SON: Connections - Spring 2005

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School Honors Alumnae, Community Nurse Leaders with 2005 Leadership Awards

The UW School of Nursing honored outstanding nurses and nursing leaders at its 2005 Nurses Recognition Banquet May 12 at Seattle's W Hotel. The banquet is held each year on National Nurses Day, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birthday, and as part of National Nurses Week. UW President Mark Emmert was the featured speaker.

In conjunction with 10 hospitals and health care-related organizations, the program honored nurses and celebrated the impact of nursing leadership.

The school presented four Leadership Awards. One award is designated for alumni of the school, and last year the school added three new awards-open to anyone-to recognize the greater community's nursing leadership in research, humanitarianism and volunteerism. The 2005 recipients are:

Distinguished Alumni Award: Kathleen Shannon Dorcy '91 MN, a research nurse at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a senior lecturer in nursing at UW Tacoma, is known for her ethical care of patients and is a recognized expert on the care and treatment of those with leukemia. At Fred Hutchinson, Dorcy also works on many ethics committees and participates in outreach activities that teach schoolchildren about science and health.
Distinguished Research Award: Karen Schepp '67 MN, associate professor of psychosocial and community health in the UW School of Nursing, has enhanced the health and welfare of mentally ill children and their families through 20 years of research. A certified child and adolescent psychiatric mental health clinical specialist, she currently leads a five-year study to help families with teenagers who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Humanitarian Award: Connie Anderson '73 BSN, director of clinical services at Northwest Kidney Centers, is an international resource for home hemodialysis and is known for her humane care of patients with renal disease. She has served the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Seattle chapter for five years, and in 2003, she chaired the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, raising more than $1 million for breast cancer services in Seattle.
Outstanding Volunteer Award: Eli and Rebecca Almo, owners and operators of ERA Care Communities, are recognized for their commitment to improving the health and well-being of older adults. Through ERA Care, the Almos initiated one of the first corporate partnerships with the UW School of Nursing. The Almos serve as co-chairs of the school's Campaign Advisory Board and in 1996 they established the Aljoya Endowed Professorship in Aging.

Program sponsors at the Silver $5,000 level were Cerner Corporation, Johnson & Johnson Health Care System and University of Washington Medical Center. Sponsors at the Bronze $2,500 level were Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center, ERA Care Communities, Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Kidney Centers, Premera Blue Cross, Spacelabs Medical and Swedish Medical Center, which sponsored three tables.

For information about nominating someone for next year's awards, visit http://www.son.washington.edu/giving/events.asp. Butterfield Named Chair of PCH

Patricia Butterfield, associate professor of psychosocial and community health (PCH), has been appointed the new department chair of PCH. Her term will follow the leadership of Bobbie Berkowitz, professor of PCH, as the most recent chair, and interim chair Mary Salazar, professor of PCH. Butterfield, who joined the University of Washington faculty in 2003, leads the Occupational and Environmental Health graduate nursing program alongside her teaching and research. She has received national and international recognition for her work in occupational and environmental health and for her studies of environmental impacts and risks to families.

Butterfield received a bachelor's in nursing from Loretto Heights College in Denver, earned her master's degree from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and earned a PhD in nursing with a minor in public health from the Oregon Health Sciences University. Butterfield is a member of the American Academy of Nursing and the American Public Health Association. She has completed the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program, a rigorous three-year program designed for leadership preparation.

Cindy Hecker named assistant dean for clinical nursing practice at SON

Cindy Hecker, associate administrator of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at Harborview Medical Center, has been appointed as an assistant dean for clinical nursing practice in the UW School of Nursing.

"Cindy Hecker's appointment marks a further expansion of the School of Nursing's bridge into the world of practice and a strengthening of our relationship with Harborview," said Dean Nancy Woods.

As assistant dean, Hecker will advise the School of Nursing leadership on emerging issues and trends in nursing practice and pursue collaborative ventures between Harborview Medical Center and the nursing school.

"As chief nursing officer of the number one trauma center in the region, Cindy Hecker brings to the school a valuable perspective on a highly complex and often specialized system of care that will help us better prepare students for practice," Woods said.

Hecker joined Harborview Medical Center in 1981 as a registered nurse after earning her bachelor's degree from the UW School of Nursing in 1980. In the nearly 25 years she has worked at Harborview, Hecker took on roles of increasing management responsibility in many clinical areas, including the intensive care units, burn center, post-anesthesia care unit, operating room, epilepsy center and many others. In 2000, she assumed her current position.

"We are solidifying our relationship and taking it to another height," Hecker said. "As health care becomes so complex, jointly communicating on where health care is going and where the needs are in a large hospital environment will help students. Our collaboration will help create a curriculum both in school and when they get into the hospital that prepares them to be successful in nursing and to continue on into leadership roles."

Emory Honors Hegyvary

Dean Emeritus Sue Hegyvary received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Atlanta's Emory University at its commencement ceremonies May 16. A 1966 master's graduate of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Hegyvary was recognized for her leadership in nursing through teaching, innovative scholarship and dedicated practice. Regarded as a gifted teacher and clinician, she has advanced the science of medical-surgical nursing by enhancing the application of research to practice and fostering practice techniques in her teaching. Hegyvary's honor coincided with the Woodruff School of Nursing's 100th anniversary.

