Pulse Magazine 2009 by East Carolina University

Pulse 2009

A message from the dean

Dr. Sylvia Brown

Video Link Click here to watch Dean Brown’s welcome to Pulse, the College of Nursing’s first electronic publication.

We welcome you to the College of Nursing’s first electronic edition of Pulse. Although budget cuts have forced us to stop printing the magazine for now, we are excited about the new audio and video features which add a new dimension to Pulse. We hope to again offer a print version in the future when the economy improves, but the electronic version provides us with opportunities to showcase stories in a new and innovative way. We hope you will enjoy the updated look, as well as reading about some of our recent alumni, students and faculty. The College of Nursing continues to be a dynamic center of learning, one that values diversity and community partnerships, supports academic freedom and shared governance, fosters creativity and technological innovation and provides an environment for advancement and dissemination of research. Last year, we were named a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing, one of only six schools to receive the prestigious designation for 2008-2011. We were recognized because of the dedication and commitment that our faculty and staff have in maintaining high quality programs. It is an honor to be recognized by our peers as one of the best colleges in the country. This fall, we enrolled more than 1,100 students in baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral programs, one of the largest classes ever. While the college’s focus on educating and graduating exceptional nurses hasn’t changed, how we’re accomplishing our mission has. In preparing today’s students to enter a technology-driven workplace, Bob Green and other faculty are using methods like Twitter, YouTube and Second Life. We are committed to providing the best resources available in our state-of the art labs and classrooms, which you will read about in this issue. Evidence of our well-prepared nurses can be found in test scores. ECU continues to have one of the highest first-time NCLEX passage rates in the state. Our college has a rich history of educating nurses who are prepared to meet societal health needs and assume leadership roles and this is history that bears repeating. The College of Nursing continues to impact our region through the work of the East Carolina Center for Nursing Leadership and the development of student leaders. On Oct. 1, I succeeded Dr. Phyllis Horns as permanent dean after serving nearly three years in an acting position. I am truly honored to accept this appointment and look forward to our 50th anniversary in 2010. I am excited about the future as we venture ahead to the next chapter in our history.

Sylvia T. Brown, EdD, RN, CNE Dean, College of Nursing

Pulse 2009

Table of contents 4 Engaging by doing

Dr. Kim Larson’s efforts improve health in Hispanic community

6 ‘Stepping on’

Paralyzed as a teenager, Latisha Anderson fulfills wish of becoming a nurse

8 The need for speed

But when he’s not helping students, Dr. Walter Houston likes to drive fast

10 Lifesaver

Young alumna Lindsey Phelps makes airport rescue

12 Leadership defined

Dr. Sylvia Brown becomes fifth dean in history of college

14 Science and soccer

Pirate Alexis Foltz excels at both

Student-athlete Alexis Foltz gets into position during an ECU soccer game against UAB this season.

16 Achieving excellence

ECU nursing named one of the best in the country

18 iLearn

New technologies help prepare 21st century nurses

22 Merging art and science

Students create their philosophy of advanced nursing practice

24 Class gifts

Philanthropy important to student and college success

26 Nurse scholars and student scholarships 28 Beta Nu’s key: membership commitment 30 Class notes

Dr. Marti Engelke, at right, smiles during a reception in her honor as the first endowed professor in the college. The professorship is named for Dr. Richard Eakin, at left, chancellor emeritus at ECU and a longtime supporter of nursing.

32 Faculty publications 34 News Briefs

Dr. Marti Engelke named first endowed distinguished professor

On the cover: Dr. Sylvia Brown was named the fifth dean in the history of college on Oct. 1.

Pulse 2009

doing

Engaging by

Kim Larson’s efforts improve health in the Hispanic community

By Crystal Baity Research and service go handin-hand in Dr. Kim Larson’s community health nursing class. Larson’s ongoing research and efforts for improving health in the Hispanic community helped earn her spot in the first class of East Carolina University’s Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy. The academy is designed to increase knowledge, motivation and capacity of faculty to secure research funding and

conduct scholarly engagement within service learning, partnerships and outreach. Larson and nine others from the inaugural class are now serving as mentors to the second class of scholars. “Kim is someone who understands that the value of working together with a community in a reciprocal relationship results in greater benefit to the community, the students, the research and the researcher,” said Dr. Beth Velde, director of the academy who also is assistant dean in the College of Allied

Health Sciences and professor of occupational therapy. “She is always thinking about the concept of mutual benefits and the ethical responsibilities of the university to the communities we serve.” Larson said the academy helps elevate work with community partners beyond service. “We’ve been accomplishing the mission of service for decades, but for the first time, we are being recognized for scholarship,” said Larson, assistant professor of nursing. Community participatory research moves slowly.

Left to right, Dr. Kim Larson and nursing students Jaime Marshburn and Gina Brooks have been leading a “train the trainer” course in physical activity, maternal and child health for Latino women.

Pulse 2009

“The impact of health care can only be achieved if the community owns what goes on,” Larson said. The academy also encourages collaboration with disciplines across campus. “Even though we say we want to work together, it’s hard to get out of your own building,” Larson said. As a result, Larson has been able to coordinate efforts to train lay health advisors, a successful model in the Hispanic community, with anthropology, social work and nutrition on ECU’s east campus and AMEXCAN, a statewide organization that supports people from Mexico and/or Mexican-Americans. Two of Larson’s senior nursing students, Jaime Marshburn of Morrisville and Gina Brooks of Beaufort, are teaching a “train the trainer” course in physical activity, maternal and child health to give women in the Latino community the support, resources and education they need to share information with families and friends. They have translated handouts from English to Spanish using an online translator and have used existing materials from the Wayne County Health Department. Other pieces they have done themselves. “It’s important because the Latino population is underserved and a lot don’t have access to care for a lot of reasons,” said Marshburn, who is fluent in Spanish and is an EC Scholar.

The students have been meeting four hours every other Saturday morning at the James D. Bernstein Community Health Center in Greenville with eight women who will become lay health advisers or “promotoras.” The students have led stretching exercises to salsa music and headed outdoors for walking exercises. They use breast models to show how to do self breast exams, and baby models to teach women how to properly take a child’s temperature and when to call a doctor. They also promote healthy cooking. Research shows programs like these and lay health advisers make a difference. “These women have connections we just don’t have,” Marshburn said. “This is a process of cultural humility, of understanding their practices and respecting them as individuals,” Brooks said. For instance, some Latino women believe colostrum, protein-enriched breast milk that comes in first after the birth of a baby, should not be used. “We try to educate why it is a good practice to use the colostrum,” Brooks said. “They may choose not to use that milk, but still we educate that it’s very good for their baby.” The community service learning project reinforces what Brooks, Marshburn and a group of students learned when they traveled to Guatemala earlier in the year with Larson to provide health care and conduct research.

“We are learning as much from them as they are learning from us” Marshburn said. “Health disparity is a big problem in the United States, and I want to know I’ve made a difference to try and help diminish that.” Larson has been researching issues effecting Hispanics and Latinos for many years. Recently, she published a study on how migration and cultural norms shape sexual risk among predominantly immigrant Mexican adolescents in rural North Carolina. The study, published in September 2009 of Hispanic Health Care International, showed that immigrant Latino families could benefit from capacity-building strategies within the school and community. The teenage pregnancy rate for Latinas in the state is four times greater than white teenagers. A Wisconsin native and Peace Corps veteran, Larson lived and worked as a nurse in Honduras for two years. She worked six years with the Migrant Clinicians Network and has been a longtime advocate in the Hispanic community. At home in Goldsboro, she works with the Hispanic Community Development Center on HIV outreach initiative to screen and test people in the community. Her current research is focusing on implementing and evaluating a social marketing campaign aimed at HIV prevention and early detection among Wayne County’s immigrant Latino population. ■

“This is a process of cultural humility, of understanding their practices and respecting them as individuals.”

—Gina Brooks

Pulse 2009

‘Stepping on’ Paralyzed as a teenager, Latisha Anderson fulfills her wish of becoming a nurse

By Crystal Baity

“I want people to know how hard this school has worked to help me be successful.” —Latisha Anderson

Registered nurse Latisha Anderson is living proof that anything is possible with the right attitude. Anderson was paralyzed after she was accidentally shot in the neck, a bystander to a fight between her cousin and her cousin’s boyfriend. She was only 17 when she entered Room 415 in the Regional Rehabilitation Center at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville. “I was terrible,” said Anderson. “I was depressed. I wouldn’t do a lot. My prognosis for becoming independent was very low when I left here.” How things have changed. She moved to Raleigh, and earned her high school diploma from Wake Technical Community College in three months. She continued with college courses, riding the city bus and working 10 hours a day with a goal of buying a car. Then, tragically, her mom and dad died within months of each other. Through it all, she maintained a 3.5 grade point average and decided to attend nursing school

She earned a spot at East Carolina University’s College of Nursing, one of the most competitive, demanding and time-consuming majors on campus. “I want people to know how hard this school has worked to help me be successful,” said Anderson, who graduated in May and is now a nurse at Raleigh’s Holly Hill Hospital, which provides treatment programs for children, teens and adults for a wide range of behavioral health issues. Two of Anderson’s nursing professors, Drs. Donna Roberson and Janice Neil, said Anderson was the first student they taught who used a wheelchair. Together they made plans to deal with challenges as they arose. “The main challenge she had was to prove she could do it,” Roberson said. “She had to do the same things that other students did. She had to take CPR, turn patients and hang intravenous fluids. With her upper body strength, she did it better than say some ‘ablebodied’ people.” Anderson said “there were no shortcuts, no short steps.” She found support and

advocacy from faculty like Neil invaluable when starting a new clinical rotation. “Latisha presented many challenges when she came to her first clinical at PMCH with me,” Neil said. “Fortunately the nurses on the unit had worked with health care professionals with disabilities before and welcomed us to the unit. Her disability was not a barrier to good patient care.” In her final semester, Anderson did a four-week rotation in the inpatient pediatric rehabilitation unit and four weeks in outpatient rehabilitation at PCMH, where she was reunited with the physician who treated her as a teenager, Dr. Daniel Moore, professor and chairman of rehabilitation medicine in ECU’s Brody School of Medicine. “One day, I heard a knock on my office door and in she rolled. She had a big smile on her face and had on an ECU nursing uniform. I remembered her face and her story well,” Moore said. “I had to come back and show some of my nurses and doctors that I finally did get on with my life,” Anderson said.

Pulse 2009

Left to right, Dr. Donna Roberson and Dr. Janice Neil, ECU nursing professors, talk with recent graduate Latisha Anderson in the College of Nursing lobby. On opposite page, Latisha Anderson logs patient information in a work station at Pitt County Memorial Hospital’s rehabilitation unit.

