Penn Nursing UPfront: Spring 2014

spring 2014

An U nc ommo n J o u r n e y Voice 4

Engagement 8

Scientific Inquiry 14

Clinical Judgment 18

THE WORLD.

速

Our Journey of Excellence Continues Antonia Villarruel, GNu’82, appointed sixth Margaret Bond Simon Dean Antonia Villarruel, GNu’82, PhD, RN, FAAN, has been named dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1. In addition to being an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, she also served as a faculty member from 1995-2000 and has collaborated and co-authored with several Penn faculty.

Dr. Villarruel comes back to the University of Pennsylvania from the University of Michigan School of Nursing where she currently serves as a professor, the Nola J. Pender Collegiate Chair, the associate dean for research and global affairs and the director of the WHO Collaborating Center.

“I am thrilled and honored to be back at Penn and to have the opportunity to lead the next chapter of the amazing legacy of Penn Nursing. I have continually been inspired by the impact of Penn Nursing students, faculty, staff and alumni in advancing the profession and improving the health of people and communities. The School has an incredibly solid foundation, thanks to the leadership of Dean Afaf Meleis. I look forward to working with Dean Meleis to ensure a smooth transition.”

Antonia Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN

“With Dr. Antonia Villarruel’s appointment, I know that Penn Nursing will continue to serve as a leader in providing solutions for some of our world’s most critical issues. We have the faculty who are driving the research that is informing advancements in care. We have the students who are transferring this knowledge from the classroom to the bedside. We have the staff who are committed to and engaged in our mission. We have our tremendous alumni and friends who continue to open doors to great possibilities for our school community. And now we have our next extraordinary leader whose own vision, values and history promise to take us well into our own exciting future.”

Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS(hon), FAAN, FRCN

table

of

contents care to change the world

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Reaching our Stride in Caring to Change the World A message from Dean Afaf I. Meleis

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f e at u r e s 4

Voice Cultivating a More Powerful Voice in Nursing

8 Engagement

Engaging a Community Through Partnership

14 Scientific Inquiry

Inspiring Innovation, Inquiry and Insight to Transform Care

18 Clinical Judgment

Infusing Clinical Judgment Across the Education Continuum

22 Photo Essay: A Legacy in Pictures

d e pa rt m e n t s 24 The Lang Lecture

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Dr. Diane Spatz brings her passion to translating the science of human milk and breastfeeding worldwide

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Visiting Global Scholar Award Dr. Miriam J. Hirschfeld, inaugural recipient of the Hassan Visiting Global Scholar Award, discussed the imperative of moral courage

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Penn Nursing Science in Action

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Penn Nursing News

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Spring-Fall 2014 Events Calendar

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Alumni Connections

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Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award Edna Adan was named the inaugural recipient of the Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health

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24 ABOUT THE COVER: “The History of Nursing as Seen Through the Lens of Art” – The HUP Nursing Alumni Association commissioned artist Kathleen Shaver, HUP’76, to create an art installation to honor the history and legacy of 125 years of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania.

www.nursing.upenn.edu

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Reaching our Stride in Caring to Change the World It is hard to believe that this is the twenty-fourth, and last, message that I am composing for UPfront. I am writing this while a snowstorm is looming in Philadelphia, a reminder that in spite of such storms, I made the decision almost 13 years ago that I would leave my position of 34 years at the University of California, San Francisco to come to lead the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. And leading I did, jointly with the best faculty, staff, students and alumni. And it all went so very quickly! But when we pause to look at what we have done together, what we have been able to accomplish and where we have landed, our journey seems much longer than twelve years.

These past twelve years have been a journey informed by many traditions of excellence which were developed by my predecessors and upon which we were able to build; Dean Claire Fagin, who set the School on the map with a focus on research and practice; Dean Norma Lang, who made a difference in connecting all that with health policy; and Interim Dean Neville Strumpf, who moved the School’s strategic planning initiatives forward and integrated faculty governance. All my predecessors enhanced the School’s visibility and reputation and gave us the momentum and set the stage for an incredible twelve years of innovations that made us, globally, a leading school of nursing.

In the past twelve years we have been able to triple our endowment to $72.4 million, increase enrollment by 57 percent, renovate Fagin Hall, launch a new undergraduate curriculum, introduce graduate specialties and develop several distinguished research centers. Our reach extends to local, regional, national and global populations and our efforts are making a difference in healthcare and in building research programs. As I reflect upon our success, I am thankful to our faculty and staff, whose accomplishments impact science, practice and policy. Their diverse interests, skills and outlooks enhance our collective scope of influence and positively affect healthcare. They are the researchers whose nationally and internationally recognized work helps to inform public health policy. They are the educators who mentor, 2

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teach and encourage students to find their voices and establish successful academic and professional careers. They are the thought leaders who look for ways to collaborate in order to develop new solutions that positively impact populations. These are the amazing, empowered and talented people who make Penn Nursing’s science world-renowned.

In this issue of UPfront, we highlight how our School has positively influenced the world in four ways by: giving a voice to nursing, enhancing inquiry and innovation, promoting clinical judgment and creating a culture of engagement.

These tenets, developed by our faculty, student body and administration, continue to underpin our vision and strategic goals.

What is the voice of nursing? It’s using our experiences and knowledge to influence nursing science, patient care and health policies.

On page 4 you will read how our School’s new undergraduate and doctoral nursing students’ research journals provide them with a platform from which to share their research. You will also learn how Penn Nursing has become a valuable collaborator across campus, how we are using our voice across non-traditional sectors as well as how our School community members are sought after to lend their time, talents and voice to influence policies.

Nurses have always been innovators! However, now nurses utilize these innovations for a wide scope of influence. On page 14, you will read how, as researchers, we leverage inquiry to develop effective and productive programs of care and enhance the science of nursing.

You will also learn how, through inquiry, we are implementing and evaluating innovative devices and practices, advancing care for more vulnerable and marginalized populations.

Clinical practice is the heart and soul of the discipline of nursing. It’s how we learn to be nurses, become accomplished teachers, and develop as productive researchers. On page 18 you will learn about our clinical partnerships as well as our new undergraduate curriculum and innovative educational trajectories, developed to enhance clinical judgment and promote careers

in research and teaching. We have prepared our graduates to take the lead in the care of patients, families and communities as well as in advancing nursing science.

We have strong partners. As nurses, nurse educators and researchers, we can’t make a difference if we are not engaged with others.

On page 8 you will read about how we created a highly effective mentoring program and how we maintain an environment that nurtures communities of scholars.

The remainder of my tenure will go quickly!

But my focus during that time, and afterwards, will continue to give voice to women’s issues, advance the discipline of nursing and empower the vulnerable and marginalized. I know that our School will continue to be at the forefront of inquiry and innovation, mentorship and sponsorship, and that we have a momentum upon which we will continue to build. Having

been immersed in our Penn Nursing and HUP Alumni communities, I have absolutely no doubt that their loyalty, advice and support will continue to propel the School to provide the very best in nursing education, research and practice and to make a difference in the world.

Thank you for your help and support, for your counsel and advice, and for your loyalty and generosity.

Snow or shine, it has been a most joyful journey.

Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN; the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing; Counsel General Emerita, International Council on Women’s Health Issues; and, until recently, the International Council of Nurses Global Ambassador for the Girl Child Initiative.

www.nursing.upenn.edu

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Cultivating a More Powerful Voice in Nursing

Now, as never before, the voice of nursing is being heard and respected at the bedside, in the healthcare setting and at the policy table.

Nurses, nurse educators and nurse researchers are serving in ever more central roles as thought leaders and as strong, positive champions of change with regard to quality and efficiency in the delivery of healthcare. Penn Nursing has been at the forefront of helping nursing students develop and practice their professional voices, and providing nurse educators and nurse 4

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researchers an inclusive and inspirational environment to exercise their voices in order to effectively influence the profession, the people and the communities they serve.

Strengthening nursing leadership Nursing is inherently inter-professional.

Collaboration allows all healthcare professionals to share their expertise and experiences in order to influence the questions and solutions around healthcare issues. Through collaboration,

“We look forward to thinking even more systematically about how we can have an even

stronger voice in the [national healthcare] debates as we move forward.”

Dr. Patricia D’Antonio

professionals not only learn to develop their voices, but also learn the value of listening and interacting with others. At Penn Nursing, two academic departments work together to demonstrate the value of collaboration and ensure nursing faculty have opportunities to develop and use their voices. The Department of Family and Community Health and the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences lend their key intellectual and administrative leadership to nursing and the University community.

“There is considerable debate in the academic literature about how departments can foster and reward inter-professional research and teaching,” says Patricia D’Antonio, GRN’92, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Killebrew-Censits Endowed Term Chair in Undergraduate Education, and Chair of Department of Family and Community Health.

“This structure strengthens nursing’s voice in decisions about the worth, value and credibility ascribed to inter-professional research and can set the standard for how this kind of research and teaching can be recognized and rewarded.”

Key to the success of collaborative work performed by the departments is a commitment to excellence and innovation in teaching and practice. “Our faculty members constantly seek feedback to always make sure they sit at the cutting edge of innovation in research, practice and teaching,” says Dr. D’Antonio.

The Department of Family and Community Health focuses research, education and practice on decreasing health disparities. The department’s faculty investigates, teaches and translates into practice behavioral models and interventions to change the behaviors of those at risk for disease and, thus, directly improve the health of those with chronic conditions.

“Today the nation is talking about the importance of recalibrating our health and educational systems to emphasize health promotion and prevention, but this has long been the focus of our department. We are thinking even more systematically about how we can have an even stronger voice in the debates as we move forward,” says Dr. D’Antonio.

Similarly, the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences mentors and supports a community of scholars in order to develop leaders who strive to understand physical, psychosocial and behavioral health from multiple perspectives, including biological, social, political and historical.

They communicate this knowledge with a wide range of healthcare influencers in order to enhance patient care, symptom management and the health of the public.

Jennifer A. Pinto-Martin, PhD, MPH, Viola MacInnes/

Independence Professor of Nursing, is chair of the department and recently-named executive director of the Center for Public Health Initiatives. As a renowned scholar of public health, she is especially focused on leveraging collegial collaboration to integrate knowledge across disciplines in order to address the most important public health challenges around the world.

“The Biobehavioral Health Sciences Department houses an interdisciplinary faculty of nurses, nutrition scientists, pharmacologists, physiologists, epidemiologists and sociologists,” Dr. Pinto-Martin explains. “It is important that the approach to today’s complex health problems is a multi-disciplinary one and we are proud to have a department that integrates so many important perspectives in its research and scholarship.”

Faculty in both departments are committed to inter-professional health research and actively work to promote this type of learning on Penn’s campus.

Opposite: Nurse Leaders in the Making – Nearly 60 Penn Nursing students are part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program to increase diversity in nursing nationwide.

“The combination of the two departments brings a richness to any scholarly inquiry and any research endeavor,” she adds. “Faculty in both departments are engaged in research from the basic, cellular level variety of research to the large data-set, analytic variety, and this breadth is critical to the future of nursing research.”

Amplifying student voices Giving students the opportunity to exercise their voices is an important part of education at Penn Nursing. Two student-run journals are examples

www.nursing.upenn.edu

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VOICE “Our themes aim to highlight topics that aren’t always most talked about – and sometimes

in need of our support for their voice to be heard.”

of how students learn and experience the opportunities and appropriate ways to express their opinions. The Journal of Student Nursing Research, launched in 2008, provides a forum for students to voice their views on current nursing-related topics and to publish their research. The Journal of Nursing Doctoral Students Scholarship – the first publication of its kind in the United States – was established in 2013 and is peer-reviewed and edited by Penn Nursing doctoral students.

“Research at all levels – undergraduate, graduate and doctoral – is a signature of Penn Nursing Science, and the high quality of both publications is an excellent example of our students’ commitment to leadership in the field of nursing,” says Linda J. Hollenback, MSEd, associate director of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

The Journal of Student Nursing Research allows student contributors to express themselves on diverse topics. “Our themes aim to highlight topics that aren’t always most talked about and

Caroline Bourassa, Nu’14

sometimes in need of our support for their voice to be heard,” says Caroline Bourassa, Nu’14, secretary of the School’s Organization of Student Nursing Research, which publishes the Journal. “Topics in the past have included LGBT, mental health and end-of-life care.”

The Journal’s reach extends beyond the Penn campus, explains Vanessa DiMaria, Nu’14, president of the School’s Organization of Student Nursing Research. “We are able to represent all types of research from all backgrounds and have been able to connect with researchers across the country. We are now getting submissions from nurses in the Midwest and even the West Coast,” she says.

The Journal of Nursing Doctoral Students Scholarship similarly provides an outlet for doctoral students to share their thoughts and opinions, to publish beginning student work such as concept or theoretical analyses, and to highlight their research briefs on pilot work.

“With Penn Nursing being one of the premier institutions and having such a strong reputation

Dean Afaf I. Meleis and Penn President Amy Gutmann at the 2010 International Council on Women’s Health Issues (ICOWHI) Symposium.

“I believe we all have the right and the responsibility to develop and exercise our own voices, and learn from and respect the diversity of the other voices around us.”

“My voice evolved over time as I observed inequities and injustices first in my birth place in Egypt, then in my work place in the United States, then to my disappointment in every corner of the world,” explains Penn Nursing Dean Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN. “My family was instrumental in allowing me to question, to debate and to voice my frustrations about the status quo,” says Dr. Meleis. “Growing up under the oppression of colonialism was a definite catalyst in building my understanding of all the other -isms in the world.”

Two experiences early in her life were especially compelling. “When I was about 12 years old, my best friend, who was my age, was sent away to be married to her cousin,” Dr. Meleis explains. “It was devastating. I saw that for some women and 6

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girls, choice was not part of their life. At the same time, I was observing my mother’s midwifery practice and watched the interactions she had with her patients. I learned firsthand about the vulnerability of women, as well as their incredible inner strength and power.”

Dr. Meleis keenly recalls sitting on the bench where her mother’s patients would sit. “A husband would bring his wife, or a mother would bring her daughter, with questions about virginity and fertility. I would listen to their conversations and observe how my mother listened, cared and supported the women,” Dr. Meleis explains. “She would then go on, inspiring me that together we could change things for women and that education and earning a living were the keys to women’s independence.”

Dr. Meleis has made a career of encouraging those in her sphere of influence to exercise their voices, especially to influence the health and welfare of women. She is President and Council General Emerita of the International Council on Women’s Health Issues (ICOWHI), is a member of the Bush Institute’s Women’s Initiative Policy Advisory Council established by First Lady Laura Bush, and until recently she served as the Global Ambassador for the Girl Child Initiative of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). She is also on the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health.

“I believe we all have the right and the responsibility to develop and exercise our own voices, and learn from and respect the diversity of the other voices around us,” she says.

Paule V. Joseph, GR’15, MSN, CRNP, CRRN, CTN-B, serves as editor-in-chief of Penn Nursing’s Journal of Nursing Doctoral Students Scholarship.

Ms. Joseph’s research is focused on improving the health of minority and underserved populations.

for innovation and leadership, the development of this doctoral student-led journal only feels natural,” says Journal co-editor Justine S. Sefcik, GR’15, MS, RN. “Our ability to develop and launch this journal here at Penn Nursing is a testament to the doctoral education that we are receiving.

We are in an environment where we can further develop our leadership skills and take on initiatives that we feel strongly about while constantly receiving support and mentorship from our faculty members. We are so excited to have had the opportunity to work on the inaugural issue of the journal and to give doctoral students an explicit venue for their voices.”

The Journal fulfills a number of exciting missions to make significant contributions to the advancement of nursing scholarship. “It has the potential to contribute to the development of the next generation of nursing scholars and to be a catalyst for dialogue between doctoral nursing students around the world regarding nursing education and practice,” says Maxim Topaz, GR’16, MS, RN, Journal co-editor.

Being a sound voice across campus and the world Penn Nursing is committed to local, national and international partnerships and interdisciplinary collaborations to advance knowledge that will influence healthcare practice and policies. In Philadelphia, the School has teamed up with The Agnes Irwin School, a private Philadelphia-area high school for girls, to teach a class about global health. The initiative, led by Loretta Sweet Jemmott, GNu’82, GR’87, PhD, FAAN, RN, the van Ameringen Professor in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, is the first program of this type between an independent high school and the School of Nursing.

Major healthcare initiatives, championed by nurse educators and researchers, have been announced from the Penn Nursing campus, including Governor Rendell’s Prescription for

Pennsylvania bill, allowing advanced-practice nurses, physicians’ assistants and dental hygienists to practice to the full extent of their education and training; and First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden’s encouragement of nurse educators to identify, treat and conduct research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as part of their Joining Forces national initiative. On the international front, the School partners with selected peer institutions to affect social and healthcare change, including the Department of Nursing Studies, The University of Hong Kong; Hebrew University-Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem; and College of Arts and Sciences, Hyogo University, Japan. In addition, the School is a valued partner with a number of international organizations including the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centers, the Global Health Council and International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing.

“As nurses, we must uncover and apply our greatest capabilities for leadership. We need to seek out opportunities where we can apply our skills, knowledge and experiences as well as research and best practices in critical thinking to influence the constant transformation that is inevitable in healthcare,” says Dean Meleis.

“This is how we use our voices and show our communities, our nation and the world how much we care about being the catalyst for positive change.”

www.nursing.upenn.edu

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Engaging a Community Through Partnership When Penn Nursing adopted its tagline Care to Change the World® in 2006, we acknowledged the tradition of both the School and the nursing profession as integral in developing partnerships to improve the individual, family and community.

In the School’s mission of research, education, practice and policy, it is these partnerships which create engagement, generate impact and promote learning that contribute to the broader society. Care to Change the World is more than a tagline. It is a statement about the school’s commitment to ensure that its entire community is united by the same ultimate goals for their education, science and practice – to save lives and improve health on a global basis.

Local engagement achieves results

Dean Afaf Meleis interacts with LIFE member.

Opposite: Part of Penn Nursing’s Healthy In Philadelphia initiative, the CityStep program began in 2004 as an after-school dance program at West Philadelphia’s Anna Howard Shaw Middle School. Since then, the program has expanded to include additional neighborhood schools.

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The Philadelphia area presents myriad opportunities for Penn nursing students to learn about the practice of care by engaging with patients and learning about their healthcare concerns. Two programs, the Living Independently For Elders (LIFE) program and the Healthy In Philadelphia (HIP) program demonstrate how Penn Nursing engages with and makes a difference to a diverse local community.

Since 1998, the Living Independently For Elders (LIFE) program has advanced a unique, interdisciplinary system of all-inclusive healthcare for frail seniors in West and Southwest Philadelphia. Funded by Medicare and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Public Welfare, LIFE offers these seniors, faced with probable nursing home placement, the choice to instead remain in their community, live in their homes and receive care in the Philadelphia-based LIFE center.

“We provide nurse practitioner-based primary care to more than 400 older adults through this program,” says Pamela Z. Cacchione, PhD, APRN, GNP, BC, Ralston House Endowed Term Chair in Gerontological Nursing and associate professor of Geropsychiatric Nursing. “Our interdisciplinary model of care delivers results, and has achieved high family and community satisfaction.”

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In 2013, the program expanded to serve senior citizens in the Yeadon, Lansdowne, Upper Darby and Havertown communities in nearby Delaware County, PA. Penn’s LIFE program remains the first and only one in the nation to be owned and operated by a school of nursing. This program provides direct care to patients, but also offers learning opportunities for students as well as rich sources of data for researchers studying a range of health concerns.

