Dean's Monthly Communication: March 2008

Message from Dean Woods
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In the midst of all the change underway at the School of Nursing, there is one certainty: the vital importance of what we do in nursing education.  Contributing new nurses to the workforce is an immediate and continuing challenge.  Contributing advanced practice nurses to primary- and acute-care settings provides a significant contribution to health care in the state. Increasingly, our school's niche is the preparation of future faculty researchers and educators in our PhD program and education of future educators and advanced practice nurses in our DNP program.

We are becoming the "go-to" school for our clinical partners who see our ability to translate their needs into programs. One such opportunity is the preparation of nurses for the clinical nurse leader (CNL) role, a program we hope to launch in 2009. The CNL program currently is being reviewed by the graduate faculty.

The healthcare industry has been changing at warp speed since the Institute of Medicine Crossing the Quality Chasm report and the mandate for care that is safe, timely, efficient, effective, equitable and patient-centered. Demand has increased for nurses prepared to lead at the bedside and in advanced roles to assure that these standards become realities.

The CNL program initially will be offered within the independent MN specialties, helping to contribute leadership at the bedside. By using existing courses, we are able to integrate students to help meet emergent needs of practice settings across the state. Our clinical partners are providing scholarships for students, loaned faculty to help with clinical teaching, preceptorships for students and shared faculty appointments and endowed professorships.

I thank you for your continuing support as we make so many transitions together.  I am convinced of our contributions as a school and their lasting value to the health of our state.

-- Nancy Woods

Campaign UW: Creating Futures Update
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Mary Lou and Donald Brown recently established the Mary Lou Brown Endowed Fellowship in Nursing through the Faculty/Staff/Retiree Campaign for Students. Their $10,000 gift will receive a match through that initiative for a total of $20,000. Mary Lou graduated from the UW School of Nursing in 1958 with her BSN and in 1974 with her master's. Mary Lou and Donald moved to Bellingham after Donald retired from Boeing in 1998. The Faculty/Staff/Retiree Campaign for Students allows donors who have created an endowed fund to link it to their ongoing support of the UW through their estate plans.

The Ansell G. and Dorothy D. Johnson Endowed Scholarship was established through a $100,000 gift annuity from Ansell Johnson, who died in 2004 and whose wife, Dorothy, died in September 2007. Ansell was an accountant who served as president of the Washington State CPA Association. He and his wife became interested in the field of nursing in part through family members who are nurses. The gift qualifies for a 50 percent match through the UW's Students First initiative.

SoN in the News
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"UCLA nursing-school dean Marie Cowan, 69, was 'living legend,'" Seattle Times, March 2, 2008:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/obituaries/2004254540_cowanobit02m.html

"Marie J. Cowan, 69; UCLA dean revitalized the School of Nursing," L.A. Times, March 3, 2008:
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-cowan3mar03,0,940632.story

"School of Nursing posts stellar achievements," UWeek, Feb. 21, 2008:
http://uwnews.org/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?visitsource=uwkmail&articleID=39836

NANCY FUGATE WOODS, the Robert G. and Jean A. Reid Endowed Dean in Nursing, and prof., FCN, and SUSAN McCURRY, research prof., PCH, will be featured in a new TV series called "The Art of Aging" on KCTS-TV, Ch. 9. Woods will appear in episode 2, "Andropause, Menopause and Sexuality," scheduled to air on March 30 at 1 p.m. McCurry will appear in episode 3, "Caregiving, Community, Diabetes," slated to air April 6 at 1 p.m. For more details about each program, visit http://www.artofaging.org/. To watch excerpts, click on "Meet the Experts."

Honors and Awards

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Thanks to a gift from the Russell Investment Group, the Center on Infant Mental Health and Development will begin work on a two-year project to create a DVD about parent-infant attachment. CIMHD will produce a 15-minute documentary following three new babies for their first year as they connect with their caregivers and the world around them. The DVD will be used to educate parents and the community about the importance of early attachment.

