Voice, Fall 2014

Fall 2014

william f. connell school of nursing

The many faces of nursing

Educating and training a diverse nursing workforce

from the dean susan gennaro

Dear Friends,

dean

In the past few months, I have

Susan Gennaro

heard from many alumnae about the

editor

tribute to Cushing Hall published in

Maureen Dezell

the spring issue of Voice magazine.

managing editor

People have told me they appreciate

Tracy Bienen

the opportunity to look back to such an important time in nursing history and the history of nursing at Boston College. I, too, appreciated the article, which gave us an opportunity to pass on a broader awareness of the legacy of the Connell School as we look Photograph: Gary Wayne Gilbert

voice

ahead to our next chapters.

I am grateful to have had the pleasure of meeting Dean Rita P. Kelleher when I first came to Boston College. She helped me to think about the direction in which the Connell School should go as we build on

art director Diana Parziale

contributors Timothy Gower Zak Jason Judy Rakowsky Debra Bradley Ruder

photographers Caitlin Cunningham Gary Wayne Gilbert Lee Pellegrini Professional Event Images, Inc.

the shoulders of the giants who came before us. Dean Kelleher never stopped looking forward and never lost her passion for ensuring that nursing students had what they needed to excel.

So while I am sad as we leave Cushing Hall, I know that Dean Kelleher, and all those who worked so diligently in the past to prepare the best

Voice is published by the William F. Connell School of Nursing and the Boston College Office of Marketing Communications.

nurses, would be glad that we will soon have the space and equipment

Letters and comments are welcome:

we desperately need to educate Boston College students as well as

csonalum@bc.edu

prepare nurse leaders for the future.

Communications Specialist William F. Connell School of Nursing Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

Yours,

Susan Gennaro Dean

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contents

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7 Clockwise from above: Associate Dean Sean Clarke.

Angela Zablotny ’15 (center) with her neighbors in South Africa.

Elisabeth Bailey, clinical instructor.

Graduate student Nina Wujech.

Students train in the clinical learning lab.

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Fall 2014 news

features

4 CSON named a

7 Move to Maloney Hall

National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence, alumni honored at reunion, student and faculty accolades

Enhancing clinical learning in the new nursing lab

8 Finding truth

letters

6 Thoughts and opinions on the “Tribute to Cushing Hall” (Voice, spring 2014)

in the numbers Associate Dean Sean Clarke and the power of data

The many faces 10 of nursing Educating and training a diverse nursing workforce

14 Welcoming new faculty New faculty bring expertise in gerontology, dementia, and community health

faculty publications

17 Simulations that teach “thinking like a nurse” Study offers RN staffing lessons from Mass. health reform

www.bc.edu/cson

boston college william f. connell school of nursing

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news by zak jason

Announcement The Connell School of Nursing was named a National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. The organization focuses on developing faculty, advancing nursing science, facilitating adoption of best practices, fostering leadership, and designing policy around the issues of optimal health and quality of life for older adults.

Above: Ellen Robinson and Martha Jurchak at reunion.

Photograph: Professional Event Images, Inc.

Below: Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J., and Ann Riley Finck.

Photograph: Lee Pellegrini

Events Martha Jurchak, Ph.D. ’96, executive director of the Ethics Service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Ellen Robinson, M.S. ’83, Ph.D. ’97, nurse ethicist at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute for Patient Care and co-chair of the MGH Optimum Care Committee, received the sixth annual Dean Rita P. Kelleher Award for outstanding leadership at this year’s Connell School reunion May 31. After Dean Susan Gennaro presented the award, Jurchak and Robinson took part in a panel discussion on nursing ethics with Connell School faculty members Pamela Grace and Richard Ross, S.J.

Faculty news The American Academy of Nursing inducted Associate Professor Marie Boltz as a Fellow in October.

Right: Stewart Bond.

Photograph: Caitlin Cunningham

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voice | fall 2014

The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association selected Assistant Professor Stewart Bond as a 2014 Research Scholar to continue his research, which examines the ability of palliative care professionals to recognize and differentiate between delirium, dementia, and depression.

Associate Professor Jane Flanagan received the Distinguished Nurse Practitioner of the Year Award from the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners for her leadership in advancing nursing and the APRN role. Also, the Society of Rogerian Scholars elected Flanagan its president.

Indiana University School of Nursing named Professor Dorothy Jones one of its Top 100 Alumni Legacy Leaders during the school’s centennial celebration weekend in June.

Purdue University School of Nursing honored Associate Professor Pat Tabloski as a Golden Graduate during the school’s 50th anniversary celebration. She also received the 2014 Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Rochester School of Nursing in October. While in Rochester, Tabloski delivered the annual Clare Dennison Lecture, titled “Challenges and Opportunities for Gerontological Nurses.”

NursePractitionerSchools.com named Lelia Holden Carroll Professor Judith Vessey one of its top 25 pediatric nursing professors.

