GAMECOCK
The CONnection News and Views from the University of South Carolina COLLEGE OF NURSING
JUNE 2015
USC Nursing: The New Foot Soldiers in Mental Health in SC The mental health statistics in our state are alarming! Approximately one in five South Carolinian’s suffer from “any” mental illness each year. Further, there are over 200,000 adults and 60,000 children diagnosed with a “serious mental illness” in our state each year. As the mental health needs continue to rise, mental healthcare resources have been cut and/or are diminishing for our friends, family members, and citizens of the state. There are now 17 counties in South Carolina currently without a specialized mental health provider.
Dean Jeannette Andrews
Inside This Issue Students Corner..............2 Alumni & Development...3 Faculty & Staff Notes.....4-5 NO LIMITS........................6
Send Inquiries or Newsletter items to: Jan Johnson jnjohnso@mailbox.sc.edu
For the past year and a half, we have been gearing up to impact this most significant health need in our state and the Southeastern US region. Championed by Dr. Tena Hunt McKinney, Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program director, along with Dr. Stephanie Burgess, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program director, and Dr. Kathrene Berger, meetings have been held with individuals, organizations, and our stakeholder advisory board to guide our newly re-visioned PMHNP program. We are strategically positioning to recruit and train nurses from all across our state, especially from underserved counties, with the goal of increasing mental healthcare access by a competently trained mental health provider. Not only will we train Master’s and Doctoral prepared nurse practitioners in the direct provision of mental health care, we are working with our colleagues in the School of Medicine and the Department of Mental Health to train our graduates in telehealth as a means to increase access for all patients. Our first cohort of students with this newly re-visioned and innovative program begins in August, with the initial impact of these new providers being realized as soon as two to three years. We wish to thank the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, SC Department of Mental Health, Carolinas Health System, SC Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, SC Department of Health and Human Services, Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers, Palmetto Health, Greenville Health System, and others for their support and partnership with this joint effort. As with all of our initiatives in the College of Nursing, we have the vision, strategy, and partners to march forward to impact health outcomes and quality of life for all South Carolinians. Stay tuned to hear about our other new initiatives over the next few months. Jeannette O. Andrews PhD, RN, FAAN Dean & Professor j.andrews@sc.edu
www.sc.edu/nursing www.facebook.com/USCNursing - LIKE US! #UofSCNursing
Students Corner CON Graduates Serving Our Country Madison Scheidt is commis-
sioned as a Ensign, United States Navy. She was a member of Delta Zeta Sorority and a member of the Naval ROTC Battalion. She earned the Columbia Navy League Association Sword. She has completed training on the LPD-19 Verde and at the Portsmouth National Medical Center. She will be heading to the Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Elyssa Easterling is commissioned as a Ensign, United States Navy. She Student Spotlight:
Lisa Webb, PhD Student Read it HERE.
was President of Chi Eta Phi and a member of the Naval ROTC Battalion. She earned the USS Columbia Association Award Sword and has completed training on the LHD-1 Wasp and at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She will be heading to the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia. “We are proud to graduate as Carolina Nurses and even prouder to be serving the men and women who protect our freedom. We want to say thank you to USC and the Gamecock nurses who helped to lay the foundation to help us achieve our dreams. May you always remember what a difference you make to your students.”
College of Nursing’s New Psychiatric Programs featured in StuNurse.com Magazine
Read it HERE (page 17)
Ruchi Desai received a Ma-
gellan Apprentice Scholarship to work on Dr. Swann Adams’ grant project, “Disparities in treatment patterns between African American and European American women” this summer.
VITAL SIGNS....An Update from Alumni and Development Spotlight: Dr. JoAnne Herman Professor Emeritus, Dr. JoAnne Herman, has worked at the College of Nursing for 30 years and currently serves as a scholarship consultant for clinical faculty. She assists in writing abstracts, presentations and any kind of projects they need help with. “I would like to thank the College of Nursing faculty and staff for supporting me as my vision failed,” Herman stated. “They accepted my guide dogs into everyday routine and that has meant the world to me.” Helping others has become her passion which is why she volunteers at PAALS (Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services). She serves on a client committee that reviews applications and conducts home visits for the final decision of clients benefiting from service animals. Their largest clientele are soldiers returning from Afghanistan with brain related injuries and PTSD. She says these animals are life savers. She is also an avid theater-goer and loves Broadway plays. Every summer, she and her husband go to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.
