N
r e t t e l s w e The Glen Taylor Nursing Institute
for Family and Society at Minnesota State
University, Mankato is dedicated to providing leadership
and expertise in family and societal health at local, state,
national and international levels. The Institute, Taylor Visiting Scholars and Becky Taylor Doctoral Fellowships are made possible by a
$7 million endowment established by Glen and Becky Taylor.
Spring 2020 • Issue 10
From the Director
Students and Practitioners Learn Through Stories Computer and Information Science instructor David Clisbee describes his background as eclectic. “I have an MFA in creative writing and a master’s in applied linguistics,” he says. In addition to his work as an instructor in Information Systems, he’s completed more than 300 video projects, and knows how to capture a powerful story. One area where Clisbee is admittedly not an expert is nursing. But after teaming up with the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute and Hennepin Healthcare in 2014, he has a much better understanding about what it takes to care for patients and their families—and how to communicate best care practices to nurses wanting to learn more about family nursing care. Clisbee worked alongside GTNI and Hennepin Healthcare staff to produce personal stories of family care told by nurses working in two Hennepin Healthcare units. And last spring, Clisbee, along with Minnesota State Mankato School of Nursing colleagues, Patricia Beierwaltes and Sandra K. Eggenberger developed a partnership with nurses to launch an education and research project. They published a paper on their findings in The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. After nurses participated in the family-focused education, they reported changes in their practice with families. Families also described feeling more supported by these newly trained nurses. As one of the nurses who participated in the education stated, “after this education I will never treat the family the same. I see it differently now.“ All told, the team worked with more than 200 nurses, and the program has been so successful that other systems locally and globally are interested in learning from the storytelling as training approach.
helping train students and practicing nurses alike.
We asked Clisbee about the technical side of setting up this important and valuable training, and how digital stories are
Q: What is the idea behind digital storytelling as a training/teaching tool? A: Digital storytelling has been used as a strategy to promote understanding and compassion, because embedded within the practice is empathy building. The viewer experiences the storyteller [sharing] their story and through that build a connection.
As 2020 begins I am grateful for the faculty, students and partners who collaborate with the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society at Minnesota State University, Mankato. School of Nursing faculty and the Institute serve as mentors for students while Taylor Visiting Scholars continue to share their expertise with the School of Nursing. Faculty and the Institute remain committed to learning from global experts and uniting colleagues in our mission to advance the health of families and society. The Institute is also renewing a commitment to deepen our alumni connections.
Dr. Sandra Eggenberger
Wishing you a meaningful, healthy, and joyful year!
Q: What made this storytelling project unique? A: In the literature in the past five years there’s been a significant rise in digital storytelling research. In the original model as laid out by Joe Lambert, the storyteller creates their [own] story using the editing software—they’ve essentially done the video production and editing on their own piece. This can be a major limiting point for digital storytelling [as] the suggested timeline is three days nonstop. You can’t make that work in a hospital setting. My main responsibility was to reduce the technical burden and make it more manageable. We needed to not only be able to find a method that would help give a platform to tell [nurses’] stories in meaningful ways but also [ensure] the software and Nurses participated in making videos and training. technology was not going to be a barrier. Q: How did you remove those technological barriers? A: By redesigning the workflow. The major distinction between our type of creating digital stories and the established [method] was that in our model we have people who are talking to the camera during a free-flowing conversation, nothing was scripted, responses were not planned ahead of time. Then afterward I very responsibly and ethically take out the conversation turns so that only the story remains. The nurses’ stories then guided the planning and delivery of the education.
ALUMNI RECOGNITION 2011 Graduate Brett Anderson is the winner of Distinguished Young Alumni Award. Brett is the vice president of health and clinical services with Ecumen and a champion of family nursing who continues to partner with the Institute.
IFNA Goes to Washington Faculty attended global committees focused on education, research and practice at the 14th International Family Nursing Conference.