Alumni news Ann Riley Finck ’66 received an honorary Doctor of Nursing Science degree at Boston College’s 2014 Commencement.

Merrimack College named Carol Glod, M.S. ’83, Ph.D. ’95, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Susan A. LaRocco ’76 received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach at the University of Jordan in Amman in 2014–15. She is a professor of nursing at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts.

Meghan Crann, M.S. ’14, received a 2013 Jeremy Knowles Preceptor Fellowship from Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is a staff nurse on the general medicine unit.

The American Academy of Nursing inducted Annie Lewis-O’Connor, Ph.D. ’07, and Diane Cheryl Berry, M.S. ’97, Ph.D. ’02, as Fellows in October. LewisO’Connor is senior nurse scientist and director of the Coordinated Approach to Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Berry is associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Nursing.

Fund for Education Abroad (FEA) awarded Laura Mata ’16 a scholarship to support study abroad in Ecuador. She was one of 21 FEA Scholarship winners selected from a pool of 900 applicants.

Texas Children’s Hospital gave Mary Therese Pfeffer ’12 its Rookie of the Year Award.

Angela Zablotny ’15 studied in Durban, South Africa, where she conducted independent research on schoolgirls’ experiences with menstruation as expressed through body mapping.

Arlene Stoller, M.S. ’12, received a 2013 Excellence in Gerontological Nursing Award from the National Gerontological Nursing Association.

John Welch, M.S. ’12, traveled to Liberia in October and spent a month caring for patients with the Ebola virus. He works with Partners in Health, where he is the nursing director for the Ebola response.

Student news Seven Boston College undergraduates, including CSON’s Sabrina Caraffa ’15, Nora Jean-Baptiste ’14, and Patience Marks ’15, spoke about their health experiences at the inaugural Health Talk event, sponsored by the Connell School of Nursing and the Office of Health Promotion with support from the Robsham Theater Arts Center.

Nina Wujech, M.S. ’15, participated in a five-day medical mission in her home country of Cameroon, where she conducted free cancer, hypertension, and diabetes screenings and also offered free treatment, medication, and counseling.

The body map created by a 16-year-old South African, who wrote, “The first time I got my period I felt so stressed because I did not know what happened with my virginity.”

Photograph courtesy: Angela Zablotny

Philanthropy An anonymous donor committed to a $3 million gift, which will establish the Connell School’s second full academic chair.

After supporting annual clinical immersion trips to Nicaragua for seven years, the Countess Moira Charitable Foundation endowed the Connell School with $1 million to sustain its existing international programs and provide experiences for future nursing students in perpetuity. Kathleen Gray ’84 sits on the foundation’s board.

The Connell School’s main lab in Maloney Hall will be named in honor of Boston College alumni Scott Brown ’79 and his wife Tracy Burnett Brown, who graduated from the school of nursing in 1980. The

couple, who are parents of two Boston College graduates, have made a gift to the University to support the education of nurse leaders.

In memory Louise Marie Gratienne Pare ’65 died at her home in Lewiston, Maine, on July 14, 2014. She was 75.

Tell us your news csonalum@bc.edu

boston college william f. connell school of nursing

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letters

It was a building. But Cushing Hall contained the most caring, supportive environment in which to learn. It introduced me to colleagues and faculty that I am still connected to as friends, co-investigators, and mentors. For Cushing Hall and Boston College, I am eternally grateful.

Sincerely,

diane l. carroll ’82 Ph.D. ’93, RN, FAAN Dear Dr. Gennaro:

the cover of voice magazine depicting Cushing Hall grabbed my interest. Reading the tribute to this symbol of the Boston College School of Nursing brought back memories of my years as a student during the early 1980s and 1990s and as an adjunct faculty in the 2000s.

As an older RN undergraduate—and one of a few RN to BSN students that struggled to make sense of the academic requirements while caring for children and working part time—I found salvation in the library on the top floor of Cushing Hall. The library was a haven in which I could gather the knowledge to move through my coursework and to understand nursing as a science. This foundation fostered the development of a different nursing career for me.

When I became a doctoral student in the early 1990s the library was gone, but the top floor of Cushing Hall had become the classrooms where my classmates and I became scholars. I came back again in the 2000s to teach the research course during the summer on the 2nd floor of Cushing Hall and experienced the wonders of the afternoon sun in the summer on the front of Cushing Hall!

thank you for the spring 2014 issue of Voice devoted to the history of Cushing Hall. As a member of the last class to graduate before Cushing was built, I was eager, when asked, to offer my experience as a member of that cohort.