“Our undergraduate students have a unique opportunity to work directly with a diverse, underserved population who require complex care,” Dr. Cacchione explains. “In addition, they have been involved in research projects that have helped to decrease the number of 9-1-1 calls from LIFE members and developed a falls database that has helped them learn about how to put appropriate interventions in place and advance our mission of care. Penn Nursing doctoral students have worked with seniors in the LIFE program to understand their fears and concerns about falling, and how the neighborhood environment impacts those concerns.”

An Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course, launched in 2005, leverages collaboration among pediatric acute care nurse practitioner students, high school students in West Philadelphia and Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships to deliver a dynamic collection of outreach activities to improve the health of adults and children.

“A major goal of our program is to collaborate with the neighboring community – many of whom are at high risk for diabetes – regarding interventions to prevent the disease through good nutrition, exercise and recognition of warning signs,” says Terri H. Lipman, GNu’83, GRN’91, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition, professor of Nursing of Children and newly-named interim assistant dean for Community Engagement.

To achieve that, Penn Nursing faculty and graduate students partner with high school students enrolled in Penn’s Urban Nutrition Initiative, to help children and adults fight obesity, a key factor in Type 2 diabetes, through a unique dance program called Dance for Health.

www.nursing.upenn.edu

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ENGAGEMENT “I am excited about our focus on the health of the community using community engagement and building community

partnerships as our approach to health promotion.”

DR. Loretta Sweet Jemmott

“Our partnership with the West Philadelphia community has opened the door to a strong relationship with residents of the community around Penn. It has allowed us to work with individuals, schools and community groups to fight diabetes together,” says Dr. Lipman.

Dr. Terri Lipman and a Penn Nursing student attend to a child at daycare.

Similarly, Penn Nursing’s Healthy In Philadelphia (HIP) program engages with a broader West Philadelphia community. Launched in 2005, the program works with the community to deliver a dynamic collection of outreach activities to improve the health of adults and children. The HIP program is growing exponentially, linking students, faculty and staff with ever-greater opportunities to collaborate with the community in ways designed to improve residents’ health. Those links start with grass-roots engagement, led by faculty.

“For students to become fully engaged, they need an opportunity to immerse themselves in the community,” says Rebecca S. Phillips, MSN, RN, director for the Center for Professional Development as well as the HIP Program. “An excellent way to begin is with a walking tour, such as the one I led students on recently. We were accompanied by a community nurse who is also the director of a local church’s health ministry. Spending as much time as possible with persons who live in and know the community intimately is an incredible gift for students.”

Engagement is a primary learning objective for Penn Nursing students. “In addition to having interest and commitment, students need knowledge and skills to become truly engaged with patients and with the community,” says Dr. Lipman. “To be engaged is to be involved in the partnership-based goals and priorities of the patient or community without the power differential that occurs in most healthcare interactions. The students’ self-reflection leads to greater understanding of the meaning of engagement. This is a complex, interactive, dynamic process that requires guidance, mentorship and role modeling.”

National engagement informs public policy Penn Nursing faculty are among the world’s top educators and researchers and their work informs public policy locally, nationally and around the globe. Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Equities Research unites rigorous science, a social justice framework and community engagement to advance health equity, promote health and prevent disease through research, education and practice.

“I am excited about our focus on the health of the community using community engagement and building community partnerships as our approach to health promotion,” says Loretta Sweet Jemmott, GNu’82, GR’87, PhD, FAAN, RN, the van Ameringen Professor in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing and the Center’s director. Innovative research at the Center focuses on engaging with vulnerable, underserved, marginalized populations in order to attain health equity.

“There is a depth and breadth of research and researchers who are developing contextually relevant interventions to promote health,” she says. “Examples includes projects by Anne M. Teitelman, PhD, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, Patricia Bleznak Silverstein and Howard A. Silverstein Endowed Term Chair in Global Women’s Health, associate professor of Nursing, and Terri H. Lipman, GNu’83, GRN’91, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, Miriam Stirl Endowed Term professor of Nutrition, Professor of Nursing of Children.”

Dr. Teitelman is assessing a mobile device application to determine its effect on improving women’s adherence to preventive care to reduce the risk of cervical cancer. Dr. Lipman is focusing on decreasing disparities in the identification, treatment and outcomes of children with endocrine disorders. “Both of these projects are great examples of the research at the Center that reflects the diversity of health problems that impact vulnerable populations, the myriad questions and methodologies needed to promote health and

Dr. Loretta Sweet Jemmott leading the ‘Interventions that Work’ seminar session during the Summer Nursing Research Institute.

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Penn Nursing Center for Global Women’s Health fellow Lisa Hilmi, MPH, RN, recently visited Cameroon where she conducted an assessment of three villages for a water quality and access improvement project, in collaboration with Penn Engineers without Borders.

trust and allows us to build programs from the ground up and promote sustainability,” she says.

Global engagement advances nursing education and healthcare

health equity and how engagement is the starting point in tackling critical health needs of different communities,” says Dr. Jemmott.

Dr. Jemmott is also a leader in promoting health and preventing disease through research, education and practice.

She is one of the nation’s foremost experts in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention. She and her team have received more than $100 million in federal funding to design and evaluate a series of HIV/STD sexual risk reduction behavioral interventions, which have demonstrated remarkable success in reducing HIV/STD risk behaviors and reduced the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases.

“I believe our great success at the Center is because we bring a clear commitment to and involvement with the community, which builds

The School of Nursing also effectively addresses global health challenges and the need for advanced nursing education with a rich program of international activities and leadership development opportunities. In 2011, in correspondence with the United Nations initiatives regarding the empowerment of women globally, Penn Nursing established the Center for Global Women’s Health. This interdisciplinary cadre of faculty and students collaborate on women’s health scholarship, education and clinical practice relevant to global issues.

“We are seeking to educate nurses and nurse scientists to be members of and contribute to a global society. The overall vision of the Center is to advance health for women and girls, and to accomplish that goal, nurses, nurse practitioners and nurse scientists need to be educated to meet those healthcare needs,” says Marilyn Sawyer Sommers, Nu’72, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Lillian S. Brunner Professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing and director of the Center.

In April 2012, Dean Afaf Meleis partnered with School of Medicine Dean J. Larry Jameson to host a symposium on interprofessionalism.

“My first priority was to make this a safe and encouraging environment for people to freely converse and exchange ideas.”

Engagement is the essential ingredient in patient-centered care. Penn Nursing Dean Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN felt drawn to the tenant of engagement early in her career.

“When I was growing up in Alexandria, Egypt, it was a mecca of diversity,” she explains. “We had the Greeks, the Italians, the French, and the Jews and Christians as neighbors and as business owners and I learned the value of deeply connecting to people to hear different perspectives and worldviews.”

When she came to the United States to study nursing, sociology and psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, she experienced engagement on a different level.

“Everybody was from somewhere else, and we all became each other’s families and support systems,” she explains. “Every holiday or celebration found me in someone else’s home, experiencing their hospitality and learning about their traditions. I learned the meaning of generosity of spirit during that time in my life.”

Those experiences continue to inform Dr. Meleis’ administration of Penn Nursing. Early in her tenure, she made it a goal to get to know her students, faculty, staff and alumni as individuals, and to connect them to each other. “My first priority was to make this a safe and encouraging environment for people to freely converse and exchange ideas,” she says. “I wanted to interact and hear the different voices, ideas and perspectives of members of our School community.”

Dr. Meleis organized social networking, think tank and conversation, producing events for faculty, staff and students, and provided a gracious venue and warm hospitality that resulted in animated conversation. Receptions, breakfasts and fireside chats at her home drew faculty, department leaders, administrators, undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and educators.

“My entire goal for these events was to keep my fingers on the pulse of the School, to connect with the people who are the face of our School, or who are related to the School, and help them all achieve a deeper connection to our mission, core values and strategic goals,” she says.

“Nursing is based on interactions; to truly interact one must be totally engaged. And, we can’t care and make a difference for others if we don’t care enough about one another.” www.nursing.upenn.edu

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ENGAGEMENT “In a society faced with ever-increasing national and global health disparities and lack of access to quality care, it is crucial to have diverse

faculty conducting research, educating future nurse leaders and shaping practice

to improve the health of the nation and the world.”

DR. NANCY C. TKACS

The Center provides opportunities for students to travel and broaden their educational and healthcare perspective, as well as make a difference to the populations they serve. Several recent projects include health promotion for women and girls in northern Greece; midwifery education in Haiti, Mexico and Trinidad; and a health research project focused on identifying, supporting and rehabilitating female victims of human trafficking and sex work.

“These particular projects are the focus of a great deal of excitement and promise,” says Dr. Sommers. “We have a good opportunity to receive funding for all three and have great hopes to begin to have some concrete outcomes from the projects in the next year.”

Student international experiences are underpinned by coursework to help them understand how to interact in the healthcare system in developing countries; how to be respectful to under-resourced communities; and how to be of service to communities that invite them in. But providing successful global exposure to students is an art; Penn Nursing faculty have learned how to do this well, and learned what best outcomes to measure for success.

“A faculty member cannot just drop a student into a new region of the world that has previously been unknown without preparation,” says Dr. Sommers. “There are issues of respect, safety, language, culture, law and more. People are complex and societies are layered and nuanced. It takes some time and presence to develop relationships that make for a meaningful learning experience. Faculty need to be on the ground first (often for years) to set up experiences, develop relationships with communities, meet community leaders, receive initial acceptance, and understand the subtleties of working within non-Western cultures or societies that are under-resourced.”

Penn Nursing students are excited by the opportunities to partner abroad, and the School’s faculty members adroitly guide them in how to approach the experience.

“Once exposed to circumstances and healthcare abroad through a course with our experienced 12

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and dedicated faculty mentors, students return to the United States transformed in their views of the world and of themselves as nurses and human beings on this planet. The study abroad and service learning experiences foster a sense of connectedness and social responsibility across boundaries,” says Marjorie A. Muecke, PhD, RN, FAAN, assistant dean for Global Health Affairs; associate director, WHO Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership and adjunct professor of Nursing.

Dr. Muecke points to two particular recent outreach initiatives in the Middle East and India.

In 2013, Penn Nursing began coordinating a physician training project in rural India, including assessment of learning needs and development of a primary healthcare curriculum. This summer, eight Penn Nursing interns will consult with the King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia in clinical theory and practice for its BSN program, which is expected to strengthen nursing education in the Middle East.

International learning experiences help students develop more self-awareness, cultural awareness and an understanding of how they can affect the provision of healthcare or the development of nursing science.

“Our students always learn much more from the people in the international experiences than they ever learn from us as faculty members,” says Dr. Sommers. “So we hope to train the next generation of women’s health scientists, practitioners and leaders to live in the world, understand strategies to promote health and prevent disease in partnership with the global community so that, as healthcare providers and scientists, our students live in the world with more insight, compassion and knowledge.”

Diversity enhances the scope of engagement A diverse faculty at Penn Nursing make a difference in how students learn to apply their knowledge and engage with the varied populations they care for. “The importance of diversity to nursing science is incalculable. In a society faced with ever-increasing national and global health disparities and lack of access to

Professor William McCool, PhD, CNM, and lecturer Mamie Guidera, MSN, CNM, spent a week teaching, precepting Haitian midwifery students, and providing direct midwifery care in Hinche, Haiti in partnership with Midwives for Haiti.

quality care, it is crucial to have diverse faculty conducting research, educating future nurse leaders and shaping practice to improve the health of the nation and the world,” says Nancy C. Tkacs, Nu’75, GNu’77, GNC’05, GNu’06, PhD, RN,

associate professor of Nursing and assistant dean for Diversity and Cultural Affairs.

Penn Nursing Dean Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN, has encouraged an engaged faculty atmosphere which has resulted in the development of a very successful faculty mentorship program, used as a model by the University for faculty across campus.

“The faculty mentorship program was instituted several years ago in recognition of the fact that recruitment of junior faculty is most effective if they are entering an environment where they feel personally supported by one or more senior faculty,” explains Dr. Tkacs. The program pairs new faculty (either newly hired assistant professors, or more senior faculty who come to Penn from other institutions), with at least one faculty mentor. Mentorship meetings can occur informally or formally, although there is one annual mentor meeting that occurs formally and includes the department chair.

“An important reason for the success of our mentorship program also lies in the breadth of support it offers faculty,” explains Patricia D’Antonio, GRN’92, PhD, RN, FAAN, the KillebrewCensits Endowed Term Chair in Undergraduate Education, and Chair of the Department of Family and Community Health. “Rather than rely on a traditional mechanism of a single relationship between mentor and faculty, our program provides a team of mentors for all the different roles in research, teaching and service that faculty hold. It also supports interprofessional initiatives by looking to mentors both within and outside the School of Nursing.”

Penn Nursing students particularly appreciate the strong engagement and commitment of the School’s faculty. “We have true content experts teaching with authenticity and integrity, and the students always comment on the value this adds to their Penn Nursing education,” says Dr. Tkacs. “The strong engagement, clinical expertise and integrity of numerous people at Penn Nursing helps to reduce the cultural divide between the Penn campus and the surrounding community in ways that grow mutual respect and admiration.” www.nursing.upenn.edu

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Inspiring Innovation, Inquiry and Insight to Transform Care Inquiry and innovation go hand-in-hand in the practice of nursing. From observing and thinking to reflecting and asking critical questions, nurses, nurse educators and nurse researchers leverage inquiry to innovate, and use innovations to advance practice. Penn Nursing is blazing the trail in this area, illustrated by our premier research institution led by Penn Nursing scientists who impact and promote healthcare around the world. These internationally renowned thought leaders are not only dedicated to developing and furthering the most innovative nursing education and clinical practice, but to creating the tools, technology and solutions that advance health and meet changing human needs.

Encouraging nurses as innovators

The Neonur is designed to reduce the risk of failure to thrive (FTT), which affects half of all newborns with congenital heart defects.

This technologically advanced feeding device was conceived by Penn Nursing’s Barbara Medoff-Cooper, PhD, RN, FAAN, and developed in collaboration with Penn Engineering.

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National and global healthcare challenges are multiplying and evolving at a frenzied pace. To meet those challenges, nurses, nurse researchers and nurse educators are becoming innovators, impacting healthcare with solutions that include development of medical devices, information technology and home health products. Kathryn H. Bowles, GR’96, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, van Ameringen Chair in Nursing Excellence and professor of Nursing, is cofounder of RightCare Solutions, a software company based on her interprofessional team’s invention, the D2S2, designed to identify hospitalized patients in need of care after discharge. She advocates for nurses to embrace an entrepreneurial spirit in order to make change happen on the patient-care level.

“I consider myself both a nurse innovator and a nurse entrepreneur because my colleague Dr. Mary Naylor and I are co-inventors of the D2S2 innovation, and former Penn student, Eric Heil and I started the RightCare Solutions business together,” says Dr. Bowles, who encourages nurses to think creatively with regard to what they already know. “My program of research has produced innovations in nursing

UPfront | Spring 2014

using the electronic health record (EHR). Only a few nurses have taken advantage of the EHR by using the data for research or to deliver interventions.”

Dr. Bowles is excited about further entrepreneurial opportunities to use the EHR because of its great potential to simultaneously impact many people. “The EHR gives nurse entrepreneurs an avenue to develop creative solutions that can be delivered rapidly and widely,” adding that it will also, “be the source of large amounts of anonymous data that can be mined for patterns and hypothesis generation and therefore will lead us to generate new knowledge and enhanced understanding of relationships among patient characteristics never before studied.”

While modern innovations are often linked to technological advancements, some of today’s most notable nursing innovations are attributed to intellectual contributions. “We think of innovation today as relating to new technology,” says Yvonne Paterson, PhD, associate dean for Research, “but ideas that positively impact human health have a rich history in nursing.”

Dr. Paterson has focused her research endeavors on developing immunotherapeutics to target cancers in women, specifically cervical and breast cancers, which informs her expertise in teaching cancer immunology to nursing PhD students. By using genetically-altered Listeria monocytogenes, Dr. Paterson is making significant progress in developing a vaccination to fight cervical cancer. Her approach, which has yielded promising results in clinical trials, is currently in the clinical development stage.

Additionally, nursing scientists at the Paterson laboratory have entered the early stages of leveraging Dr. Paterson’s research to develop a potentially life-saving vaccine to treat breast cancer.

As a dynamic force in nursing innovation, Dr. Paterson preaches what she practices, offering practical wisdom to prospective innovators. Her course, Biotechnology Commercialization: The Path from Invention to (continued on page 16)

“With Internet

technology, my research team and I can get rich data on participants’ hidden experiences

related to their health and illness issues.”

DR. Eun-Ok Im

“Nursing requires us to be inquisitive and to continuously ask questions.”

“It may surprise you to learn that I had a particular ‘a-ha’ moment a few years ago with regard to the role of games in inspiring innovation,” explains Penn Nursing Dean Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN.

world. Games are not my thing. But I started reading and learned that games help us problem-solve, connect with others, develop teamwork and think creatively. That’s what nursing is all about!”

Each year the University assigns all incoming freshman a book to read, and then invites the entire freshman class to discuss the book in groups led by different University leaders.

No stranger to scientific inquiry, Dr. Meleis’ scholarship on global health, immigrant and women’s health, and on the theoretical development of the nursing discipline is world-renowned. “Nursing requires us to be inquisitive and to continuously ask questions,” she says. “But this book inspired me to a different kind of inquiry; it inspired me to think of games as tools for learning and of innovations as the means to better healthcare.”

“I always enjoyed participating in this program, and looked forward to reading the assigned book and then meeting with small groups of freshman to discuss it,” says Dr. Meleis. “But this one year, we were reading Jane McGonigal’s Reality is Broken, a book about how gaming changes the

Research by Dr. Kathryn Bowles is cited in The Science Coalition’s October 2013 report Sparking Economic Growth 2.0.

Dr. Meleis challenged her faculty and students to develop games and applications that target healthcare challenges. Students from nursing, engineering, computer science, law, medicine and business collaborated in teams to devise solutions and learn from each other.

“This initiative caught on like fire and our Game Solutions for Healthcare Symposium is a new learning experience that helps our students understand the value of inquiry and the innovation that comes from collaboration,” she says. www.nursing.upenn.edu

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SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY “The diverse group of nurses who participate in this program will get the skills they need to advance the science and lead the profession. …These will be the faculty and scientists of tomorrow who will be advancing nursing and improving

patient care.”

Dr. Julie Fairman

Market, provides a concept-to-product framework for Masters in Translational Research students, interested graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. “Thinking about healthcare innovation in entrepreneurial ways is a relatively new concept for nursing,” says Dr. Paterson, “yet it is incredibly important.”

Leading the way in nursing innovation is Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN, the Professor and Marjorie O. Rendell Endowed Professor in Healthy Nursing Transitions. She is a pioneer in the novel approach of using Internet and computer technologies to better understand gender and ethnic differences in cancer pain, menopausal symptoms and physical activity.

“With Internet technology, my research team and I can get rich data on participants’ hidden experiences related to their health and illness issues, which would not be possible in face-toface interactions,” says Dr. Im. “The findings from my studies could provide directions for culturally competent approaches and treatment in these populations.”

MyDiaText is a text message goal reminder system for recently diagnosed Type 1 diabetes patients aged 10-14.