The nation’s capital played host to the International Family Nursing Association (IFNA) Conference (IFNC 14) last August as nursing professionals from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C. for three days in which faculty shared research, learned from others and formed global partnerships. In total, 377 family nurses from 25 countries presented on and learned from a wide range of topics around the conference theme: Social Determinants of Family Health: Expanding Family Nursing Capacity.
The Glen Taylor Nursing Institute and the College of Allied Health and Nursing served as gold sponsor of the conference, and Minnesota State Mankato was well represented on the docket. Nursing faculty presented on a wide variety of topics such as: helping families navigate progressive illness (Tammy Neiman); continuity of care for cancer survivors and their families (Leslie Darmofal and Sue Ellen Bell); addressing food insecurity in rural communities (Norma Krumwiede and Kelly Krumwiede); digital storytelling and family care in critical illness (Pat Beierwaltes); the benefits of chorus participation for those living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia (Kristen Abbott-Anderson); measurement of Family care in nursing education (Stacey Van Gelderen); family inclusion in life support course (Tiffany Gordon); and family engagement in nursing practice (Sandra Eggenberger and global research team). Minnesota State Mankato students also got in on the action. Graduate student Lindsay Rohlik presented a review of school-based adolescent suicide prevention programs, and undergraduate student Abigail Heitz presented on the perceptions of family support and contraceptive choices while Kaitlyn Kenow and Grace Bergquist presented a review of literature on global interventions. Of course, there was some time to let loose. Attendees who arrived early were treated to an evening performance by singer and pianist Joshua Sommerville. The location in the heart of Washington D.C. also allowed for easy access to museums and historical landmarks, including the Potomac River. “I think one of the special things that we got to do was go on a Potomac River cruise,” says Stacey Van Gelderen, Minnesota State Mankato associate professor, and one of the pre-conference presenters. “We got to have our dinner there and celebrate the end of the conference with everybody. I think that was a special fun night that we all were able to share that was probably my most memorable experience.”
Van Gelderen Family Care Rubric on the National Stage The IFNA 14 conference started off strong with a preconference presentation by Minnesota State Mankato’s Stacey Van Gelderen. Van Gelderen developed her eponymous Family Care Rubric (VGFCR) to provide nurse educators with “a research-based tool to measure the family communication and assessment skills of healthcare students and staff during the debriefing stage of simulation.” In practice, that means student and practicing nurses now have a way to measure how well they are caring for patients and their families in a variety of simulated settings. Fifteen pre-conference attendees were able to observe the VGFCR up close during a three-hour presentation on site at Children’s National Hospital. “We actually bused people from the conference center to the hospital, and then we were in their simulation suite,” says Van Gelderen. “We did a pediatric simulation and then the participants applied the VGFCR and actually measured the staff nurse that was in there taking care of that family.” Children’s National was the ideal presentation venue for Van Gelderen, who completed a portion of her research for the VGFCR in the hospital’s pediatric unit. Children’s National was so impressed with the VGFCR, they’ve recently adopted the training tool for all incoming staff. It’s exciting for Van Gelderen to see her hard work pay off, especially since the tool promises to improve the state of family nursing in this country and around the world. “At Minnesota State University we have a unique curriculum where we are focusing on family care,” she says. “Our graduates come through the program having really good sense of what families need to be successful, and how we can support them. … In the bigger world I’m not finding that to be true with all nurses and healthcare providers, they don’t always know how to meet the needs of the whole family unit. This rubric helps give us formative feedback, a guide to provide that understanding for people where it doesn’t come as naturally to them, or they didn’t have that as part of their curriculum when they went through nursing education or health care staff education.”
