.

“Assume responsibility for mak-ing change” is another motto that’s carried O’Keefe through her 30-plus years in the health care industry. “That has really been the guiding principle throughout my entire career,” she says. “Drive change, engage people, and leave the organization better than when you started.”

O’Keefe’s parting bit of advice to young students is to keep their eyes open, to be opportunistic, and to laugh. “I think keeping a sense of humor (is what) makes some of the really tough days,” she says. “Have a little fun and value your colleagues along the way.” L

Learn more about Sharon O'Keefe's work by watching her 2016 Founders' Dinner video.VIEW VIDEO • LUC.edu/okeefe

The philosophy she learned at Loyola has

helped Damen Award recipient Sharon O’Keefe

become a leader in health care

BY LAUREN KRAUSE (BA ’10)

Take risks, take actionLeading by example

FOUNDERS’ DINNER

ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENTS

Erin Mahoney (MSN ’11), right, embraces Karen Anderson, MSN, MBA, RN, vice president and chief nursing officer of Loyola University Medical Center, after receiving the Fanchon Knight Nurse of the Year award .

A


ALMA MATTERS

rom Minnesota to North Carolina—and plenty of places in between—Han-nah Bazur-Leidy (BSN ’11)

has cared for all sorts of patients. Af-ter graduating from the Marcella Nie-hoff School of Nursing, Bazur-Leidy pursued a somewhat unconven-tional goal by becoming a traveling nurse. Rather than settling down to practice nursing in one place, she moves from city to city, bringing care to a variety of people and address-ing a broad spectrum of needs. We caught up with Bazur-Leidy to learn more about life on the go.

How does your job differ from that of a traditional nurse?

I work for an agency that sends me on assignments, and I’m able to pick where I want to go based on the jobs available. I’m currently traveling in the pediatrics intensive care unit (PICU), which is pretty specialized. So far I’ve worked in Minnesota, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. I’m planning on going out West next.

What’s your favorite part of being a traveling nurse?

I love to travel. It’s a great option open to anyone with two years of

specialization experience. From the hospital side, I love working in the PICU. It’s really intense, but I’ve learned a lot and I can’t see myself doing anything else. I love to see patients who come to us in critical condition and are then able to go home. It’s a great feeling.

How did Loyola prepare you for this job?

I have to take a lot of math exams as a nurse, and I remember while I was at Loyola we would take them over and over again. Math can be pretty scary under pressure, so getting familiar with exams has greatly benefitted me.

During my first nursing program, my friends didn’t feel as prepared as I did, and that’s when I noticed how beneficial it was that Loyola stressed that component of our curriculum.

Was there a particular class or experience at Niehoff that has helped you in your work?

At the end of the nursing program, you do a clinical role transition program for three months. It was a great experi-ence. It was the first time that I felt exposed to what actually working in the field would feel like. It’s nothing like clinicals, where you’re surrounded by other students and the shifts don’t last a full 12 hours.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Eventually I will check out other realms of nursing, but I have no idea what that entails. I don’t think I’ll be in PICU forever, but I’m not sure where I’ll go.

Right now, I’m only thinking 13 weeks ahead to my next assignment. I don’t know where I’ll be six months from now, so 10 years from now seems like a lifetime away. L

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

On the roadTraveling nurse Hannah Bazur-Leidy provides care wherever the need arises

F

Members of the Niehoff School of Nursing's Class of 1966 got together for their 50-year reunion during this year's Alumni Weekend in June. The reunion attendees are pictured at left alongside a copy of their class page in the 1966 edition of The Loyolan, showing that while their dedication to nursing has re-mained steadfast for 50 years, much has changed in health care—and fashion.

A half-century of health care

Making the transition from college to career can be daunting, but a new program gives today's Loyola students an opportunity to get advice from some of the best experts in their field: our alumni. LUConnect is a new platform that offers students a way to network with professionals in their chosen field who share the common bond of a Loyola education.

Students can search LUConnect to find suc-cessful alumni—known as "champions"—who are willing to answer questions and offer sug-gestions on taking the next steps after college. Volunteers can decide how and when they wish to be contacted, and no long-term commitment is required. Even one short conversation can make a big difference in the life of a student.

LUConnect is seeking nursing professionals to serve the needs of current Niehoff students. To reg-ister or find out more, visit LUC.edu/LUConnect

Networking with tomorrow’s nurses

STUDENT CONNECTIONS

CLASS OF 1966

GIVING BACK

28%

43%

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Developing Corps valuesFor Peace Corps

volunteer Matthew Thielker, serving

others is an international

endeavorBY ZOË FISHER ('17)

fter earning a certificate in Food and Nutrition–Di-etetics from the Niehoff School of Nursing last year,

Matthew Thielker, MPH, RD, headed halfway around the world to begin a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in Cambodia. Thielker, who spent most of his life in Nebraska, plans to pursue a career in international development and is hopeful that his time with the

Peace Corps will allow him to better understand communities around the world and how members of those com-munities overcome the challenges they face. His goal, he says, “isn’t to save the world, but to help other people’s voices be heard.”