To help accelerate health innovations and encourage entrepreneurship, Penn Nursing established the Health Technology Innovation Incubator. Here, teams of students, faculty and staff from the schools of nursing, engineering, law, medicine and business learn by doing and collaborating. They also deliver marketable solutions that are impacting health on a global scale.

“Penn Nursing’s Health Technology Innovation Incubator aims to accelerate solutions which improve health, reduce budget deficits and stimulate economic development,” says Nancy P. Hanrahan, GR’04, PhD, RN, CS, FAAN, the Dr. Lenore H. Kurlowicz Term Associate Professor of Nursing.

Dr. Hanrahan is leading a team at the Incubator to develop a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) toolkit to help civilian registered nurses better assess and treat PTSD in the nation’s veterans and military service members. The Incubator has also hosted other successful collaborations, including Terri H. Lipman, GNu’83, GRN’91, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, who, along with Penn Engineering and the Diabetes Center for Children at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, developed MyDiaText, a text message goal reminder system for recently diagnosed Type 1 diabetes patients aged 10-14.

Barbara Medoff-Cooper, PhD, RN, FAAN, also collaborated with Penn Engineering at the Incubator to develop a novel feeding device that may decrease the risk of failure to thrive (FTT), which currently affects half of all newborns with congenital heart defects.

In order to translate nursing knowledge into new strategies to advance healthcare, Penn Nursing strengthened and expanded the Office of Nursing Research (ONR) under the tenure of Claire M. Fagin, PhD, FAAN, RN. During the tenure of Penn Nursing Dean Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN, the ONR increased its support of faculty and students to provide researchers with assistance throughout the lifespan of a research grant. Researchers can take advantage of support for idea conceptualization, identification of funding and proposal and budget development. Faculty investigators are assigned a grants specialist for support, and student researchers are connected to research partners

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Penn Nursing is one of the few schools of nursing in the U.S. to host a dedicated nursing research lab – a vital, shared resource where students gain an understanding of the scientific method through the hands-on experience of conducting lab procedures and collecting quality data.

and mentors. The ONR also provides savvy statistical support, conducts mock proposal reviews that result in a high success rate and offers guidance with regulatory compliance.

In addition, the ONR hosts the expertly staffed and state-of-the art Laboratory of Innovative and Translational Nursing Research – one of only a few in the country hosted by a nursing school.

“Scientific discovery requires team work. It requires an interdisciplinary cast of characters with varying perspectives and expertise,” says Joseph R. Libonati, PhD, FAHA, associate professor of Nursing and director of the Laboratory. “The Laboratory of Innovative and Translational Nursing Research strives to answer research questions by having interdisciplinary scientific teams coalesce on specific problems. Our intent is that findings made in the laboratory can be used to improve patient care.”

The collaborative environment inspires translational research that positively impacts healthcare.

“We connect Penn Nursing investigators with a broad network of multidisciplinary research colleagues in the Wharton School, Penn Medicine, Penn Dental, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and Veterinary Medicine to help them capitalize on overlapping areas of exploration and collaboration,” says Abigail Cohen, PhD, assistant dean for Research.

Educating tomorrow’s nurse innovators To meet the demands of a reformed healthcare and public health system, the thought leaders behind Penn Nursing Science are pioneering some of the most innovative coursework and learning opportunities in nursing education.

Among these is the newly-established Future of Nursing Scholars program designed to train the next generation of nurse scientists.

Established by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the program addresses the recommendation from the Institute of Medicine to double the number of nurses with doctorates in order to support more nurse leaders, promote nurse-led science and discovery and put more educators in place to prepare the next generation of nurses. The School is the national office for the program.

“This program was designed to broaden the capacity of the nursing workforce by offering more PhD opportunities to promising nurses,” explains Julie Fairman, GNu’80, GRN’92, PhD, RN, FAAN, co-director of the Future of Nursing Scholars program.

“The diverse group of nurses who participate in this program will get the knowledge and skills they need to advance the science and lead the profession. We will graduate the first cohort of scholars in 2018. These will be the faculty and scientists of tomorrow who will be advancing nursing and improving patient care.” www.nursing.upenn.edu

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Infusing Clinical Judgment Across the Education Continuum

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Today’s tech-savvy nursing students find the most advanced technologies integrated into the curriculum in the newly renovated, high-tech Anatomy-Physiology Lab.

A nurse’s clinical judgment is at the heart of care. The nurses that all of us want at our own bedsides exercise strong clinical judgment in critical moments when lives are on the line.

They have been taught to quickly and effectively recognize and process aspects of a clinical situation, interpret that information and respond appropriately. At Penn Nursing, teaching clinical judgment takes on a “thinking-in-action” approach.

New undergraduate curriculum delivers clinical experience, sooner At Penn Nursing, a new undergraduate curriculum and enhanced clinical experiences ensure graduates are ready to meet the rigors of today’s and tomorrow’s healthcare arena.

The new curriculum introduces freshmen to case-based instruction that bridges the gap between class and clinical. It also builds on the use of technology in the classroom. “The curriculum at the undergraduate level has shifted profoundly,” says Cynthia A. Connolly, Nu’80, GR’99, GNC’01, PhD, RN, PNP, FAAN, associate professor of Nursing. “For example, students enter clinical experiences earlier than in the past, learn in a much more integrated fashion, benefit from leading-edge simulation, and have hands-on research experience. The length of time spent in community settings has doubled, in recognition of how the Affordable Care Act will change American healthcare and of nurses’ critical roles in managing that change. Finally, students spend much more time learning about health policy and the social determinants of health.”

This new integrated approach to nursing education supports the development of clinical judgment skills. “To cite just one example,” says Dr. Connolly, “learning that the relationship between what occurs anatomically and physiologically and how nursing assessment is based on that understanding helps students understand how what they are doing with their stethoscopes correlates with what is happening inside the body and how care decisions are made.”

Early results from a sophisticated evaluation spearheaded by Rosemary Polomano, HUP’74, Nu’76, GNu’79, PhD, RN, FAAN, indicate that the curriculum is achieving its goals. “Students are particularly enthusiastic about the fact that clinical occurs

earlier and about the integrated nature of anatomy, physiology and physical assessment and pathophysiology, pharmacology and therapeutics,” says Ann Marie Walsh Brennan, PhD, RN, practice associate professor of Nursing.

“Transfer student interest has increased from positive word-of-mouth from current students.”

Additional program innovations have also distinguished Penn Nursing in the way it integrates science and practice into learning. The 7,000-square-foot Helene Fuld Pavilion for Innovative Learning and Simulation features high-tech simulation equipment to provide nursing students with clinical practice in a safe, controlled setting. The curriculum and the Fuld Pavilion also bring Penn Nursing students together with other students from different disciplines to learn and develop inter-professional capabilities. “The expansion of inter-professional educational opportunities for our students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is very exciting,” says Deborah Becker, PhD, ACNP, BC, CCNS, assistant dean for Innovations in Simulation. “Providing simulations where students can work through patient scenarios and observe each other applying their knowledge helps them all to value the skills and attitudes that each member brings to patient care.”

Opposite: State-of-the-art simulated experiences offer Penn Nursing students across all levels of scholarship the opportunity to build essential competencies, critical-thinking skills and confidence.

Adding collaborative care to the education model Clinical judgment is not something practiced in a vacuum. Today, healthcare providers need to work in synchronization to improve efficiencies and allocation of resources and positively impact patient and provider satisfaction. Nurses, physicians and quality managers go on rounds together and meet regularly to discuss patient progress and discharge plans. Decisions about patient care happen in real time, informed jointly by this inter-professional team.

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CLINICAL JUDGMENT “The Demonstration has also enabled us to develop a joint

training program for nurse practitioners and

physician residents where the two disciplines train together in pairs, thus providing opportunities to learn directly about interdisciplinary

collaboration and practice.” Dr. Linda Aiken

Victoria Rich, PhD, RN, FAAN, recently retired chief nursing executive of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, with physician colleague Patrick J. Brennan, MD, has turned the ambition of collaborative care into a reality by creating a working model for a new era of inter-professional education and practice in healthcare. Starting sophomore year, Penn Nursing students gain clinical experiences in top-ranked clinical and research facilities, including The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center.

“These clinical partnerships expose students to the latest in evidence-based practice in small groups with low student-to-faculty ratios,” explains Dr. Rich. “Clinical exposure allows students to interact in small teams, introducing them to the socialization behavior of nurses, inter-professionalism and the concept of team care, all of which influence the development of clinical judgment.”

Enhancing graduate nurse education While we often think of the life-saving benefits of clinical judgment in hectic hospital environments, healthcare today is placing many demands on the need for more primary care providers such as nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and nurse midwives. Penn Nursing is working to overcome the barriers that exist to increasing the number of advanced practice nurses.

“Nursing schools, although they have plenty of applicants, cannot expand enrollments without access to clinical training sites,” explains Linda H. Aiken, PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN, the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing, professor of Sociology and director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research. “Currently, Medicare does not pay for the clinical training of graduate nurses as it does for graduate physicians through residency programs.”

Dr. Aiken is an authority on causes, consequences and solutions for nurse shortages in the United States and around the world and leads the International Hospital Outcomes

Penn Nursing undergraduate students explore the Electronic Medical Records system during their clinical rotation at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

“My mother was a fantastic role model… I learned very early the value of education …and how lived-experiences enriched decisions.”

A nurse’s clinical judgment is a sum of education and experience used to affect care for patients and populations. “It develops because you practice it and you practice it because you have a passion to make a change. Clinical judgment and theoretical knowledge are the tools we can use to positively affect the world,” says Penn Nursing Dean Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN.

university, and master’s and PhD degrees in public health and education respectively from Egyptian universities. “She loved her profession and she demonstrated how nursing can really make a difference, and particularly how nurse midwives can make a difference in the lives of people by empowering them and providing them with resources and with a support system,” she says.

“My mother was a fantastic role model, and I saw firsthand how wisdom and experiences made a difference to so many women in her practice as a nurse midwife. I learned very early the value of education but also I watched with awe how lived-experiences enriched decisions,” she says.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Dr. Meleis graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alexandria (1961), and earned an MS in nursing (1964), an MA in sociology (1966) and a PhD in Medical and Social Psychology (1968) from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2008, she was awarded the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) International Distinguished Leadership Award based on her

Dr. Meleis’ mother was the first woman in Egypt to get a bachelor’s degree from a United States 20

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outstanding work in the global healthcare community. In 2010, she was inducted into the UCLA School of Nursing Hall of Fame for her work in advancing and transforming nursing science. Her global honors reflect her well recognized contributions internationally.

“My mother’s pioneering work encouraged me to pursue my education and develop solid clinical judgment which was complemented by solid theoretical and research knowledge which I gained from many years of education and research.

Nursing is an incredible career and allows us to make a difference in the world. From there I developed a view of nursing as a fantastic profession and an incredible career, which provides many options, all of which touch people’s lives,” she says.

Consortium that studies the impact of nursing on patient outcomes in 13 countries. She is also architect of the Penn proposal for Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration, a national program to educate more advanced practice nurses (APRNs). The Demonstration is funded with $200 million by the Affordable Care Act, and includes the University of Pennsylvania and four other sites. “It will test whether nursing schools could significantly increase nurse practitioner enrollments if Medicare provided payment for their clinical training,” explains Dr. Aiken.

Penn’s initiative is called the Greater Philadelphia Graduate Nurse Education Network and involves all nine nursing schools that train APRNs. The Demonstration is in year two of the four-year program, and all five sites – Penn in Philadelphia; Duke in Raleigh, NC; Rush University in Chicago; Hermann Hospital in Houston; and Scottsdale Healthcare in Arizona – have successfully increased enrollments of APRNs. The Penn Demonstration aims to produce more than 1,000 additional APRNs in four years, over and above the number that would have been produced without Medicare funding.

The program has increased the opportunities for graduate nursing students to experience patient care in various settings, increasing the development of their clinical judgment. “Having

funds to pay clinical sites for precepting APRN students has opened up additional placements in nurse-managed primary care clinics where our students can experience and learn about independent decision-making first hand from expert nurse practitioners,” Dr. Aiken explains.

Advanced practice nurses are playing a key role in the delivery of healthcare, a role that will only grow as newly insured Americans seek care and the demand for healthcare services surges.

In the Demonstration, half of all clinical training is required to occur in non-hospital settings in the community and will provide APRNs with the primary care, preventive care, transitional care and the chronic care management skills needed to provide effective and well-coordinated care.

The program also helps increase healthcare provision as students help fill gaps in nonhospital community-based settings, including underserved areas.

“The Demonstration has also enabled us to develop a joint training program for nurse practitioners and physician residents where the two disciplines train together in pairs, thus providing opportunities to learn directly about interdisciplinary collaboration and practice,” says Dr. Aiken, who recently was appointed to an international Commission on Nursing from The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals. “This has been shown to improve quality of care for patients through improved clinical decision-making.”

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A Legacy in Pictures

and practice.” The fully renovated building bears the name of the third Dean of Penn Nursing Claire M. Fagin. (3)

In January 2002, Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN become the fifth dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

During the next 12.5 years, Dean Meleis added to Penn Nursing’s strong foundation and brought greater visibility and engagement to the School, to the science of nursing and to the profession.

(1)

In 2006, the School launched an analysis of its brand and reputation, resulting in a new logo, Penn Nursing Science, and tagline, Care to Change the World®. (4) The first emphasizes the School’s legacy of generating new knowledge while educating nurses prepared to deliver the best care, and the second focuses on the purpose behind its mission – impact. The new logo draws focus to the science of nursing and its impact on healthcare in a new and bold way.

During Meleis’ tenure, the school added two new research centers – The NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health (5) and the Center for Global Women’s Health – and expanded its Nursing Research Laboratory (6) where Penn Nursing faculty and students explore interactions among biological, behavioral and social factors to advance health.

In 2004, Penn Nursing launched the Where Science Leads campaign, which would become the most successful fundraising campaign ever undertaken by a school of nursing. When the campaign ended in 2010, $77.8 M had been raised for student financial aid, faculty support and innovative new programs. (2) Another campaign goal was to renovate the Nursing Education Building to, in the words of Dean Meleis, “have a physical home for the School that matched its excellence in education, science

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Meleis instituted two annual awards for Penn Nursing faculty, the Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Award (7) and the Norma M. Lang Distinguished Award for Scholarly Practice and Policy (8), to acknowledge the legacies of the School’s third and fourth deans, celebrate the faculty and give exposure to their science.

From hosting students at events at her home (9) to greeting them on campus (10), Dean Meleis’ engaging and warm personality is well-known.

Several new student groups, including the Minorities in Nursing Organization, the Male Association of Nursing at UPenn and Nurses at Penn Understanding Sexuality in Healthcare, have begun and flourished in an environment that embraces dialogue and diverse voices. In 2011, the undergraduate curriculum was revised with a new emphasis on developing future nurse leaders prepared with critical thinking skills and ready to serve as advocates for patients, families and providers. In fall 2012, the doors were opened on

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an expanded simulation learning center, the Helene Fuld Pavilion (11), which restructured the vision for integrating simulation learning into the curriculum across all levels.

During her tenure, Meleis sought to engage a broad community in the work of the School. Under her leadership, the School’s LIFE program, which provides coordinated care and services to low-income elders throughout Philadelphia, grew from just over 100 members to more than 450 members. (12) Meleis also appointed the School’s first Assistant Dean for Global Affairs with an emphasis on expanding global opportunities for students and faculty (13) and developing new international relationships with partners, including India, Saudi Arabia and China. (14) Meleis worked to create an environment where diverse voices are supported and thrive and named the School’s first Assistant Dean for Diversity. (15) In 2012, Penn Nursing celebrated 125 years of nursing at Penn, recognizing the full history of nursing education at Penn that began with the

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HUP School of Nursing and embraces all of our alumni. (16) Dean Meleis has increased the visibility of the School at Penn and beyond, and has served as a voice for the nursing profession on a national and global scale. In May 2007, then-Governor Rendell launched his RX for PA initiative that advocated allowing nurses to practice in the full scope of their education at Fagin Hall (17) and in April 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Penn Nursing (18) to announce a partnership with schools of nursing in all 50 states, pledging support for the Joining Forces initiative to enhance the preparation of the nation’s nurses to care for veterans, service members and their families. In 2012, Meleis joined the George W. Bush Presidential Center Women’s Initiative Policy Advisory Council and in 2013, former First Lady Laura Bush was Penn Nursing’s commencement speaker. (19) Even with a busy schedule as the dean of Penn Nursing, Meleis remained committed to her

passion for improving the health and lives of women around the globe. In 2009, the School launched an urban women’s health initiative that included a series of events, Healthy Cities: Healthy Women, that has traveled to five cities, formed strong partnerships with the Penn Institute for Urban Research, The Trustees Council of Penn Women and Penn Alumni, and has engaged more than 1,200 participants. In 2011, New York Times columnist and author Nicholas Kristof spoke as a keynote at a Healthy Cities: Healthy Women event in NYC. (20) The accomplishments of the last 12 years are many, but Dean Meleis is clear that they belong as much to the faculty, students, staff, alumni and supporters, as to her. When asked at a recent School-wide community forum what the future of the School might look like under a new dean, she challenged the group saying, “The future of this School is in your hands, as much as it is in the hands of the new dean.”

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THE LANG LECTURE

The Power of Human Milk & Breastfeeding: Translating the Science to Clinical Practice and Policy Dr. Spatz is an internationally renowned clinical nurse scientist who has translated the science of human milk and breastfeeding worldwide. At The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Spatz developed an innovative Breastfeeding Resource Nurse program which has educated more than 650 nurses who provide evidence-based lactation support and care to families. students, Penn professors and colleagues from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, that if anyone had told her at 18 that she was going to have a career in human milk and breastfeeding that “I probably would have laughed at them.”

But indeed Dr. Spatz, after an unlikely beginning at Pennsylvania Hospital, shortly after graduating in 1986 with the first of three Penn degrees, working with eight moms and their infants with “sweat pouring down my back,” found her niche in the promotion of the benefits of human milk to babies, especially the very sickest babies, those with complex anomalies, around the world.

“Human milk is a lifesaving intervention for a child like this,” said Dr. Spatz. “It’s about the milk. If we don’t convince the mother that her milk is a medicine for her child and we don’t start her pumping, then breastfeeding is never going to be an option for her child,” she said of the sickest and youngest patients who are not strong enough at birth to suck at the breast.

“Pumping is the one thing that the mom has control over. Every day that they pump they are making another dose of vaccine for their baby.”

“I love Moms, babies and families,” said Diane Spatz, Nu’86, GNu’89, GR’95, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN, as she delivered her lecture as the recipient of the Norma M. Lang Distinguished Award for Scholarly Practice and Policy. “When I was in med-surg [at the outset of her career], I cried every day.”

Dr. Spatz, a Professor of Perinatal Nursing and the Helen M. Shearer Term Professor of Nutrition, told the standing-room only crowd of 24

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The purpose of the lecture is to reflect the research career of Professor and Dean Emerita Norma M. Lang, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN, who is known, in her own words, as “making research actionable.” She was an early developer of nursing informatics, noting that if nurses couldn’t name and describe their work, they couldn’t get paid for it. At Penn she envisioned and launched a nurse-run model of practice which survives now as a 500-member LIFE practice, Living Independently For Elders.

“Dr. Lang was a trailblazer who continues to inspire nursing practice and policy,” noted Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing.