We were a distinct and happy community of women who visited the campus for science classes, but who saw 126 Newbury Street as our professional home. We were welcomed when we arrived on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Although “running the gauntlet” was a metaphor we employed humorously to describe our experience of walking through Lyons Cafeteria with hundreds of male students looking on, there was no public humiliation of us by the men. Descriptors such as “catcalling” and “mooning” are, therefore, entirely inappropriate. We were not disrespected by the men, nor would I choose to disrespect them (then or now) with such characterizations.

When I first read the article in which I was referenced, I felt misunderstood and misrepresented by the description of my lived experience. In retrospect, it occurs to me that gender roles of the mid 1950s are difficult to appreciate in 2014. Maybe you just had to be there!

elizabeth m. grady ’59

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Dear Editor,

from 1969 to my retirement in 2002, I enjoyed teaching in Cushing Hall, first with Deans Margaret Foley and Rita Kelleher, then with Mary Dineen, and last with Barbara Hazard. (I now teach part time with Dean Susan Gennaro.)

A graduate quoted in the spring 2014 issue of the Voice magazine article emphasized that the opening of Cushing Hall made students feel they belonged “at” Boston College—they had a home. The preposition changed from “at” to belonging “to” BC over time.

These years brought transformation in spaces where students gathered to learn and socialize. The clinical skills lab moved from a basement location where tall students avoided bumps from overhead heating ducts. Fourth-floor facilities with state-of-the-art simulated patient models replaced “Mrs. Chase.” Current students at all levels can integrate critical thinking and skill practice in simulation labs that will be enlarged at Maloney Hall.

While students once populated the firstfloor lounge and the fourth-floor library, they now often fill the fourth-floor corridor to await competency testing or to pack supplies for service trips. In Cushing 001, where I truly loved teaching NU120, Scope of Human Development, the lectern now resembles an airplane cockpit with all the electronic equipment controls.

Cushing Hall may have to step out of the way for “progress” but will be long remembered for the students and teachers and deans the building served.

Sincerely,

jean a. o’neil Ed.D., RN, Associate Professor Emerita; Part-time Faculty, Academic Support Provider, and Consultant

move to maloney

Enhancing clinical learning in Maloney Hall Photography by Caitlin Cunningham

seymour butt, chester chest, and surgical sally have been confined to tight quarters in Cushing Hall’s clinical learning center since the 1990s. Next summer, the instructional manikins will move with the rest of the Connell School of Nursing to Maloney Hall, where they will take up residence in the School’s new 2,000-square-foot nursing lab. An expansive, state-ofthe-art facility that is twice as large as its Cushing Hall counterpart, the new lab will house five exam rooms and a primary 12-bed clinical learning space.

Located on the second floor of Maloney, the school’s new instructional center will feature a complement of teaching tools and accessories, including bedside patient monitors, IV pumps, portable vital sign machines, medication administration units, crash carts—and a new cohort of anatomical models that can mimic heart and lung sounds and various human conditions.

“The increase in space will allow greater access to experiential learning,” which builds students’ skill sets, said Amy Smith, director of the Connell School’s clinical learning and simulation center. “The beauty of simulation,” added Smith, “is that students are able to practice skills and gain confidence in a realistic and supportive environment prior to entering the hospital setting.”

The Maloney Hall lab resources are expected to enhance student learning at all levels, Smith continued, from foundational skill-building to advanced simulation exercises that challenge critical thinking.

In addition, students will have increased access to electronic documentation, so they can report their findings of wounds, surgical sites, and other simulated problems, according to Eileen Sullivan, assistant lab director.

The Connell School’s main lab in Maloney Hall will be named in honor of Boston College alumni Scott Brown ’79 and his wife Tracy Burnett Brown, who graduated from the school of nursing in 1980. The couple, who are parents of two Boston College graduates, have made a gift to the University to support the education of

Students in Health Assessment across the Life Span, taught by Associate Professor Robin Wood, in Cushing Hall’s main nursing lab.

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Finding truth in the numbers Associate Dean Sean Clarke and the power of data

by timothy gower Photography by Caitlin Cunningham

Growing up in Ottawa, Canada, Sean Clarke dreamed of becoming a scientist.

Doing volunteer work at hospitals as a college student convinced him that nursing was his destiny. But it was while he was pursuing his doctorate that Clarke’s fascination with science put him on a path to conducting groundbreaking research on patients and the people who care for them.

