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Dean's Monthly Communication: July 2006

Message from Dean Woods
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for a highly productive year. Just within the past month we have witnessed several remarkable events in the history of our school. In one example, we obtained the support of the UW Graduate School, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the UW Regents to initiate a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program. Last week we learned that we will receive a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to help support the first stage of the program.

The DNP program represents our efforts to help lead the nation in providing comprehensive health care to those in greatest need. Each of us has played a role in birthing this new program and I want to thank all of you for your commitment, hard work and efforts. We are just beginning the work needed to make this program real. To make it successful, our school will need the continued dedication of each of us -- staff, faculty and students. If we are successful, the citizens of Washington state will have access to a new kind of health care.

Thank you ALL for your support.
—Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN

Campaign UW: Creating Futures Update
Gift News
The School of Nursing just received a Helene Fuld Health Trust Endowment Grant in the amount of $550,000. The gift, to be paid over three years, will support undergraduate scholarships. Special thanks to Julie Katz, assistant dean for Academic Services, for her work on this joint project.

Shari Behnke has pledged to give $100,000 over four years to the Center for Excellence in Nursing Education (CENE), formerly known as the Learning Lab. GAYLENE ALTMAN, assoc. professor, Dept. of BNHS, will oversee how the funding is disbursed.

On June 28, the estate of Lillian Arms gave $48,000 to the CENE and $50,000 to start the Lillian and James Arms Endowed Nursing Fellowship, which will provide graduate student support.

Professorship Appointments
Margaret Heitkemper, professor and chairperson, Dept. of BNHS, adjunct professor in gastroenterology, School of Medicine, and director of the Center for Women's Health and Gender Research, is the first-ever recipient of the Elizabeth Sterling Soule Endowed Chair in Nursing. Heitkemper, a UW faculty member since 1981, has received continuous funding from NIH since 1983 for her research on women's health, stress and gastrointestinal function.

Basia Belza, assoc. professor, Dept. of BNHS, was named to the Aljoya Endowed Professorship in Aging. Belza is recognized for her research of exercise interventions to improve the health of older adults. The endowed professorship supports research in healthy aging.

Cathryn Booth-LaForce, professor and vice chair, Dept. of FCN, and adjunct professor of psychology, is the new Charles and Gerda Spence Endowed Professor in Nursing. Booth-LaForce is nationally recognized for her research on the social-emotional development of children. This endowed professorship supports a permanent or visiting faculty members whose commitment to teaching, research and practice reflects the school's standards of excellence.

Faculty-Staff-Retiree Campaign
Financial support for the School of Nursing comes from many sources, including our own faculty and staff. In fact, SON faculty and staff gave the highest amount of money per capita of any department on campus. For example, Don Berg, academic personnel officer—and a U.S. Navy reservist who was recently promoted to the rank of commander—made a $5,000 pledge to fund a scholarship for nursing students who have either served in the military or expressed a strong desire to serve.

If you would like to find out how you can participate in this campaign, contact Brigette Yates, asst. director, Office of Development, at livaub@u.washington.edu and 206-221-7674.

Honors and Awards
Rebecca Kang, assoc. professor, Dept. of PCH, received the school's inaugural "Award for Excellence in Promoting Diversity Through Teaching."

Karen Schepp, assoc. professor, Dept. of PCH, received the "Sandra Eyres Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching."

Carolyn Webster-Stratton, professor, Dept. of FCN, received the Outstanding Alumnae Award from the UW School of Education.

Carolyn Chow, director of admissions and multicultural student affairs, Academic Services, was recently elected the President of the Graduate Nursing Admissions Professionals National Organization.

New Grant Awards
Congratulations to the following faculty for new grant awards received as of June 30:

David Lovell, research assoc. professor, Dept. of PCH
Project: DOC Mental Health Consultant

Doris Boutain, assoc. professor, Dept. of PCH
Project: Health Ministry Volunteers Promote a Better Chance (ABC) for Healthy Babies and Healthy Families

Huong Nguyen, asst. professor, Dept. of BNHS
Project: Real-time Support for Exercise Persistence in COPD

Undergraduate Research & Public Service
In response to a request by Provost Phyllis Wise, School of Nursing faculty submitted information about our undergraduates' participation in research and in UW-sponsored service learning and public service internships. Increasing the level of undergraduate involvement in research and public service has been cited by President Emmert as a strategic priority for UW.

The data will be used in a report on the university's progress toward attaining the accountability requirements of the state legislature and the HEC Board and to inform President Mark Emmert's annual report to the Board of Regents. The Provost's Office will provide a summary report that lists these data by academic department. For the 2005-2006 academic year, the School of Nursing submitted the following:

Undergraduate participation in service: 1 student, 2 projects
Undergraduate participation in research: 17 students, 13 projects

Faculty
Departures
After 27 years with the school, Marjorie Muecke, professor, Dept. of PCH, will leave Sept. 1 to assume her new position as assistant dean, Office of International Programs, and associate director, WHO Collaborating Center at University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She will be in the Division of Family & Community Health.