Faculty Offer Webinars Since 2017 Colleen Royle, associate professor and Simulation Center Director for the Maverick Family Nursing Simulation Center, has worked as part of a team of Family Nursing professionals who put together educational webinars with the goal to educate, inform and enrich the field. The webinars are free for IFNA members and typically take place four times per year. Topics come from members around the world and have ranged from expanding simulation strategies in family nursing care to a walk through the abstract writing process. Up first in 2020, Minnesota State Mankato’s Stacey Van Gelderen and George Washington University’s Amanda Garrow will present information on the Van Gelderen Family Care Rubric, a research-based tool that measures the family communication and assessment skills of healthcare students and staff during the debriefing stage of simulation. The rubric measures the skills needed for optimum family nursing practice. Royle, who serves on the IFNA education committee, is pleased to be able to offer extended learning opportunities for IFNA members outside of the biannual conference setting. And, she notes, most webinars come with continuing education credits. “We are continuing in our quest to help everyone to understand that we need to care for the family as well as the patients,” she says. “I think everyone can benefit from that regardless of your background or your discipline.”
Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society
10 Years of the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society
2009: Glen and Becky Taylor pledge $7 million to transform family and societal health, advance nursing practice and support Doctor of Nursing Practice students. The Taylor Advisory Council convenes to guide development: Dr. Janice M. Bell, Dr. Kit Chesla, Dr. Sharon Denham, Dr. Naomi Ervin, Dr, Kathy Knafl, Dr. Patricia Tomlinson. Taylor Visiting Scholars support faculty and students with on-campus visits and consultations. 2010: All School of Nursing curricula revised to include a family and societal health focus. Support from the Institute and Minnesota State University, Mankato helps to further establish the International Family Nursing Association. Taylor Visiting Scholars and Institute collaborate with Mayo Clinic Health System to advance nursing practice based on current evidence. 2011: Faculty collaborate with expert Drs. Pharris and Pavlish to develop a collaborative action research plan with the community of Madelia. 2012: First issue of Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society Newsletter highlights support provided to students and faculty. The Institute hosts a recognition event for preceptors in collaboration with Minnesota State Mankato featured Taylor Advisory Council member Dr. Kit Chesla of the University of California San Francisco. The Institute is invited to participate in an international conference in Montreal to discuss a global initiative focused on advancing family nursing practice. Taylor Advisory Council member, Dr. Sharon Denham collaborates with local hospital and health care systems, Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, Mayo Clinic Health System Mankato and Madelia Community Hospital & Clinic. Maria Strack, nurse educator graduate student from the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire and nursing faculty Anna Richardson from Christchurch, New Zealand are the first of many local and global faculty to come to Minnesota State Mankato to learn from our faculty. 2013: The Institute and faculty work with local and regional members to establish the Madelia Community Based Collaborative Initiative to enhance health, improve the quality of life and empower Madelia community members. School of Nursing faculty disseminate scholarship and serve on multiple committees at the 11th International Family Nursing Conference in Minneapolis. The conference welcomes 433 attendees from 27 countries. Faculty offer a post-conference educational event focused on simulation on the Minnesota State Mankato campus. 2014: A Teaching Family Nursing Institute is offered in collaboration with the School of Nursing for educators in academic and practice settings. Students and faculty partner with ACT on Alzheimer’s to meet needs of community and family. The Institute helps form a partnership with this regional and national initiative. The Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society partners with the Mu Lambda Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing to offer an annual Nursing Forum to the community. 2015: Glen and Becky Taylor receive the 2015 Distinguished Partner in Family Health Care Award at the International Family Nursing Conference in Odense Denmark. Nursing faculty and colleagues conceptualize, author and edit the Family-Focused Nursing Care textbook, published by F.A. Davis with guidance by Taylor Advisory Council member Dr. Sharon Denham. 2017: The Health Commons at Pond, a no-cost clinic for families of the Bloomington School District, opens through Institute partnership with the district. The Institute and School of Nursing guide development of the nurse-managed school-based health center with a unique care model that bridges the school setting, family and the community. Academic-Practice partners present research and practice projects at the 13th International Family Nursing Conference. 2018: The Institute sponsors the conference Leading the Way: Partnering Education and Practice for the Emerging Public Health Nursing with the Henry Street Consortium, an organization dedicated to building a public health nursing workforce in the 21st century. 2019: Faculty and students continue to receive support to present their scholarship and launch research/ education/practice projects. 2020: Building Healthy Communities Fund launches to support the Health Commons at Pond’s mission and fund future initiatives and operations.