SoN Web site Steps Up to Take Honor

A Web site featuring health and wellness issues for pregnant and parenting women, created by the UW School of Nursing, received honorable mention in the 2004 National Media Awards Competition of the American Academy of Nursing. "Stepping Up: Prevention Strategies for Pregnancy, Parenting and Infancy" serves as a free resource for Washington public health nurses and the public and provides the latest scientific information from the School of Nursing on prenatal care, health education, unstable family situations and newborn care. Kathryn Barnard, the Charles and Gerda Spence Endowed Professor in Nursing, oversaw the development of the site, with the combined efforts and knowledge of Rebecca Kang, associate professor of psychosocial and community health; Lana Conrad, doctoral student; Kathleen Dannenhold, public information specialist; Aubrey Hale, Web Manager; and Greg Owen, graphic designer. The site was developed in cooperation with the First Steps program funded by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, Medical Assistance Administration. Check it out at http://steppingup.washington.edu/.

Postma Named Magnuson Scholar

Julie Postma, a third-year PhD student, has been chosen as a 2004-2005 Magnuson Scholar. Her work focuses on occupational and environmental health, and she hopes to serve as an advocate for workers' rights. She is currently involved in the development of an interdisciplinary program focusing on environmental justice among agricultural workers in the Yakima Valley. A 1998 graduate of the University of Michigan, she has the distinction of being one of only a few students to be admitted to the School of Nursing's PhD program without having a master's degree. She will receive $25,000 to support her studies.

"Julie is clearly someone who wants to make a difference in people's lives," said Mary Salazar, Postma's adviser and professor of psychosocial and community health. "She cares deeply about workers and the environments to which they are exposed. She is keenly aware of the multiple and enormous challenges and injustices that are related to occupational and environmental health." Selected on the basis of academic performance and potential contribution to research in the health sciences, Magnuson Scholars are doctoral students from each of the six health sciences schools at the UW. The scholarship program is part of the Magnuson Institute at the UW, established in 1991.

Master's Student Honored for Determination, Advocacy

Susan Fleming was once told that she could never become a nurse. Today, Fleming's nursing career spans more than 20 years and she was named the grand prize winner of the 2004 Cherokee Inspired Comfort Award for registered nurses. Born with only one hand, Fleming always dreamed of helping people as a nurse and was not deterred by her disability. When rejected by the first nursing program she applied to and told that she could jeopardize patients' health if she became a nurse, Fleming did not lose hope of pursuing her dream. She attended the Los Angeles County School of Nursing instead, and has been working as a nurse since 1983. She has worked at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle and at medical centers in Hawaii, Texas, California and Germany.

"As a new nurse, the experience of traveling gave me strength and helped me to demonstrate and expand my skills in nursing," she says.

For the past 10 years, Fleming has been working at St. Joseph's Hospital in Chewelah, Wash., and she is currently pursuing a master's degree in the clinical nurse specialist program at the UW School of Nursing. Cherokee Uniforms selected Fleming from more than 1, 700 registered nurses to receive their top honor, recognizing her dedication to nursing, as well her "relentless determination to become and serve as a nurse, as well as her advocacy for nurses with physical challenges." She has authored many articles on disabilities and nursing, including pieces in Minority Nurse, and for ExceptionalNurses.com.

"This award does not represent what I have done as much as it represents what others have done, such as schools of nursing and health care facilities that have opened their minds to allow people like me, who have a disability, to achieve our dreams and be a worthy member of the work force," Fleming says.

Three FCN Faculty Honored by Western Institute of Nursing

Three faculty members received honors at the Western Institute of Nursing's annual Communicating Nursing Research Conference in San Francisco in early April. More than 30 faculty, doctoral and postdoctoral students from UW Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma attended the conference. Frances Lewis, Karen Thomas and Dean Nancy Woods, all professors of family and child nursing, were honored for their teaching, research and commitment to nursing.

Lewis, the Elizabeth Sterling Soule Endowed Professor in Nursing and Health Promotion, received the Distinguished Research Lectureship Award for her sustained research programs in family-focused nursing research. The award is given to a nurse scientist whose career-long program of research is considered distinguished and exemplary by her peers.

Thomas was selected to give a State of the Science address regarding innovations in neonatal research.

Woods was selected for induction into the 2005 Western Academy of Nurses. She was recognized for her contributions to nursing practice, promotion of excellence in nursing and implementation of creative approaches to nursing education and scholarship.

Woods Receives Penn Degree, Speaks to Grads

Dean Nancy Woods received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania on May 16. She also delivered Penn's School of Nursing commencement address. The university honored her with a degree for her pioneering contributions to health care for women and nursing education. Woods was recognized alongside fellow honorary degree recipients UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, musician Quincy Jones, philosopher Saul A. Kripke, Comcast founder Ralph Roberts and CNN reporter Judy Woodruff.

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