Similarly, Dr. Spatz traced her career from its unlikely beginning to her current roles at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia teaching CHOP nurses and every Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Thailand about the benefits of breast milk for human development.

“You give people good nursing care and what happens – better outcomes!” she noted.

To that end, Dr. Spatz followed her early experience with nursing moms, noting “Things happen for a reason,” to revamping Penn Nursing’s curriculum. N361 now includes information ensuring that every Penn Nursing student knows what breastfeeding is. As a result of her efforts, The Centers for Disease Control’s Guide to Strategies to Support Breastfeeding Mothers and Babies singles out N361 as a program example of focusing knowledge of breastfeeding for juniors and seniors.

“It is important to me to help nurses become effective evidence-based practitioners,” said Dr. Spatz.

Tracing her research and practice trajectory throughout her career, Dr. Spatz noted an element of serendipity and partnerships as she worked with colleagues in Philadelphia and around the world.

She worked in India with neonatologists and colleagues, former Penn colleagues Linda Brown, PhD, FAAN and Susan Gennaro, DSN, FAAN, RN, in 1997 and 1998 and with students in Israel in 2000.

Dr. Spatz also conducted health disparities research funded by the National Institutes of Health with the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing for five years, training peer counselors and visiting home nurses on the protocol supporting breastfeeding. African American, whose breastfeeding rates typically lag behind other ethnic groups, had higher breastfeeding rates at 6, 12, and 24 weeks when supported.

Currently, Dr. Spatz oversees “everything breastfeeding and human milk-related at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.” Her progress over the years of facilitating the adoption of human milk as an important step in treatment of sick children is marked by the growth of one refrigerator to 20 needed to store human milk pumped out by nursing moms over the course of her tenure.

“We have created an institutional culture that values human milk,” she said. “We have set up an interdisciplinary model at CHOP. We have started a two-day course that nurses are paid to take and then they go back to their units and serve as an advocate and a resource for other nurses who are out there changing practice.”

Dr. Spatz has written policy states on breastfeeding for the March of Dimes, the International Lactation Consultant Association in 75 countries with Hopkins colleague Linda Pugh, PhD, RNC, and just last year, A Policy and Politics book chapter. She also serves on the United States Breastfeeding Committee where former U.S. General Regina Benjamin, MD recently issued a call to action in support of breastfeeding.

Above, right: In January 2011, Dr. Spatz partnered with U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin to promote a national agenda for The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding, which identifies ways that communities, employers, and healthcare professionals can increase support for breastfeeding.

Below, left: Dr. Diane Spatz, a world-renowned expert in breastfeeding and lactation, consults with the mother of a newborn at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Spatz’s passionate brand of “lactivism” may soon take over the nation’s hospitals.

The Norma M. Lang Distinguished Award for Scholarly Practice and Policy honors the professor and dean emerita of the School of Nursing for her celebrated contributions to health policy and practice. Established in 2012, the award is given annually to a Penn Nursing faculty member or a graduate of the School’s doctoral program who has made a distinguished contribution to nursing through scholarly practice. www.nursing.upenn.edu

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Visiting Global Scholar Award

Soad Hussein Hassan Visiting Global Scholar Award Inaugural Award Honors a Nursing Maverick and Provides a Platform for International Growth in Nursing

Left to right: Penn Nursing doctoral student Maxim Topaz, GR’16, MS, RN; U.S. Ambassador Martin J. Silverstein, ret., GL’08; Dean Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS(hon), FAAN; Miriam J.Hirschfeld, DNSc, DS(hon), MD(hon); and Audrey J. Silverstein, C’82.

In February Penn Nursing welcomed inaugural Visiting Global Scholar Award recipient Miriam J. Hirschfeld, DNSc, DS(hon), MD(hon), who discussed the imperative of moral courage – the need for nurses to take a stand and be heard in the face of austerity, the changing world order and numerous natural and man-made disasters.

In her lecture, Global Population Health: How Will Nursing Make a Difference? Dr. Hirschfeld reviewed present and future health concerns, and workforce challenges within a global socioeconomic and political context. She offered examples where nursing research and practice have the potential to make a major impact on individual, family, community and population health.

“Many issues need nursing attention,” she said.

“Most importantly, we need to develop effective health interventions that are culturally appropriate and that meet the needs of individuals, families and communities. We also must work hard to influence policy and fight for excellence.”

U.S. Ambassador Martin J. Silverstein, ret., GL’08, and Audrey J. Silverstein, C’82, created the award’s endowment fund to annually provide for global scholars or experts to take part in school-based programs, lectures, classes and to collaborate with Penn Nursing’s faculty and 26

UPfront | Spring 2014

students. The award is named for Dr. Soad Hussein Hassan, a pioneer in global women’s health and nursing, who broke academic boundaries in Egypt to establish the Maadrasit El Hakemaat Training School for Nurses, the first school separate from hospital auspices in the Middle East. From that beginning, she continued to establish and lead many other schools in Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

“The impact of Dr. Hassan’s life and the gifts it continues to bring to this world set an example for all of us,” said Ambassador Silverstein.

“It is our hope that this visiting global scholars program provides a platform for international growth in nursing, healthcare and beyond.”

Dr. Hassan is the mother of Afaf Meleis, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. “My late mother was a maverick in exemplifying humanism and commitment, encouraging feminism and autonomy, accepting challenge and diversity and in tolerating rebellion,” says Dr. Meleis. “Her nursing career was made possible through a scholarship to study nursing in the United States. Thanks to the generous establishment of this visiting global scholars fund at Penn Nursing, her legacy will give rise to nursing leaders of tomorrow, around the world.”

SCIENCE IN ACTION Penn HIV Researchers Deploy Large-Scale Intervention Project in South Africa A large-scale human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) intervention/education effort aimed at helping South African men take a proactive role in the prevention of that disease has proven successful, an important development considering that country has the largest number of HIV infections in the world.

Led by Professor John B. Jemmott, III, Annenberg School for Communication and the Perelman School of Medicine; and Loretta Sweet Jemmott, GNu’82, GR’87, PhD, FAAN, RN, director of the Center for Health Equity Research at Penn Nursing, researchers developed an intervention involving nearly 1,200 individuals, who participated in customized and proactive education programs on condom usage and the importance of discussing safe sex in their relationships. The results of their study were reported in the American Journal of Public Health.

Nearly 1,200 individuals in 44 neighborhoods near East London in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa participated in the program and follow-up surveys conducted over a 12-month period. Approximately half participated in an HIV/ STI (sexually transmitted infection) risk reduction invention, and half in a general health information (control) intervention.

Participants were recruited via community meetings and public gathering places such as marketplaces, taxi stands and shebeens (afterhours drinking clubs). The intervention programs, called Men, Together Making a Difference, were conducted in native isiXhosa tongue (language using intermittent clicking sounds as part of its lexicon). The intervention sessions involved rituals such as beginning with a Circle of Men, which enabled all participants, regardless of age or economic status, to develop stronger bonds.

Additional components of the HIV/STI prevention included a video magazine, The Subject Is: HIV, addressing the impact of the disease in South Africa; a video drama Eiyish!, addressing dangers of multiple partners and the failure to use condoms; take-home assignments and in-class role-playing to increase the discussion and ultimately the use of condoms.

Follow-up surveys after one year showed an increase in condom use by participants, regardless of whether they were involved with steady or casual partners for intercourse. (From 54 percent to 63 percent for men involved with steady partners and from 77 percent to 79 percent for men involved with casual partners.) Also, follow-up surveys showed slight decreases in the occurrences of unprotected sex. Participants also reported a four- to fivepercent increase in the number of times men talked to their partners about condom use prior to sex.

“The fact that HIV affects women most severely in regions such as the sub-Saharan Africa where heterosexual exposure is a dominant mode of HIV transmission is well established,” the authors write in the article. “Yet few interventions to change the heterosexual behavior of men have been developed and rigorously evaluated.” They note that not only was this the first large-scale study of its kind, but that South African men demonstrated a willingness to attend multiple intervention sessions, participate in role-play condom use scenarios and return for repeated efficacy assessments. They stressed the need for additional research to strengthen the impact of intervention programs.

Eiyish! (Oh, No!), is a video addressing the dangers of not using condoms. It was selected as a Health and Science Communications Association 2009 Media Festival Award winner. The video was produced by Beth Wacther of Select Media, Inc. and can be viewed on YouTube.

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SCIENCE IN ACTION Cancer Increasing as Baby Boomers Age As 10,000 baby boomers reach 65 each day, the incidence of cancer is estimated to increase by 67 percent between 2010 and 2030, bringing attention to the nation’s response to cancer care.

Cancer is diagnosed at a higher rate, accounts for more survivors and results in more deaths than in younger patients.

“The increase in the number of older adults, the association of cancer with aging, the workforce shortage and the financial stressors across the healthcare system and family networks all contribute to a crisis in cancer care that is most pronounced in the older population,” wrote three members of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Improving the Quality of Cancer Care: Addressing the Challenges of an Aging Population in an editorial published in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Often caregiving falls to a family member who is also aging,” noted Mary D. Naylor, GNu’73, GR’82, PhD, FAAN, RN, the Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology and the director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health and a member of the committee. As the originator of the Transitional Care Model,

Dr. Naylor has addressed the unique needs of older adults and their caregivers, offering evidence-based solutions. “We need to address the physical, psychological, financial and emotional tolls on caregivers by developing more effective ways to prepare and support them.”

The authors noted potential improvements to cancer care among older persons, including: • Passing new laws extending the time period for clinical trials in order to include more older adults, a population that comprises the majority of patients with cancer and cancer survivors; • Letting the patients decide what works.

The authors recommended “publicly reported, robust measures of patient reported outcomes meaningful for this population;” and • Establishing a national workforce commission “to plan for the challenges of an aging population and the complexity of care required by older adults with cancer, including a workforce that values multidisciplinary teams and geriatrics principles.”

Penn Nursing Software Featured as Innovation With sequestration funding cuts affecting the research budgets of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), more emphasis is being placed on putting ongoing research into practice faster to provide greater benefit to the public health.

United for Medical Research (UMR), a coalition of leading research institutions, patient and health advocates and private industry that have joined together to seek steady increases in funding for the NIH has focused attention on research conducted at the School of Nursing that promises to cut costs for the nation’s hospitals and Medicare and Medicaid.

RightCare Solutions, a software company spawned from research conducted by Kathryn H. Bowles, GR’96, PhD, RN, FAAN, who holds the van Ameringen Chair in Nursing Excellence, was recently highlighted in a UMR publication Profiles of Prosperity, How NIH-Supported Research is Fueling Private Sector Growth and Innovation.

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“RightCare Solutions’ software saves hospitals money. Dr. Bowles, a researcher who focuses on older patients, discovered that hospitals did not have complete information about whether patients could take care of themselves after a hospitalization. Many patients couldn’t keep track of their medications, had cognitive impairment or were depressed. Many had to be readmitted weeks or months later, a negative result for their health and for the hospitals’ costs,” wrote the authors.

“Using electronic health records for decisionmaking is the wave of the future,” said Dr. Bowles. Her research found that certain factors can predict which patients may quickly be readmitted to the hospital. The Affordable Care Act of 2014 now penalizes hospitals financially for those patients readmitted within 30 days for the same conditions.

RightCare Solutions is currently partnering with the University of Pennsylvania Health System and is in talks with other hospitals.

Surviving Survival With advances in medical and surgical techniques for brain cancer saving more children, some say up to 90 percent, from death, the numbers of caregivers – often medically untrained parents and family members – have increased as have the demands placed upon them.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have investigated care given by 186 mothers to childhood brain tumor survivors aged 14-40 whose care needs last long into adulthood, finding that a complex interaction between the health of the caregiver and the support of the family interact with the health of the survivor. The study was published in Health Psychology.

“Based on the results of this study, either family functioning or survivor’s health can be targeted to improve competence for caregivers of adolescent and young adult brain tumor survivors,” said Janet A. Deatrick, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Shearer Endowed Term Chair in Healthy Community Practices and professor of Nursing.

“Interventions targeted to survivor health could emphasize recovery expectations and reframe notions about the survivor’s functioning through family systems and cognitive-behavioral interventions.”

Specifically, the researchers tested a hypothesized model which confirmed that both the functioning of the family and the health of the survivor contributed to the caregiver’s sense of competence. “The direct relationship of family functioning with caregiving competence emphasizes the central role of family in the adaption of the caregiver to his or her role.

Instead of being predicted by caregiver demand as hypothesized, this study revealed that caregivers’ assessment of their role mastery is influenced most strongly by the functioning of their family,” wrote Dr. Deatrick, the lead author.

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The study’s findings offered hope for families, noted Dr. Deatrick. “Researchers and medical personnel can target either family functioning or the health of the survivor as means of improving the competence of caregivers.” Dr. Deatrick worked with colleagues and patients treated at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The study was conducted with a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health and a grant from the Oncology Nursing Foundation/ American Brain Tumor Foundation.

Dr. Janet Deatrick, center, consults with a pediatric brain tumor survivor and his caregiver.

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SCIENCE IN ACTION Philadelphia Lagging Behind World Health Goals While widely known for spending the most dollars per capita on healthcare in the world, the United States is lagging behind World Health Organization’s (WHO) Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for women’s health and child mortality, with Philadelphia, the nation’s fifth largest city, losing ground.

According to new research gathered by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, infant mortality rates have been consistently higher in Philadelphia than in the United States and Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2005, with African American infants falling within a two-tothree times greater risk of dying in their first year of life than any other racial or ethnic group within the city.

“Philadelphia, if representative of the nation, shows us that there are major improvements that need to be made system-wide to provide the best healthcare to all of the city’s residents,” said William McCool, C’76, PhD, CNM, RN, FACNM, the Term Associate Professor in Women’s Health and Nurse Midwifery at Penn Nursing and the study’s lead investigator.

The new findings by University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing researchers show that

birthrates for preterm babies were 40 percent higher in Philadelphia than in Pennsylvania and 32 percent higher than in the nation between 1997 and 2008. Between roughly the same period (1997 to 2010), the number of maternity wards in Philadelphia dropped from 19 to six while the overall number of births in the city increased.

“Although no causal relation can be made between the decreased availability of midwifery care [due, in part, to maternity ward closures] in Philadelphia over the last decade or more and the increasingly negative outcomes in maternal and newborn health, one is certainly left to wonder if greater access to midwifery care in the city would not make a positive difference in healthcare outcomes for women and their newborns,” wrote Dr. McCool and his colleagues.

While preterm birth is related to infant death, there has been increasing concern that it is linked to health conditions later in life, including respiratory, cardiovascular and renal diseases, the authors noted, concluding that “increased preterm births rates in Philadelphia may implicate greater stress on Philadelphia healthcare systems in the future.”

Penn Nursing faculty members Diane Spatz, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN, and William McCool, PhD, CNM, RN, FACNM, with Indian nurse midwives.

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PENN NURSING NEWS Dean Afaf I. Meleis Recipient of Numerous Awards ​Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing, recently received seven awards honoring her contributions to Penn Nursing and the University, her research in nursing and human development, her leadership in the nursing profession, and collaborative partnership that advances nursing locally and globally.

• Penn Alumni and the Office of the Provost selected Dr. Meleis as the inaugural recipient of the Penn Alumni Faculty Award of Merit. The award recognizes her outstanding contributions to alumni education and engagement.

• The city of Oporto, Portugal named Dr. Meleis an honorary citizen. She was nominated for the honor by the Oporto School of Nursing and nurses from the Nurses’ Union for her work in Transition Theory, which defines many issues in nursing and in human development.

• The Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA) honored Dr. Meleis for her long-time membership in the organization and her significant contributions to the nursing profession with the association’s Distinguished Nurse Award at its 110-year anniversary celebration.

• The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has awarded its Exemplary Academic-Practice Partnership Award to the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and PENN Medicine. The association presented Dr. Meleis with a plaque celebrating the innovative and sustained relationship between the School of Nursing and the Health System that extends beyond clinical placements and the measureable, positive outcomes from the partnership.

• Spain’s University de Alicante Faculty of Health Sciences conferred its Doctor Honoris Causa appointment upon Dr. Meleis, honoring her professional and personal career as a nurse, teacher, and researcher. Dr. Meleis is the University de Alicante’s first recipient of the honorary degree.

• Penn Nursing Science awarded Dr. Meleis the 2014 Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Award for her contribution to nursing scholarship. The presentation specifically highlighted her international renown as a nurse scientist and medical sociologist and her nearly 45 years of contributions that have informed generations of nurses around the world, greatly influencing their education, clinical practice and research programs.

• The Trustees’ Council of Penn Women awarded Dr. Meleis its Provost Award, recognizing her significant contributions to advancing the role of women in higher education and research at Penn.

On receiving the inaugural Penn Alumni Faculty Award of Merit, Dean Afaf I. Meleis remarked, “The secret is, I am not an alum of this distinguished University.

However, I have fallen in love with Penn and with you, since I arrived 12 years ago. Yes, Penn is a very special place, but it is not made so by its geography, its beautiful campus, or its buildings – it is the people who make it so, who all made me feel at home.

Thank you!”

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PENN NURSING NEWS Improving the Perception of UK Nursing Why is there such a negative perception of the nursing profession in the United Kingdom, when compared to other countries, such as the United States? In the United States, nurses have been at the top of the Gallup annual poll of most trustworthy professions for 12 years, while UK nurses are frequent targets of negative media stories. The Lancet, one of the world’s oldest and best known general medical journals, has formed a commission charged to determine why nursing in the UK has a poor public image and what to do about it. Penn Nursing’s Linda H. Aiken, PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN, the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing and director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR), is a member of the new commission led by Roger Watson, professor of nursing at the University of Hull. The 14 international nurse leaders and executives on the commission will examine the factors of nursing education, organization, practice, image and workforce. The commission’s final report, with recommendations, will be delivered in 2016.

“The United Kingdom conducted a commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery at the same time as the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) commission on the Future of Nursing, but the impact of each was entirely different. In the UK report, the press blamed nurses and nursing education for poor patient care, while the IOM report recommended expanded roles for nurses in healthcare delivery and a transition to BSN education for all nurses. As a member of The Lancet commission, I’m hoping to incorporate CHOPR’s research showing the impact of better nurse staffing and bachelor’s education on lower hospital mortality,” explains Dr. Aiken.

Dr. Aiken is an authority on causes, consequences and solutions for nurse shortages in the United States and around the world. She leads the International Hospital Outcomes Consortium studying the impact of nursing on patient outcomes in 13 countries and is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel guiding the World Alliance for Patient Safety.

Dr. Terri H. Lipman Appointed Interim Assistant Dean for Community Engagement Terri H. Lipman, GNu’83, GRN’91, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, the Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of

Nutrition and professor of Nursing of Children in the Department of Family and Community Health, has been appointed interim assistant dean for Community Engagement beginning January 1, 2014 for a period of one year. An avid and proactive supporter of community engagement, Dr. Lipman will lead and coordinate Penn Nursing’s strategic vision and agenda in this vital area.

The position will leverage Dr. Lipman’s talents, passion and exemplary partnerships with Philadelphia schools, as well as her exceptional work with the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. In this role, she will work with the dean of the School of Nursing, as well as with associate deans, assistant deans, department chairs and faculty to develop an action plan for community engagement. She will also be responsible to maintain and build on the momentum of Penn Nursing’s many community initiatives, particularly as they relate to Philadelphia schools, the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, the Center for Public Health Initiatives, and evolving School of Medicine community initiatives.