Becoming a nurse has allowed Anderson to fulfill a wish, particularly when she worked with rehabilitation patients. “I wanted to give back to what was given to me. Becoming disabled, they need someone in their shoes to show them they can,” she said. One patient told her “when you came in here, you gave me hope. “I remember when I was in the hospital. We need hope,” said Anderson, now 30. “There will be physical limitations at

the bedside. Rehabilitation is physical, but it is emotional too. Other spinal cord injury patients need to hear that life has not ended.” Moore said Anderson motivates her patients. “She is smart and is willing to share her story. She can roll into a patient’s room in the rehab center and tell them it’s time to get up and start their day,” Moore said. “It’s hard to argue with someone who has been in the rehab center, lived the disability and now

is providing care, not just receiving care. We all need to have a Latisha in rehabilitation centers across the nation.” Losing her parents shortly after losing the use of her legs didn’t make Anderson want to give up, she said. “It made me want to push harder. I know they’re looking down on me and they’re happy. So many others are looking after me. I get most of my blessings from God,” adding she has great support from her church family at Macedonia Apostolic

Holiness Church in Raleigh. Self described feisty and assertive with a lot of energy, Anderson said, “I was put here to serve people. I love people and I love making people happy.” She credits ECU with helping her grow. “It’s where I got my foundation of knowledge. I’m going to hold onto that excellence that ECU has taught me. I don’t want to put my school to shame at all.” And now she’s “stepping on,” Anderson’s trademark phrase for her life today. ■

Pulse 2009

The need for speed Video Link

Click here to watch our interview with Dr. Walter Houston, pictured above.

Below, Houston talks with students Jessica Bland and Chelsea Roy.

When he’s not helping students, Dr. Walter Houston likes to drive fast By Doug Boyd The fall semester had just started at the East Carolina University College of Nursing, and September sounds filled the air: birds chirping, sandals snapping ... tires squealing. That would be Dr. Walter Houston, director of the Academic Support and Counseling Center, taking his own advice. “Whatever recharges your batteries,” he said. By day, Houston helps nursing students navigate the academics that come with

a challenging curriculum. Afterward, he’s a car nut. He loves working on cars in his driveway then wringing them out on a racecourse. “I’ve been telling people you’ve got to have a balanced life,” he said. “Racing is a way that I balance my life.” On track... Before Houston and his wife, Helen, married, they made a deal: They would have children, and he would be able to pursue his car hobbies. Now the father of two girls – along with three older

children from a previous marriage and one granddaughter – Houston says the arrangement is working well. “My wife says she always knows where to find me,” he said, meaning greasy and under a car or sifting through parts and tires stacked in their dining room. “I have a wonderful wife. She’s a saint.” His girls’ soccer games take priority over racing, but if they’re not busy, his wife and daughters will go watch him drive. Houston says he’s owned 35 vehicles, including seven

Pulse 2009

today: a 1966 Chevrolet pickup, a 1987 Nissan rally car, an ’87 BMW 3-series that he’s building into a track car (formerly his daughter’s), a 1994 Dodge, a 2000 Chevrolet Camaro and a 2008 Chevrolet truck. His wife drives a Toyota Siena minivan. Houston’s Camaro SS rolled off the factory floor with a 350-cubic-inch V8 engine and a six-speed manual transmission. It made about 345 horsepower. “Pretty fast to start off,” Houston said. But not fast enough. Houston upgraded the engine’s camshaft, valve springs and exhaust system to raise output closer to 440 horsepower. He equipped the car for nitrous oxide, which can add another 50-100 horsepower when injected into the combustion chambers. To handle the added power, Houston installed brakes from a Corvette and has four sets of wheels and six or more sets of tires for various street and track applications. Inside, Houston put the key in the switch and turned it, then pressed a red starter button on the center console. The V8 rumbled to life. At an autocross in May – an event where drivers pilot their cars one by one around a conedesignated track laid out in a parking lot to see who can do it the fastest – the Camaro was a little out of its element. It performs best on courses with enough straightaways to take advantage of its horsepower. Nevertheless, Houston covered the course in less than 50 seconds. In another autocross, he let a student ride with him. She screamed the whole way, he said.

In addition to autocrossing, Houston participates in rallies, where competitors must complete stages in a certain amount of time, and road racing on race courses. In September, he and friends competed in the 24 Hours of LeMons – not LeMans, the historic French race, but LeMons – an endurance event for cars costing no more than $500. In the spring, Houston’s group won the event, held in South Carolina, and brought home $1,500 – in nickels. That was 400 pounds. In September, mechanical problems dogged them, and they didn’t do as well. He’s quit drag racing after having to replace several clutches in his Camaro but is looking at building a 4-cylinder oval-track stock car to race at a local speedway. ...and on campus But cars are not why Houston came to eastern North Carolina. He is trained as a professional counselor and has worked for more than 25 years in private practice and at ECU. He came here from Memphis, Tenn., in 2000. “I wanted to practice what I preach and have a different clientele,” Houston said. “I love Greenville, and I have the best job at ECU. I work with bright, motivated students. I would say this is more rewarding (than private practice) because we have successful students. My job is to help bright, smart people succeed. I can’t think of any better job.” He does that not only by meeting with students individually but also by teaching a class in academic development. “I took it and I learned a lot from it about test-taking strategies, test anxiety, how to study,

how not to study, and how to use my textbook,” said Jessica Bland. “Dr. Houston is one of the first people you want to meet at the College of Nursing when you get here. If (students are) having a problem, I would say go see Dr. Houston.” Student Chelsea Roy agreed: “He’s more than an academic advisor. He’s been a friend to me. He, like, calms us down, kind of like ADD medication.” Houston enjoys helping students make the most of their abilities. “Critical thinking is a real big one, because nursing school is more than just memorizing facts,” Houston said. “One of my favorite things is to go review tests with students. Now, I’m not a nurse, so I don’t do the content, but I do the process of why didn’t you do well on this test, why didn’t you know the answer? You just didn’t have the knowledge, did you think too much, did you change your answer, read too much into the question, didn’t know a vocabulary word? But whatever the problem is, we go over those tests so they don’t repeat that. “And we’ve done some studies on that, and typically students who come to see me and go through that process come up a letter grade on their next test.” Student Samantha Birchenough said Houston helped her improve her academic skills. “And he’s become a friend, an encourager, someone I can talk to, kind of a cheerleader, telling me I can do it if I set my mind to it,” she added. Fellow faculty members also appreciate the work he does with students. Dr. Lou Anne Baldree, a pediatrician and associate clinical professor of

nursing, said Houston gives fellow faculty members a “reality check” when students aren’t performing well, letting professors know more is going on than just subpar grades.

“I think (students) see him very much as an advocate for them, and I think he very much is an advocate for them,” Baldree said. “I’m amazed at how many students he actually knows their names.” Houston is a role model for many male students, she said, and a “father figure” to many female students. Baldree, who grew up in Ayden, also said Houston has a sharp sense of humor. “He’ll tell students I’m going home to cook some collards for supper,” she said with a laugh. “When he jokes around and kids around with some of the other faculty members, it helps the students see we are human, too, and helps them see a side of us they might not otherwise see.” That jibes with how Houston described his avocation. “All the faculty members are just regular people with kids and their interests,” he said. “(Racing is) the way I recharge my batteries. I’m certain that I’m a better employee, a better supervisor, husband and father if I spend some time recharging my batteries through racing or the car hobby.” ■

Pulse 2009

Lindsey Phelps of New Bern used her emergency care skills this summer when she saw a fellow traveler in distress at the airport – and saved his life.

Lifesaver

Alumna Lindsey Phelps uses CPR in airport By Crystal Baity Leonard Dinegar doesn’t mince words. Without a doubt, East Carolina University nursing alumna Lindsey Phelps saved his life. Dinegar has no memory of July 27 or lying on the floor of Denver International Airport after suffering sudden cardiac arrest. “I had just taken off my shoes to go through security, when I looked over my shoulder and saw this man had collapsed,” said Phelps, who was flying home to

North Carolina. “My initial thought was he’s having a seizure because there were several people standing around him, but nobody was doing anything.” Then security guards turned Dinegar and she could see he was blue. “I grabbed everything barefoot and went over and told them I was a nurse and I could help,” she said. She began CPR, which she continued for at least 10 minutes waiting for airport-based paramedics to arrive. After a few minutes Dinegar started to “pink up,”

Phelps said, although his breathing was labored. “It was conduction failure. His heart just stopped beating,” she said. Dinegar, senior vice president and chief of staff for the University of Colorado, is certain he would not have survived without Phelps. Statistics show 95 percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest die. Of the 5 percent who live, half will have brain damage. It was Phelps’ quick action and the care he received in the minutes, hours and days that followed that made the difference, Dinegar said.

Pulse 2009

“Obviously, I feel so blessed. I’ve got my normal life back. There are no restrictions and I’m back at work,” Dinegar said. “My family and I couldn’t be more thankful for Lindsey being where she was. She was the one who surveyed the situation and stepped in to help. It took courage to do that.” He estimates there were hundreds of people around on a busy Monday morning at the airport as he was leaving for a one-day business meeting in San Francisco. Phelps boarded shortly after the incident, surprised that she had not missed her flight which had been delayed. “I got on the plane and just sat there, saying ‘please let him make it,’ ” she said. She called her mother, a travel nurse, whom she had been visiting at her assignment in Casper, Wyo. Phelps had to get back to her job as an operating room nurse at CarolinaEast Surgery Center in New Bern, where she has worked since graduating in December. At first, Phelps had trouble finding out anything about Dinegar due to privacy laws but eventually was contacted a couple of days later by a hospital official who asked if it would be okay with her to give her contact information to Dinegar’s wife, Christina, who wanted to thank her. Leonard Dinegar would be the last person suspected of having a heart problem. The 46-year-old, 6-foot-6 runner had climbed a 14,000-foot peak and ran a half-marathon in July. In the hospital, he underwent therapeutic

hypothermia, an icing treatment used to help protect the brain from damage by lowering a cardiac arrest patient’s body temperature, putting them in a druginduced coma for about 24 hours before gradually bringing their temperature back to normal. He spent six days in the intensive care unit, a total of nine days in the hospital affiliated with the university where he works. “I felt a great level of confidence in the care I received. I know so many people who work there,” he said. Christina Dinegar said Phelps is an angel. She described the day’s events as miraculous: that her husband drove in rush-hour traffic to the airport without incident, that Phelps was flying out of Denver and was re-routed from a different terminal to the same terminal as Dinegar, that Phelps was a nurse, that she was lined up a row over from Dinegar in the security line, and quickly intervened when she saw he was in trouble. “She’s incredible and such a tribute to your university. She saw a need and acted when everybody else just stared,” Christina Dinegar said. Phelps has been amazed at the Dinegar family’s support and appreciation. Leonard Dinegar is one of nine children from a close-knit family originally from Queens, N.Y. Phelps has received cards, flowers, phone calls, and a visit from a Dinegar brother from Virginia who drove down to take her to dinner. Even Leonard Dinegar’s

boss, University of Colorado President Bruce Benson, called to express his gratitude. “The impact of what she did has a ripple effect,” said Dinegar, who has three children, Sarah, 12, Charles, 10 and Sandy, 7. “Our whole family has kind of adopted her. I hope she’s okay with that.” Since his recovery, Dinegar tries to worry less about things he can’t control. He takes the opportunity to be thankful for the most important things in his life, like being with family, or simply going for a run, because he said he knows how quickly they can be taken away. Practically speaking, he and his wife have taken a CPR class, and reviewed their life insurance and disability insurance policies to make sure they are adequately covered. More importantly, his family knows how many people in their lives care about them and that support has been overwhelming. “My wife and I realize we couldn’t properly thank all the people who helped us, especially Lindsey, so we agreed that we would always be looking for ways to ‘pass it on’ in terms of helping others who may need help in some way,” Dinegar said. For Phelps, she doesn’t really feel like a hero. Helping Dinegar and others is part of being an ECU nurse. “We were taught CPR our first semester,” said Phelps, remembering to thank instructor Dale Bailey. “It’s amazing the most basic thing I was taught was what saved this man’s life.”