SON Papers Featured in May 2006 Nursing Outlook
Three papers by 10 School of Nursing authors are featured in this month's issue of Nursing Outlook:

Diane Magyary, professor, Dept. of PCH, is the first author on "Advancing practice inquiry: Research foundations of the practice doctorate in nursing"
Mary Ann Draye, asst. professor, Dept. of PCH, is the first author on "The practice doctorate in nursing: Approaches to transform nurse practitioner education and practice"
Marie-Annette Brown, professor, Dept. of FCN, is the first author on "Developing a practice doctorate in nursing: University of Washington perspectives and experience"

The full articles, including the names of the co-authors, are available for free to Nursing Outlook subscribers.

Staff
Ann Klingensmith, asst. director for operations, Academic Services, has retired after 38 years of service to the School of Nursing. In honor of her retirement, Gov. Christine Gregoire officially proclaimed June 27, 2006, to be Ann Klingensmith Day in the state of Washington.

Penny Vielma, manager of program operations, accepted the position of program operation specialist at UW Computer Science & Engineering. Penny had been with the school for 18 years.

Aubrey Hale, web manager, accepted a position at Ercot (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) in Taylor, Texas. He had been with the school for eight years.

Anna Kircher, director of Information Systems, moved to California and took a position at Humboldt State University as Information Technology director.

Laura Mason was recently named manager of program operations in Academic Services. Laura, who has been with PCH and FCN since 1992, joined AS on July 5.

Alan Gojdics was recently named director of Educational Innovations. Alan has been with the school since 2002 and has nearly 10 years of Internet and multimedia experience.

Brian McFarlane was recently named acting director of Information Systems. Brian has been with the school since September 2005.

Payal Palta is the new part-time payroll coordinator in the Dean's Office.

Jennifer Huff has joined the Information Services NSHelp office as graduate student staff.

Educational Innovations
Scrip Writing Practice for Pharm 514 Students
Michelle Acker, senior lecturer, Dept. of FCN, and lecturer for Pharm 514, came to Educational Innovations in spring 2005 to create an interactive Web application that would allow her students to submit sample prescriptions. Now, students can write and submit their prescription assignments electronically, view instructor comments online, and review all their submitted documents. To see a demo of this application, contact Brian Beardsley at brbeard@u.washington.edu.

School of Nursing Launches Interactive TB Case Study
Terri Simpson, assoc. professor, Dept. of BNHS; Cheri Gail, lecturer, Dept. of BNHS; and Alison Roberts, former graduate student, joined forces with Educational Innovations to produce a media-rich, interactive, Web-based case study on latent tuberculosis infection. This approach emphasizes how students learn within the context of their prior knowledge, and portrays a real-life situation that enables students to construct a new knowledge base that is applicable to advanced nursing practice. The Web format allows for easy adaptation to other case-based study needs. You can view the case study on the Web. If you are interested in developing your own Web-based case study, contact Ashley Bond at aab8@u.washington.edu or Alan Gojdics at agojdics@u.washington.edu.

Continuing Nursing Education
Nursing Leadership in Skilled Facilities
CNE has received a three-year HRSA grant to develop the leadership and management proficiencies of nurse leaders in long-term care. The project, "Nursing Leadership in Skilled Nursing Facilities," evolved from a 2005 pilot course spearheaded by Elena Siegel, doctoral student, and Ruth Craven, assoc. dean for Educational Innovations, and directed by Bonnie Blachly, clinical instructor in nursing, UW Bothell. Craven is project director and Barbara Cochrane, the de Tornyay Term Professor in Healthy Aging and director, de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging, is project co-director for the grant.

New Wound Management Specialists
On June 21, 15 nurses graduated from the school's WOCN-accredited Wound Management Education Program (WMEP). Graduates came from Washington (8), Alaska (1), Hawaii (1), Oregon (2), California (1), Idaho (1), and Wyoming (1) for the intensive 3-week, 130-contact-hour CNE offering. Joie Whitney, the Harborview Medical Center Endowed Professor in Critical Care, is project director and Betty Hanrahan, clinical faculty in BNHS, and Renee Anderson, clinical faculty in BNHS, are the course directors. The WMEP has educated more than 90 wound management specialists since its inception in 2002. More details on the program can be found on the CNE Web site.

Academic Services
Visiting Scholars
Pei-Shan Tsai, assoc. professor, College of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, is working with faculty sponsor Carol Landis in BNHS.

Mei-Feng Lin, Dept. of Nursing, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, is working with faculty sponsor Gail Kieckhefer in FCN.

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