“My most recent area of research is racial disparities in children with endocrine disorders, a crucial aspect in promoting the health of children. Health equity is where we all need to move. If we are ever going to decrease racial disparities, it will not be by clinicians and researchers sitting around a table, trying to figure it out. We have to listen to the voices of our patients and their parents,” says Dr. Lipman.

Dr. Lipman is a faculty member in Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Equity Research, associated faculty in the Center for Public Health Initiatives and a Distinguished Fellow of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. She is the associate program director of the Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program and a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the Division of Endocrinology.

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Penn Nursing Professor Elected to the Institute of Medicine ​ aren Glanz, PhD, MPH, a globally influential public health scholar, Penn K Nursing professor and a Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor, has been elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Glanz is an internationally known public health scholar and is currently the George A. Weiss University Professor, professor of Epidemiology and Nursing in the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, and director of the Center for Health Behavior Research. Her research bridges public health and social science disciplines and focuses on nutrition and obesity; skin cancer prevention; tobacco control; and cancer screening. Her path-breaking work integrates theory and research methods from social and behavioral sciences into public health and medicine. Almost a decade ago, she developed internationally used tools to measure nutrition environments before the current obesity epidemic emerged.

“I am deeply honored to be elected to membership in the IOM, and look forward to joining my colleagues from Penn Nursing in contributing to the search for answers to pressing questions about public health and healthcare,” said Dr. Glanz.

Dr. Glanz joins six other members of the School of Nursing who are members of the IOM, including: Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing; Linda H. Aiken, PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN, the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing, professor of Sociology, and director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research; Loretta Sweet Jemmott, GNu’82, GR’87, PhD, FAAN, RN, the van Ameringen Professor in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, and director of the Center for Health Disparities Research; Mary D. Naylor, GNu’73, GR’82, PhD, FAAN, RN, the Marian S. Ware

Professor in Gerontology, and director of NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health; and Penn Nursing deans emeritae Claire Fagin, PhD, FAAN, RN, and Norma Lang, PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN.

Penn Nursing Scholar Elected to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Ann L. O’Sullivan, Nu’70, GNu’72, GR’84, PhD, FAAN, CRNP, the Dr. Hildagarde

Reynolds Endowed Term Professor of Primary Care Nursing, has been relected for a second term on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

Dr. O’Sullivan has been a member of the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing 2004 to present; board chair 2009 to 2011 and chair of the APRN Committee since 2007. She was the chair of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) APRN Committee 2007-2011 which developed the Model Rules and Regulations to match the Consensus Model in 2008 and which were approved by the Delegate assembly of all 50 states and territories in August 2008. She is currently on the NCSBN Board of Directors. Each of these positions uses her skills regarding scope of practice (SOP) issues especially as related to APRN’s, independent practice, continuing education and grandfathering.

Dr. O’Sullivan is a leading authority on teen parenting and pregnancy prevention. She is recognized throughout the United States for creating the Teen Baby primary care program at Philadelphia’s Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (jointly administered by CHOP and Penn’s School of Nursing). Her national prototype has been selected for inclusion in the Sociometrics Corporation’s Program Archive on Sexuality, Health and Adolescence (PASHA), a national collection of promising adolescent pregnancy and STD/HIV/AIDS prevention materials.

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PENN NURSING NEWS Dr. Lynn Sommers Receives Research Award Marilyn Sawyer Sommers, Nu’72, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Lillian S. Brunner Professor of

Medical-Surgical Nursing and the director of the Center for Global Women’s Health, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Sigma Theta Tau International Elizabeth McWilliams Miller Award for Excellence in Research, given at the STTI 42nd Biennial Convention in Indianapolis.

Dr. Sommers is a dedicated nurse scientist with a sustained, productive and highly creative program of research in the field of injury and violence, areas of inquiry that are timely and significant because of global unrest, war injuries and terrorism. The research program she pioneered is collaborative and interdisciplinary and is focused on human response to injury in general, with particular emphasis on risk-taking behaviors that lead to injury, as well as on the physical consequences of injury which are major international healthcare priorities.

Dr. Sommers’ findings have revealed differences in the treatment of women following sexual assault due to differences in skin color. She is currently the Director of the Center for Global Women’s Health at Penn Nursing.

Dr. J. Margo Brooks Carthon Receives Funding J. Margo Brooks Carthon, GR’08, PhD, RN, has been awarded $350,000 in funding from the Robert

Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to study nursing and patient perspectives of hospital readmission disparities.

Dr. Brooks Carthon’s research will examine how nursing interventions, such as discharge planning and coordination of care, influence repeat hospitalizations among older minority patients. The study will employ a mixed model approach and will elicit viewpoints of older minority patients through focus group interviews and survey responses of nurses.

The award, as part of the RWJ Nurse Faculty Scholar’s program, is to create a cadre of national leaders in academic nursing.

Man Up! A Practical Guide for Men in Nursing While only seven percent of the nation’s RNs are male, that number is climbing. To help men who are considering the career, Christopher Lance Coleman, PhD, MS, MPH, FAAN, the Fagin Term Associate Professor of Nursing and Multicultural Diversity, has recently authored Man Up! A Practical Guide for Men in Nursing.

“I believe men need a guide, a blueprint to use to navigate through the complexity of specialty choice and a culture where, frankly, a gender disparity still exists. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for men not only to change the face of nursing in the 21st century, but also to reshape the public image that nursing is a woman’s profession,” said Dr. Coleman.

Published by Sigma Theta Tau International, Man Up! outlines how men can position themselves to become nurses, assume leadership positions, seek and receive mentoring and make a difference in the workforce. It provides a historical context, describes barriers and recommends strategies for the future.

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March 31-April 4

Nursing Spirit Week Join us for programs, events, contests, daily themes and fun as we celebrate all that is Penn Nursing.

April 7-9

Quaker Days (formerly Preview Weekend) for future Penn Nursing students and their families April 10, 3:00-5:00pm

12th Annual Claire M. Fagin Distinguished Researcher Award Lecture presented by Dean Afaf I. Meleis April 12, 11:00am-3:00pm

The Sounds of West Philadelphia at LIFE: Fourth Annual Community Wellness Day April 16, 12:00-1:30pm

Bates Center Seminar The Secret Lives of Babies: Folklore, Phrenology, Astrology, and Psychology with Dr. Janet Golden, Professor, Rutgers University April 26

HUP Alumni Spring Luncheon April 24, 6:00-8:00pm

Hillman Scholars Reception, The Penn Club, New York. Celebrating the graduating seniors and honoring almost 25 years of the Hillman BSN program, now in its final year. All Penn-Hillman alumni and friends of the program are invited.

April 30, 12:00-1:30pm

Bates Center Seminar Rehabilitative Insemination: Disability and The Gendered Politics of Infertility Treatment in Cold War America with Dr. Bridget Gurtler, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University May 15, Celebration to Honor Dean Meleis May 16-18, Alumni Weekend May 19, 3:00-6:00pm Commencement

Kimmel Center Dr. Judith Shamian will address the class of 2014, their families and alumni at Penn Nursing’s Commencement on May 19. (see back cover) For tickets (required) or more information, email graduation@nursing.upenn.edu October 21

Third Annual Norma M. Lang Distinguished Award for Scholarly Practice and Policy October 24-26

Family Weekend at Penn October 31-November 1

Homecoming Weekend Featuring Arts and Culture programming and the Penn vs. Brown football game

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Events Calendar Spring-Fall 2014

Alumni Weekend – May 15-18, 2014 Catch up with classmates and old friends, visit campus to see how Penn Nursing has changed and remained the same. Bring your family and friends, because there are events for everyone! Reminder: For Penn’s full weekend agenda or to register for these and other events, visit www.alumni.upenn.edu/alumniweekend2014/

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Join us for the day as we celebrate and honor Dean Meleis’ impact on Penn, the School of Nursing, nursing science and the health of the world’s most vulnerable women. For more information, see www.nursing.upenn.edu/celebrate.

8:30-9:30am

11:00am-3:00pm

Healthy Cities: Healthy Women – The Global Future Zellerbach Theater, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts 3:00-4:30pm

The Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health Zellerbach Theater, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts 6:30-11:30pm

Honoring a Legacy: A Gala Celebrating Dean Afaf I. Meleis A gala reception and dinner to honor Dr. Afaf I. Meleis, the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s fifth Dean, as she steps down following 12 years of remarkable leadership. This special evening will celebrate Dean Meleis’ visionary influence and pay tribute to her legacy.

Friday, May 16, 2014 4:00-5:30pm

Celebrating Excellence: Faculty and Alumni Awards Ann L. Roy Auditorium, Claire M. Fagin Hall A reception follows at 5:30pm in Fagin Hall’s Carol Elizabeth Ware Lobby.

5:30-9:00pm

Psychiatric Mental Health CNS and NP Programs Reunion Various locations throughout Fagin Hall Special registration rate if you stay for Saturday events during Alumni Weekend.

Penn Nursing Legacy Breakfast Claire M. Fagin Hall, 4th Floor 9:30-10:00am

Nursing Continental Breakfast and General Registration Carol E. Ware Lobby, Claire M. Fagin Hall 10:00-11:00am

Mentorship and Partnerships: A Leadership Journey with Dean Afaf I. Meleis Claire M. Fagin Hall 11:45am-12:30pm

Penn Nursing in the Parade Penn Park All nursing alumni are invited to march with the Dean, Nursing Alumni Board president and fellow alumni. Help us uphold our tradition as the most vocal and upbeat group in the parade!

12:30-3:30pm

Penn Nursing at the Picnic Penn Park | 31st Street between Walnut and Spruce All nursing alumni (undergraduate, graduate, HUP Nursing and School of Education nursing majors) are invited to enjoy a picnic lunch and network with fellow alumni, graduating students, faculty and Dean Afaf Meleis at the Penn Nursing tent. President Gutmann and other special guests will visit our tent to make remarks and help us celebrate Dean Meleis’ final Alumni Weekend. Register for the nursing tent when signing up.

Sunday, May 18, 2014 12:00pm

Sigma Theta Tau Induction Ceremony and Luncheon Ann L. Roy Auditorium, Claire M. Fagin Hall Those interested in attending should email Dr. Deborah Becker at debecker@nursing.upenn.edu.

For more information on any of the Spring-Fall 2014 events, please see our events calendar at www.nursing.upenn.edu/alumni, email nursalum@pobox.upenn.edu or call 215.746.8812.

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ALUMNI CONNECTIONS From the Penn Nursing Alumni Board President

Dear Penn Nursing Alumni, I am compelled by both my own personal gratitude and the appreciation of so many alumni, to look back and share just a few of the ways in which Dean Meleis has led our School and connected with so many of us over the last 12 years.

Looking for a classmate or a mentor?

Check out Penn’s newly redesigned QuakerNet at www.alumni.upenn.edu/quakernet.

Significant improvements in search options and functionality are in place to better serve you. Use the protected, Penn-only site to locate a classmate, update your contact information and set preferences, or search for contacts at a hospital or company where you’d like to work and make a connectiton.

Help the Red and Blue go green!

More and more, we rely on email to notify alumni about events in their local area, share job opportunities and faculty news. If we don’t have your email address, we’re missing you!

Send your email address to nursalum@pobox. upenn.edu or log on to QuakerNet (see above) to update your information.

Do you have time to volunteer?

Penn Nursing volunteers can make a difference in as little as 10 minutes. Join our LinkedIn page and offer your professional expertise to a student. Update your alumni record using QuakerNet. Host a student at your clinical workplace. Use skype to interview a potential Penn Nursing student. Make a gift online. For more information on these and other ways you can give back, email nursalum@pobox.upenn. edu or see www.nursing.upenn.edu/alumni and click on the “Volunteer” link.

Want to know more?

Contact Penn Nursing Alumni Relations Monica Salvia, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, 215.898.9773 Email: nursalum@pobox.upenn.edu Web: www.nursing.upenn.edu/alumni

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UPfront | Spring 2014

As the first president to reside outside the greater Philadelphia area, I know first-hand the importance of regional alumni opportunities. Dean Meleis is known for her frequent world travel, speaking at conferences and representing Penn Nursing. So often, these trips are scheduled, by design, to include time to see local alumni. Whether there are three alumni or 500 alumni in any given region, Dean Meleis is always interested in meeting and connecting to hear their stories. And she brings this global vision back to campus – challenging me and the alumni board to find more ways to serve all alumni wherever you may live.

Many of these trips, and much of her alumni outreach, has gone beyond the traditional lines of engaging Penn Nursing Alumni. Interdisciplinary education isn’t just for students, and Dean Meleis has made an intentional focus to connect Penn Nursing graduates of all programs with all Penn Alumni. We all benefit from crossing these professional boundaries. And, she uses these opportunities to educate our fellow Penn alums about what Penn Nursing Science is all about. Many friends across campus and the globe have been added to Penn’s world as a result. Dean Meleis’ receipt of the first-ever Penn Alumni Faculty Award of Merit honored these efforts.

Closer to home, Dean Meleis has developed a very warm and mutually respectful relationship with graduates from the original nursing program on the University campus, the HUP Nursing School. While still maintaining an alumni association that honors their unique experiences, the HUP alumni are considered Penn Nursing alumni in every way. My fellow alumni president, Cleo Libonati, has much more about this relationship in her letter.

Most of all, Dean Meleis has inspired me, our alumni board, donors and volunteers, and I expect, many of you, to use your voice: to speak up, whether on behalf of our patients, our families, the condition and health of our cities, vulnerable populations or the healthcare of our nation or our world. Individually and as an alumni body, we have a responsibility and a privilege to Care to Change the World – together!

Terri Cox Glassen, Nu’91 President, Penn Nursing Alumni

PS – If you haven’t been back to campus lately, I should warn you that Dean Meleis and Penn Nursing have developed quite a reputation as the School at Penn with the most spirit.

Join us for an extraordinary Alumni Weekend, May 15-18. Our very own Dean Meleis has been named the first-ever Dance Marshal for the entire University during the Parade!

And don’t forget to book your travel for a day early, to take part in the many celebrations planned for Thursday, May 15. I hope to see you then as we raise our voices together for Dean Meleis and continue to build the Penn Nursing legacy!

From the HUP Nursing Alumni Association President

Greetings to All Alumni!

How challenging it is to summarize how Dean Meleis has impacted HUP Alumni during these past 12 years and the effort she has spent on our behalf, or to express the appreciation we feel for her!

Many years ago, our Association purchased office space at the present Penn School of Nursing after the turnover of schools. As you might imagine, there had been mixed feelings and expectations since our HUP School of Nursing had closed its doors to a history reaching back to 1886.

While the office space brought us physically together, our relationship itself was not particularly close.

Then, in stepped OUR dean! She reached out in a new way to form a stronger relationship between HUP Alumni and Penn School of Nursing.

“OUR dean?” you ask. Indeed! She said so herself most cordially, and we have embraced her. Time and again, she communicated respect and value for our legacy, understanding and appreciative of the diploma nursing school education and the abilities, skills and training it provided to its graduates.

As HUP president, I have always found an open door and eagerness from her to advance our mission. And I personally benefited enormously from her help with my professional work, prior to having ever met me in person.

Fond memories abound among HUP Alumni recalling our dean’s generosity, sincere helpfulness and unbounded energy (see sidebar).

We have been honored by our dean’s presence and encouraging words at our luncheons and other events over the years. These, and events like the always boisterous, and sometimes hilarious, march through campus with Dean Meleis during Penn Alumni Weekend, have been chronicled in our newsletters so that our entire membership has enjoyed and interacted on a personal level. (Funky sunglasses, anyone?)

On the business end, we have benefitted from Penn’s support in providing conference call technology and parking on campus for our Board meetings. Our website is supported by the Alumni Office and the HUP president serves in an official capacity on the Penn Nursing Alumni Board, bringing us together to discuss shared goals. We are most fortunate to have the continuing distinction of two active Alumni Associations working together to serve our alumni and the future – thanks to Dean Meleis!

Recently, we co-celebrated our 125th reunion. What a triumph for all of us: HUP alumni, the Penn School of Nursing and Dean Meleis. Past President Candace Pfeffer Stiklorius, HUP ‘66 worked closely with Dean Meleis during the reunion proceedings and dedication of the spectacular collage of nursing history commissioned by HUP Alumni as a gift to the Penn School of Nursing and installed at Fagin Hall. Candace writes, “She was such a support for the 125 year reunion and celebration. Our collage gift could not have been carried out but for all the assistance from the dean and her team, from allotting the space to providing the sound proofing to the input from the university arts, architecture and maintenance specialists.”

Another Past President, Margaret Moffett Iacobacci, HUP ‘78 writes, “I also remember her dedicating the memorial garden outside her office and everyone signing the stones.

Very moving.” The uniquely beautiful HUP Legacy Fountain was generously and personally donated by HUP alumna Mary Anne Spolar Gamba, HUP ’65, G’84.

Subsequently, many of us who attended the 125th reunion were given stones to sign and ushered up to the garden to add our names, to the delight of Dean Meleis, whose enthusiastic approval I shall not forget.

Looking forward to the future at Penn!

Cleo Wolfe Libonati, HUP’68, Nu’72 President, HUP School of Nursing Alumni Association

www.nursing.upenn.edu

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CL A SS NOTES 1940s Betty Bolig Eisenhardt, HUP’44 sent a note

from her home in Springfield, VA. She has recently been diagnosed with macular degeneration.

Edna May Vansant Ellis, HUP’44 lives in

Brunswick, ME and was looking forward to her upcoming 90th birthday this past spring. After graduating from HUP in January of 1944, Edna worked in the formula lab, on Labor and Delivery and as a ward instructor on Ward D. Currently, Edna is residing in a retirement community where she walks a bit more than a mile several times a week. She is also the score-keeper for the evening card game and active in the recycling program. Edna would love to hear from “anyone who remembers me.” Her email address is eellis@maine.edu.

Marian W. Young, HUP’44 wrote from

Maryland: “I celebrated my 90th birthday in 2012 with a ride in a tethered hot air balloon.

We had the balloon tethered right on the front lawn of the retirement community (Fairhaven) where I have lived for the past 13 years. It was really fabulous. After my family and I (four at a time) went up, 56 residents from Fairhaven also had a chance to go up. Needless to say it was an exciting time and even made the front page of the local paper with pictures and a write-up.”

Anna Reinsmith Cavener, HUP’45 wrote shortly before her 89th birthday. She is still able to live alone in her home in Sarasota, FL thanks to the daily help she receives.

Helen Spaulding Plourde, HUP’47 has

enjoyed traveling to Europe, through the USA and several cruises. Her family includes two daughters, one granddaughter and one daughter-in-law who are all nurses.

Irene Kelly Dissinger, HUP’49 wrote to say she is happy to be around and to be part of the “old guard.” The class of February ’49 was the first after the Army Nurse Corps and had only 15 students. “My experiences in those three years were the greatest foundation for the rest of my happy life. My nursing was volunteer mostly – community, tragedies, floods, giving flu shots and care of aunts, uncles, cousins, parents. After all, I couldn’t be on the golf circuit if I had a ‘steady job.’ I have been participating in the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study since its inception.” Irene also commented on classmate Pat Dial’s newsletter

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UPfront | Spring 2014

item. Irene remembers their informative classes in science by Mr. Flitler, pharmacy by Mr. Rowe and social graces taught by Miss Theresa Lynch. Irene and husband Harry have wintered in Fort Myers for many years and now live in a retirement community, Bethany Village in Mechanicsburg, PA. They recently celebrated their 64th anniversary with their two sons, one daughter and two grandchildren.