“She’s incredible and such a tribute to your university. She saw a need and acted when everybody else just stared.”

—Christina Dinegar

Pulse 2009

Leadership defined Dr. Sylvia Brown becomes fifth dean in history of college By Crystal Baity There were no boxes to unpack or a new route to take to Dr. Sylvia Brown’s new job. She’s in the same office on the fourth floor of the Health Sciences Building where she has been since November 2006, when she was named acting dean of the College of Nursing. One thing has changed. Acting has been removed from her title. Brown was named the fifth dean of the college effective Oct. 1. “It’s an honor and a privilege to serve here,” Brown said. “Our college has a rich history of educating nurses who are prepared to meet societal health needs and assume leadership roles. We are recognized as a Center of Excellence because of the dedication and commitment that our faculty and staff have in maintaining high quality programs. As we prepare for our 50th anniversary in 2010, I am excited about the future as we venture ahead to the next chapter of our history.” ECU Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences Phyllis Horns made the appointment. Brown succeeds Horns as dean of nursing. “Dr. Brown is extraordinarily well qualified to assume this role on a permanent basis,” Dr. Horns said. “Her professionalism and commitment to the College of Nursing are visible and genuine. She brings a renewed energy to sustaining excellence in the college during the challenging realities of growing enrollments and shrinking resources.” Brown said Horns has been a great mentor through the years, particularly as each transitioned to new positions. Horns served as interim dean of the Brody School of Medicine and interim vice chancellor for health sciences. Horns was named permanent vice chancellor earlier this year. “We would meet about every two weeks. A lot of the

Pulse 2009

Past Deans in the College of Nursing

Eva Warren 1960-1969

things we consulted on really helped prepare me for taking over the role,” Brown said. Brown has been a faculty member at ECU since 1976. During her tenure as associate dean for graduate programs, enrollment of graduate nursing students grew more than 250 percent. As associate dean, she also was responsible for the master’s and doctoral nursing programs which prepared her to work in administration. While Brown has been out of the classroom recently, she meets with students regularly. Brown wants to strengthen and maintain the college’s “down-home,” close-knit feel by emphasizing community for students, faculty and staff, especially distance education students who are rarely on campus. “We are such a large school. And we are a school that cares for one another,” she said. Other areas of focus will include centralizing and strengthening student and academic support services, and developing leadership in students. Student services and academic support for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students have been combined rather than scattered among programs. The change is aimed at increasing

Evelyn Perry 1969-1981

efficiency by providing information on registration, course advisement, financial assistant and academic counseling - all the things that support a student academically - in one location. “We want that to be a very customer-friendly, student-friendly, parentfriendly place,” Brown said. Leadership development is an important part of nursing and a strategic direction of the university. The college was an early campus leader with the creation of the Center for Nursing Leadership led by Dr. Elaine Scott. A widely published scholar, Brown’s research interests include the development of contemporary instructional strategies for nursing education, pain management, and the impact of ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment on patients and their families. She has written or co-written more than 75 peer-reviewed articles and proceedings, and 27 funded research grants. She is an active member of various professional and service associations on the local and national level. An eastern North Carolina native, Brown is an alumna of ECU, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1975 and a master’s degree in nursing in 1978. She received a doctorate in

Emilie Henning 1982-1990

education from North Carolina State University in 1982. Before beginning her academic career, she was a staff nurse at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. Brown and her husband, Dr. William Brown, a Greenville obstetrician and gynecologist who graduated in the first medical school class at ECU, have two daughters, Laura and Jessica. Since the appointment, Brown has received plants and flowers, cards and letters and congratulatory phone calls and e-mails, including a hand-written note from Gov. Beverly Purdue. She recently attended the North Carolina Nurses Association annual convention in Raleigh, where she joined other deans of nursing across the state. Networking is an essential part of the job especially with serious issues facing academic deans including shortages of faculty and clinical

Phyllis Horns 1990-2009

Above, Dr. Sylvia Brown congratulates a doctoral nursing graduate at a recent graduation ceremony.

sites for hands-on nursing education and budget cutbacks. Brown has been fortunate to work with three of the past four deans, whom she credits with building the excellent statewide reputation the college enjoys and the university supports. “It’s great to have been involved and to have that background. It’s amazing to see how we’ve grown and all we have accomplished,” Brown said. “I’m excited to be a part of it and see where we’re going in the future. The sky’s the limit.” ■

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“I know nursing is demanding and it’s probably one of the toughest majors — to do soccer and be a nurse.” – Coach Rob Donnenwirth

Science and

soccer

Pirate Alexis Foltz excels at both By Crystal Baity East Carolina University women’s soccer coach Rob Donnenwirth has a saying: academics first, soccer always. Senior nursing student and midfielder Alexis Foltz follows the coach’s advice. “During season, I eat, sleep,

go to class, study and go to soccer,” Foltz said. “When I’m not eating or sleeping, I’m studying.” In 2008, Foltz was an offensive spark in conference play, scoring five goals and helping the Pirates win their first-ever Conference USA regular season title. This

year, she is tri-captain of 29 teammates. “She’s a very good teammate and a very good person and cares about everyone on the team, and that makes her a very good captain,” Donnenwirth said. “I know nursing is demanding and it’s probably

Video Link

Pulse 2009

Click here to watch our interview with student Alexis Foltz and soccer coach Rob Donnenwirth at www.youtube.com.

College of Nursing student-athletes 2009-2010 Cheerleading

Ashley Perez and Kate Writtenberry Soccer

Alexis Foltz Soccer player and nursing student Alexis Foltz shows determination on and off the field.

one of the toughest majors — to do soccer and be a nurse.” This semester, a typical week finds Foltz in class in the morning then to a captain’s meeting on Monday afternoons. Tuesdays and Wednesdays beginning at 6:30 a.m. she is in clinical either at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Goldsboro or Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville until early afternoon, followed by soccer practice at 3:30. Thursdays she has to miss soccer practice because of class. On Fridays, she has classes in the morning followed by soccer games on the weekend, usually Friday evenings and Sundays. “Some weekends we travel to soccer games so we’ll leave on Thursday and I’ll miss Thursday and Friday classes,” she said. Fortunately, some nursing classes are recorded, which allows Foltz to stay connected while traveling to away games. Consider Tulsa, Okla., and Dallas, Texas, in one weekend. A short trip on the 20-game regular season schedule would be to Memphis, Tenn., or Hattiesburg, Miss., both about 1,000 miles from ECU. “The challenges unique to student athletes are related

to time management,” said Dr. Walter Houston, director of the academic support and counseling center in the College of Nursing, which typically has a handful of student athletes in the program at one time. “They have practice every day and usually have at least two games a week. Half of those games will be out of town. Conference USA covers a huge geographic area.” Despite time away from campus, student athletes in the College of Nursing usually are successful. Applicants need at least a 3.0 grade point average to have a good chance of being admitted to the college, while students planning to attend graduate school must have a 3.0 grade point average in their nursing courses, Houston said. “They have to be disciplined to make it as an athlete at a NCAA Division I school. Most are here on scholarship, which shows motivation,” he said. “All this means our student athletes have less time and more demands on their time. They have to manage their time well and be extremely self-disciplined. I am proud to say students like Alexis are just that, and they will make excellent nurses.”

Foltz sees similarities as a player on the field and as an advocate at the patient’s bedside. “Leadership is one. You have to be direct. You need to use your critical thinking skills on the field and in the hospital,” Foltz said. Besides discipline, Foltz said soccer has taught her teamwork, respect, commitment and how to make good decisions. She also has been fortunate to have the support of her parents, coaches, nurse faculty and classmates, and mentors like Patty Pierce, a former soccer teammate who’s now a registered nurse in the neurosurgery step-down unit at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C. Pierce said she had a great experience at ECU, although it could be difficult at times, especially finding time to study. Having a core group of friends in nursing whom she could study with and get notes from when she missed class because of soccer helped tremendously. “I think as an athlete, you have a whole other perspective on being a nurse,” Pierce said. “I wanted Alexis to know she would be able to do it if she really wanted to.”

Tennis

Jessica Leigh Cook

While being a student athlete is challenging, there have been many rewards. “I think I’ve learned a lot and I’ve grown up a lot,” Foltz said. “I’ve learned a lot about myself. And I’ve made great friends.” Foltz came to ECU hoping to make a difference on the soccer field. She also was drawn to the nursing program because she wanted to work in the medical field. After graduating in December 2010, she plans to work at least two years before entering graduate school to pursue an advanced degree as a nurse practitioner or certified registered nurse anesthetist. Foltz had knee surgery in May and worked to get back in shape and on the field by the season-opening exhibition Aug. 14. It’s said college-level players run between four and eight miles per game. As a midfielder, Foltz probably runs closer to eight. “I’ve been playing soccer since I was 4. This is my last season so I don’t know what I’m going to do come spring,” Foltz said. “Right now, I’m focused on the season and the semester. I just try to take it one day at a time.” ■

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Dr. Phyllis Horns, vice chancellor of health sciences, welcomes guests at a ceremony celebrating the Center of Excellence designation.

Achieving excellence ECU nursing named one of the best colleges in the country By Crystal Baity In East Carolina University’s College of Nursing, ECU also stands for Excellence Created by Us. Last year, the college was designated a Center of Excellence by the National League of Nursing, one of only 15 schools in the country to hold the honor. “It gives us recognition from our peers and a sense of pride to be recognized,” said Dr. Sylvia Brown, dean of nursing. The college, with approximately 1,100 students, was lauded for creating environments that promote student learning and professional development, one of several criteria used to evaluate candidates. The “learning-centered” approach applies to all undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students. “We are engaging students in

dialogue and discussion rather than having them sit and listen,” Brown said. “Even in online courses, there is a lot of dialogue. We’ve created a social presence to get more students engaged in the e-learning community. Our faculty facilitates the learning.” Proof of the college’s success can be found in exam scores. ECU nursing graduates have a 96 percent first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam. Certification scores remain above the mean for advanced practitioners such as nurse anesthetists, nurse midwifes and nurse practitioners. The college continues to graduate more new nurses than any school in the state, and offers the only nurse midwifery plan of study and alternate entry MSN option for non-nursing bachelor degree holders in the state. The college is known

for innovative online outreach efforts designed to increase access to education in rural areas. Faculty and staff are committed to helping students succeed. “I call us a caring, learning community,” Brown said. “Caring relationships are the core of nursing practice. All people should be treated with dignity, respect and compassion. We try to use that with everyone. I think that’s one of the reasons we’re considered excellent,” Brown said. In a video created for the nomination, faculty, staff and students provided testimonials on what makes ECU’s College of Nursing a great place. “I have had more one-on-one interaction with teachers here than any other university and I can say these are the best teachers I’ve had - ever,” Caitlin Biggerstaff, who graduated in May, said in the video.