“I began to see ways to use research to

for example, how factors such as staff-

nurses’ working lives, from the risk of

ask questions that are central to the pro-

ing levels influence patient mortality.

sharps injuries to job burnout.

fessional issues that drive nursing,” says

Clarke’s research has bolstered lobbying

Clarke, who came to the Connell School of

efforts by nursing associations to enact

are under pressure to improve patient

Nursing this fall as a professor and associ-

legislation aimed at ensuring appropri-

safety while curbing spending, Clarke

ate dean for undergraduate programs.

ate nurse-patient ratios, such as the law

maintains that data has never been more

Clarke is an internationally recognized

At a time when hospital administrators

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick

important. “The purpose of research is

expert on the makeup and management

signed in June that limits the number of

to drive practice decisions, but it’s also to

of nursing organizations and how they

patients assigned to registered nurses in

drive management decisions,” he says.

affect patient health and safety. He

hospital intensive-care units. Clarke has

“I think we have an obligation to think

also studies the well-being of nurses;

also investigated issues that directly affect

about what kinds of data are going to

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voice | fall 2014

facilitate better decisions in the long run

In one, for example, Clarke and his

Clarke returned to McGill in 2012

colleagues showed that hospitals with

to become the first director of the

Outgoing, energetic, and an engaging

high patient-to-nurse ratios tend to have

university’s new Nursing Collaborative

conversationalist, Clarke’s research focus

relatively higher mortality rates among

for Education and Innovation in Patient

and personality make him a perfect fit

surgery patients.

and Family-Centered Care, created to

that will be in patients’ interests.”

for Boston College according to Susan

At the same time, Clarke cautions that

strengthen ties between the schools of

common assumptions about nursing

nursing and medicine. But when

“Sean looks at the way care is delivered

and patient well-being are often too sim-

approached about the associate dean

and asks whether there is a better way to

plistic. “People would like to believe that

post at the Connell School, Clarke was

deliver it,” says Gennaro, who has known

it’s a very straightforward set of circum-

intrigued. (So was his wife, Beth McNutt-

Clarke since the 1990s. “He’s very intel-

stances that tell us whether patients will

Clarke, an advanced practice nurse who

ligent and motivated, but also very caring

do well or not do well,” says Clarke. To

specializes in wound management and

and concerned. A perfect blend of the

the contrary, his research suggests that

who comes to the Connell School as a

right and left brain.”

Gennaro, dean of the Connell School.

simply adding more staff to a nursing

clinical instructor, teaching community

Clarke became interested in nursing

unit, for example, won’t necessarily

health, see p. 16.)

while attending the University of Ottawa,

improve patient outcomes. What’s

where he received his bachelor’s degree

needed is the right mix of nurses, led

on research with new colleagues at

in 1988. He pursued a master’s and a

by managers who create a healthy,

Boston-area hospitals. “Other cities are

doctorate in nursing at McGill University

positive work environment.

health care hubs,” he observes, “but

Clarke says he is eager to collaborate

in Montreal, where he worked closely with Nancy Frasure-Smith, a noted social scientist who studies how psychological

Clark’s research suggests “that simply adding more staff to

factors influence the risk for cardiovas­

a nursing unit won’t necessarily improve patient outcomes.

cular disease. “That’s where I learned how to ask research questions and use

What’s needed is the right mix of nurses, led by managers

big data sets to get answers,” says Clarke.

who create a healthy, positive work environment.”

Clarke did post-doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, where he eventually became an associate profes-

In 2008, Clarke was named an

Boston is first on everybody’s list to be

sor. At Penn, his mentor was Professor

associate professor at the University

a researcher and health professional.”

of Nursing and Sociology Linda Aiken,

of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg

However, it was his new role at the

known for her seminal research on the

Faculty of Nursing. At Bloomberg, his

Connell School that convinced Clarke

impact of, and remedies for, nursing

lectures were wildly popular. “Few stu-

to pack up the house and make the move

shortages. A number of his 118 published

dents skip class even though they don’t

from Montreal. “I was aware of the excel-

articles are collaborations with Aiken.

need to show up; Clarke records all of

lent tradition of undergraduate education

They include a pair of massive studies

his lectures and posts them online,”

BC has. The school seems to be a place

published in the Journal of the American

noted the Bloomberg School’s magazine,

where a lot of people with different back-

Medical Association that were among

Pulse. “It’s not the same—he’s better in

grounds all find ways to contribute to

the first to quantify how nursing perfor-

person,” student Stephen Ng told the

the mission,” says Clarke. “That was

mance and working conditions affect

magazine. “Sean makes a potentially

really appealing to me.”

patient outcomes.

boring course super fun.”

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voice | fall 2014

The many faces of nursing by judy rakowsky Photography by Caitlin Cunningham

growing up in brooklyn, jimmy yang ’17 was riveted in his high school biology classes. But he had never considered nursing until shortly before he

was due to arrive on campus as a freshman in 2013. A first-generation college student whose parents emigrated from China, Yang got an e-mail from the Connell School of Nursing inviting him to apply to KILN (Keys to Inclusive Leadership in Nursing). The five-year-old program recruits and prepares students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in nursing to succeed academically and in their profession.

“Coming into school, my first few days were a little awkward,

“Health care is never going to be fixed until we have a

a little intimidating,” says Yang. “Now it just feels normal.”

nursing workforce that complements the diversity of the com-

With help from his mentor, Richard Ross, S.J., a clinical

munity,” she says. For that to happen, rigorous undergradu-

instructor in the nursing school, and support from KILN, Yang

ate nursing programs such as the Connell School’s have to

says he enjoyed a successful freshman year.

become more diverse.

