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Dean's Monthly Communication: September 2007

Message from Dean Woods
It is hard to believe that September is here and that it is almost time for the return of students to campus. This time of the year always brings a bit of anxiety as we anticipate starting a new academic year. For many of us, it is a time of reflection about our commitments for the upcoming year.

This year we will see the first cohort of postbaccalaureate DNP students joining us. They will join the pioneering postmaster's DNP students who began their studies with us last winter. We also look forward to welcoming our new class of undergraduate BSN students, along with last year's BSN students; our new and continuing MN, MS, and PhD students; and the most recent cohort of MEPN students, who began their studies with us last summer.

The activity level will soon be escalating around here, and I am reminded that none of this would be possible without the continuing support and commitment of our faculty and staff. I hope you all had a bit of a rest this summer—we have an exciting year ahead!
—Nancy Fugate Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN

Campaign UW: Creating Futures Update
Banquet Video Now Viewable Online
If you couldn't attend the 2007 Nurses Recognition Banquet in May, you missed another great video presentation. Now, thanks to the expert technical skills of Alan Gojdics, dir. of TIER, you can view it online. This year's video focuses on nursing and mentorship. It also features one of our clinical partners, Northwest Hospital and Medical Center, and the winners of our 2007 Nurse Leadership Awards. You definitely won't want to miss the funny baby pictures of Mary Salazar, retired prof., Dept. of PCH, and Elaine Adams Thompson, the Sandra and Peter Dyer Term Professor in Nursing!

Update on the Learning Lab Upgrade
Thanks to the continuing and growing support of individual and corporate donors, our Nursing Skills Learning Lab is transforming into a top-of-the-line simulation learning environment. Since fall 2006, when our development office significantly increased its efforts to raise financial support for the learning lab, we have added a lot of enhancements, including:

6 state-of-the-art hospital beds and over-bed trays

8 complete head wall sets

A crash cart and, soon, a defibrillator

2 patient simulators: SimMan and Surgical Sally (a bandaging simulator)

Adult and pediatric IV arms, including one of color to support our philosophy of diversity

Screening tools, such as vision charts, reflex hammers and stethoscopes

Our thanks to Tracy Ostrem, asst. dean of development; Brigette Yates, asst. dir. of development; and their colleagues in the development office for helping to make this possible.

A New Way to Give
Support the Glassybaby SoN Scholarship Fund by purchasing the jane's caramel glassybaby candle votive. Ten percent of the proceeds go to support a master's student at the SoN who is studying oncology. Learn more by visiting the Glassybaby Web site.

Honors and Awards
Lenart to Develop Seminar in New Zealand
Janet Lenart, lecturer, Dept. of BNHS, received a $3,000 faculty travel award from the Gowen International Support Endowment to develop a UW Exploration Seminar in New Zealand. The seminar, scheduled for Dec. 2008, will focus on health issues that are a priority in that country, including leadership of indigenous populations, rural health and universal access to care. Exploration Seminars are open to all UW students, and the application process begins in January.

Staff Recognition Award Update
SAC will announce the winner of the new Staff Recognition Award, as well as the person after whom the award will be named, in the fall 2007 quarter.

New Grant Awards
Please join me in congratulating the following faculty member for receiving a new grant award.

David Lovell, research assoc. prof., Dept. of PCH
Project: Department of Corrections Mental Health Consultation
Sponsor: Department of Veterans Affairs

Bobbie Berkowitz, the Alumni Endowed Professor in Nursing and interim chair, Dept. of PCH
Project: Public Health Experience with Health Disparities
Sponsor: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

C. June Strickland, assoc. prof., Dept. of PCH
Project: Advanced Practice Community Health Systems Nursing
Sponsor: Health Resources and Services Administration

Randy Beaton, research prof., Dept. of PCH
Project: Public Health Nursing Education in Disaster and Environmental Health Nursing
Sponsor: Health Resources and Services Administration

Faculty
In June, Faculty Integrative Health Program (FIHP) officials selected 10 UW health sciences faculty from a competitive group of applicants. The SoN faculty in this year's cadre are Michele Acker, senior lecturer and director, PNP program, Dept. of FCN; Marcia Killien, prof., Dept. of FCN; and Diana Taibi, postdoctoral student, Dept. of FCN. This select group will participate in a yearlong, interdisciplinary program exploring the theoretical concepts, clinical practices and evidence related to integrative therapies. They also will help foster a collaborative community at the UW dedicated to teaching, research and clinical practice of integrative health care.

Retirements
This month we bid farewell to three outstanding faculty members as they head off for retirement. We cannot do justice to all of their achievements in this e-newsletter, but here are a few highlights from their inspiring careers.