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Video Link

Dr. Steve Ballard, chancellor of ECU, commends the College of Nursing on being one of the best in the nation.

“That’s probably my favorite part of ECU nursing.” Just as important is the impact the college has in creating healthier communities in the region. “We do make a difference in health care delivery in rural eastern North Carolina,” Brown said. “Some places wouldn’t have health care without nurse practitioners.” For example, ECU partners with two free clinics in New Bern to provide care, and recently helped administer seasonal flu mist in schools. Community health nursing students said they learn as much from caring for patients as the patients benefit from treatment. “It’s helped me to be able to apply what I’ve learned in school to the public and actually see what they’re talking about and see the problems that people that you come in contact with every day are facing,” said recent graduate Mary Thornton in the video. “I get to use what I’ve learned to make a difference in their lives, and you can see that in their faces when you take time to talk with them.” Service and research often go together.

A project spearheaded by Dr. Martha Engelke, associate dean for research and scholarship and the new Richard E. Eakin Distinguished Professor, assists school nurses in treating, monitoring and tracking children with chronic illness like asthma and diabetes. The program is being expanded across the state. “To make that kind of impact, it’s pretty significant,” Brown said. Another advancement is the development of nurse leaders. The East Carolina Center for Nursing Leadership, led by Dr. Elaine Scott, has facilitated the creation of nurse task forces in nearby communities to address workforce and safety issues and continuing education. Faculty also introduces the concept of leadership to undergraduate and graduate nursing students. “We’re focusing on building leadership the first day they walk into the program,” Brown said. In addition, students get hands-on practice in one of seven state-of-the-art simulation labs, where students are able to diagnose and treat manikins in a controlled environment before working with real people.

“We do a lot of simulation instruction,” Dr. Maura McAuliffe, director of the master’s nurse anesthesia concentration, said in the video. The curriculum was developed to fill a void in the state’s health care system. “It really is one of the best operating room laboratories on the east coast of the United States.” The college, the oldest in the health sciences division, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010. Brown said nursing’s success has been in part due to the wonderful support the college has received through the years from the university. Nursing’s first students were visionary in adopting the university’s motto “servire,” or “to serve,” as part of their nursing pin. “We’ve been engaged since the beginning of the nursing program. Part of that is the nature of nursing because you have to be engaged with the patient, their family and community,” Brown said. “Those first students set the tone for a wonderful trajectory we have in nursing and have helped us get to the excellence we have today.” ■

Click here to watch the video submitted for the national nomination.

Dean Sylvia Brown accepted the award for the college last September during the National League for Nursing’s Education Summit in San Antonio. ECU was one of six schools to receive the prestigious designation for 2008-2011. ECU faculty and staff serving on a task force to obtain designation were chair Mary Holland, Robin Webb Corbett, Frances Eason, Laurie Evans, Laura Gantt, Mary K. Kirkpatrick, Therese Lawler, Linda Mayne, Diane Marshburn, Maura S. McAuliffe and Annette Peery.

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Karl Faser, left, director of nursing’s information technology services, and Bob Green, clinical assistant professor of nursing, collaborate on bringing high-tech teaching methods to 21st century students.

iLearn New technologies help prepare 21st-century nurses By Crystal Baity The first thing Bob Green did when he moved in the College of Nursing was take the file cabinets out of his office. He stopped printing a course packet, put it all online and went paperless, leaving a calm and softly-lit office retreat with just his computer, a few treasured books, Navajo artwork, and family photos. In Green’s undergraduate obstetrics class, students can Tweet questions during class, download lectures they miss, or read and post to the classroom blog. Green also has a virtual

classroom and office in ECU’s Second Life, a popular 3-D virtual reality program. “Ten years from now, they’ll be doing stuff I can’t even dream of,” Green said. “Those guys are so far ahead of us, it’s unreal.” During the spring semester, students produced a threeto five-minute video on the topic of their choice with a required 250-word summary, which had to be written in lay terms from research of peerreviewed sources. “Students like the videos,” Green said. Several have been posted to ECU’s YouTube

site at www.youtube.com/ecu. “These guys live online. Let’s use that body of knowledge to teach.” Students won’t find chalk or green boards in the college, one of the most high-tech buildings on ECU’s campus. Fourteen smart classrooms are wired with computer/ projector/SMART boards including a video-teleconference room that can link a live video feed to one of nursing’s seven simulation labs. “The technology prepares students to be 21st century nurses in today’s rapidly changing world,” said Dr.

Sylvia Brown, dean of the College of Nursing. They may still take written exams, but the classroom performance system allows students to answer questions during lectures and tests with a palm-sized device or “clicker” registered to them. “The use of clickers actively engages students in the learning process; it actually creates a gaming environment that makes learning fun,” Brown said. During lectures, instructors can ask questions, and student responses are sent to a wireless receiver, recorded

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and displayed on the instructor’s computer and sometimes the entire class. Test answers are collected electronically in a database, so they can be automatically graded, said Karl Faser, director of the college’s information technology services. Also, each semester every undergraduate student has a simulation component to help perfect clinical nursing skills. For example, childbirth can be programmed from the simulation lab to a computercontrolled manikin, which is cared for by nursing students like a real patient. The scene is recorded with remote control video cameras and can be Webcast to a classroom. Skills can be evaluated right away under the pressure of a simulated event. “We can stop and talk about it,” Brown said. “To me, it’s very enlightening as a teaching strategy. If you have a consequence and you actually see it, it helps you understand.” All instructors use technology to some degree because of Blackboard, a university course management tool that uses a Web interface to communicate with students, distribute course documents and post grades electronically. Blackboard also can be used to create a sense of community for distance education students with threaded discussion boards and groups. Graduate instructors also use another course management tool called Centra, which allows online students to meet in a virtual

space, speak to each other, and view documents, Web sites and computer applications in real time, Faser said. Classes in the college’s five main lecture rooms can be simultaneously broadcast and recorded to capture audio, video and a presenter’s PowerPoint slides. A link to those lectures can be put in the course’s Blackboard site so students can review the entire lecture, Faser said. Each recording can also be encoded to a podcast, so students can download and listen to the lecture on their computer, MP3 player or other device. The technology is important to students like Alexis Foltz, an ECU soccer player and senior nursing student who often has to travel on Thursday or Friday class days to compete. “I can listen to class on away games,” she said. “I’ve never been able to do that before.” Modern teaching tools A certified nurse midwife and clinical assistant professor, Green geared up for the fall semester with excitement. His class Twitter site, blog and video are up and running. “Out of 137 students, 85 of them are 20 years old,” Green said. “They think differently and learn differently than the way I learned. They are online, listening to music, listening to lecture.” Green is 59 and, like many instructors or alumni who are middle-aged and older, remembers the days

of taking page after page of notes in class. The college is committed to teach in a way that taps into the skills, talents and learning styles of modern nursing students, who must be educated in the latest technology to keep up with the ever-changing health care industry, said Green, who received a distinguished professor of teaching award in 2004-2005. “Those are bells and whistles that engage today’s students,” Faser said. “Bob is really good at thinking outside of the box.” He was one of the first at ECU to join Second Life after the university opened its virtual campus in 2007. Green also collaborated with the information technology team in the creation of a virtual health clinic, part of a federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant to increase the number and diversity of family nurse practitioners in rural eastern North Carolina. Software developers Yanhao Zhu and Kuan Chen created not only one clinic, but a virtual world for educating advanced practice nursing graduate students. There, real health care professionals anywhere in the world can create patient cases indigenous to a specific area, culture or environment through a “case builder” application. Family nurse practitioner students enter as “avatars,” a 3-D graphical representation of a person, and proceed to a clinic, meet their preceptor and

“Out of 137 students, 85 of them are 20 years old. They think differently and learn differently than the way I learned. They are online, listening to music, listening to lecture.” – Bob Green, clinical assistant professor of nursing

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“Having this programming expertise has significantly expanded our ability to both provide solutions for grant-related projects and to be innovative with technology in the classroom.”

– Karl Faser, director of information technology services

patient, and review a patient’s health history. Students must interview the patient, order the appropriate lab tests, make a diagnosis and write a care plan. Students are evaluated and receive feedback at each step by the preceptor avatar, which has been programmed by an instructor using the case builder interface, Faser said. “Zhu incorporated a textto-voice engine within the application so the preceptor and patient actually speak to the student,” Faser said. “We are testing the clinic with graduate students this semester, and we’re working on an undergraduate component as well.” Through Second Life, Green met Walden University nursing informatics graduate student Lauren Chadwick, who had created a nursing skills educational puzzle with foam board pieces. Each piece represented a different component of patient care performed by a nurse in a hospital setting. Like a jigsaw, novice nurses and undergraduate nursing students had to select pieces, that when put together correctly, defined a certain nursing care scenario and completed a puzzle, Faser said. Chadwick was interested in partnering with nursing’s technology group to create a computer-based puzzle, so Chen and computer science graduate student Stephen Atkinson created a digital, Web-based version of the puzzle that makes it accessible

to students anywhere, Faser said. The innovative puzzle helps develop critical thinking skills, and is being tested with students this semester. “The critical thinking piece is a hard one to teach, but essential to nursing and any industry,” Green said. Early adopters Incorporating new technologies is a tradition in the College of Nursing. “Our faculty has always been early adopters of technology,” Brown said. “We beta-tested Blackboard before it was adopted by the university. We’ve been on the cutting edge of many things.” Earlier this year, the college was recognized by U.S. News & World Report for having one of the nation’s largest programs for distance education in the magazine’s annual best graduate schools edition. Spurred by the need to provide courses for students in outlying areas and to accommodate working graduate students, college leaders committed to the delivery and support of distance education more than a decade ago, Faser said. In 2000, John Core, nursing’s assistant dean for administration and finance, partnered with ECU’s Department of Computer Science to provide computer science students with graduate assistantships in the College of Nursing. “It’s been a wonderfully

symbiotic relationship as we’ve been able to leverage their programming expertise for custom technical solutions, and they have gained real world experience that has added to their value in the job market,” Faser said. “Having this programming expertise has significantly expanded our ability to both provide solutions for grant-related projects and to be innovative with technology in the classroom.” The college has received a number of grants with significant technology components due to its internal technical support and programming group. For instance, Zhu developed software that allows graduate midwifery students to track and document their clinical experience at the point 14 - SMART classrooms 7 - Labs equipped as hospital, exam or operating room 47 - Online courses each week fall 2009 7 - Graduate concentrations online 2 - RN-to-degree programs online 91 - Classes per week fall 2009 Innovative projects: Midwifery software, virtual clinic, Chadwick puzzle, school children with chronic illness case management Nursing’s technical staff members who support distance education and lab technology: Allison Hope Laura Jackson Yolanda Pritchard Matt Wright

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of patient contact using a handheld computer. The data could be uploaded to the college’s database server, where instructors could access and generate custom reports from the data and analyze student clinical training more effectively and efficiently. The software won a prestigious national award from Drexel University for technical innovation in nursing education in 2006. Working with Marti Van Scott and ECU’s Office of Technology Transfer, the software was licensed to a business and is being used by midwifery students nationwide, Faser said. Leveraging technology for distance education has been successful because of partnerships throughout the university, such as Information Technology and Computing Services and the Office of Academic Outreach, which are service-oriented and always willing to help. “Their support is essential for our success,” Faser said. “ECU, with its unequalled communication and cooperation at all levels, is unique in the UNC system. It is a truly wonderful place for a technical support person to live, work and to be successful, and the students are the real winners.”