Undergraduates who look like Yang and male faculty were

“When I first started on the job as associate dean, I saw a lot

anomalies at the Connell School until recently. So were grad-

of students not reaching their potential,” says Read. Students,

uate students such as Deborah Washington, M.S. ’93, Ph.D.

including males, would leave the Connell School or wouldn’t

’12, now the director of diversity for Patient Care Services

achieve what they could. “They didn’t see themselves as leaders,”

at Massachusetts General Hospital, who is black. While

she continues. “We wanted to scout the kids that may or may not

Washington was pursuing her degree during the 1990s, she

have gotten through the [undergraduate nursing program].”

recalls, she never saw “a classmate who looked like me.”

Yang, Washington, and Ross represent the new face of nursing

To that end, Read spearheaded the Connell School’s effort to secure federal funds to launch KILN as a three-year pilot in

at the Connell School—and an essential evolution in the future

2009. At first, KILN focused on undergraduates, recruiting

of health care, according to Catherine Y. Read, an associate pro-

top high school students, then mentoring and offering intense

fessor and KILN’s director, who recently left the role of associate

tutoring and grants, and providing funds to cover ancillary

dean for undergraduate programs after nine years.

costs such as conference fees and travel. In 2012, a $540,000 Price Family Foundation grant made it possible for CSON to continue to expand KILN, opening it to 10 graduate students

Jimmy Yang meets with his advisor, Richard Ross, S.J.

and 40 undergraduates. boston college william f. connell school of nursing

11

“ When health care providers see someone who looks like them or comes from a similar background, there is a level of comfort there.”

— danny willis, associate professor and chair, Diversity Advisory Board

The KILN program offers “a forum, a shared culture” for

years, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in

students who might otherwise hesitate to express themselves,

Nursing program has provided $10,000 scholarships to more

says Nina Wujech, a nurse practitioner graduate student in her

than 40 students from underrepresented minority groups

third year and a native of Cameroon. It also provides resources

and disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds who are

(grants and stipends, for instance) to help those who otherwise

accepted to the Connell School’s accelerated master’s in nurs-

might not be able to afford to pursue professional opportu-

ing program.

nities to do so. With money from the program, Wujech, for

“There is intention behind the message of diversity and

example, was able to attend a conference in Florida, where she

inclusion” at the Connell School, says Washington. The

made enduring professional contacts who offered a glimpse of

changes come from a more constructive approach than the old

real life in the field.

quota system of affirmative action, she points out. “Today the

Above: Ji Won Lee ‘15 with her advisor, Danny Willis.

Right: Nina Wujech (right) and her patient Bette Darling at Tristan Medical, Raynham.

The KILN approach is not necessarily new—scholarships, intervention, and tutoring have been

admissions people and deans and employers look at diversity

around for many years. KILN’s strength, says Read, is the way

around the question `Who is not here?’ Now we ask if we have

it tailors support to each student. “It’s not one size fits all.

Muslims and men and someone who is out and comfortable

Everybody can be successful.”

with his orientation.”

KILN now serves 43 undergraduates and 10 graduate

The proportion of Connell undergraduates who are AHANA

nursing students in a school of 385 undergraduates and 295

(African, Hispanic, Asian and Native American) doubled to 20

master’s degree candidates. In addition, during the past five

percent since 1994, and reached 25 percent during some of

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voice | fall 2014

Deborah Washington (center) leads a unit-based training at Massachusetts General Hospital.

the past five years. The male undergraduate enrollment has

It’s not possible for each patient to have a nurse from their

increased from three percent in 2004 to more than 11 percent

ethnic or racial background or gender, she says, but students

of the incoming class in 2014.

need to put their cultural identity “out front and be a part of

The KILN and the New Careers in Nursing programs complement efforts to diversify the faculty as well.

“There’s this commitment to diversity in the school,” says

who they are and how they interact.”

There will still be patients who refuse nurses from a particular background to be part of their care team, says Washington.

Associate Professor Danny Willis, department chair and head

Racism and bias are part of our culture and the relationship

of CSON’s Diversity Advisory Board. Broadening participa-

with a nurse is profoundly intimate, she continues.

tion in the faculty also is an ongoing effort, says Willis, one

Willis says diversity is a thread that runs through the entire

of five males of the 53 full-time faculty members. “Diversity

curriculum, as faculty members bring up inclusivity in the

is a value we teach and a major part of what goes on inside

classroom and encourage research that focuses on health dis-

the building. It is also congruent with our mission as a Jesuit

parities in vulnerable communities and populations.

university.”

It also encompasses the way the school encourages students

The overarching goal of diversity in nursing practice,

and graduates to take leadership roles to improve public health.

