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Dean's Monthly Communication: September 2006

Message from Dean Woods
We are a school in transition. It seems that not a day passes without the announcement of someone taking a new position in the School of Nursing or someone leaving to work in another department or organization. This kind of change occurs for many reasons. Some of us retire, some want to stretch into a new area, and some just need a change. This means that we are a dynamic organization that nurtures its people, enabling them to change and grow and live out their dreams.

Congratulations to each of you who have made transitions. We are sad to see you leave and proud to see some of you advance within the School, but in either case, we're happy for you!
—Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN

Campaign UW: Creating Futures Update
Almost There...
The School of Nursing is now 87.4 percent of the way toward achieving our campaign goal of raising $24 million. We are on pace to meet that goal by 2008 when the campaign ends. Keep up the great work, everyone!

Honors and Awards
Honor Stellar Staff Members
Nurses and volunteers aren't the only folks who help make UWSON the number one nursing school in the country. Staff members also play an important (and often unheralded) role. However, there is a way that you can honor staff members who go above and beyond the responsibilities of their job descriptions and serve as role models to others. Nominate them for the Above & Beyond Awards. Anyone in the school may submit a nomination to the Staff Advisory Council. Awards are given periodically throughout the year, depending on the number and quality of the nominations. For criteria and other information, visit the SAC Web site.

To submit a nomination, you can either:

Fill out the online form

Or send e-mail to: sonsac@u.washington.edu

New Grant Awards
The following new awards were received in July–August 20, 2006. Click the linked text to see abstracts and other project information.

Marie-Annette Brown, prof., Dept. of FCN
Project: Improving Health Care Through Doctor of Nursing Practice Education
Sponsor: Health Resources and Services Administration

Sandra Adams Motzer, assoc. prof., Dept. of BNHS
Project: Graduate Certificate in Complementary and Alternative Medicine/Health Care: An Integrative Approach
Sponsor: Health Resources and Services Administration

Susan J. Spieker, prof., Dept. of FCN
Project: Promoting Infant Mental Health in Foster Care
Sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health

Linda Teri, prof., Dept. of PCH
Project: Exercise & Health Promotion for Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Controlled Trial
Sponsor: National Institute on Aging

Shao-Yu Tsai, PhD student, Dept. of FCN
Committee Members: Chairperson Karen Thomas, prof., Dept. of FCN, and the Ellery and Kirby Cramer Endowed Professor in Nursing; Kathryn Barnard, prof. emerita, Dept. of FCN, and the Charles and Gerda Spence Endowed Professor in Nursing; Marty Lentz, research prof., Dept of BNHS; and Susan Spieker
Project: Sleep Patterns and Ambient Light Experience in Mothers and Infants: A Pilot Study (abstract not available online)
Sponsor: Psi Chapter (At Large)

Staff
Congratulations to Curtis Dye, SON receptionist, who was promoted to program coordinator effective September 1, 2006. Curtis will oversee contracts with sites off campus where our students work, and he will ensure compliance with prerequisites for students working off campus, such as HIPPA training.

Andrea Perkins, assistant to the dean, will be taking the position of executive assistant to the president at Planned Parenthood of Western Washington. She has spent the past six years providing outstanding support to me, the Dean's Office at the School of Nursing, colleagues across campus and many of SON's outside constituencies. We will miss her well-organized influence in our office. Andrea's last day was September 12. We wish her well in her new ventures.

Students & Alumni
Departures
Karen Snedker, a post-doctoral student in the NIDA training program, will be taking a faculty position at Seattle Pacific University. Also, Karen has just learned that a grant she submitted with Jerry Herting to NIMH—called "Effect of Social Context on Adolescent Distress"—will be funded.

Tatiana Tsarouk, a past NIDA Fellow from Russia, received a three-month NIDA Distinguished International Scientist Collaboration Award. This summer, she will be working on research publications for the Reconnecting Youth Prevention Research Program at Northgate and collaborating with faculty from PCH and the School of Social Work on a new grant proposal.

Amanda Frye, a recent BSN graduate who has worked as a research coordinator with the Reconnecting Youth Prevention Research Program at Northgate for the past three years, has taken a position as a nursing instructor at the Seattle University College of Nursing.

Educational Innovations
Do you wish you were more computer-savvy? The EI team wants to help. They are developing a training program that will feature online, on-demand training modules to help you learn critical computer skills. Faculty, staff and students will all have access to the program, which will include how-to guides for various software packages, procedures and e-learning skills. The program will also offer a general introduction to e-learning tasks and concepts for new students and faculty. The first modules should become available during fall quarter 2006.

Academic Services
Visiting Scholars
A warm welcome to the following international visitors:

Mei-Feng Lin from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, Taiwan, visited the NURS 407 class for three weeks this summer. Dr. Lin was accompanied by eight undergraduate and graduate students from her school of nursing at NCKU. Each week, a team of students gave a lecture on Chinese culture to our students. Topics included cultural differences in the transition to adulthood, cultural influences on son-daughter preference and suicide stigma in Taiwan..

Eun-Young Park arrived on August 6, 2006, and is working with faculty sponsor Karen Schepp, assoc. prof., Dept. of PCH, until June 2007.

Hyesang Im arrived on July 11, 2006, and is working with faculty sponsor Eunjung Kim, asst. prof., Dept. of FCN, until June 2007.

Traveling Scholars
Bon voyage to Catherine Carr, assoc. prof., Dept. of FCN, and eight students (listed below) who departed August 18 for San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala, to work as volunteers on community-based rural health-service learning activities with support from the Citizens of the World Program. We look forward to hearing about their experiences upon their return.

Heather Benson, BSN

Amanda Breed, MN

Janna Brock, BSN

Tanya Foster, MN

Vanessa Garen, MEPN

Bethany Grantham, BSN

Yingxuan Law, BSN

Julie Postma, PhD

Continuing Nursing Education
Accreditation of New Online Ostomy Management Education Program
The School of Nursing's new intensive online Ostomy Management Education Program (OMEP) is now officially accredited by the Wound Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society. Accreditation begins retroactively for the eight new ostomy specialists who graduated on August 7, 2006. The OMEP is part of a HRSA training grant (2005–2008) to expand access to wound and ostomy education. Joie Whitney, prof., Dept. of BNHS, and the Harborview Medical Center Endowed Professor in Critical Care, is project director, and Renee Anderson and Donna Rydberg are OMEP course directors. The course will be offered twice in 2007: February 7–June 15 and August 8-December 14.

More information about the online course is available on the CNE Web site.

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