10 Years of Expert Speakers and Faculty Support Over the last decade the Institute has invited a number of experts to campus to share their knowledge and experience about family and societal nursing. Taylor Visiting Scholars provide consultations and presentations to faculty, students and community partners. 2009: Inaugural Forum featuring Dr. Janice M. Bell and Dr. Lorraine Wright 2010: Dr. Janice M. Bell Dr. Sharon Denham Dr. Naomi Ervin 2011: Dr. Ann Garwick Dr. Kit Chesla Dr. Sharon Denham 2012: Dr. Sharon Denham Dr. Sonja J. Meiers Dr. Kit Chesla 2013: Dr. Peter Buerhaus 2015: Julie Kittelsrud 2016: Dr. Deborah Delgado 2018: Dr. Kathy Knafl
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Becky Taylor Fellows: 10 Years On Since 2010, Becky Taylor Fellowships have provided support to Doctor of Nursing Practice students. To mark the 10th anniversary of the Becky Taylor Fellowship, we are recognizing some of our past fellows who have gone on to teach, research and support family and societal health. 2009-2010 • Dana Schardt, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin— Madison • Ruth Van Heukelom, Assistant Professor, Southwest Minnesota State University • Sue Field, Director of Statewide Healthcare Education & Industry Partnerships, Health Force Minnesota
2010-2011 • Amanda Winrow, Faculty, Winona State University
2011-2012 • Joyce Breseden, Associate Professor of Nursing at Metropolitan State University
2016-2017
Recent Doctor of Nursing Practice students celebrate graduation with their families, faculty and Glen and Becky Taylor. From Left: Dr. Kathryn Smith, Dr. Carrie Yavarow, DNP faculty Dr. Sue Ellen Bell, Institute Director Dr. Sandra Eggenberger, Becky Taylor, Glen Taylor, Dr. Brittany White, Dr. Angela Rickheim.
• Carrie Dickson, Nursing Instructor, Normandale Community College
Laurel Ostrow, Assistant Professor of Nursing at Minnesota State Mankato Becky Taylor Fellow 2011-2012 Ostrow used her fellowship to pay for tuition while earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice. She also used fellowship funds to purchase a program called Life Bio. “This program was a package of journals that can be used to record residents’ life stories,” she says. “As part of my project, I interviewed cognitively impaired [individuals] who had some degree of depression. The goal was to determine if a life review intervention impacted depression scores in this population.” Ostrow’s work reinforced the importance of person-centered care in places that serve older populations. It also informed her career going forward. “Since taking my position at Minnesota State Mankato, I have worked with my Pre-Licensure Program students in life review activities at residences for elders in Mankato, New Ulm, and the Twin Cities,” she says. “Most recently, 22 students have worked with residents of an Independent/Assisted Living, compiling stories and sharing in the lives of elders. As well, a team of students did research on the impact a life review activity in my course had on undergraduate nursing students’ interest in working in geriatrics; their results found significant increases in empathy, interest and appreciation of the older individual.”
Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society
Recent DNP Graduates join the Faculty
Rhonda Cornell, Associate Professor, Family Nurse Practitioner Program Coordinator, Minnesota State Mankato
Leslie Darmofal, Clinical Nurse Specialist and Assistant Professor, Minnesota State Mankato
Brittany White, Instructor Graduate Nursing, Minnesota State Mankato
Becky Taylor Fellow 2011-2012
Becky Taylor Fellow 2016-2017
Becky Taylor Fellow 2018-2019
“Becky Taylor Fellowship funds have permitted me to change a career direction and enter the clinical practice environment,” Cornell wrote in a letter to Institute director, Sandra Eggenberger upon her graduation. “I was way dying on the vine and desired an employment change in order to have opportunities for professional growth and leadership development. I had an employment offer on the table but could not accept it until the day I humbly learned of my Taylor Fellowship award! This allowed me to spread my wings and fly without jeopardizing my doctoral program completion.”