Washington says, is culturally competent care. It is a prac-

Broadening participation in the field is essential to this effort,

ticed skill, she says, that can be taught in a course but goes

Willis says. “When health care providers see someone who

far beyond bullet points. It is essential to establishing a rap-

looks like them or comes from a similar background, there is

port with the patient in a most intimate relationship.

a level of comfort there. This congruence and match can trans-

“As a black woman, I’m trying to reach a black patient about diabetic foot care and I can sit down and say ‘I can tell you

late to health care at a higher level.”

Connell is fortunate to have great faculty and students and

the way your mama would tell you,’” Washington says. “I get

an administration that leads, Willis adds. But it’s ongoing

laughter and camaraderie going and he may do this one thing

work. “The goal would be to see everyone as a human being,”

I’m insisting on.”

he says.

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boston college william f. connell school of nursing

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New Faculty by timothy gower Photography by Caitlin Cunningham

Marie Boltz associate professor Marie Boltz, Ph.D., RN, GNP-BC, was close to her grandparents. But she was dismayed by the inferior medical care they sometimes received as they aged. Her early days in nursing opened her eyes to the complexity of treating older patients, which stirred her passion for gerontology. “I felt the need to advocate for the specialized needs of older people in my own practice,” says Boltz. She comes to Boston College as a tenured associate professor after seven years at the New York University College of Nursing, where she received her doctorate. Boltz recently completed a pilot study of a “family-centered” program designed to promote the recovery of older patients with acute illnesses, in which nurses at two hospitals systematically involved family members throughout all stages of a patient’s treatment.

“We’re making sure family members have information they haven’t had historically,” says Boltz, whose paper describing the pilot study of this novel intervention will appear in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. She is widely published and has edited several books, including Evidence-Based Geriatric Nursing Protocols for Best Practice (Springer, 2011). In 2013, Boltz was named a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. She was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in October 2014.

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voice | fall 2014

Elisabeth Bailey clinical instructor Elisabeth Bailey, M.S. ’07, RN, PMHCNS-BC, is convinced that nurse practitioners can help fill the increasing shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists in the United States. Bailey is trained in both psychiatric and pediatric nursing and her interest is in “bringing the two together,” she says. “Primary care providers treat most kids with psychiatric needs, and they’ll often tell you they don’t feel prepared to manage these patients.”

Bailey, who expects to receive her Ph.D. in nursing practice

Kyung Hee Lee assistant professor

from Northeastern University in 2015, is writing a doctoral dissertation on why nurse practitioners (especially in primary care) lack training to treat psychiatric conditions in young people, and ways to remedy the problem.

There was a time when some doctors believed that people with

Bailey received her master’s in nursing from Boston College

dementia lose the ability to form emotions. Growing evidence

in 2007. She returns as a clinical instructor and teaches

suggests that’s not the case, though dementia patients often do

Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing across the Lifespan.

struggle to describe how they’re feeling. “As nurses, we need

Bailey most recently served as director of psychiatric services

to pay attention to their emotional expression,” says Kyung

at the Manville School, a day school for children with emo-

Hee Lee, Ph.D., RN, GNP-C, M.P.H, whose ongoing research

tional and behavioral problems that is part of the Judge Baker

suggests that changes in dementia patients’ countenance, body

Children’s Center in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. For

posture, and tone of voice can give caregivers a better under-

her, seeing children overcome profound psychological chal-

standing of their psychological status and physical needs.

lenges offers singular rewards. “It’s a real privilege to be part

Lee grew up in South Korea and studied nursing at Yonsei University in Seoul. She came to the United States to pursue

of that process,” she says. “It’s very inspiring to see that kind of human resilience.”

her doctorate at the University of Michigan, where she wrote her dissertation on how emotion and cognition influence wandering behavior in dementia patients, graduating in 2011. Her next move was to Duke University, where she was a post-doctoral fellow before she came to Boston College as a tenure-track assistant professor. At the Connell School, she will continue studying the emotional well-being of dementia patients and teach courses in the gerontology program.

“My goal as a teacher,” says Lee, “is to build a bridge between practice and research.”

boston college william f. connell school of nursing

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Melissa Pérez clinical instructor Melissa Pérez, M.S. ’12, RN, WHNP-BC, has spent the last three and a half years working as a labor and delivery nurse in an eight-bed unit for high-risk pregnancies at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Among her patients are women who are addicted to drugs or inmates from area prisons, a population with which she is grateful to work. “You are taking care of people who will hang on your every word and appreciate the education and the resources. It’s nursing as an art and science,” says Pérez.