Do you have a great team? Tell others about it! You're invited to tell UW why "My Team is Great!" Form a team with your coworkers and create a project to showcase your team's interpretation of the UW Values. Sing a song, make a Web site, take a photo, make an audio clip, star in a video...it's up to your imagination. Deadline: March 31. Entries compete to demonstrate team pride and share ideas with others. Faculty and staff get to view entries and vote from April 1 to 16. The winning team will be invited to a breakfast or lunch with President Emmert or Provost Wise. For details: http://www.washington.edu/discovery/myteam/.

Faculty
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HILAIRE THOMPSON, asst. prof.,BNHS, was the winner of the 2007 Journal of Neuroscience Nursing writing excellence award for her article, "Fever Management Practices of Neurosciece Nurses," published in June 2007.


Staff
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FCN welcomes new staff member RACHEL SMITH, who comes from the Michael G. Foster School of Business and will serve as the new pediatric nurse practitioner program coordinator.

International Scholars
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February brought several delegations of international visitors to the SoN:

The school hosted faculty members from the Sahlgrenska Academy, Institute of Health and Care Sciences, G�teborg University, Sweden. ELLA DANIELSON, MARGRET LEPP, SOLVEIG LUNDGREN and INGBRITT OHRN explored the promotion of research capacity, doctoral-program curriculum evaluation, and research topics.

JONG-TSUN HUANG, the President of China Medical University in Taiwan, led a group of leaders to visit SoN to share news of their recently established cancer and trauma care center and discuss possible opportunities for exchange. He was joined by TRONG-NENG WU, deputy president; SHWU-JIUAN LIU, director of the School of Nursing; CHIH-YI CHEN, vice superintendent of the cancer center; and FUNG-CHANG SUNG, acting dean of the College of Public Health..

SOPHIA CHAN, head of the Department of Nursing Studies at the University of Hong Kong, visited to discuss the promotion of research capacity, strategies for incorporating technology into simulation pedagogy, and potential collaborations.

Academic Services
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Staff members are invited to nominate a faculty member for the Sandy Eyres award. The award honors a faculty member who has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to mature, professional, courteous and respectful treatment of SoN staff. Letters can be sent via email, but hard copies are preferred as they go to the nominees and recipient. For information and criteria: http://www.son.washington.edu/internal/Sac/recognition/eyres.asp
Deadline:  April 24. The Sandy Eyres award will be presented in the SAC meeting in May 2008.

Mark Your Calendars
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Join us for DVT Awareness by Design, an event to raise awareness of  blood clot risks, signs and symptoms. The event will be Wednesday, March 12, from 11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Health Sciences building. Among the speakers: Melanie Bloom, widow of NBC News correspondent David Bloom, who died at age 39 from complications of DVT; and BRENDA ZIERLER, assoc. dean for TIER and assoc. prof., BNHS, who helped create a patient safety toolkit to help prevent, diagnose and treat venous thromboembolism, a disease that includes DVT and pulmonary embolism.
More information: http://www.son/about/news.asp

The Center for Women's Health and Gender Research presents a lecture on cardiovascular health by Judith LaRosa, professor of preventative medicine and community health, SUNY Health Science Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The lecture is scheduled for May 6 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., T-612. Also, please note that center's Web site recently underwent a revision. Please check our new look: http://www.uw-cwhr.org

Continuing Nursing Education
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March 24-28: Nursing Leadership and Management in Long Term Care:  http://www.son.washington.edu/cne/secure/display3.asp?SKU=08103-C

March 26: Critical Care Nursing annual conference: http://www.son.washington.edu/cne/secure/display3.asp?SKU=08112-C

April 8-9: Forensics Nursing: Update 2008
http://www.son.washington.edu/cne/secure/display3.asp?SKU=08115-A-C

April 15: Responding Effectively to Disasters and Environmental Health Events:
http://www.son.washington.edu/cne/secure/display3.asp?SKU=08114-C

April 23-24: 19th annual Pacific NW Ambulatory Care conference
http://www.son.washington.edu/cne/secure/display3.asp?SKU=08117-A-C

For more information, go to uwcne.org or call 206-543-1047.

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