Darmofal put her Becky Taylor Fellowship to work as a DNP candidate as she explored psychological distress experienced in cancer survivorship. Today, she works as a clinical nurse specialist and assistant professor in the College of Allied Health and Nursing at Minnesota State Mankato.
“My experience with the DNP program at Minnesota State University Mankato was a great one. The program provided me with all the support I needed to be successful. My current work includes providing primary care to patients in a rural setting at Scenic Rivers Health Services with the plan to teach graduate nursing at Minnesota State Mankato in the Spring of 2020.”
Leslie recently stated, “The Taylor Fellowship allowed me to go to school and the means to realize I have many ore many more chapters in my life book.” Darmofal has now moved to Mankato and continues her scholarship in her teaching role.
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Speech-Language Services Now Available at Health Commons at Pond The Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society focuses on innovative nursing education and practices designed to influence the health and healing of families and society. Nowhere is this mission more evident than in the care and services provided through the Health Commons at Pond. For the past two years, the collaboration between Minnesota State Mankato and Bloomington Schools has offered no-cost health services to children and families district-wide. Starting in December, Pond will expand its list of services to include essential speech and language healthcare to the community. “Speech, language and hearing health is an essential component of the child-family-school-neighborhoodcommunity equation,” says William Eric Strong, Assistant Professor Department of Speech, Hearing and Rehabilitation Services at Minnesota State Mankato. “Having adequate speech and language skills in children under three years of age, for instance, is the number one predictor of academic success in school-aged children. Early community-based speech-language therapy services can help children develop essential skills for academic success.” Children and families will now have access to speech-language pathologists who can assess, diagnose and treat speech and language delays as well as issues with reading and writing and swallowing and feeding problems for children with disabilities. Strong notes that Pond also plans to expand in the area of audiology, eventually offering hearing screenings, Nursing student Maddie evaluations and “perhaps aural rehabilitation for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.”
Youngstrand volunteers weekly at
Expanding Pond More services at Pond means client numbers are on the rise, and more students have the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning in a clinical setting. Multiple students have engaged in experiential learning in this setting while others have participated in pediatric clinical learning. Maddie Youngstrand, a nursing student who volunteers at Pond, appreciates the “unique opportunity to collaborate with faculty and staff from Minnesota State University, Mankato while also being able to help serve families and create healthy communities.” This innovative model of care focused on clients, families and the community is being operationalized and expanded by faculty and students. Starting in January 2020, faculty members Kristen Abbott-Anderson and Kelly Krumwiede will supervise community health students at Pond. Pat Beierwaltes continues to serve as Clinical Coordinator. Graduate students are also developing programs to help families.
Speech-Language services at Pond begin December 6 and are available on Fridays from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. the Health Commons at Pond. Building Healthy Communities One Gift at a Time Since opening its doors as a unique partnership between Minnesota State University, Mankato and the Bloomington school district, the Health Commons at Pond has operated with a dual mission: to serve at-risk children and adults in the Bloomington school district and to provide clinical experience opportunities for Minnesota State Mankato nursing students. The newly launched Building Healthy Communities Fund aims to support this mission and fund future operations at the Health Commons at Pond. “Our goal with this fund is to make the Health Commons at Pond sustainable,” says Chris Hvinden, Director of Development for the College of Allied Health and Nursing. “We’re looking to raise a very lofty goal of $1 million [to put] into an endowment which will spin out about $40,000 per year to fund the budget they have for running the clinic.” College of Nursing alumnus and former faculty member leader, Mary Huntley got the ball rolling with a generous contribution. Other faculty and alum are committed to this initiative and planning contributions. Hvinden is currently seeking corporate and foundational gifts as well.