She sends warm wishes to all, especially to good friend, Isabella Stainsby Harrison, HUP’49.

Shirley Knight Shultz, HUP’49 wrote from Levittown, PA that she is happy to be in reasonably good health. Her family is keeping her busy. Her youngest granddaughter is graduating from high school and another granddaughter is getting married in October.

1950s Phyllis Miller, HUP’50 recently retired from

her position as chief nursing officer at Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA. Jeanne Trumbauer Long, HUP’51 was an OR

nurse for 34 years. She volunteers at her church office every week. She hands out bulletins and also sends out birthday and anniversary cards for those in ministries at the church.

Ernestine Dotts Snyder, HUP’52 lives in

Warrior Mark, PA. She received her BS in secondary education from Lock Haven University and worked as a high school nurse for 26 ½ years in State College, PA. She retired in 1993. Ernestine has three children and ten grandkids.

Louise Tucker, HUP’52 wrote to say that she still keeps in touch with many of her classmates, usually via phone calls. She still gets VIP treatment when getting her medical appointments with her HUP nurse status. She receives her healthcare at a Penn facility near her home and her cardiologist is affiliated with Penn. Louise, who is the artist who painted Miss Keasey’s portrait that hangs at the Bates History Center at Fagin Hall, is still involved with her artwork.

Marjorie Herlocher Weisel, HUP’53 lives in

State College, PA. She attempted to get a 60th reunion organized but was disappointed to find out that not many of her classmates were up to travel due to illness or inability to drive.

Priscilla Herbert Easton, HUP’54 and her

husband plan a permanent move to Boca Raton, FL from their home in Short Hills, NJ.

Judy Keyser Harris, HUP’54 lives in Gig Harbor, WA and is in good health. She volunteers two days a week at her church. She spends as much time as possible at her home on the ocean. Judy is a widow since 2007 and has three children and four grandchildren.

Louise Jessick Morgan, HUP’56 is regional

director of Infection Prevention for DePaul Health. She has also been busy becoming a great-grandmother and traveling to England to visit her son and his family. Louise and her daughters will be visiting Italy this summer.

She and cousin Julia Tierney Davis, HUP’73 recently went to Chicago together for the funeral of their aunt.

Yvonne “Taffy” Thunick Hoffman, HUP’58

lives in Cupertino, CA where she is retired from pediatric nursing and is a Red Cross volunteer. She is caring for her husband who has myelodysplasia syndrome. They have eight wonderful grandchildren.

1960s Elaine Nuss Dreisbaugh, HUP’60, MSN, RN, CPN, was presented with the Gould Award for

Excellence in Teaching at the May 2012 commencement of the Delaware County Community College held at Villanova University. Mrs. Jerry Gould, a deceased member of the Board of Trustees, provided a cash endowment to be given at commencement each year to a faculty member who best embodies the spirit and philosophy of the College. The Gould Award, selected by a panel of faculty and students, is awarded for demonstrating excellence in the classroom and for impacting the lives of their students.

Anna McCleave Hails, HUP’61 and her husband Gary have moved west to Henderson, NV to be closer to their children. After Gary’s retirement, the couple opened a Home Brew Store for beer and wine. Between the family and the store, they are very busy.

Teresa Talarico Horner, HUP’61 is keeping

happy, fit and healthy with ballroom dancing.

Terri has spent time at the Villages in Florida.

She is planning trips to Paris, and Calgary, Canada.

Yvonne Smith, HUP’61 is retired. She wrote

from East Stroudsburg, PA that after having bilateral hip replacements in 2008 and 2010, she had a fall in November 2012 while at a Penn State football game. This resulted in a

We want to hear from you! We welcome your input and encourage your participation at nursalum@pobox.upenn.edu or 215.898.9773. spiral fracture of the femur requiring complex surgical repair. Most of the winter was spent housebound with no weight bearing. Yvonne is grateful for all of her friends’ prayers and her HUP orthopedic surgeon.

Bernice Baxter, Nu’62 recently became a health consultant with Head Start.

Nona Holloway, Nu’62, GNu’68 recently

became a professor at Gwynedd Mercy University’s Frances M. Maguire School of Nursing in Gwynedd Valley, PA. Sue Ebsworth Stabene, HUP’62 celebrated

working at HUP for 50 years in 2012. She still works full time in OB/GYN. Sue recently became a life member of the HUP Alumni Association.

Mary Eileen Streight, Nu’64, in collaboration

with Joan Birchenall, saw the publication of the third edition of Mosby’s Textbook for the Home Care Aide.

Patricia Polansky, Nu’65 recently became the director of Policy and Communications with AARP. Lynda Smith Klawiter, HUP’66 works part

time as a CRNA at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. She provides anesthesia at BJC Hospital. Susan has two children and four grandchildren.

Patricia Topley Pomager, HUP’66 lives in

Souderton, PA and recently became a new member of the HUP Alumni Association.

Joanne Youngblut, Nu’66, GNu’70, Gr’80,

professor at Florida International University’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, and Dorothy Brooten had their article Parent Health and Functioning 13 Months After Infant or Child NICU/PICU Death published in Pediatrics. Their study followed parents whose infant or child died in the NICU or PICU and followed them through 13 months and found that the negative health effects for parents during this time are incredible: more than a twofold increase in mothers’ chronic health conditions and 89 hospitalizations during that first 13 months.

Kathie Baldadian, Nu’68 recently became a

virtuoso travel consultant with Park Avenue Travel in Swarthmore, PA. Kathleen McMullen, Nu’68, GNu’70 recently became a professor emeritus at the School of Nursing & Allied Health Professions, Holy Family College in Philadelphia, PA. Ellyn Hickey Radson, HUP’69 went on to receive her BSN from the University of Florida in 1986. She was ANCC certified in Pain Management from 2005-2010. Ellyn retired from nursing in 2011 after 42 years of active practice in medical-surgical, operating room, anesthesia research, intensive care, postanesthesia care, and pain management. She is married to Marion J. Radson and mom to two daughters and their husbands, Meme to a granddaughter and two grandsons. The Radsons spent their time between homes in Gainesville, FL and Strasburg, PA.

1970s Vera Clift, Nu’70 is now a staff nurse with

Human Services, Inc. Maureen Luschini, Nu’70 recently became a

manager with the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network.

Ann L. O’Sullivan, Nu’70, GNu’72, GR’84, PhD, FAAN, CRNP, has been reelected for

a second term on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

David Dunsmore, Nu’72 retired from his

position as staff nurse at the Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris, NY. Pamela Glogau, HUP’72 is now a nursing

professor at San Francisco State University.

Marilyn Dickert Harris, Nu’72, GNu’76 was

recently recognized for two awards. On May 9, she received Abington Memorial Hospital’s 2013 Haines Loyalty Award. Harris also was honored on October 17 at the Pennsylvania State Nursing Association’s 110-Year Anniversary Celebration, as they presented her with its first Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lynn Sommers, Nu’72 has been recognized as the 2013 recipient of the Sigma Theta Tau International Elizabeth McWilliams Miller Award for Excellence in Research. The honor, given to a pioneer who has forged new paths in nursing research, taken risks, discovered new innovations, and developed followers along the way, was awarded at the STTI 42nd Biennial Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mary Chodroff, Nu’75, GNu’81 is now a family nurse practitioner with Family First Health in York, PA. Linda Lazur DeNicola, HUP’75 has been married for 35 years and has two children, ages 30 and 33. She also has three granddaughters, Juliana, Kaitlyn and Samantha. Linda works as an acute care NP at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, NJ. Maryann Hammond, Nu’75, GNu’77 recently became the director of Student Health Services at West Chester University.

Susan Klarquist, HUP’75 wrote from her home

in Mendocino, CA. She is a family nurse practitioner at the Mendocino Coast Clinics.

Susan is married with three adult children. She is an avid runner and enjoys playing the flute.

Barbara Ann Win, GNu’75 is now a nursing

instructor at Aria Health in Philadelphia, PA. Robin Davitt, HUP’76 wrote of her pride of her class valedictorian, Kathy Shaver Amrom, “our artist.” She enjoyed seeing her classmates’ pictures in the newsletter and appreciates her connection to HUP. Robin retired after thirty years of service in the Air Force in 2009 and nine years in federal civil service in 2012.

She is now putting her post-9/11 GI Bill to good use in Theater Arts. Robin lives in St. Petersburg, FL. Mary McGowan Keirsey, HUP’76 is working

as a nurse practitioner for Critical Care at Chester County Hospital in PA. She completed her BSN in 2000 at Immaculata University.

She received her advanced education as an adult nurse practitioner and MSN from Villanova in 2007.

Susan Karsay Thompson, HUP’67 recently sent in her HUP life membership. She is working as the nurse manager of CCU and Medical Surgical at Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont, NH.

HUP Alumni meet in Edgemont, PA for their fall luncheon. www.nursing.upenn.edu

39

Mary Ellen (Merva) Kenworthey, Nu’76 was selected from 300 nominees to be the Cold War Grand Marshal for the Phoenix Veterans Day Parade. This parade is the fourth largest in the U.S., with 86 entries in 2013. Mary Ellen represented military nurses and veterans from the Cold War Era (1945-1999). While stationed at Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, D.C. in 1977, she worked as an ICU nurse for most of her three-year tour and earned the rank of Captain. Board certified as a nurse practitioner in OB/GYN and Family Practice, Mary Ellen currently works in the Women’s Health Department at a community health center in Phoenix. Mary Ellen will celebrate 30 years as a women’s health nurse practitioner in October 2014. She and her husband Bill (W’76) are proud to announce that their son Beau graduated in May with a master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Western University of Health Sciences in California.

Ellen Perkner Murray, HUP’76 is currently attending BSN/MSN classes at Villanova University. She works as a manager in home care for Main Line Health. She and her husband enjoy their four grown children and traveling.

Jean Shook, Nu’76 is now a psychiatric nurse practitioner with Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. Lynn Karasik, GNu’77 recently became a school nurse for the School District of Philadelphia.

Sheila Grant Ingram, HUP’78 lives in West Chester, PA and is an adjunct faculty member at LaSalle University, teaching psychiatric nursing and health promotion strategies. She also serves on the board on Chester County CHADD (Children and Adults Attention Deficit Disorders).

Mary Wilby, HUP’78, MSN, CRNP received

her doctorate at LaSalle University.

Congratulations!

Ramona Archambault, Nu’79 recently became

a pediatric nurse practitioner with Southcoast Primary Care in Fairhaven, MA. Susan Golboro, Nu’79, GNu’86 became the

owner of Awesome Accessories.

Cheryl Portwood, GNu’79 is now an instructor for the Nursing Program at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA.

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UPfront | Spring 2014

Gerard Mathieu, GNu’82 retired from his

1980s Suzanne Foley, GNu’80 is now an assistant

professor of Nursing at Widener University in Chester, PA. Debra McCorriston, Nu’80 is now a registered

nurse with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Lucille Garcia Pages, Nu’80 recently became

the manager of Clinical Infomatics Nursing with the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, FL. Patricia Walters, Nu’80 is now a nurse practitioner with Alaris Health.

Marcella Barry, GNu’81 recently took a

nursing position with Maxim Health Care Services in Pleasanton, CA. Susan Beidler, GNu’81, GG, S’02, GR’02

recently became a nurse practitioner with VNA of Greater Philadelphia.

Margaret Federico, GNu’81 is now a nurse

practitioner with Marathon Health in Kissimmee, FL. Susan Fitzgerald, Nu’81 recently became the director of Student Health Services at Cabrini College in Radnor, PA. Carole Harle, Nu’81 retired from her nurse manager position at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Helene Moriarty, GNu’81, GRN’90, RN is the inaugural

position at the Philadelphia Department of Health.

Bryan H. Lipinski, Nu’82 recently became a

division president at SpecialtyCare in Nashville, TN. Sharon Wenczel, GNu’82 is now manager of

Performance Improvement at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Carole Lynn Kriessman, Nu’83 recently became a clinical manager with BAYADA Home Health Care in Philadelphia, PA. Terri Lipman, GNu’83, GRN’91

has been appointed Penn Nursing’s interim assistant dean for Community Engagement. In this position, she will develop a plan for community engagement that builds on initiatives and partnerships with Philadelphia schools, the Netter Center for Community Partnership, the Center for Public Health Initiatives, and the School of Medicine. Dr. Lipman is the Miriam Stirl Endowed Term Professor of Nutrition and professor of Nursing of Children in the Department of Family and Community Health, a faculty member in the Center for Health Equity Research, associated faculty in the Center for Public Health Initiatives, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Dr. Lipman is the associate program director of the Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program and a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the Division of Endocrinology.

appointee to the College of Nursing’s first endowed faculty chair, the Diane L. and Robert F. Moritz, Jr. Endowed Chair in Nursing Research. Dr. Moriarty will provide significant leadership as the College develops its research capacity. She has been a nurse researcher at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center for 20 years and has held faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova.

Sharon O’Neill, GNu’83 is now an attorney with the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD.

Lynn Shell, GNu’81 recently became an advanced practice nurse with Seabrook Retirement Community.

Sharon Hunter, GNu’84 is now a nurse

Margaret Souders, Nu’81, GNu’96, GR’08 is

now an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tomasina Chamberlain, GNu’82 is now the

regional director of Professional Services with the Community Health Accreditation Program in North Wales, PA.

Regina Grazel, GNu’84 recently joined the

staff of the New Jersey chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics as a program coordinator. practitioner with CHOP Care Network Chestnut Hill.

Marianne Shaughnessy, Nu’84, GNu’89, GRN’96 recently became the Geriatric and

Extended Care Program Officer for the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Moon Smith C’84, Nu’84, GNu’89 is now a

midwife with Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, PA. Betsy Weiss, Nu’84 is now the director of

St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, NJ. Kathleen Bailer, GNu’85 is now the associate

director of Quality with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ruth Levine, GNu’85, GNC’97 took a position as a certified registered nurse practitioner with St. Mary’s Medical Center in Langhorne, PA. Karen Lopez, Nu’85 recently became an assistant professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Illinois – Chicago.

Donna Reck, GNu’85 is now a principal with BMC Associates in Arlington, VA. Deborah Wingate, GNu’85 recently took a

position with the Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

Pamela Jarden, Nu’88, GNu’96 joined NHS Human Services in Malvern, PA, as a psychologist.

Joseph Kelly, WG’91, GR’95 is now a senior

Linda Ardire, GNu’89 recently became a health supervisor with Florida Keys Community College in Key West, FL.

Nancy O’Connor, GNu’91, GNC’95 joined the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as a nurse.

Christian Burchill, GNu’89 has joined the

Phyllis Roth, GNu’91 joined the staff of the

staff of the Office of Nursing Research and Innovation at the Cleveland Clinic as a nurse researcher, His research is on factors that make emergency nurses feel safe from violence committed by patients and visitors, a growing problem worldwide. Last year, he received a grant from the Emergency Nurses Association and Sigma Theta Tau, International.

University of Arizona Health Plan Network in Tucson, AZ.

Diane Pachucy, GNu’89 is now a health

manager for Disease State Management in Scranton, PA.

1990s

Patricia Czudak, GNu’86 is now a nurse

Irene Applebee, GNu’90 recently joined the

practitioner with Pediatrics Specialty Care in Ambler, PA.

staff of Aetna, Inc.

Loretta Reilly, GNu’86, GNC’00 became a

practitioner with the GI Surgeon Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

sedation nurse practitioner and senior lecturer at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Darcy Renaghan, Nu’86 is now the co-owner

of Just Us Women Health Center in North Attleboro, MA. Diane Spatz, Nu’86, GNu’89, GR’95 PhD, RN-BC, FAAN will be a keynote speaker at the

Second Breastfeeding Sick Babies International Conference, held in Bangkok, Thailand in March. Dr. Spatz will discuss the provision of human milk/breastfeeding in mothers who have preterm and sick babies.

Kim St Clair, GNu’86 recently became a

clinical coordinator for Orlando Heart Specialists.

Monica Dissler-McCullough, GNu’87 joined

the staff of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a nurse practitioner.

Jennifer Easter, Nu’87 recently took a Business Development position with Snapcause, LLC in Lansdale, PA. Myrtie Musetti, GNu’87 is now an RN

evaluator for the American Red Cross.

Janice Breen, GNu’88 is now the manager of

Clinical Research at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, NJ.

Sally Fernandez, GNu’90 is now a nurse

Joan K. King, GNu’90, Gr’99, senior integration consultant for the National Council for Behavioral Health, has been elected to the board of the First Hospital Foundation, a Philadelphia group that supports nonprofit organizations whose programs address the health needs of the most vulnerable and underserved populations.

Sherry Greenberg, Nu’90, GNu’92 joined the

faculty of the New York University College of Nursing as an adjunct clinical assistant professor of Nursing.

Dawnmarie D’Orlando, Nu’90, GNu’93

recently became a program manager with Main Street Financial Solutions LLC in Pennington, NJ. Kimberly Broach, GNu’91 is now a clinical instructor for the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

epidemiologist with Lockheed Martin Corporation in Bethesda, MA.

Ladawna Adams, GNu’92 is now a doctoral

student at Rutgers University.

Carol Howland, GNu’92 is now a chief nursing

officer at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, CA. Alison Keating, Nu’92 recently became a

consultant with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center – Altoona.

Paul Clements, GNu’93, GR’00 is now an associate clinical professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Ronni Rothman, Nu’93, GNu’95 is now the owner of Womanwise Midwifery in Plymouth Meeting, PA. Lorraine Bock, GNu’94 recently became a nurse practitioner for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the Department of Aging.

Nathalie Hebert, Nu’94, GNu’95 is now a nurse practitioner with Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Salem, MA. Kelly Marcoux, GNu’94 recently became the

assistant vice president for Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. Cathy McAdams, GNu’94 is now a pediatric

nurse practitioner and renal transplant coordinator with A.I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE. Matthew McHugh, GNC’94, GNu’98, Gr’04 RN, CRNP, FAAN has received an award

of $214,060 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for his study Nurse Staffing Public Reporting Laws: Effects on Staffing and Patient Safety.

Nancy Davies-Hathen, GNu’91 recently became the senior director of Quality and Clinical Effectiveness with Cooper University Healthcare in Camden, NJ.

Andrea Perreault, Nu’94 is now a hospice nurse case manager with Masonicare in Wallingford, CT.

Mary Dressler-Carre, GNu’91 is now the

Jennifer Wilson, Nu’94, GNu’08 recently

director of Abington Health Children’s Clinic.

joined the staff of Penn State Milton Hershey Medical Center as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. www.nursing.upenn.edu

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Elena Bertolino, GNu’95 is now a Nursing Quality and Evidence Based Practice manager for the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York, NY. Elizabeth Craig, GNu’95 is now the chief nurse executive for the Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, PA. Jessica Fuller, Nu’95, GNu’97 became an assistant nurse manager with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Joan Gibble, GNC’95 is now a nurse

practitioner with Florida Cancer Specialist in Fort Myers, FL. Sarah Jones, Nu’95, WEV’12, GNu’13 became a senior performance improvement specialist with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY. Joanna Maltese, Nu’95 took a position with

Infusion Ventures in Woburn, MA. April Vallerand, GR’95, GNu’98, PhD, RN, FAAN has been appointed to the first Wayne

State University College of Nursing Alumni Endowed Professorship.