Editor’s note: Bob Green’s obstetrics Twitter site is up and running. You can follow him on Twitter@ nurs3330. The obstetrics blog/video site is at http://blog.ecu.edu/sites/ nurs_3330_001_f09/ ■

College of Nursing named one of the 10 largest distanceeducation programs in U.S. News annual listing The ECU College of Nursing was named by U.S. News & World Report in the largest programs for distance education in its annual best graduate schools edition in May. According to U.S. News, it surveyed 473 programs with 409 responses to compile a list of the largest graduate-level programs measured by enrollment in business, education, engineering, library science, nursing and public health. “This ranking emphasizes the strength of our online graduate-level nursing concentrations. The pass rates for our annual national certification exam scores are consistently above 95 percent,” said Dr. Sylvia Brown, dean. “The combination of national recognition and such high pass rates certainly draws prospective nursing graduate students to ECU.” The college, first named to the U.S. News list in 2004, has consistently appeared in the rankings.

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Merging

art & science Students create their philosophy of advanced nursing practice By Crystal Baity If you don’t get the connection between art and science, just ask Dr. Martha Libster. “It’s a misconception that nursing and science is not a creative process,” said Libster, who teaches a master’s level philosophy and theory course in the East Carolina University College of Nursing. “Reflective practice is part of nursing.” What was an online class assignment led to a unique display in the nursing lobby.

Libster’s mission was to bring distance education students to campus through their art, which depicts students’ philosophies and theories of nursing practice. Pieces vary from beadwork to sculpture to

quilting to woodwork. All are hand made and documented by students who typically don’t set foot on campus. They’re from all over North Carolina: Waxhaw, Hillsborough, Rockingham, South Mills, Denver, Mooresville, Farmville, Jacksonville, Selma, Thomasville, Shelby, Wake Forest, Battleboro and Henderson. One was a student in East Syracuse, N.Y. Working with the college’s technology team, Libster also created an electronic art gallery to share photos of the projects dating back to the first course in 2006. “There is some amazing work,” Libster said. Students were to create and depict their own philosophy of advanced practice nursing in an aesthetic way. They also had to pick a medium that was meaningful to them. Len Brantley, a part-time EastCare flight nurse and full-time nurse anesthetist graduate student, husband and father of three, wrestled with what to do for his project. He said the closest he would come to being artistic is taking an art appreciation class as an undergraduate at Western Carolina University. He also

had an uncle who was a cabinet maker. “If I have any talent, it came from him,” Brantley said. He eventually settled on building a miniature wooden raft, symbolizing the vehicle for his journey through nursing. “It was sort of an evolution,” said Brantley, who spent several hours on the project. Wooden dowels, tongue depressors and used computer parts were assembled. He split about 20 to 30 feet of computer cable to tie the pieces together. No glue was used. “I thought about the wood. You have to grow the wood. Nursing education is about growing. That’s the essence of it right there,” he said. He fitted the raft with a lantern, the historic Nightingale symbol of nursing. “For me, that’s something to guide you,” Brantley said. He added paddles to represent the hard work students must do to succeed in nursing. Brantley, 38, grew up in Rocky Mount and was a paramedic and previously worked in the cardiac intensive care unit at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. “It’s been very challenging,” Brantley said. “As a nurse anesthetist, you have a very

clinically-oriented background. It is different to transition to that part of nursing.” He said nurses have to be creative every day in taking care of patients, solving problems and working with others. “The course definitely has exposed me to the theoretical

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I am an ECU nurse Number students applied for undergraduate admissions (fall 2009) BSN – 389 RN-BSN – 64 Number students admitted to undergraduate program (fall 2009) BSN – 131 RN-BSN – 42 Number students admitted to graduate program (fall 2009) Master’s – 464 Doctoral – 22 Students are from: N.C. counties: Alamance, Avery, Beaufort, Bladen, Buncombe, Burke,

Cabbarus, Camden, Carteret, Catawba, Chatham, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Henderson, Hertford, Iredell, Jackson, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lincoln, Madison, Martin, Mecklenburg, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Orange, Pasquotank, Person, Pitt, Robeson, Rowan, Sampson, Surry, Union, Vance, Wake, Watauga, Wayne, Wilson Other states: Maryland, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Enrollment for fall 2009 BSN – 475

RN-BSN – 89

MSN concentrations:

Adult Nurse Practitioner - 77 Nursing Education - 85 Nurse Anesthesia - 40 Nurse Midwifery - 28 Alternate Entry MSN - 32

side of nursing in a way I had not experienced or felt before,” said Brantley, who will graduate in May. “I don’t know yet how it will change my practice. Hopefully I will be a better person for taking it and certainly able to deal with the challenges.” n

Len Brantley, a nurse anesthetist graduate student, displays the wooden raft he built for Dr. Martha Libster’s class.

Clinical Nurse Specialist - 35 Family Nurse Practitioner - 78 Nursing Leadership - 58 Neonatal Nurse Practitioner - 31 Ph.D. - 22

Females/males ratio for fall 2009: 9.1 percent male; 89.9 percent female BSN – 510 RN-BSN – 109 MSN – 478 Post-Masters - 8 Ph.D. – 34 Other degrees held by graduate students - BSN,

MAED, MPH, MSN (Alternate Entry) variety of disciplines including biology, exercise and sports science, health education promotion, nutrition, sociology, biochemistry, marriage and family counseling, occupational health

Average GPA admitted into undergraduate program (fall 2009) - 3.595

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Leaders unveiled a donor giving board and seven room plaques this spring to recognize the importance of creating and sustaining stewards in the College of Nursing.

Class gifts Philanthropy important to student and college success By Crystal Baity Despite the country’s economic recession, East Carolina University students gave back to the College of Nursing in a big way this year. As class gifts, December 2008 graduates and the graduating class of 2009 contributed more than $4,000 to the college’s emergency needs fund, which helps nursing students in financial crises. “To me, this shows that students are becoming more aware of the importance of fundraising,” said Mark

Alexander, director of development for the College of Nursing. “Leadership from Dr. Brown and her commitment to the college has set an example that the students are following.” The emergency needs fund was established in fall 2007 when Dean Sylvia Brown donated $10 in the name of each first semester nursing student, which provided an initial amount of $1,300. She has continued the dean’s gift each semester for the college’s new pre-licensure students, giving $2,600 each year.

The emergency needs fund exists not only to assist students during times of financial hardship, but also to develop a philanthropic environment to introduce and encourage a lifetime of giving by students. “Student cultivation is very important for the long term success of the college,” Alexander said. “Through the dean’s donation, the students’ idea of ‘giving’ became more tangible.” Since the creation of the dean’s gift, the past three senior classes have made a class gift

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“Leadership from Dr. Brown and her commitment to the college has set an example that the students are following.” – Mark Alexander, director of development

to the student emergency needs fund. To recognize the importance of creating and sustaining stewards in the College of Nursing, the college unveiled a donor giving board and seven room plaques in May. “When economic conditions are bad, stewardship becomes even more important for development,” Alexander said. The donor board recognizes members of the Golden Lamp Society who give year after year to the College of Nursing. The donor board will be updated on an intermittent basis. Any donor who gives a minimum of $100 for two or more consecutive years will become a member of the society. The inaugural members of the Golden Lamp Society were honored as distinguished alumni at ECU’s homecoming last fall. For more information, call Alexander at 252-744-2238 or e-mail at alexanderma@ ecu.edu. n

2009 Golden Lamp Society members Gale Brown Adcock Perry Brad Bagley Rebecca Clemens Bagley Barbee Bancroft Kenneth A. Barlow Dr. Sylvia T. Brown Michael L. Bunting Lana F. Chang Karen Johnson Cotter Sheila Jo Davis Connie Jo Howard Deaver Dr. Joan B. Dinapoli Neil E. Dorsey Donna M. Dorsey Sheldon C. Downes ECU Senior Nursing Class Dr. Martha Keehner Engelke Dr. Duncan McLeod Fagundus Melinda Freeland Fagundus Ida P. Gaskill Dr. Annette Grady Greer Brode H. Harrell Jr. Susan D. Harrell Edward Michael Healey Mary Ellen Holland Dr. Phyllis N. Horns Valentine Howell-Melton Millicent Adrienne Jackson Brenda M. Jarman Robert L. Jones Carolyn W. Jones Jeanette A. Jones Deborah Kornegay Karen C. Krupa Peggy Lynn Lassiter Dr. Therese P. Lawler

Dr. Deitra L. Lowdermilk Richard Eugene McDaniel Vinnie A. Mills Dr. Janet Peacock Moye Sallie V. Naves Stephen S. Nelson Marlene Kay Nickell Barbara Barlow Overby Judith Myrick Parks Hal Warren Pierce Diane Adkins Poole Sandra F. Raynor Peggy C. Reed Dr. Mary Ann Rose Adam Jefferson Scarboro Patricia H. Sheehan Nancy Lou Stephenson The Gravely Foundation University Book Exchange Inc. Cmdr. William P. Vurnakes Julie Hicks Vurnakes Janice Leigh Webb Rebecca R. West Margaret Hammet West Lucille R. Williams Dorothy Daniel Williams Amy Sluder Woodard Dr. Annette B. Wysocki

2008 Inaugural Golden Lamp Society members These individuals were honored as Distinguished Alumni during Homecoming 2008. Gale Adcock Sylvia Brown Michael Bunting Lana Chang Rebecca Davin Connie Jo Deaver Joan DiNapoli Donna Dorsey ECU College of Nursing Senior Class Melinda Fagundus Ida Gaskill Gertrude E. Skelly Foundation

Annette Greer Susan Harrell Aline Harz Edward Healey Mary Holland Phyllis Horns Brenda Jarman Carolyn Jones Jeanette Jones Sarah Jordan Karen Krupa Deitra Lowdermilk Richard McDaniel Patricia Mitchell Kimberly Moore Patricia Morris Sallie Naves Barbara Overby Diane Poole Bridget Rogers James Scandura Kimberly Sensenbrenner Patricia Sheehan Nancy Stephenson Walton Snyder Sherry Tate The Gravely Foundation Paul Tschetter University Book Exchange Inc. William Vurnakes Julie Vurnakes Margaret West Dorothy Williams Lucille Williams Annette Wysocki

The Golden Lamp Society was created to recognize individuals who give year after year to ECU’s College of Nursing. Any donor who gives a minimum of $100 for two or more consecutive years becomes a member of the society. For more information, call Mark Alexander at 252-744-2238 or e-mail at alexanderma@ecu.edu. n

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122 N.C. Nurse Scholars students receive

Awards

A total of 122 students at East Carolina University are recipients of the 2009-2010 North Carolina Nurse Scholars Award.

nurses practicing in North Carolina and approved by the N.C. General Assembly in 1989. The first recipients were funded for the 1990-91 academic year.

graduate students and from $3,000 to $6,000 a year for graduate students.