Former Faculty and Alumni Celebrate the Past and Look to the Future Over homecoming weekend this fall, current and former nursing faculty and alumni had several opportunities to reconnect and reengage with each other and the School of Nursing. The theme of the weekend was Honor the Past, Envision the Future. It started off on Saturday morning with a breakfast for current and former nursing faculty. Former faculty—some from 50 years ago—reminisced about days gone by, and also got to see the future of the nursing program with a tour of the newly refurbished Wissink Hall. That evening alumni gathered for a dinner featuring the class of 1969. Stacey Van Gelderen presented her research which resulted in the Family Care Rubric. And of course, there was good food and plenty of time for socializing. “I really enjoy reunions with my classmates who also graduated in 1969,” noted Mary Bliesmer, a former faculty member and alumna. “We were a small but noticeable group. The rest of the attendees could tell we were enjoying ourselves. We had a table to ourselves so we could catch up on our lives over the last 50 years. And we were all impressed by the evidence presented that demonstrated the continuous progress made by the School of Nursing.”
Edna Thayer, Kathy Schweer, Julia Hebenstreit, Luth Tenorio, Mary Kay Hohenstein
The School of Nursing and The Institute worked to bring retired faculty and alumni together to continue commitment to family and societal health.
Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society
Amber Norman was able to spend the summer working and learning in Kenya thanks, in part, to the Institute’s commitment to helping students and faculty engage in multiple learning experiences that create an impact on themselves and others.
Student View: Family Nursing Abroad Last summer, senior nursing student Amber Norman spent eight weeks as an intern at Coast Provincial General Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya. The lessons Amber learned practicing alongside nurses and providers halfway around the world will stick with her for life. Here’s what she had to say about the experience. How did what you've learned at Minnesota State Mankato help you during this experience? I was most appreciative of Minnesota State Mankato for preparing me for family-centered care and cross-cultural care as individuals in Mombasa are heavily centered on family. Although those in Kenya and I had varied backgrounds and spoke different languages, we had positive, caring and rich interactions and powerful, intercultural conversations. In what ways has this cross-cultural experience changed your views on what it means to provide family-centered care? To fully understand what it means to provide family-centered care I had to experience it. In Kenya, family members are at the bedside, and family members run lab samples, and run their loved ones for scans, and are pulled away from their loved one’s bedside to make upfront payments for medications and care, and go home to work to pay for those expenses and to care for other family members. I saw dedicated, hard-working family members who felt involved with a sense of purpose and responsibility for the care of their loved one. I learned to accept and to respect their roles as I saw them working with us. Do you plan to practice abroad again? The culture, acceptance and sheer love from the people of Kenya will always be with me. I most definitely plan to practice abroad again. My interest in Emergency/Trauma Care led me to Mombasa, and I hope to make further contributions as a flight nurse through volunteer organizations such as the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders. I envision myself helping others in disaster relief situations.
Call for Abstracts, Presenters, Speakers The Maverick Family Nursing Simulation Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato will host the Family and Society Simulation and Technology Conference: Advances in Research, Education and Practice August 10-13, 2020
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We are looking for speakers, podium and poster presentations on topics including (but not limited to): • Innovations in Research, Education and Practice Using Simulation and Technology • Advances in Interprofessional Education Using Simulation and Technology • Simulation Education to Enhance Family and Societal Health • Building Relational Communication through Simulation and Technology • Leveraging Technology to Foster Partnerships
SUBMISSION EXTENSION TO FEBRUARY 15TH
• Best Practices in Simulation Operations (e.g., equipment, policies, funding) Interested presenters are encouraged to send their objectives and format of the proposed presentation. Presenters will be notified by March 1, 2020. http://Link.mnsu.edu/teachingfamily
Minnesota State University, Mankato
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An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity University. This document is available in alternative format to individuals with disabilities by calling 507-389-1165, or 800-627-3529 or 711 (MRS/TTY). NURS108NE 1-20
Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society • Minnesota State University, Mankato