Kathryn H. Bowles, Gr’96 RN, FAAN has been

appointed the van Ameringen Chair in Nursing Excellence. She has also been featured in an NIH report on Profiles of Prosperity as one of only a dozen scholars who through their research are “transforming an idea to a thriving industry,” in a story titled Saving Millions in Health Care Costs: How RightCare Solutions is preventing hospital readmissions and reducing costs.

Cheryl Carney, GNu’96 is now a certified nurse and midwife with Phoenix Perinatal Associates.

Su Cartmell, GNu’96, GNC’00 joined the

faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a clinical instructor.

Alma Chavez, Nu’96 is now a project manager

for Parexel International in Rockville, MD. Tammi Dammas, GNu’96, GR’02, WG’02 is

now associate dean and interim chairperson of the graduate program in the Division of Nursing at Howard University in Washington, DC. Amy Edgar, GNu’96 founded the Children’s

Integrated Center for Success in Allentown, PA. This treatment center provides services for children affected by anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorders and autism.

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UPfront | Spring 2014

David Glidden, Nu’96, RES’07 is now a

Maria Magliacano, Nu’98 and Marc

pathologist with Legacy Health in Portland, PR.

Maglicacano, W’96 write, “We are proud to announce the birth of our daughter, Chloe Anne, on March 12 in CT. She joined big sisters Lily (6) and Ava (3).”

Eileen Lawhorne, GNu’96 became the vice president of Hospital Quality for Holy Redeemer Hospital in Brick, NJ. Sue Alderman, GNu’97 is now a clinical

professor at Villanova University in Villanova, PA. Candice Davenport, Nu’97 took a position

with Maplewood Health Department as a public health nurse and health educator.

Maureen Julien, Nu’97, GNu’01 is now a nurse practitioner with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Sigrid Ladores, Nu’97, GNu’02 writes, “I

successfully defended my dissertation, The Early Postpartum Experience of Previously Infertile Mothers, and obtained my PhD in Nursing from the University of Central Florida College of Nursing on December 13, 2013. This was a hard-fought eight-year journey, and I could not have done it without the support of family, friends, and Penn mentors, Dr. Janet Deatrick, Dr. Terri Lipman, and Susan Kolb. The woman next to me [in the photo] in her academic regalia is Dr. Karen Aroian, STTI Hall of Fame Nurse Researcher and my dissertation advisor.

Go Quakers!”

Ellen Mangin, GNu’97, GNC’98 is now a nurse

Sheila Ong, Nu’98 took a nursing position in

the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Rebecca Trotta, Nu’98, GNu’01, Gr’10 has been named the recipient of a $1.5 million grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). HRSA, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that funds programs aimed at meeting the needs of underserved and uninsured populations, has awarded the grant for her research project, titled Developing Geriatric Resource Nurse-Led Interprofessional Collaborative Practice. The project’s primary objectives are to develop nurses’ expertise in geriatrics and their capacity to lead interprofessional teams focused on geriatric patient care. Additionally, this project will develop the collaborative practice between physicians, quality managers, pharmacists, social workers, dieticians and therapists particularly for the care of geriatric patients.

Rebecca is currently the director of Nursing Research and Science at HUP and the mother of three children.

Zenith Gonzalez, Nu’99, GNu’00 is now a nurse practitioner at Sutter Hospital.

Eileen Maloney-Wilensky, GNu’99 became

practitioner with Abington Hospital in Abington, PA.

the director of the Neurosurgery Clinical Research Division at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Michelle Nickolaus, GNu’97 joined the

2000s

faculty of Penn State University as an instructor of medicine.

Jill Pinover, GNu’97 joined the staff of the Birth Center at Bryn Mawr in Bryn Mawr, PA. Paula Sones, Nu’97 founded her own dental

practice, Cambridge Smiles, in Cambridge, MA. Ninetta Dickerson, GNu’98 is now a nurse

practitioner with Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mt. Holly, NJ. Tiraporn Junda, GNu’98 recently became an assistant professor at Mahidol University in Bankok, Thailand.

Catherine Cristofalo, GNu’00 is now director of Surgical Nurse Practitioners at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NH. Christine Innes, GNC’00 took a position as a senior global study manager with Pfizer, Inc. in Collegeville, PA. Van Luong, Nu’00 joined the staff of Sutter Health as a nurse practitioner.

Corinna Sicoutris, GNu’00 is now a clinical network administrator at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Anna Simon, GNu’00 became the director of Health Promotion Services for the YukonKuskokwim Healthcare Corporation of Bethel, AK.

Katherine Hostvedt Marchese, Nu’01, GNu’03, Gr’08 and her husband Philip are

thrilled to announce the birth of their daughter, Virginia Korby Marchese, on August 6, 2013.

Kelly Wiltse Nicely, Nu’01, GR’10 has been presented with the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing Outstanding Young Alumni Award for 2013.

Lori Ortman, Nu’01, GNu’06 is now a nurse

anesthetist with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Elizabeth Santarsiero, Nu’01, GNu’02 is now

a nurse practitioner with Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. Sarah Scott, Nu’01, W’01 joined Sunrise

Advisors in Leawood, KS, as an investment advisor representative.

Benjamin Katz, Nu’02, W’02, WG’02 founded a prepaid debit card company, CARD.com.

Allison Kemner, Nu’02, GNu’06 is now a

Ali Jaffer, Nu’04, W’04 is now an engagement

Julie Yoon, GNu’05 is now a nurse practitioner

manager with McKinsey & Company, Inc. in Philadelphia, PA

for Penn Medicine.

Donna O’Donnell, GR’04 is a principal with

O’Donnell Associates in Philadelphia, PA. Robin Proctor, Nu’04, GNu’07 is now a nurse

practitioner with Pennsylvania Hospital.

Jennie Ryan, Nu’04, GNu’09 is now a nurse

Sarah Margerum, Nu’06 started a new position as the Public Engagement Manager at the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, MA. Aditi Rao, Nu’06, GNu’07, GR’13 is now a

nurse research scientist at Penn Medicine.

practitioner for Nemours duPont Pediatrics in Wilmington, DE.

Caitlin Rose, Nu’06 took a nursing position

Mindy Zeitzer, GNu’04, GR’08, GR’09 is now a professor and researcher at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Systems in Philadelphia, PA.

Karen Tom, Nu’06, GNu’08 joined the staff of

Christina Calamaro, GR’05, GR’07 is now

director of Clinical/Nursing Research at Nemours A.I. DuPont Hospital in Wilmington, DE. Tamar Epstein, Nu’05, GNu’09 joined

with Doctors Without Borders. the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, NY. Sarah Scott Olsen, Nu’06 and Andrew Olsen W’05 joyfully announce the birth of their second daughter, Katherine Elizabeth Olsen, on June 5; she weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz., and was 21 inches long. She joined big sister Natalie (almost 3). They live in Berwyn, PA.

St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, PA, as a nurse practitioner.

Kara Waters, Nu’06, GNu’09 joined the staff of the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, TX.

Hayley Mark, GR’02 became director of the Baccalaureate Program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

Jennifer Galczenski, Nu’05, GNu’06 is now a

Suzanne Conaboy, Nu’07 is now an associate

nurse practitioner for Einstein Medical Center Montgomery in East Norriton, PA.

attorney with Myers, Brier, & Kelly, LLP in Scranton, PA.

Kerry Zabriskie, Nu’02 married Eric Reed on

Ethan Howe, Nu’05, GNu’08 recently moved to Monterey, CA, where he is helping start an inpatient Palliative Care Program.

Kimberly Daniels, Nu’07, GNu’12 is now a clinical nurse specialist with Penn Care at Home (University of Pennsylvania Hospital System).

project director with Oxford Oncology.

September 28 in Boulder, CO. Kerry and Eric live in Wheat Ridge, just west of Denver, where she works as a pediatric nurse practitioner in gastroenterology at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado.

Martin Camacho, GNu’03 is now an acute

care nurse and emergency nurse practitioner for the Department of Emergency Medicine in Honolulu, HI. Maya Clark-Cutaia, Nu’03, GNu’06 is now a

postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Rebekah Couper-Noles, GNu’03 joined

Providence Medical Groups in Providence, OR, as a certified nurse midwife.

Frederick Watters, Nu’03, GNu’04 is now a

nurse practitioner with Blue Hill Memorial Hospital in Blue Hill, ME. Heather Welsh, Nu’03, GNu’05 joined the

staff of Abington Hospital as a nurse practitioner.

Meghan Capasso, Nu’04 is now a senior staff

nurse at Massachusetts Hospital in Boston, MA.

Megan Mariotti, Nu’05, GNu’08, GR’08, GR’09

is now a clinical improvement strategy specialist for Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. Bridgette Brawner, GNu’05, GR’09, PhD, APRN has been named a Diverse: Issues in

Higher Education Emerging Scholar for 2014.

This journal, committed to a leading role in educating the ever-increasing number of people of color and other underrepresented minority groups, takes as its goals the dissemination of knowledge and information about higher education. We look forward to reading the article that will spotlight her amazing achievements in the weeks ahead.

Julia Mills Nu’05, GNu’08 joined the staff of the University of Pennsylvania Student Health Service.

Laura Rich, Nu’05, W’05 is now an analyst

with IMS Consulting – New York.

Judith Rivera, Nu’05, GNu’08 is now a

hospital staff nurse with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Ellie Griffinger-Guidi, Nu’07, GNu’11 is

excited to announce that she has partnered with Lindy Johnson, CNM, to open her new midwifery practice in Berkeley, California.

Recently she became the newest private practice midwife with privileges at Alta Bates Medical Center, where she will conduct all of her clients’ deliveries.

Katelin Hoskins, Nu’07, GNu’08, GR’08 joined

the staff of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a nurse practitioner.

Rhonda Hough, GNu’05, GNu’07 is now the

assistant director for Advanced Practice at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, PA. Shruti Iyer, Nu’07 W’08 took a position as a Quality Improvement Coordinator with Sutter Health.

Carolyn Lehman, Nu’07 is now a clinical

research nurse with the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, NC.

www.nursing.upenn.edu

43

Stephanie Mazzaro, Nu’07, GNu’09 is now a

Kristen Ashbahian, Nu’09 and Dr. Richard

Elizabeth Milburn, Nu’10, GNu’12 is now a

quality management specialist with New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York, NY.

Schmidt C’09 are excited to announce their engagement; they met at Penn in 2006 and plan to marry in 2014.

registered nurse with Hornstein Platt in Philadelphia, PA.

Paula Pearson, Nu’07, WEV’12, GNu’12 is now a nurse manager for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Randy Tang, Nu’07, W’07 began his

dermatology residency at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, NY. Jenny Yang, Nu’07, W’07 joined Jefferies &

Yana Banerjee, Nu’09, GNu’12 is now a nurse

practioner with Greater Philadelphia Health Action.

Jacob Bevilacqua, Nu’09, GNu’13 is now a

certified registered nurse anesthetist with Cooper University Hospital.

Co. as an investment banker.

Carol Hanselman, Nu’09, W’09, GNu’13 is

Anna (Slavinsky) Zimmerman, Nu’07, GNu’11

now a registered nurse for the University Medical Center of Princeton.

is working as a nurse practitioner for the Federal Bureau of Prisons at USP Lewisburg.

She also started her own non-profit human services company named Family and Friends, Inc. which provides support services for adults with developmental disabilities in a variety of settings to help individuals reach their outcomes, and to become valued members of the community. The company serves five counties in central Pennsylvania. She lives in Northumberland, PA with her husband Jason and is hoping to join the U.S. Public Health Service when applications re-open for nurse practitioners.

Jennifer Dagger, Nu’08, GNu’12 joined the

staff of the Presbyterian Medical Center of Philadelphia as a registered nurse.

Kerith Finegan, Nu’08, GNu’10 is now a

registered nurse with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Anne Grifo, GNu’08 is now a nurse

practitioner with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Caitlin Hildebrand, Nu’08, GNu’11, nurse practitioner with On Lok Lifeways, had her article, Elder self-neglect: The failure of coping because of cognitive and functional impairments, featured on MDLinx, a medical journal review index. The article, which details elder self-neglect and the best way to address this problem’s associated factors, was originally published in Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Heidi Kapustka, GNu’09 is now a nurse practitioner with Spotsylvania Medical Center in Fredericksburg, VA. Yael Kessler, Nu’09 took a nursing position with Cedars Sinai Medical Center in New York, NY. Kate Ludwig, Nu’09, GNu’12 is now a nurse

practitioner with Rochester General Hospital in Rochester, NY. Olivia Prebus, Nu’09 is now a clinical nurse

Adriane Tuttle, Nu’10, GNu’11 is now a nurse

practicioner with Coastal Family Health Center in Astoria, OR. Melanie Wright Winter, GNu’10 gave birth to twins on October 14 at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, PA. Katharina Ann and Evan Francis join older siblings Luke (3), Hanna (11), and Kyle (14). Melanie currently works for Main Line Health in an outpatient OB/GYN office as a women’s health nurse practitioner.

Cara Zapatka, Nu’10 is now a nurse at Yale

University in New Haven, CT. Christina Zhang, Nu’10, W’10 joined the staff

of Jennison Associates Capital Corporation as a Biotech Investment Analyst in New York, NY.

Stephanie Routson, Nu’09, GNu’13 joined the

nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

staff of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania as a clinical nurse.

Tiffany Tang, Nu’09, W’09 joined

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as an advisor.

Sarah Watkins, Nu’09, GNu’13 is now a

registered nurse with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

2010s Kathryn Burke, Nu’10 took a nursing position

with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Evelyn Chin, Nu’10, GNu’12 is now a family nurse practitioner with the Newman Medical Group in San Jose, CA. Lauren Hancock, GNu’10 is now a nurse

practitioner with the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Komal Patel, Nu’08, GNu’11 is now an acute

grade in the United States Navy.

UPfront | Spring 2014

Kimberly Shooshan, Nu’10 is now a registered nurse with Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, NC.

Jamie-Ann Acero, Nu’11 is now a clinical

Allison Ann Imahiyerobo, GNu’10 is now a

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Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, NY.

with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Sarah Joaquim, Nu’08, GNu’11 is now a pediatric oncology nurse practitioner with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.

care nurse practitioner with New YorkPresbyterian – Columbia University.

Erin Ryan, GNu’10 joined the staff of

nurse practitioner with Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, NY. Erica Khoury, Nu’10 is now a lieutenant junior

Amelia Cataldo, Nu’11 is now a clinical nurse at the New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Hospital.

Nils Dahl, EAS’11, GEng’12 married Amy Altemeyer, Nu’11 in “a beautiful ceremony at St. Agatha-St. James Catholic Church next to the Penn campus on April 6.” A reception followed at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia with many alumni attending. The rehearsal dinner was hosted in the café of Nursing’s Claire M. Fagin Hall, after a champagne toast at the bench next to Engineering’s Towne Building where he had proposed to her.

Members of the wedding party included groomsmen Billy Cheringal EAS’11, Anthony Balduzzi C’11, Jon Wilson GEng’12, and Michael Tomback C’11, and bridesmaid Chelsea Motzel, Nu’11. Nils and Amy continue to live in central New Jersey, where he is product manager for Samsung and she works as a nurse at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Laura Goergen, Nu’11, GNu’12 is now a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA.

Benjamin Goodrum, Nu’11, GNu’13 joined the

Julianne Gamino, Nu’12 is now a nurse home visitor for the Philadelphia Nurse Family Partnership.

Amy Baques, Nu’13 joined the nursing staff at

staff of the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Elaine Hoi, Nu’11 is now a staff nurse at

Tiffany Huang, Nu’12 is now a registered

Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

nurse for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

nurse practitioner at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

Tabitha Hymans, Nu’11 is now a nurse at

Good Shephard Penn Partner.

Nikia Marshall, GNu’12 joined the staff of the

Yin Lo, Nu’11 C’11 joined the nursing staff at

Florida Community Health Center in West Palm Beach, FL.

the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Rachel McCoy, Nu’11, GNu’13 is now a nurse

for the University of Illinois Health and Sciences System.

Michele Mui, Nu’11, W’11 is now a nurse at

New York University.

April Nitkin, GNu’11 took a position as a

nurse practitioner for the clinical practices of University of Pennsylvania.

Kenneth Powell, Nu’11 joined the staff of

Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. Gunjan Rastogi-Wilson, GNu’11 is now a

nurse practitioner for St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, PA. Michelle Savard, Nu’11 joined the nursing

staff at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, UT. David Shih, Nu’11, W’11 is now a financial

analyst for Nexus Health Capital.

David Allen, Nu’12, GNu’13 joined the staff of

the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Rebecca Berger, Nu’12, GNu’13 is now a registered nurse with the Florida Children’s Hospital in Orlando, FL. Audrey Colflesh, GNu’12 is now a nurse

practitioner with Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia, PA. Brittany Colligen, Nu’12 is now an emergency room nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

Gabriela de Hoyos, Nu’12 is now a registered

nurse for Penn Presbyterian.

Catherine Dierkes, Nu’12, GNu’13 took a nursing position at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Stephanie Felton, Nu’12 joined the staff at

the University of Maryland Medical Center in College Park, MD.

Diane Mauro, GNu’12 is now a Nurse

Practitioner at Main Line Health.

the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Christopher Burke, GNu’13 is now a pediatric

Melissa Dickerson, Nu’13 is now a registered nurse at Brigham & Womens Hospital in Boston, MA. Jennifer Dougherty, GNu’13 is now a nurse

practicioner at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Mohammad Mojadidi, Nu’12 is now a critical care nurse for the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Sarah Gray, Nu’13 is now a registered nurse

Kathryn Nary, Nu’12, GNu’13 joined the staff of St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.

Benjamin Hardy, Nu’13, W’13 joined the staff

Natalie Negro, Nu’12 is now a clinical documentation specialist for the University of Pennsylvania.

Gabriella Kim, Nu’13 is now a registered nurse at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Paul Nguyen, Nu’12 is now a critical care

Jennifer Lee, Nu’13 joined the staff of the

registered nurse for Penn Medicine.

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Melissa O’Connor GR’12 MBA, RN, COS-C, a

recognized expert in geriatric nursing and home healthcare, joined the faculty of the Villanova College of Nursing this fall as assistant professor. She was most recently a post-doctoral research fellow at the NewCourtland Center for Health Transitions and Health at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing where her scholarly work centered on individualized care for at-risk older adults. She is currently a research associate with the Visiting Nurse Services of New York.

for Maxim Healthcare Services in Columbia, MD. of The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. as an associate.

Elizabeth Lynn, GNu’13 is now a staff nurse at

the University of Pennsylvania.

Christina Martindale, Nu’13, GNu’18 took a position as a nurse at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Kerry McLaughlin, Nu’13 recently founded the KnowMe Mobile Healthcare Application.

Julie Sternbach, Nu’13 is now a nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Lauren Olsen, Nu’12 has been in Seattle,

loving her work on the Acute Care for Elders (ACE) unit at Virginia Mason Medical Center that she began in April of this year. She is also excited about her work helping with the virtual nursing interview committee.

David Tran, Nu’12 is now a registered nurse

for MetroHealth.

Katherine Woodall, Nu’12 is now a registered

nurse for the Princeton Medical Center in Princeton, NJ.