Upon graduation, recipients of this competitive merit-based program commit to working for at least one year, per each year funded, as a registered nurse in North Carolina.

Award recipients are chosen on the basis of academics, leadership potential and desire to practice nursing in North Carolina.

The program was created to address the shortage of

Awards range from $3,000 to $5,000 a year for under-

Lindsey Alexander, Ernest Albritton Jr., Jenna Baker, Lauren Barefoot, Holly Bennetts, Laura Boone, Karen Braddy, Jessica Brancato, Ashley Brewington, Ashley Brink, Gina Brooks, Kaitlin Brown, Katherine Buckman, Christopher Burroughs, Rebecca Cannady, Chelsea Cannon, Victoria Carraway,

American Legion Post #39 Nursing Scholarship

College of Nursing General Scholarship Fund

Addison Dicktel

Ryan Lowther

Carol Ferreira Memorial

Dotty Bennett Harrell Scholarship

Scholars are

ECU honors

withstudents scholarships The College of Nursing held its annual scholarship awards program Sept. 26, 2008. Scholarships with total value of more than $76,000 were presented to 61 undergraduate and graduate students. Below is a listing of scholarships and recipients:

Carol Counts-Robinson College of Nursing Alumni Association

Deborah Smith, Alice Tripp College of Nursing Annual Fund

Jennifer Hawkins, Gabrielle King, Christopher Michaelsen, Matthew Morrison, Rachel Potter, Heather Whisnant

Laura Boone ECU Medical and Health Sciences Foundation Scholarship

Sarah Dieck E.G. Barlow Shakeerah McCoy

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Sydney Carter, Amy Coffin, Candace Concord, Lorie Copeland, Rebekah Cordle, Brittany Creasy, Rachel Crowder, Morgan Davis, Sarah Dieck, Lindsey Doty, Emily Edwards, Martin Espanto, Farooq Fareed, Brittany Fields, Christina Garner, Kaitlyn Gaskins, Moriah Goetz, Lisa Gooding, Ashley Goodwin, Erin Gray, Katie Griffin, Evan Harbinson, Morgan Harris, Jessica Heath, Allyssa Hegarty, Jacob Hines, Leah Holden, Brooke Hudson, Sharon Ireland, Carrie Johnson, Jessica Joyner, Forrest Kennedy, Emme Ketner, Emily King,

Kayla Lambert, Iris Lassiter, Diana Leary, Lindsey Lee, Margaret Leonard, Derek Long, Lindsey Lyerly, Candice Marshburn, Kristen Mathis, Krystan Matkins, Sarah McClure, Brittany McGrath, Jessica McIntyre, Tiffany Mills, Ryan Mitchell, Logan Monroe, Samantha Monteith, Ashley Moore, Sparkle Moore, Kristen Mullins, Elizabeth Newcomb, Stephanie Payne, Morgan Peacock, Sara Peaden, Rachel Perkinson, Nicole Pettine, Mitzi Polochak, Frank Quinto, Amanda Ratliff, Paige Ray, Stephanie Rayl, Danielle Raymond, Meghan Rhodes,

Kimberly Richardson, Miriam Robinson, Lindsay Roebuck, Casie Rusher, Malissa Sampson, Mary Saunders, Kathryn Serrano, Alana Scott, Moneer Sharafi, Shannon Shaw, William Shepherd Jr., Kristi Sloan, Amanda Smith, Tiffany Snody, Brittany Stanley, Emily Stark, Rachel Steeb, Ashley Strickland, Elizabeth Stone, Leslie Sugg, Amber Sykes, Courtney Taylor, Michelle Taylor, Georgia Thorton, Ashlee Thrasher, Michelle Toler, Ashley Tyson, Rachel Van Curen, Amy Vause, Caitlin Waszak, Brittany Webster, Kymberly

Eunice Mann Garner Memorial Scholarship

Gertrude E. Skelly Charitable Foundation

Nurse Midwifery Scholarship

Cecil Adams, Monica BakerWilson, Cynetra Battle, Courtney Bean, Lauren Browne, Holly Bruehl, Shelby Buran, James Caviness, Marsha Clark, Kim Cole, Tina Cronin, Kristy Cook, Tia Cooke, Neha Desai, Kristin Gainey, Nichole Golden, Steven Hale, Jessica Heath, Jessica Kesler, Sandra Layden, Angie Logan, Amanda Lucas, Rebecca Millberg, Kathleen Moore, Corina Neilson, Kathryn Parker, Natalie Smith, Amber Sykes, Amy Turlington, Kate Writtenberry, Kesha Rooks, Laura Ward

Sarah Grenon

Sheila Dell, Anne Karner, Angie Logan, Michelle Overby

Grace Edwards Wellon and Eula Sawrey Edwards

Anica Peros Gravely Foundation

Brittany Bell Hal and Eldean Pierce Beta Nu Scholarship

Jacob Hines Heather Ann Purtee Scholarship

Conley Rudisill JAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Uniform Shop Scholarship

Diana Leary Marguerete K. and Van Calvin Lauren Jones

Robert L. Jones Nursing

Whitney White Ruth Glass Bunting

Ernest Albritton Jr. Tammy Duvall Scholarship

Matt Frantz University Book Exchange Scholarship

Katie Oliver n Student Lindsay Tomlin writes what Pirate nursing means to her on a banner during the collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second annual Unity Day on Nov. 19.

Wells, Laura Whitfield, Amanda Wilkins, Lauren Williams, Britanny Wooten, Kelsey Yancey and Allison Yodersmith. n

Pulse 2009

Beta Nu Key to Success:

Membership Commitment By Gina Woody

Gina Woody, RN, MSN President, Beta Nu Chapter Sigma Theta Tau International

Sigma Theta Tau Excellence Awards Education: Shannon Baker Leadership: Alta Andrews Outstanding Mentorship: Kathy Simpson Practice: Wanda Lancaster Research: Marie Welch

Beta Nu Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the international honor society of nursing, experienced another busy year filled with community projects, membership activities and scholarly presentations. Beta Nu received its ninth Chapter Key Award at the 40th biennial national convention in October, becoming one of a small number of chapters across the country honored nine times. The key award is given to chapters that display evidence of successful membership recruitment and retention, publicity and programming, leadership development and international collaboration. The chapter also received the Sigma Theta Tau Regional Excellence Award for the “Fostering Community and Service through Leadership: Scout Out Nursing” event.

On March 28, more than 125 Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts toured the college, observed demonstrations and learned about the history and profession of nursing. Scouts earned badges or a patch for their participation. The event reflects our organization’s belief that “transformation involves influencing the choices individuals and groups make for lasting, positive change.” This community activity is an innovative strategy to demonstrate the nursing profession as both an art and a science. The 2008 academic year began with the annual fall banquet and silent auction in November. The speaker was Hettie Peele, who inspired us to reach out and extend our leadership potential to others through mentoring. We thank everyone who donated and purchased auction items because proceeds from the sale fund research scholarships.

Beta Nu Chapter inducts Kayla Carr

new members Undergraduate students

Riley Barwick Karen Benton Erika Best Caitlin Biggerstaff Chandra Biggerstaff Lauren Boyd Hillary Brandt Stephanie Burnett Janelle Cain

Rachel Claisse Courtney Clarkson Megan Cox Ada Dee Denise Dickens Wendy Fletcher Caroline Forbes Amy Freese Emily Gibbs India Green Caroline Griffin Kimberly Guillemette Lindsay Hallimore

We inducted 89 new members last fall. Karen Krupa, past president of Beta Nu, was speaker for the induction ceremony. We congratulate and welcome the new members. Our chapter, the ECU College of Nursing, Eastern Area Health Education Center and University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina hosted the 18th annual Collaborative Research Day in February. Dr. Linda Dudek of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Nursing spoke on “An Evidence Based ApproachBeyond Practice.” Twenty research posters were presented. Our members continue to uphold the mission of the international honor society of nursing to support the learning, knowledge and professional development of nurses committed to making a difference in health worldwide. ■

Sequoya Hatcher Meredith Hayes Ashley Hedspeth Michelle Houghton Rachel Jarrett Keke Kaste Norma Knight Alicia Krentz Brittney Linyear Cinthia Lopez Crystal Lowe Erin McGillicuddy Melissa McLawhorn Lindsay Morton

More than 125 Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts toured the college, observed demonstrations and learned about the history of nursing during Sigma Theta Tauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Scout Out Nursing Day held March 28.

Tara Nance Kathleen Nolan Katherine Odell Justin Oswalt Leah Quinn Lindsey Sauls Catherine Sizemore Laura Spears Mary Sprague Kaitlin Stock Gladwyn Uzzell Kristin Wainwright Heather Ward Ashlee Wheeler

Jenna Whitehurst Catherine Wilkes Scott Yuengel Graduate students Tenika Anderson Kiotta Barnhill Julie Bonner William Boykin Tonica Brimage Stephanie Brown Brenna Burnette Wendy Chavez Amy Clayton

Emilie Collins Janet Cutler Ted Downey Allyson Edmundson TaKasha Gary Tammy Haithcox Johnathan Hancock Delores Johnson Jane Johnson Dianne Knight Veronica Lisenby Carol Locke Jennifer Mason Lisa Norman

Yvette Piantadosi Amy Puckett-Lawson Stacy Queen Tiffany Radford Lou Reida Patricia Stark Kelly Wilkins Shannon Winn Nurse Leaders Wendy Bridgers Nat Gladding Donna Lake Melanie Porter â&#x2013;

Class Notes

Pulse 2009

1978

2001

Kim Parker Pearce (BSN) is the skills lab coordinator of nursing and allied health at Yavapai College/Prescott Campus, Prescott, Ariz.

Cheryl Maria Dobson (BSN, MSN 2009) was selected as an item reviewer for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination. She works at Wayne Memorial Hospital, Goldsboro.