Before embarking on his trip, Thielker shared a few thoughts about his passion for volunteering, his Loyola experience, and his hopes for the future.

Why did you decide to join the Peace Corps?

I wanted to understand what situations were like on the ground in different communities. It’s not a simple process to decide to leave your comfort zone, but it just felt right. I am still a little uncertain about how things are going to work out, but I am looking forward to being out of my element and being challenged.

Did you choose Cambodia as the place where you wanted to serve?

When I applied I asked to go to Peru, but they decided I was needed more in Cambodia. But of course, I'm more than happy to serve anywhere.

Do you have any concerns about going to Cambodia?

I was born Deaf, so one of the things I expect to be most challenging will be immersing myself in a culture that might not have the same attitudes towards people with deafness. The U.S. is pretty unique in that Deaf people are relatively well-supported and visible. People living in other places might not

have as much interaction with those who are Deaf and might not realize Deaf people are very much capable of the same things that they are.

What are you going to be focusing on while you're there?

I’m sure a lot of it will vary from day to day, but generally we’ll be providing nutrition, maternal-child health, and sanitation education to local citizens who will then disperse that information within their own communities.

What tools did Loyola give you to prepare you for your trip?

Being a Jesuit institution definitely has a tangible impact on the focus of Loyola’s programs. The dietetics program had a public health focus that provided a more holistic way of evaluat-ing a person’s health, the health of com-munities, and the connections between the two. When I studied at Loyola, the questions of “how can we best serve others?” and “how can we make things better?” were in the forefront of the things we did. Being immersed in that mindset makes you keep asking those questions well after graduation.

What inspired you to go into service?The culmination of interacting with

people from different cultures and places I’ve already been to has really inspired me. It showed me there’s more than one way to look at things.

What would you tell people con-sidering joining the Peace Corps?

If anyone has an interest in service and isn’t sure what to pick, I would definitely say go for the Peace Corps. It involves a time commitment of at least two years, which seems daunting, but it is just long enough for volunteers to re-ally get to know the communities they serve and figure out how to contribute most effectively.

In general, serving your community makes you a more complete person. Volunteering has been more rewarding to me than most people would realize. I don’t think I'd be the same person if I didn’t give back to my community. L

A

Paula Hindle, MSN, MBA, RN, CENP, who

served as Loyola's vice president of health

care services and chief nurse executive for

nearly 20 years, passed away in September.

Hindle joined the Loyola University Health

System (LUHS) staff in 1997 and in 2014 was

named vice president for nursing strategy and practice.

Hindle was instrumental in LUHS earning its initial Magnet

designation in 2009 and re-designation in 2014. She also imple-

mented a mandatory flu vaccination policy, making Loyola

among the first medical centers in the U.S. to require flu shots

for employees as a condition of employment. Hindle’s concern

for patient safety and emerging infections also led her to work

with Niehoff faculty to establish an online advanced education

program for infection prevention. It was the first program of its

kind in the United States to prepare nurses at the master’s level

for infection prevention and patient and environmental safety.

Margaret “Peg” Ross Kraft, RN (PhD ’03), an assistant profes-

sor in the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, passed away on

March 28. Kraft was a nursing faculty member for the past 12

years, primarily teaching in the graduate and undergraduate

Health Systems Management programs after earning her PhD

in nursing from The Graduate School.

Prior to joining Loyola's faculty, Kraft was assistant director

of nursing at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Center in Wheaton,

Illinois; administrator of the Community Convalescent Center in

Naperville, Illinois; and an administrator at the Edward Hines Jr.

VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois. She also served for 10 years on the

board of directors at Altenheim, a home for the aged in Forest

Park, and for more than 30 years on the board of the North East

Illinois Area Agency on Aging.

IN MEMORIAM

Marion Marcyan Depiero (BSN ’43)

Sandra E. Tessem (BSN ’57)

Mary Ann Lescher, MD (BSN ’58)

Jeannette H. Mazurek (BSN ’58)

Jeanne L. Lacy (BSN ’61)

Kathleen A. Morgan (BSN ’71)

Linda Erickson (BSN ’72)

Heidi L. Lee (BSN ’87)

Michelle J. Philbin (BSN ’87)

Renovations to the Cudahy Science Hall this spring have given the building’s iconic dome a new look. A shiny new copper dome was installed this fall, but those who are sentimental for the familiar green color atop Cudahy need not worry—exposure to the elements will cause the same green exterior, called a patina, to appear on the new dome within 15 to 20 years.

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