Marty Lentz, research prof., Dept. of BNHS, retired on Sept. 7, 2007. She came to the University of Washington 37 years ago to work as a staff nurse at UWMC. Marty received her MN from the UWSoN in 1975 and went on to join the first UWSoN doctoral program cohort, earning her PhD in nursing science in 1984. Subsequently, she joined our research faculty, collaborating on many grants as well as providing expert statistical consultation to the Office of Nursing Research. We wish Marty well as she and her husband, Jon, embark on new adventures, including a weeklong bike trip to Oregon this month.

Brooke Randell, research assoc. prof., Dept of PCH, retired Sept. 1, 2007. In addition to the countless contributions she has made as a member of the SoN faculty since 1993, she has served as director of prevention programs for the Reconnecting Youth Prevention Research Program. Her clinical expertise is in adolescent depression/suicide-risk, drug abuse prevention, depression in parents and parent skills training. She is also a clinical researcher, child/adolescent psychosocial nurse and certified advanced nurse practitioner. Brooke has extensive experience as a family therapist and a clinical supervisor, and holds a doctorate in nursing science from the University of California, San Francisco.

Staff
Arrivals
Lawrence Wilson is the new administrator for the Dept. of PCH. For the previous nine years, he served as the research operations manager at the Reconnecting Youth Prevention Research Program. Prior to that, he was the program coordinator for the Children with Special Health Care Needs Training Grant. Lawrence holds a master of public administration degree from the Evans School of Public Affairs and a BA in business administration from the UW School of Business.

The Dept. of FCN welcomes Ingrid Du Mosh to the department as the program coordinator for the PNP group. Ingrid has worked in various positions in the University, including appointments in the development office of the College of Arts and Sciences and in the Department of Psychiatry's Division of Public Behavioral Health and Justice Policy. Prior to working at the UW, she lived in Nashville, Tenn., working as a vocalist and music arranger/producer. She has a BA in communications with a minor in music from Wheaton College.

Dora Wang began working full time in July as the receptionist in T-310, where she is supporting Academic Services as well as the school as a whole. Dora worked for AS as a student employee for several years and is wonderfully qualified for this permanent position. She recently completed two bachelor's degrees at the UW—in English and women's studies. The next time you stop by the reception desk, please welcome her to the SoN.

Departures
Elise Daniel, who has been sharing SoN communications duties with Lia Unrau since June 2006, is moving on to a full-time job with UW Marketing as an e-communications manager. She will be responsible for creating, distributing and measuring the effectiveness of e-communications from UW's president, Mark Emmert, as well as Provost Phyllis Wise and other high-level UW leaders. She will also help units across the University develop and deliver professional-looking, effective e-newsletters. Her last day at the SoN is Sept. 14. However, we look forward to working with her again soon as we begin to expand our own e-communications efforts. An announcement about her successor will be coming soon from Lia.

Students
Bridget Hogue, a master's student in nursing, recently received a scholarship from the American Cancer Society. Her research project focuses on testing a new assessment for peripheral neuropathy in patients with cancer. The award supports students pursuing master's degrees in cancer nursing. She will work with Donna Berry, the Myrene C. Mcaninch Term Professor in Nursing, Dept. of BNHS, who is the PI on the project.

International Scholars
Visiting Scholars
Etsuko Fujimoto, a professor from Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing University in Japan, will be hosted in early September by Joie Whitney, the Harborview Medical Center Endowed Professor in Critical Care, Dept. of BNHS. Dr. Fujimoto specializes in tissue repair and wants to learn new teaching methods.

Visiting Graduate Students
We bid farewell to visiting graduate students Boonchoo Anusasananun and Rujadhorn Indratula from Chiang Mai University in Thailand, and Wareerat Thanoi from Mahidol University in Thailand. Boonchoo worked with faculty sponsor Frances Lewis, the Virginia and Prentice Bloedel Professor., Dept. of FCN, from Dec. 2006 to Aug. 2007. Rujadhorn worked with faculty sponsor Susanna Cunningham, prof., Dept. of BNHS, from Dec. 2006 to Aug. 2007. Wareerat worked with faculty sponsor Elaine Adams Thompson, the Sandra and Peter Dyer Term Professor in Nursing!, Dept. of PCH, from Sept. 2006 to Aug. 2007.

Traveling Scholars
Welcome home to Catherine Carr, assoc. prof., Dept. of FCN; Judy Lazarus, lecturer, Dept. of FCN; and eight graduate and fifth-year nursing students (listed below) who returned Sept. 3 from San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala. While there, they volunteered at a community-based, rural health-service clinic. The students received financial support for their travel expenses from the Citizens of the World Program:

Megan Brady
Anne Egleston
Nicole Johnson
Amy Kanigher
Anna McClendon
Lindsey Miller
Keri Schwartz
Shanna Sierra

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