1990 Daphne Brewington (BSN, MSN 1998) presented at the International Conference on Patient and Family-Centered Care: Partnerships for Safety & Quality in Philadelphia, Pa., in August. Michelle Hudson (BSN) has trained and certified both of her black labs as pet therapy dogs and works with elementary children, especially autistic classes. She also is a board member of COPE Eldercare and continues to work in the operating room at Rex Healthcare, Raleigh.

1992 Pamela Reis (MSN) received the Martha E. Rogers Scholarship and is in the doctoral program at the College of Nursing.

1997 Krystal Coffman (BSN) completed her MSN at Duke University in 2005 and has recently relocated to the Dallas, Texas, area.

2000 Christie Ellis-Pearce (BSN and MSN 2007) has moved to Horseheads, N.Y., where she serves as assistant director of the Arnot Ogden School of Nursing. Her daughter, Peyton, is in kindergarten.

Keisha Middleton-Abbott (BSN) has a 17-month-old son, Kenneth.

2002 Shannon Marie Baker (BSN, 2005 MSN) received an Excellence in Teaching Award in December 2008.

2004 Jaimisson McPhail-Jackson (BSN) works at Pinnacle Home Care, Greenville, as the RN QA/QI coordinator. She also supervises a caseload of 10 profound CAP-MR/DD clients. She is married to her college sweetheart, Bryan, and they have a son, Parker, who will be 2 in January. Garrett Brooks Lawhorn (BSN) married Benjamin Lawhorn on Sept. 19. She is a labor and delivery nurse at Carilion Clinic–Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Va.

2005 Lawanda Amato-Allen (BSN) is in the U.S. Air Force working in ambulatory/PACE/ pre-op. She has a daughter who will be 2 in February.

2008 Ryan Matthew Lewis (BSN) is an ICU staff nurse at Wayne Memorial Hospital, Goldsboro. He was recently elected as

Dr. Carol Susan Ferreira, 1947–2009. Dr. Carol Susan Ferreira, an inspiring mentor and engaging colleague in the College of Nursing, died Feb. 28, after a seven-year battle with cancer. She was 62. Ferreira earned a registered nurse diploma from St. Luke’s Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Cleveland, Ohio, a bachelor’s of nursing summa cum laude from Hiram College, a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing from Wichita State University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Kent State University. She completed a pre-doctoral psychology internship at the VA Medical Center in Cleveland and a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California in Los Angeles. Ferreira was a nurse in every sense of the word. She was active in community service, providing psychological counseling pro bono to flood victims, head injury patients, military veterans with post traumatic stress disorder, dying HIV/AIDS patients, and to the “working poor” at the Angels Community Clinic in Kentucky, where she and her husband, Dr. Bertus Ferreira, lived on their farm. Most importantly, Ferreira was a teacher. She believed in the value of nursing education and advocated for nursing scholarships to insure that finances are not a barrier to attaining an education. She received the 2003 Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award from the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, and the East Carolina University College of Nursing Outstanding Faculty Award in 2002, 2003 and 2005. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Theta Tau. She is survived by her husband, adopted son Jeffery Lane and wife Sharon, grandchildren Brian and Casey Lane, her uncle James Davis, her aunts Margaret, Mary and Sue, and many, many wonderful cousins. Ferreira’s memory lives on in the college through the Carol Susan Ferreira Memorial Nursing Scholarship created by her husband. It was her last wish that instead of funeral flowers, any contributions be made to a scholarship for students with financial need. Tax deductible contributions can be made to the ECU Medical and Health Sciences Foundation, 525 Moye Blvd., Greenville, N.C., 27834. Designate “Carol Susan Ferreira Memorial Nursing Scholarship” in the memo line of the check. For more information, contact Mark Alexander, director of development in the college, at 252-744-2238 or e-mail at alexanderma@ ecu.edu.

Class Notes

Pulse 2009

national board member for the American Assembly for Men in Nursing. This year, he served as the northeast regional representative on the Professional Practice Advocacy Coalition for the North Carolina Nurses Association. He was named Rookie of the Year at the NCNA annual convention Oct. 7 in Raleigh.

2009 Renea “Mickie” Devero (BSN) works at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Pensacola, Fla. Cameron Jane Fowler works at Duke University Medical Center on the general medicine unit. Nicole Marchewka (BSN) works at Tampa (Fla.) General in the transplant unit. Catherine Perdue-McKenzie (BSN) got married in April and works on the hematology/ oncology unit at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Melissa McLawhorn (BSN) moved to Dallas, Texas, and works in the trauma ICU at Baylor University Medical Campus.

Deaths 1972 Phyliss Green (BSN, MSN 1995) died in December 2008.

1979 Julia Taylor WhitlarkHyman (BSN) died in July 2009.

Nancy Vines

Encouragement and never-give-up attitude help Vines reach a longtime goal Nancy Vines (BSN ’76) accomplished a long-time goal in May when she completed her master’s degree in nursing at ECU. “The graduate school journey, for me, was a heavy load initially,” Vines wrote recently for a College of Nursing newsletter. “Nevertheless the more I got into the program, learned out how to use Blackboard, upload documents to the DDB (that‘s digital drop box for those of you that are new), and create a homepage, as well as many other things, the load started to lighten.” After taking prerequisties to enroll in graduate school in her mid-30s, Vines stopped her educational quest to be a mom. But at age 50, with her daughter older, she began the process again and was accepted in the master’s program at ECU. “When every new semester began, I cried and told my husband I couldn’t do it,” she said. “He supported and encouraged me, and was my biggest fan. Every semester he said, ‘Yes, you can.’” Through family crises, her husband’s heart attack, increased responsibilities at work, she kept pushing herself harder, graduated at age 54 with a 4.0 GPA and was named Outstanding Nursing Education Graduate Student. “What I want you all to know is there is no obstacle that can end your journey, unless you want to end it,” she said. “I am living proof that the old adage, ‘If I can do it, anyone can do it,’ is true.” Vines is a clinical educator at Rex Healthcare, Raleigh, and has recently added two ECU interns to her staff who graduated from ECU the same day she did in May. Her Web site is http://www.designsbyvines.com/NancyVines.

Pulse 2009

Faculty publications In print 2008–2009 academic year

Moye, J. P. (2008). Part-time health benefits: the key to retaining older nurses? The Business of Caring, 3(10), 12-14.

Published articles in reference journals

Brown, S. T., Kirkpatrick, M. K., Mangum, D., & Avery, J. (2008). A review of narrative pedagogy strategies to transform traditional nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education, 47(6). 283-286. Campbell, A., & Brown, S. T. (2008). The Healthy Teddy Clinic: An innovative pediatric clinical experience. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 3, 72-75.

Campbell, R. J., Gantt, L., Congdon, T. (2009) Teaching workflow analysts and lean thinking via simulation: A formative evaluation. Perspectives in Health Information Management, 6(3). Carol, R., & Kirkpatrick, M. K. (2008). Click here for cultural competence. Minority Nurse, Summer 2008.

Corbett, R. W., Miles, J., Gantt, L., Stephenson, N., & Larson, K. (2008). Schools of nursing, clinical partners, and alumni collaborate for senior nursing simulation scenarios: a theory-based approach. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 4, 49-56. Drake, D., Baker, G., Engelke, M., McAuliffe, M., Pokorny, M., Swanson, M., et al. (2008). Challenges in caring for the morbidly obese: differences by practice setting. Southern Online Journal of Nursing Research, 8(3). Engelke, M., Guttu, M., Warren, M., & Swanson, M. (2008). School nurse case management for children with chronic illness: health, academic, and quality of life outcomes. Journal of School Nursing, 24(4), 205-214.

Harris, S. T., & Pokorny, M. E. (2009). The experience of teaching in a diabetes program.

Mullinix, C., Bucholtz, D. P. (2009). Role and quality of nurse practitioner practice: A policy issue. Nursing Outlook. 57(2), 93-98.

The Health Care Manager, 28(1), 65-70. Jesse, D. E., Dolbier, C.L., & Blanchard, A. (2008). Barriers to seeking help and treatment suggestions for prenatal depressive symptoms: focus groups with rural low-Income women. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 29, 3-19.

Jesse, D. E., Morrow, J., Dennis, T., & Herring, D. (2009). Translating research to prevent antepartum depression in a local health prenatal clinic: a model approach. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 15(2), 160-166. Jesse, D.E., Swanson, M. S., Newton, E. R. & Morrow, J. (2009) Racial Disparities in bio-psychosocial factors and spontaneous preterm birth among rural low income women. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 54(1), 35-42.

Kellam, B., & Bhatia, J. (2008). Sound spectral analysis in the intensive care nursery: measuring high-frequency sound. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 23(4), 317-323. Kellam, B., & Bhatia, J. (2009). Effectiveness of an acoustical product in reducing high-frequency sound within unoccupied incubators. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 24(4), 338-343.

Larson, K. (2009). An ethnographic study of sexual risk among Latino adolescents in rural North Carolina. Hispanic Health Care International, 7(3), 160-169. Larson, K., Ott, M. (2008). Guatemala experience: Cultural immersion and promotion of community health. Reflections on Nursing Leadership, 34. Libster, M. (2008). Elements of care: Nursing environmental theory in historical context. Holistic Nursing Practice, 22(3), 160-170. Libster, M. (2008). Perspectives on the history of self-care. Self-Care, DependentCare & Nursing, 16(2). 8-17.

Libster, M. (2008). Commentary and plant perspective on “hypericum and nurses: a comprehensive literature review on the efficacy of st. john’s wort in the treatment of depression”. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 26, 208-211. Libster, M. (2008). Nursing in the garden laboratory and kitchen clinic. Beginnings, 28(4), 4-7.

Lowery, B. (2009). Obesity, bariatric nursing, and the policy process: The connecting points for patient advocacy. Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care, 4(2). 133-138.

Neil, J. (2008). Perioperative care of the patient with tuberculosis. AORN Journal, 88(6), 942-962. Pokorny, M. (2008). Lead in: skin physiology and diseases in the obese patient. Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care, 3(2), 125-128. Pokorny, M., Scott, E., Rose, M. A., Baker, G., Swanson, M. S., Waters, W., et al. (2009). Challenges in caring for morbidly obese patients. Home Healthcare Nurse, 27(1). 43-52.

Pratt, K., Lamson, A., Collier, D., Crawford, Y., Harris, N., Gross, K., Sarvey, S., et. al. (2009). Camp golden treasures: a multidisciplinary weight-loss and healthy lifestyle camp for adolescent girls. Families, Systems & Health. 27(1), 116-124. Puglisi, P. J. (2009). Revisiting a place at the bargaining table. NP News, 17(4), 1-2. Reis, P., & Alligood, M. R. (2008). Well-being in pregnancy: a pilot study using the well being picture scale. Visions: The Journal of Rogerian Nursing Science, 15(1), 8-17.

Roberson, D., Neil, J., & Bryant, E. (2008). Improving wound care simulation with the addition of odor: a descriptive, quasi-experimental study. Ostomy Wound Management, 54(8), 36-43.

