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SPECIAL EVENTS
American Nurses Association President Ernest Grant meets with College of Nursing personnel before his lecture at the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center in Providence.
Enhancing the educational experience
The College welcomed American Nurses Association President Ernest Grant, to deliver the College’s Spring Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday, April 20.
Dr. Grant spoke about the critical role nurses continue to play in the country’s health care during his presentation, “The Future of Nursing: Leadership, Advocacy, and Activism in Action,” at the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center in Providence.
Dr. Grant, who serves as adjunct faculty for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he works with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings, has more than 30 years of nursing experience. He is an internationally recognized burn-care and fire-safety expert, having previously served as the burn outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at the UNC School of Medicine.
Grant, was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in 2014. He is a past chair of the National Fire Protection Association board of directors and served as second vice president of the American Burn Association board of trustees. He is the first man to be elected to the office of president of the American Nurses Association.
The College hosts its Distinguished Lecture Series each semester. Past lectures have been delivered by former director of the Yale University School of Nursing Center for Biobehavioral Health Research Dr. Nancy Redeker; and famed founder of the global health initiative, Partners in Health, Dr. Paul Farmer, among others.
National Nursing Research Director Delivers Fall Distinguished Lecture
The College’s fall Distinguished Lecture Series featured a national leader in nursing research who extolled the benefits of nurses harnessing their unique knowledge of health care to advance health science.
Shannon Zenk, director of the National Institute of Nursing Research, delivered the lecture virtually, which was livestreamed at the Nursing Education Center in Providence. She encouraged nurses and nursing students to engage in research, which has taken on a renewed emphasis in the URI College of Nursing, recently ranked among the top 50 nationally in research funding, currently with four RO1-funded projects underway. Zenk’s own research focuses on social inequities and health with a goal of identifying effective, multilevel approaches to improve health and eliminate racial/ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities. Her research portfolio has included NIH-supported work into urban food environments, community health solutions, and veterans’ health.
Louisa White Uniform Displayed in White Hall
Lecture at URI Urges Nurses to ‘Choose Wellness’
The uniform once worn by Louisa White, a groundbreaking nurse scientist who went on to become the first dean of the URI College of Nursing, is now on display in the building that bears her name. Rhode Island Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association representatives Donna Cimini, Barbara Colvin, and Colleen Choiniere presented Dean Barbara Wolfe with the uniform White wore when she was a student at the school, 1914–1917. It is fitting the uniform is on display in White Hall, home of the URI College of Nursing, given the impact White had on not just the nursing profession, but on the education of women in general. “Louisa had the vision and the tenacity to say, ‘It’s time that nursing is a profession that is educated like a profession,’” Wolfe said. “Women weren’t necessarily pursuing higher education opportunities—never mind a whole new career opportunity in a university setting.”
The pandemic and its wake have brought untold challenges to everyone, but especially to nurses. Many have experienced grief, loss, and overwhelming uncertainty. Nurses need to find a way to care for themselves in order to rebound from one of the most trying periods in history. Nurse practitioner and well-being expert Dr. Eileen O’Grady helped URI alumni and faculty do just that, presenting an interactive program with science-backed resiliency tools for health-care workers during a virtual lecture during alumni weekend. Resiliency tools she presented include:
• Boundary setting and putting yourself in your day. • How to become the CEO of your own life. • The importance of using bedrock behaviors using habit science. The lively, supportive discussion encouraged nurses to explore strategies to pursue their own well-being. The free program included valuable continuing education credit for nurses.
Dr. O’Grady is a certified nurse practitioner and wellness coach. She is founder of the School of Wellness, dedicated to infusing the science of well-being into practice. She uses an evidence-based approach with individuals and groups to promote high-level wellness. O’Grady is an expert on intentional change, emphasizing the importance of extreme self-care and how to identify and remedy a life that is off-kilter. She is an author and editor of two textbooks.
College in the Community: WaterFire Providence
The URI College of Nursing frequently reaches out into the community, caring for patients at area medical centers, serving on state, national and international health boards, and, sometimes, stepping out for a night on the town to support a popular cultural event. URI College of Nursing faculty, staff members, students and alumni staffed a booth at a full WaterFire lighting in Providence last fall, as part of URI’s sponsorship of the artistic event. WaterFire Providence is an artistic fire installation featuring more than 80 bonfires in the middle of the Providence River, spread out through the city’s downtown. The periodic events often include local musicians, artists and community organizations like URI who sponsor and host individual events.
Above: URI College of Nursing faculty and students staffed a booth. Left: Dean Barbara Wolfe carries the torch to kick off a WaterFire lighting the URI College of Nursing sponsored.
Big Ideas. Bold Plans. The Campaign for URI.
A convergence of generational and societal factors are impacting the country’s nursing profession, as the need for professional registered nurses continues to grow. There is an acute shortage of nurses nationwide, and the nursing school pipeline is hampered by faculty shortages, resulting in many schools limiting student capacity. At this time of unprecedented focus on health care, training the next generation of nursing leaders is critical to the public’s health and economic sustainability.
URI and the College of Nursing are addressing this need through Big Ideas. Bold Plans. The Campaign for the University of Rhode Island. You can advance the College of Nursing by investing in increased student access, an enlivened URI learning experience, the next generation of transformative faculty leadership, innovative and distinctive programs, and emerging strategic opportunities.
For more information about supporting the College of Nursing, contact:
Eric Schonewald, assistant vice president for development, at eschonewald@uri.edu or 401.874.9017. Tim Babcock, director of development, at tbabcock@uri.edu or 401.874.4909.
COLLEGE OF NURSING
College of Nursing White Hall, 39 Butterfield Road Kingston, RI 02881
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How to give:
Gifts to the University of Rhode Island should be made payable to the URI Foundation and can be made online at urifoundation.org/giveonline.
