NEW & NOTEWORTHY

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

3ThreeNew Nursing Programs COMING TO SHREVEPORT

LSU Health Shreveport will become home to an LSU Health New Orleans (LSUHNO) off-campus instructional site in the Spring of 2023. The LSUHNO School of Nursing’s Career Alternative RN Education (CARE) Program, which will be replicated at LSUHS in the School of Allied Health Professions, is designed for individuals looking to make a career change into nursing. It allows students who already have a bachelor’s degree in another concentration to earn their BSN in less than two years. The highly competitive program requires rigorous dedication from its students with classes meeting five days a week and select clinicals taking place in the evenings.

The expansion program will use existing resources and collaborate with other schools at LSUHS. The Shreveport and New Orleans programs will share faculty, allowing students to benefit from expertise from both locations, and Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport will provide the clinical setting. Students will graduate prepared for the National Council Licensure Exam in Registered Nursing (NCLEX-RN) and will be qualified to work in a variety of clinical settings, allowing them the flexibility to choose from a multitude of fields for their career trajectory.

In addition to the CARE program, two additional concentrations will be offered at the School of Nursing off-campus instructional site at LSU Health Shreveport. These concentrations are a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Nurse Educator and RNBSN. The MSN Nurse Educator concentration targets and prepares registered nurses (RN) to become nurse educators and encourages them to accomplish their career goals in academic, practice, and service settings. This concentration is meaningful in addressing the shortage of nurse educators in Louisiana.

The RN-BSN program is hybrid and designed specifically for RNs with associate degrees or diplomas in Nursing. This program is based on principles of adult education and focused on the skills and experiences nurses bring to an educational setting. The RN-BSN coursework includes required general education and nursing courses designed for students with nursing experience.

The timing of these new nursing programs is critical as north Louisiana is currently in the midst of nursing and nurse educator shortages. Shortages related to burnout and stress existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but have been exacerbated over the past two years. Many health care workers are resigning due to exhaustion, stress and trauma after working in COVID-19 care settings. However, voluntary resignations are not the only cause for the current lack of nursing candidates. A survey conducted in 2018 by the Health Resources and Services Administration found that the average age for an RN is 50 years old, predicting a large wave of nursing positions to be filled over the next 15 years. We have already begun to see the effects of this not only in our community and state, but nationwide.

The CARE, MSN Nurse Educator, and RN-BSN programs not only provide a new and unique opportunity for students and existing nurses to receive or further their education in nursing but will enrich the local nursing workforce.

Medical Student Poster Presentations

The LSU Health Shreveport School of Medicine’s Medical Student Research Program (MSRP) had its largest number of participants in 2022 with over one-third of the first-year class participating. Fifty-three students showcased their research project findings at a competitive poster presentation on October 26. Students worked directly with a faculty mentor on their projects for 1012 hours a week for five weeks over the summer. In addition to being able to share their work, students compete to receive an award in either basic science or clinical research. Over 30 judges participated in evaluating the projects. Sponsored by the School of Medicine’s Dean’s Office, the Medical Student Research Program fosters research activity, inspires students to learn more about the research process, and generates quality research evidence, while also contributing to building of highly competitive resumes for the students when they apply for a residency program in their fourth year of medical school.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS WINNERS

BASIC SCIENCE: Chizoba “Ama” Mosieri, MSI Mentor: Dr. Cherie-Ann Nathan Department: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Project Title: “The effect of FGFR2 inhibition on immune cell infiltration in skin cancer” CLINICAL SCIENCE: Kaitlyn Tholen, MSI Mentor: Dr. Gauri Mankekar Department: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Project Title: “Evaluating the efficacy and value of drilling 3D-printed temporal bone models”

SAHP Summer Graduation

On Saturday, August 13, 65 LSU Health Shreveport School of Allied Health Professions students walked across the stage to accept their well-earned diplomas. This summer’s graduation included students receiving their bachelor’s or master’s degrees. Dr. Sharon Dunn, P.T. PhD., Dean of the School of Allied Health Professions, said of the class, “It is an honor to lead the dedicated faculty, staff, and students in the School of Allied Health Professions. I applaud the resilience and dedication required of each of them to meet their academic and professional goals during these unprecedented times. These graduates will have an immediate impact on the health of Louisiana citizens and the well-being of our society, across the continuum of care.”

Louisiana native and LSUHS Alumni, Daytheon Sturges, PhD, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA, CHES, gave the commencement address. See page 22 for more on Dr. Sturges.

Inaugural Fall Faculty Retreat

The Office for Faculty Development held its inaugural Fall Faculty Retreat Friday, October 7 through Saturday, October 8, 2022 at East Ridge Country Club. Faculty attended a development session with speakers including Dr. Shane Barton, Assistant Dean for Faculty Development and Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery; M’Lissa Smith, Program Coordinator for Faculty Development; Dr. Mark Cogburn, Director of LSUHS Student Counseling Center and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine; Dr. Marie Vazquez, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Institutional Wellness and Clinical Associate Professor of Physical Therapy; and Dr. Sue Seiler-Smith, Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Director of Patient Experience. The Fall Faculty Retreat focused on the importance of connecting with colleagues, communication styles in healthcare, patient care experiences and the future of Faculty Development at LSU Health Shreveport. To round out the weekend, faculty and their plus ones were invited to attend a cocktail reception to relax and build on new connections.

Campus Safety Awareness Month

This September, LSU Health Shreveport Office of Safety, University Police Department, and SAVE partnered together for the first Campus Safety Awareness Month. An event was held each week to promote safety awareness on our campus. A breakfast and safety fair kicked off the month with information about safety and support tools available to our staff and students. The second and final events were a two-part ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training, an active shooter training. The third event of the month was a self-defense presentation where staff and students were taught how to effectively use pepper-spray devices and confidently respond to multiple types of attacks. Over 150 individuals attended these interactive and educational events.

Dr. Jamie Toms performs FIRST RNS Implantation in Shreveport

LSU Health Shreveport Neurosurgeon and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, Dr. Jamie Toms performed the first implantation of a responsive neurostimulation (RNS) device at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport. In July, the NeuroPace RNS device was implanted on a 23-year-old woman who had suffered from daily epileptic seizures for the last five years. Since the implantation, the young woman has not suffered a single seizure. This collaboration between Dr. Jamie Toms and his team will allow patients to remain in or travel to Shreveport instead of cities such as New Orleans or Dallas to have this type of procedure.