After earning her nursing degree at Villanova University in 2009, Pérez continued her education at Boston College,

Beth McNutt-Clarke clinical instructor

receiving her master’s degree in nursing in 2012, specializing in women’s health. She taught maternal and child health at the Connell School on a part-time basis in the 2012–13 school year, and now returns as a clinical instructor in that field. Besides

Beth McNutt-Clarke, M.Sc.A, M.B.A., RN, CWOCN,

giving classroom lectures, Pérez will oversee six to eight stu-

believes her specialty—wound management—is critical for

dents as they train at BMC and other area hospitals. “I am

the well-being of both patients and hospitals. McNutt-Clarke,

really going to miss my patients,” she says, “but they’ll still

who obtained her master’s degree in nursing from McGill

be with me through my students.” Pérez has done extensive

University in Montreal, most recently served as an advanced

volunteer work in the United States and abroad, and dreams of

practice nurse at Toronto’s Bridgepoint Hospital, where she

leading a group of Boston College students on a relief mission

oversaw management of wounds such as pressure ulcers.

to Central America.

“With some knowledge and good assessment, you can actually prevent a lot of pressure ulcers,” says McNutt-Clarke, noting that these common hospital-acquired wounds are painful and can take several years to heal. Severe cases, which can cost hospitals upwards of $60,000, also put a strain on clinical budgets.

Her other passion is community health nursing, which she’ll teach as a clinical instructor at the Connell School. “Students need to learn not just nursing skills, but how to interact with people,” says McNutt-Clarke, who is a vocal proponent of the value of strengths-based nursing, an emerging treatment approach that eschews formulaic prescriptions and promotes health by exploring how patients can help themselves. “I feel like I’m a detective and I’m going to find the best way to work with a patient,” she says.

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faculty publications

Jane Ashley Ashley, J., & Stamp, K.D. (2014, September).

Learning to think like a nurse: The development of clinical judgment in nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education, 53(9), 519–525. doi:10.3928/01484834-20140821-14

Susan DeSanto-Madeya Darcy, A.M., Murphy, G.A., & DesantoMadeya, S.A. (2014, July/August). Evaluation of discharge telephone calls following total joint replacement surgery. Orthopaedic Nursing, 33(4), 188–197. doi:10.1097/ NOR.0000000000000062

Joyce Edmonds Edmonds, J.K. (2014, June/July). Clinical indications associated with primary cesarean birth. Nursing for Women’s Health, 18(3), 243– 249. doi:10.1111/1751-486X.12126

Jane Flanagan Arcari, P.M., & Flanagan, J.M. (2014).

The development of a mind-body-spirit certification program in nursing. Journal of Holistic Nursing. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0898010114547112 Flanagan, J.M. (2014). Virtual issue: Integration of NNN into EHRS. How are we doing? Introduction by editor. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge. onlinelibrary. wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)2047-3095/ homepage/custom_copy.htm Flanagan, J.M. (2014, June). The electronic health record: Moving toward the goal of nursing diagnosis decision support.

International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, 25(2), 67. doi:10.1111/2047-3095.12040

Holly Fontenot Hill, A.L., & Fontenot, H.B. (2014, October/ November). Beliefs and practices of obstetric care providers regarding umbilical cord clamping. Nursing for Women’s Health 18(5), 413–419. doi:10.1111/1751-486X.12149

Simulations that teach “thinking like a nurse” Connell School researchers found clear distinctions between secondand third-year nursing students’ clinical judgment and reasoning skills in high-fidelity simulations, Associate Professor Jane Ashley and Assistant Professor Kelly Stamp reported in the September issue of the Journal of Nursing Education.

Junior nursing students are more likely to “think like a nurse” than sophomores according to the researchers, who videotaped simulation sessions in which students were presented with a postoperative “patient”—a high-fidelity manikin—who developed a common clinical problem. They then conducted interviews to explore what students were thinking, feeling, and doing during the simulations.

The researchers found that sophomores, whose postoperative “patient” had developed hypoglycemia, did little preplanning before the simulation and relied mainly on vital signs, visual cues, and common sense. The juniors, whose patient was having a heart attack, were more likely to use analytical reasoning to focus assessments, test hypotheses, and problem solve. Ashley and Stamp concluded that sophomores need to hone skills in noticing and interpreting patient symptoms while juniors can be given problems with increasing complexity.

Both groups consistently introduced themselves and practiced safety checks and hand hygiene, but showed room for improvement in communicating with physicians and patients. When communicating with the doctor, for example, “most students left out significant data, gave information out of sequence, and were reluctant to make recommendations for care.”

Susan Gennaro Fierz, K., Gennaro, S., Dierickx, K., Van Achterberg, T., Morin, K.H., & De Geest, S. (2014, July). Scientific misconduct: Also an issue in nursing science? Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(4), 271–280. doi:10.1111/ jnu.12082 Budin, W.C., Gennaro, S., O’Connor, C., & Contratti, F. (2014, October-December).