NYC Penn Nursing Alumni celebrated the season with a Holiday Happy Hour on January 5, 2014.

Alumni gathered at Maya New York for tapas, drinks and networking. The event was co-hosted by committee chairs Amelia Cataldo, Nu’11 and Stephanie Chu, Nu’10, GNu’13.

Leana Aungst, GNu’13 is now a nurse

practitioner for Lancaster General Cancer Center in Lancaster, PA.

www.nursing.upenn.edu

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In M e mori a m 1930s Helen K. Persson, HUP’38, passed away on

June 17, 2013 in North Palm Beach, FL. She often remarked that she had three careers in her life: Nursing, Navy, and Operatic. She joined the Navy during World War II and served in the Navy Nurse Corps where she rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

While stationed as a Navy nurse in California, Helen’s commanding officer heard her sing and encouraged her to audition for the San Francisco Opera chorus. A lifelong lover of opera, Helen was involved as both a performer and sponsor. She also supported the performing arts at Palm Beach Atlantic University and Colgate University. Her commitment to community health was revealed in her generous support of SloanKettering in New York, Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, and Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, MA. For over 20 years, she volunteered at the Good Samaritan Medical Center where she also served on the Board of Directors. She is predeceased by her husband, Alf T. “Ted” Persson.

Margaret Allison Kotzen, HUP’39 passed

away on January 16, 2012.

1940s Clara Staber, HUP’42 passed away on August

24, 2013 in Allentown, PA. She was a Captain in the U.S. Army serving as an active nurse in the European Theater during World War II. She is survived by her son, three grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Christina Zelienka, HUP’45 passed away on

December 18, 2011. Born and raised in Nesquehoning, PA, she married John Zelienka and moved to the northern suburbs of Chicago, IL, in 1947. There she raised two sons, Jack and Jim, while pursuing a career in nursing. From working for a private doctor, to a public hospital, to directing a nursing home, to private duty, she was committed to nursing and helping others. Active in church and community, she loved her family, travel and her hometown. Chris was a true “coal miner’s daughter” and proud of it. She is dearly missed.

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UPfront | Spring 2014

Janice Davies, HUP’46 passed away on December 6, 2011. She served with the Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II and enjoyed a long nursing career in various fields, including dentistry, pediatrics, and ophthalmology, then retired at the age of 65. She is survived by her husband, Hugh.

Alice Heisey Fox, HUP’47 passed away on March 16, 2013. Her sister, Harriet Heisey wrote to inform us of her passing. “She had congestive heart failure and also COPD. She was a wonderful sister. I miss her so much.

She was always busy helping others. She had good training for everyone said she was a good nurse and wherever she went she would meet someone whose baby she had delivered.

Nobody there will know her but you did contribute to her life and ours. We thank you.”

Harriet also included a letter that Alice wrote to the HUP Alumni Association, in which she described her 37 years spent working in a small community hospital and on an OB floor.

During her retirement years, she enjoyed hiking, gardening, and spending time with family. She is survived by two sisters, two children, and five grandchildren.

Grace O’Malley Sullivan, HUP’48 passed away on August 29, 2010. She moved to New York City in 1949 where she worked as a staff nurse in the OB/GYN department of the New York Hospital. She married in 1951 and had three children. During her professional career, she worked in the Oral Surgery Department of Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, was clinical director at Planned Parenthood, and director of the Women’s Health and Family Planning Clinic at New York Hospital until her retirement in the early 1990s. Over the years she earned a BS in Nursing from Hunter College, a master’s degree in Public Health and became a nurse practitioner. A loving and compassionate person, she dedicated her life to caring for young families and educating people on a wide range of women’s health issues. She always had a kind and generous spirit and loved interacting with people. She will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by many family and friends. She is survived by her three children, four grandchildren and several nieces, nephews and their children.

Catherine Billiar, HUP’48 of Sunset Beach, NC, died Sunday, December 8, 2013 in Wilmington, NC. Born in York, PA on December 24, 1927, she was a daughter of the late George and Clara McGuinness Deavers.

Mrs. Billiar was a retired registered nurse and was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She was preceded in death by her husband Richard T. Billiar in 2008.

1950s Dorothy Healthy Kneale, HUP’53 of

Kimberton, PA, died suddenly on May 30, 2013.

To friends, she was simply known as “Dot.” Born in Philadelphia, PA, she was the daughter of the late Louis and Elizabeth Healey. She grew up in a Presbyterian Orphanage of Philadelphia. She graduated from HUP with honors. For many years she worked in the recovery room of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She also worked as the director of Nursing for the Pennhurst Center and the Veteran’s Center in Chester County.

After retirement, she remained active volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross and her church. She is survived by her brothers Steve and Eddie, her sisters Elizabeth Paur and Kathleen Chelian and many nieces and nephews. Dot was an avid Phillies fan and lover of animals. Throughout life’s journey, Dot was accompanied by her beloved dogs, Casey, Kelley, Cowboy, Pepper, Barney, Babe, and Josie, and numerous cats. Dot is fondly remembered for her leadership in the recovery room by fellow HUP alumni Pat Marcozzi, Deana Rigg and Betty Mooney. Of interest, Dot attended Bartram H.S. in Philadelphia with Marty Taylor, HUP’53 who passed away a few years ago.

Ann Louise Hoffmann Naugle, HUP’54 of

Reading, PA passed away on May 15, 2013.

She was a life member of the HUP Alumni Association and is survived by her husband Bob. Elizabeth Ann Wolfinger Siegfried, HUP’54

of Allentown, PA passed away on March 29, 2013. She is survived by her husband Lester, her daughter Mary Jo and her grandchildren.

Her nursing career included several years as an industrial nurse at Bethlehem Steel Company. She enjoyed breeding and raising dogs. Elizabeth was so well respected by her classmates that several of her friends donated to the HUP scholarship fund at the Philadelphia Foundation in her memory.

Doris Andrews Hazen, HUP’56 Nu’61 of

Scottsdale, AZ passed away on Sept. 19, 2013.

Mrs. Hazen was a retired nurse who also enjoyed participating in the arts. She is survived by her children, grandchildren, great-grandson, and siblings.

Marlene Martin Riordan, HUP’56, GNu’95 of

Warminster, PA passed away on June 14, 2013. After graduating from HUP, Marlene received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Science in Nursing for Nurse Practitioners from the University of Pennsylvania and a Health Education Master from Arcadia University (formerly known as Beaver College). She worked in many areas of nursing throughout her impressive career. Predominantly, she worked in public health in Indianapolis, IN; as an instructor at Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA; a clinical instructor at Abington Memorial Hospital, Abington, PA; clinical coordinator at Neshaminy Manor, Doylestown, PA and as a private consultant nurse practitioner at Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr, PA. Following her retirement she served with the Bucks County Medical Reserve Corps.

Marlene was active in the HUP Alumni Association and also kept in touch with friends from grammar and high school. Marlene is survived by two sons, their wives, four grandchildren, and her sister, Lynn Martin Haskin.

Kathryn Ricci, HUP’57 of Estero, FL, passed

away on August 30, 2012. Mrs. Ricci worked as a nurse for many years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania before moving to Florida and retiring from Naples Community Hospital. She was a member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and the Estero Bridge Club.

Kathryn enjoyed cooking and was an avid bridge player. She is survived by her husband of 48 years, Robert J. “Bob” Ricci; loving sons, Robert (Sandy) Ricci of Gilbertsville, PA, Michael (Linda) Ricci of Trappe, PA, and Chuck (Anne) Ricci of Greencastle, PA; sister, Ruth (William) Morrison; cherished grandchildren, Matthew, Tyler, Brett, Ryan, Nick, and Gabrielle; and great-granddaughter, Zoey.

1960s Louise Travis Battista, Nu’68, Lake Oswego, OR, a retired nephrology nurse and clinicalresearch associate; June 16, 2013. At Penn, she was a member of Chi Omega sorority. Her husband is Christopher Battista, W’65 and her sister is Cicely Travis McGowin, CW’65, GEd’68.

1970s

1990s

Debora Kemmler Rowe, HUP’70 passed away

Nicole K. Gray-Baudo, GNu ‘98, Vero Beach,

on September 9, 2013 in Harrisburg, PA. She retired as an RN clinical supervisor from Pinnacle Health Hospital and Community General Osteopathic Hospital with forty years of service.

FL. Mrs. Baudo received her bachelor’s degree from Drexel University, her nursing degree from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, and her masters of nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. She was employed by NHTL as a mental health therapist. Mrs. Baudo was a member of the Holy Cross Catholic Church in Vero Beach. She is survived by her husband, Thomas A. Baudo; her parents, Harold and Sara Gray; sister, Kimberly; and her four children.

Barbara Anne Wharton McCabe, Nu’70, GNu’72, RN, APRN, died July 26, 2013 at her

home in Lincoln, NE, from metastatic breast cancer. She received her RN from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Scranton. After working several years she received a Pennsylvania Senatorial Scholarship for her BSN at the University of Pennsylvania and then a National Institute of Mental Health fellowship for her MSN. Barbara completed a PhD at the University of Nebraska. She held teaching positions at the University of Texas, the University of Alabama, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Nursing. While she started in mental health she slowly moved to an emphasis on gerontology with a special emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease and companion animals for the elderly and people with dementia. In addition to her teaching and research Barbara did extensive community service and received numerous honors. She is survived by her husband, George, her two children, three grandchildren, and three siblings.

Barbara Kraynyak-Luise, Nu’74, GNu’80

passed away on July 1, 2013 in Rosemont, PA. A retired associate professor of nursing at the College of Staten Island CUNY. Dr. Kraynyak-Luise graduated from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, received her BSN and MSN degrees from The University of Pennsylvania, and her EdD degree from Rutgers University. She held teaching positions at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and the College of Staten Island from 1987 until 2010.

A highly regarded expert in the care of homeless and vulnerable populations, she authored numerous publications and won several awards for her work.

2000s Mark Cavanaugh, Nu’08, passed away on

November 12, 2013 after a long battle with aplastic anemia. Mark is survived by his parents, Jim and Ann Cavanaugh; his four brothers, Jim, Matt, Kevin, and Michael; his sister, Bridget Simmons; his fiancée Stephanie Castellano; his sisters-in-law Jordan, Janet, and Carolina; and his brother-in-law David Simmons. Born and raised in Austin, MN, Mark graduated summa cum laude from Penn and was awarded the Hillman scholarship in Nursing. Mark was pursuing postbaccalaureate pre-medical studies at Penn when he fell ill. Mark had a legendary work ethic and approached all his endeavors with an all or nothing attitude. He lived to serve others and perhaps the toughest part of his five-year battle with sickness was not being able to move forward with his career goals. Above all else he cherished his family, friends, and beloved Stephanie. Mark fought his illness with the same tenacity, humor, and grace that he lived his life. A week before Mark’s death, his doctors feared he had only hours to live. He continued to fight courageously for the next seven days to spend the last hours of his life surrounded by his family. The family would like to thank the amazing staff at the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic from doctors and physical therapists to those that changed his linens. Mark was a nurse and his day-today comfort was due in large part to the absolutely amazing nurses that always showed compassion and became intimately involved in not only his medical care but also his personal life and their family’s life.

www.nursing.upenn.edu

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PENN NURSING RENFIELD FOUNDATION AWARD

Edna Adan

Inaugural Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award Recipient

The phone call from Penn Nursing Dean Afaf Meleis came very, very late in the evening for Edna Adan but it also could not have come at a more perfect time.

Following an intense selection process, Edna Adan was named the inaugural recipient of the Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health. Established in 2012, this award includes a $100,000 cash prize and will be presented biennially to a leader in the field of global women’s health.

The inaugural Renfield Award joins a long line of firsts for Adan. She was the first Somali girl to be awarded a scholarship to study in Britain, where she learned nursing, midwifery, and nursing management for seven years. She was the first qualified nurse-midwife in Somaliland, and later became the first lady of the country. After years of advocating for the abolition of harmful traditional practices like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) through her work with the World Health Organization, she returned to Somaliland, where she sold all of her possessions to build the country’s first maternity hospital.

The health of the people of Somaliland is among the worst in Africa, with one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world.

Since opening in 2002, the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital has transformed the lives of women in Somaliland. Over 14,000 babies have been safely delivered with a maternal mortality rate onefourth of the national average and more than 300 women have undergone successful fistula repairs. The Maternity Hospital trains fullyqualified healthcare professionals, and remains committed to fighting the practice of FGM. Adan was nominated for the Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award by Nicholas Kristof, columnist for The New York Times and co-author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

“Edna is saving

“Edna Adan has been a passionate leader not only as a hands-on nurse in Somaliland, but also in building a hospital and a training system to produce more nurses and midwives to work in remote areas across her country,” said Kristof.

“She has been a tireless force to end female genital cutting in her country. The result is that largely by force of will, Edna is saving lives every day – and putting in place public health systems that will save lives for many decades to come.

She’s a force of nature, and it’s a privilege to watch her in action.”

Supporting leaders like Adan remains a critical part of the mission of Penn Nursing’s Center for Global Women’s Health. Since 2009, Penn Nursing has engaged almost 1,200 people through its women’s health initiative events, which has led to extraordinary growth for the Center. One of these individuals was Jean Renfield-Miller, president of the Beatrice Renfield Foundation, the founder of the Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award. “The health and safety of women has far-reaching effects,” said Renfield-Miller. “This award will raise awareness of the issues facing women and girls today and encourage innovative solutions to these problems.”

For Adan, the phone call from Dean Meleis telling her that she had been awarded the Renfield Award came as she was working to secure funding to expand her hospital and care for more women and children than ever before.

When she learned the news, tears welled in her eyes as she shared the Renfield Award could not have come at a better time.

Adan will receive her award and make a presentation as the final speaker of the Healthy Cities: Healthy Women – The Global Future conference on May 15, 2014.

For more information on this event, please visit www.nursing.upenn.edu/theglobalfuture

lives every day – and putting in place public health systems that will save

lives for many decades to come. She’s a force of nature, and it’s a privilege to watch her in action.”

Nicholas Kristof

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UPfront | Spring 2014

Healthy Cities: Healthy Women The Global Future 11am-3pm Zellberbach Theater, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

The Healthy Cities: Healthy Women conference series comes home to the Penn campus following stops in Miami, New York City, Los Angeles, London, and Washington, D.C. The symposium will feature experts, practitioners and activists speaking on issues affecting the health of women living in cities worldwide such as trafficking, interpersonal violence, access to healthcare and the physical barriers of city spaces.

The Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health

Celebrating Leadership and Legacy University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

May 15, 2014 Three special events headline an unforgettable experience honoring Penn Nursing Science, Global Women’s Health leaders and Dean Afaf I. Meleis.

3-4:30pm Zellberbach Theater, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

The final speaker of the Healthy Cities: Healthy Women – The Global Future conference will be the inaugural winner of the Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health. The Renfield Award recognizes demonstrated leaders whose work has had significant impact in improving the lives and health of women.

Honoring a Legacy: A Gala Celebrating Dean Afaf I. Meleis Reception 6:30-7:30pm; Gala Dinner and Dancing 7:30-11:30pm Hyatt at the Bellevue, Philadelphia

Start Alumni Weekend (May 16-17) a day early and join us in celebrating leadership and legacy.

A gala reception and dinner to honor Dr. Afaf I. Meleis, the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s fifth Dean, as she steps down following 12 years of remarkable leadership. Join us as we celebrate and honor Dean Meleis’ impact on Penn, the School of Nursing, nursing science and the health of the world’s most vulnerable women.

Board of Overseers Dean Kehler, W’79, Chair Rosemarie Greco, Immediate Past Chair

University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Dean Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, DrPS (hon), FAAN, FRCN Vice Dean of Institutional Advancement Wylie A. Thomas Director of Marketing and Communications Christine Coleman

Phyllis W. Beck Carolyn Bennett, Nu’91 Carol Lefkowitz Boas, Nu’77 Cornelius Bond (emeritus) Lillian S. Brunner (emerita), HUP’40, Ed’45, HON’85 Gilbert F. Casellas, L’77 Eleanor L. Davis, Nu’82 Kim Dickstein, W’87 William Floyd Jr., C’67, WG’69 Seth Ginns, C’00 Terri Cox Glassen, Nu’91 (ex officio) Stephen J. Heyman, W’59 Daniel Hilferty Ellen R. Kapito, Nu’79

Gail Kass Eunice King, Nu’71 Wendy Hurst Levine Patricia Martín, M’85 Barbara Nichols Melanie Nussdorf, CW’71 Vivian W. Piasecki (chair emerita) Krista Pinola, Nu’86 Marjorie O. Rendell, CW’69 Ralph F. Reynolds, W’84 Robert D. Roy, W’59 Sandy Samberg, Nu’94, GNu’95 Marie A. Savard, HUP’70, Nu’72, M’76 Martin J. Silverstein, GL’08 Patricia B. Silverstein, C’81 Susan Drossman Sokoloff, C’84 Carol Elizabeth Ware, Nu’73 Michael Wert

Editors Cathy Greenland, Barbara McAleese Assistant Editors Amy Biemiller, The Lightstream Group; Monica Salvia Contributors Jennifer Baldino Bonett; Joseph Diorio, Annenberg School of Communications; Joy McIntyre; Katherine Siegmann Photography American Nurses Association / American Nurses Foundation, I. George Bilyk, Deborah Boardman, Catrina Gandara, Karen Gowen, Felice Macera Design Dale Parenti Design Printing The PearlGroup at CRW Advisory Board Christina Costanzo Clark, Admissions and Academic Affairs; Janet Deatrick, Faculty; Patricia D’Antonio, Faculty; Carol Ladden, Graduate Enrollment Management; Yvonne Paterson, Faculty; Jennifer Pinto-Martin, Faculty; Wylie A. Thomas, Institutional Advancement; Lorraine Tulman, Faculty. www.nursing.upenn.edu Admissions 215.898.4271 | admissions@nursing.upenn.edu Institutional Advancement 215.898.4841 | nursalum@pobox.upenn.edu Marketing and Communications 215.898.9891 | media@nursing.upenn.edu UPfront is a biannual publication of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. The magazine chronicles the research and leadership of Penn Nursing faculty, students, and alumni.

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co mm e nc e m en t 2014 Judith Shamian, RN, PhD, LLD (hon), DSci (hon), FAAN, president of the International Council of Nurses, and winner of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 award from the Women’s Executive Network, will address the class of 2014, their families and alumni at Penn Nursing’s Commencement on May 19.

Dr. Shamian is an advocate for changes in the healthcare system to ensure its long-term success, and a champion of social justice. She is a professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto and co-investigator with the Nursing Health Services Research Unit. She is president emerita and immediate past president and CEO of the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) and the immediate past president of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). She was

the executive director of the Office of Nursing Policy at Health Canada, vice-president of nursing at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, and has held various academic positions since 1989.

Dr. Shamian obtained her PhD from Case Western Reserve University, her master’s in public health from New York University, and her baccalaureate in community nursing from Concordia University in Montreal. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2002 Golden Jubilee Medal from the Governor General of Canada; the 2004 Award of Merit from CNA and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions; and the 2008 Centennial Award from CNA recognizing nursing leadership.

Shamian became an International Fellow with the American Academy of Nursing in 2009.

May 19, 3:00-6:00pm at the Kimmel Center.

For tickets (required) or more information, email graduation@nursing.upenn.edu