Pulse 2009

Roberson, D. W., White, B. L., & Fogel, C. I. (2008). Factors influencing adherence to antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected female inmates. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS care, 20(1), 50-61. Roberson, D. (2009). Using a student response system to reduce academic cheating. Nurse Educator, 34(2), 60-63.

Rose, M. A., Drake, D., Baker, G., Watkins, F. R., Waters, W., Pokorny, M. (2008). Caring for morbidly obese patients: safety considerations for nurse administrators. Nursing Management, 39(11), 47-50. Rose, M. A., & Drake, D. (2008). Best practices for skin care of the morbidly obese. Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care, 3(2), 129-134.

Sarvey, S. (2008). Resources for care of our pediatric clients who are overweight/obese. Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care, 3(4), 305-306. Sarvey, S. (2009). Going green: Resources for managing and recycling medical waste. Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care, 4(1), 67-69.

Sarvey, S. (2009). Resources for evidence-based practice. Bariatric Nursing and Surgical Patient Care, 4(2), 151-152.

Schreier, A., Peery, A., McLean,

C. (2008). An integrative curriculum for accelerated nursing education programs. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(5), 282-285.

tered nurse workforce shortage in Hawaii. Hawaii Medical Journal. 67(12). 322-325.

Scott, E., Craig, J. B. (2008). Analysis of ANA’s draft scope and standards of practice for nurse administrators. Journal of Nursing Administration. 38(9), 361-365.

Wittman, P., Velde, B. P., Carawan, L., Pokorny, M., Knight, S. (2008). A writer’s retreat as a facilitator for transformative learning. Journal of Transformative Education, 6, 201-211.

Scott, E., Engelke, M., Swanson, M. (2008). New graduate nurse transitioning – necessary or nice? Applied Nursing Research. 21(2), 75-83.

Wynn, J., Engelke, M., Swanson, M. (2009). The front line of patient safety: staff nurses and rapid response team calls. Quality Management in Health Care, 18(1), 40-47.

Scott, E., Smith, S. (2008). Group mentoring: A transitionto-work strategy. Journal for Nurses in Staff Development. 24(5), 232-238. Thompson, K., & Schwartz, M. (2008). From classroom to clinical. Advance for Nurses, 10(18), 13.

Williams, S. (2008). Clinical nurse specialist program evaluation via national association of clinical nurse specialists consultation. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 22(5), 247-250. Wilson, M. (2009). “There’s just something about Ron”, one nurse’s healing presence amidst falling hearts. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 26(4), 303-307.

Winters-Moorhead, C., Kooker, M. B. (2008). Four indicators for monitoring progress in addressing the regis-

Books Libster, Martha & McNeil, B.A. (2009). Enlightened Charity: The Holistic Nursing, Education and Advices Concerning the Sick of Sister Matilda Coskery, 1799-1870. Golden Apple Publications. Book Chapters McAuliffe, Maura, Gambrell, P. Greg, & Edge, Melydia J. (2009). Obesity and Anesthesia Practice. In John J. Nagelhout, CRNA, PhD, FAAN and Karen Plaus (Ed.) Nurse Anesthesia, 4th Edition. Saunders, Elsevier. Gantt, Laura (2009). Improving Patient Safety Through Student Nurse-Resident

Team Training: The Central Venous Catherization Pilot Project. In S.H. Campbell and K. Daly (Ed.) Simulation Scenarios for Nursing Educators: Making it Real. New York: Springer. Gantt, Laura (2009). Undergraduate Senior Capstone Scenarios: Perils, Pitfalls, and Politics. In S.H. Campbell and K. Daly (Ed.) Simulation Scenarios for Nursing Educators: Making it Real. New York: Springer. Roberson, Donna (2008). Well Woman Assessment. In Catherine I. Fogel and Nancy F. Woods Women’s Health Care in Advanced Practice Nursing. New York: Springer. Corbett, Robin (2008). Labor, Delivery, and the Preterm Neonate. In J. Kee, E. Hayes, and L. McCuistion Pharmacology: A nursing process approach. St. Louis: Saunders Elsevier. Corbett, Robin (2008). Pregnancy and Preterm Labor. In J. Kee, E. Hayes, and L. McCuistion Pharmacology: A nursing process approach. St. Louis: Saunders Elsevier. Corbett, Robin, Bolin, Linda (2009). Undergraduate Senior Capstone Scenarios: Pearls, pitfalls, and politics. In S. Campbell and K. Daley Simulation Scenarios for Nursing Educators: Making it Real. New York: Springer. n

ECU welcomes new faculty member Debra A. Kosko, MN, RN, FNP-BC, has joined the faculty as a clinical assistant professor. She comes to ECU after serving as senior director of clinical development in the Department of Pediatrics at INC Research in Raleigh and as a family nurse practitioner at Duke University’s Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in Durham. Kosko has been a nurse faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She previously was global health fellow with the U.S. Agency for International

Development where her contribution included the integration of HIV/AIDS services into reproductive health programs. Kosko has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in nursing from the University of California at Los Angeles, and she has done post master’s work at the University of Maryland at Baltimore College of Education and The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include international health, health policy and HIV/AIDS.

News Briefs

Pulse 2009

Engelke named college’s first distinguished professor Dr. Martha Keehner Engelke has been named the Richard R. Eakin Distinguished Professor in the College of Nursing. As the college’s first distinguished professor, Engelke will be a leader, role model and educator for baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral students, mentor junior faculty and doctoral students in research, secure external funding and lead an interdisciplinary research team. “Dr. Engelke shares her expertise and passion for community health nursing with nursing students in all program areas,” said Dr. Sylvia Brown, dean. “She champions research activity in the College of Nursing by mentoring junior faculty, master’s and doctoral students through grants, publications and the direction of theses and dissertation committees.” Eakin, chancellor emeritus at ECU, served as chancellor from 1987 to 2001 and has been a longtime supporter of nursing. He was honored last year with the namesake of the College of Nursing’s first endowed professorship. The $1 million endowment was made possible by a $667,000 challenge grant from the C.D. Spangler Foundation Inc. and $333,000 in matching funds from the state’s Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund. “There is no one better qualified to convey the excellence that both Dick Spangler and Dick Eakin aspired to than Dr. Engelke,” said Dr. Phyllis Horns, ECU’s vice chancellor for health sciences, during a recognition ceremony Oct. 22. Engelke, who joined the faculty in 1979, also is associate dean for research and scholarship in the college. Her research includes working with 170 school nurses statewide who care for and monitor chronically-ill students. “Our project has demonstrated that school nurses help children control illness to be successful in school and beyond school,” she said.

Two faculty honored with Robert Wood Johnson awards Dr. Donna Roberson and Dr. Janet P. Moye have been selected for two prestigious programs through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Roberson, assistant professor, has been awarded a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to study ways to prevent HIV infection in women who have been in jail. Roberson is one of 15 nurse educators across the country to receive the three-year $350,000 Nurse Faculty Scholar Award. It is given to junior faculty who show outstanding promise as leaders in academic nursing. Roberson’s research project will last through 2012. Roberson will develop an educational tool designed to help women detained or incarcerated in jail avoid contracting HIV upon release. Roberson’s goal is to eventually develop a standard prevention education protocol for use in jail settings.

Moye, assistant professor, continues a three-year fellowship with the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow through 2010. Moye was one of only 20 fellows chosen from across the country in 2007 for the advanced leadership program, developed for experienced nurses in executive roles who aspire to lead and shape the United States health care system of the future. The fellowship includes a mentor experience providing exposure to a top-level executive outside the health care industry. Each fellow develops an individual plan to be used as a guide for selfdirected learning activities and a leadership project developed jointly with the fellow’s employer.

Nursing receives $721,668 grant for nurse-midwifery education The College of Nursing has been awarded a three-year federal grant totaling $721,668 for nurse-midwifery education. The goal of the project is to recruit, retain and educate culturally competent rural and ethnic minority students in North and South Carolina. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration will award $250,179 the first year. Rebecca Bagley, certified nurse-midwife and director of ECU’s nurse-midwifery graduate concentration, is the project director. Objectives are to: recruit undergraduate nursing students enrolled in historically black colleges and universities and a Native American-serving university in North and South Carolina; enhance the academic experience and retention of nurse-midwifery students through a mentoring program; develop courses and clinical experiences that focus on primary health care and address health disparities of rural and ethnically diverse women; promote the ability of midwifery students to secure and sustain employment following graduation; prepare nurse-midwives to deliver culturally competent care with emphasis on the Hispanic population and the use of traditional healing practices among rural and ethnically diverse populations. ECU’s nurse-midwifery curriculum is the only one in North Carolina. Currently 80 percent of ECU’s nurse-midwifery graduates work in rural and underserved areas.

Schreier president-elect of national nursing group Dr. Ann M. Schreier, associate professor of nursing at East Carolina University, has been elected president-elect of the American Society for Pain Management Nursing for 2009-2010. Her term began in September. Schreier also is director of the alternate entry nursing concentration in the ECU College of Nursing. Schreier first came to ECU in 1992. Schreier has been instrumental in continuing the American Society for Pain Management Nursing’s mission to improve pain management for clients in a variety of settings since joining the organization in 1997. ■

Pulse is published annually by the East Carolina University College of Nursing for alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the school. Send your story ideas or comments to the Editor, Office of News and Information, Division of Health Sciences, Lakeside Annex #3, 600 Moye Boulevard, Greenville, N.C. 27834, 252-744-3764, or e-mail baityc@ecu.edu.

Alumni

Pulse Summer 2008

on the Web

Dean: Sylvia T. Brown, EdD, RN, CNE Editor: Crystal Baity Editorial Assistant: Heidi Turner Parker Editorial Board: Mark Alexander Sylvia Brown Martha Engelke Laurie Evans Walter Houston Carole Novick Donna Roberson Kathleen Simpson Carol Winters-Moorhead Art Director: Jay Clark Photographer: Cliff Hollis Contributing Photographers: Forrest Croce Jay Clark Videography: Cliff Hollis Bryan Edge Writers: Crystal Baity Doug Boyd

East Carolina University is committed to equality of educational opportunity and does not discriminate against applicants, students or employees based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability. U.P. 10-051

The College of Nursing is gearing up for its 50th anniversary celebration in 2010. Please watch for details at www.nursing.ecu.edu. There, you can get information on alumni and program news, awards, events, faculty, staff and student news. Alumni can update their own information under the â&#x20AC;&#x153;update informationâ&#x20AC;? link. The link has a place for you to drop us a note with information that you would like to share (new job, new marriage, professional certifications, awards, etc.). The College of Nursing wants to stay in touch with you! The College of Nursing is accepting calls for the 2009-2010 Distinguished Alumni. Nominations should be sent by Dec. 31 to: ECU College of Nursing, 4165K, Health Sciences Building, Mail Stop 162, Greenville, N.C. 27858, Attn: Laurie Evans. The honoree will be recognized at spring graduation.

College of Nursing graduates Kayla Carr, left, and Whitney Dodson jump for joy on east campus following a rare snowstorm in Greenville on Jan. 20.

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