Sustainability of improvements in perinatal teamwork and safety climate. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 29(4), 363–370. doi:10.1097/ NCQ.0000000000000067

VanDevanter, N., Gennaro, S., Budin, W., Calalang-Javiera, H., & Nguyen, M. (2014, July/ August). Evaluating implementation of a baby friendly hospital initiative. MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 39(4), 231– 237. doi:10.1097/NMC.0000000000000046 Gennaro, S. (2014, July). Writing: Ensuring the stars align. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(4), 217. doi:10.1111/jnu.12098 Gennaro, S. (2014, September). What do you need to read? Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(5), 303. doi:10.1111/jnu.12100

boston college william f. connell school of nursing

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faculty publications

Pamela Grace Robinson, E.M., Lee, S.M., Zollfrank, A., Jurchak, M., Frost, D., & Grace, P. (2014, September/October). Enhancing moral agency: Clinical ethics residency for nurses.

The Hastings Center Report, 44(5), 12–20. doi:10.1002/hast.353

Ellen Mahoney

Study offers RN staffing lessons from Mass. health reform Despite rising hospital admissions under the state’s health insurance reform law, nurse staffing in Massachusetts hospitals has remained flat.

That portends possible trends under federal health care reform, according to an analysis by Associate Professor Judith Shindul-Rothschild and Senior Research Statistician Matt Gregas.

Mahoney, K.J., Sciegaj, M., & Mahoney, E.K. (2014, summer). The future of participant direction in aging services. Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, 38(2), 85–93. generations.metapress.com/content/ FK1U2724XK763060

In a paper published in Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice in March, the researchers examined patient turnover and RN employment in Massa­ chusetts, New York, and California nonfederal hospitals between 2000 and 2011—both before and after Massachusetts passed its landmark health insurance law in 2006.

Tam Nguyen

Massachusetts had significantly more admissions per bed than California and New York in 2009 and 2011, signaling that health care reform increased access to hospital services for previously uninsured residents—and foreshadowing rising demand under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It was modeled after the Massachusetts law, Shindul-Rothschild and Gregas note.

Tran, T.V., Nguyen, T.H., Wang, K., & Phan, P. (2014, October). Comparing traditional body mass index and Joslin Diabetes Center’s Asian body mass index in predicting selfreport type 2 diabetes. International Journal of Social Science Studies, 2(4). Advance online publication. doi:10.11114/ijsss.v2i4.487

Judith Shindul-Rothschild Shindul-Rothschild, J., & Gregas, M. (2014, March). Patient turnover and nursing employment in Massachusetts hospitals before and after health insurance reform: Implication for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 14(3–4), 151–162. doi:10.1177/1527154414527829

They found, however, that the number of RNs employed in Massachusetts has not kept pace with the intensity of patient turnover and demand for hospital services. With hospitals everywhere facing pressure to curb costs and improve efficiency of care, the researchers say their findings “are a reminder that the cost-containment provisions that also accompany health insurance reform may restrain hospitals from increasing RN staffing even in the face of rising admissions.”

Kelly Stamp

Danny Willis

Ashley, J., & Stamp, K.D. (2014, September).

Learning to think like a nurse: The development of clinical judgment in nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education, 53(9), 519–525. doi:10.3928/01484834-20140821-14

Ye, L., Malhotra, A., Kayser, K., Willis, D.G., Horowitz, J.A., Aloia, M.S., & Weaver, T.E. (2014, May). Spousal involvement and CPAP adherence: A dyadic perspective. Sleep Medicine Reviews. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2014.04.005

Judith Vessey Feeg, V.D., Candelaria, L.M., Krenitsky-Korn, S., & Vessey, J.A. (2014, September) The relationship of obesity and weight gain to childhood teasing. Journal of Pediatric Nursing.

Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j. pedn.2014.08.011

Lichuan Ye Ye, L., Malhotra, A., Kayser, K., Willis, D.G., Horowitz, J.A., Aloia, M.S., & Weaver, T.E. (2014, May). Spousal involvement and CPAP adherence: A dyadic perspective. Sleep Medicine Reviews. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2014.04.005

Gillis, C.M., Poyant, J.O., Degrado, J.R., Ye, L., Anger, K.E., & Owens, R.L. (2014, October).

Inpatient pharmacological sleep aid utilization is common at a tertiary medical center. Journal of Hospital Medicine 9(10), 652–657. doi: 10.1002/jhm.2246 Ye, L., Pien, G.W., Ratcliffe, S.J., Bjornsdottir, E., Arnardottir, E.S., Pack, A.I., Benediktsdottir, B., & Gislason, T. (2014, September). The different clinical faces of obstructive sleep apnoea: A cluster analysis. European Respiratory Journal.

Advance online publication. doi:10.1183/09031 936.00032314ERJ

Research summaries by Debra Bradley Ruder

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voice | fall 2014

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Save the date Join the Connell School for our upcoming Pinnacle lecture Antonia M. Villarruel Ph.D., FAAN Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Director University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

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