Save The Date Viana McCown FRIDAY November 13, 2015 Celebrate 15 years of our Clinical Doctorate program: From ND to DNP
All Gifts and Pledges to support Nursing can be sent to: USC College of Nursing 1027 Barnwell Street Columbia, SC 29208 Gift Processing Checks Made Payable to the USC Educational Foundation or at our website http://giving.sc.edu/ To learn how you can make a difference at
Thank you Marilyn and Chuck Sonnenberg for your many years of support and leadership as Partnership Board Members and Capital Campaign Chairs for the College of Nursing. You truly made an everlasting impact and helped us reach our goals. We appreciate you!
USC College of Nursing contact the Development Office at 803-777-3468.
Faculty and Staff Notes
Dr. Bernardine Pinto receives
$2.5 million NIH R01 Grant. Read more HERE.
Dr. Ronit Elk’s community study members panel, Jonnie W.
Grant, Rachel Martin, Cynthia Coburn-Smith, Rev. Michael A. Williams, Barbara Copeland, and Gardenia Simmons-White. They met for her “Community-Generated Palliative Care Telemedicine for Rural Black and White Elders” R21 Study Progress Presentation and R01 Brainstorming Session.
Dr. DeAnne K. Hilfinger Messias has been named the Emily
Myrtle Smith Professor of Community Nursing. Read more HERE.
Jeff and Jeannie Williams with Governor Nicki Haley, Dr. Amber Williams and Representatives Chip Huggins, Ralph Kennedy, and Ralph Norman. Firehouse subs donated $50,000 to the Jeffrey Lee Williams foundation for CO awareness. Read more HERE. Dr. Robin Estrada has been se-
lected as one of the participants for the 2015-2017 Faculty Cyber-Mentoring Program.
Faculty Presentations Dr. Laura Hein’s article
Caring for Transgender Patients in the journal Nursing made Incredibly Easy November/December 2014 Diversity Issue won the 2015 American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors Bronze Award for Best Feature Article.
Dr. Tena McKinney and Dr. Kathrene Berger presented “Neuropsychiatry and
Medical Disorders: Relationship and Comorbidity,” at the Palmetto Health Behavioral Care 2015 Conference on May 8, 2015.
Bergeron, C. D., Levkoff, S., Duke, C., Coburn-Smith, C., Elk, R. (2014). Building Our Story Together: How Community Partnerships Can Lead to the Development of a Culturally Tailored Palliative Care Telemedicine Consult Program in Rural South Carolina. South Carolina Public Health Association, Columbia, South Carolina, May 20-22, 2015. (poster presentation) Guthrie, A., Levkoff, S., Coburn-Smith, C., Duke, C., Spencer, M., Elk, R. (2014). Voices of Beaufort: Using CBPR to Design a Culturally-Tailored Palliative Care Program for Rural Elders. South Carolina Public Health Association, Columbia, South Carolina, May 20-22, 2015. (poster presentation)
Cheryl Nelson has been
appointed Director Student Affairs.
of
Program
Coordinator,
Lisa Spruill, is the CON
Staff Member of the Year.
Faculty Publications “Peer Mentoring to Promote Physical Activity among Cancer Survivors: Effects on Quality of Life” (AU: Pinto, B. M., Stein, K. & Dunsiger, S.) has been accepted for publication in Psycho-Oncology. Dr. Bernardine Pinto, Associate Dean for Research, is featured in
Bloom, the newsletter for Reach to Recovery International. “Moving forward together: peer support can help breast cancer survivors become physically active.” Read it HERE (page 10) Niederhauser, V., Johnson M, & Tavakoli, A., (2015). Vaccines4kids: Assessing the Impact of Test Message Reminders on Immunization Rates Infants. Vaccine Qiu R, Eberth JM, Gallant N, Copeland A, McDonnell KK. (in press). Planning and implementation of low-dose CT lung cancer screening programs in the U.S. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing.
Burshell D, Ranwala D, Andrews JO, Newman S, Melvin C, Jenkins C. (2015). Community Engaged Scholars Program: Advancing Team Science through Academic and Community Partnerships to Overcome Health Challenges. Proceedings from Science of Team Science (SciTS) 2015 Conference. Bethesda, MD. Jenkins C, Melvin C, Newman S, Burshelll D, Ranwala D, Pierce H, Davis R, Andrews JO. (2015). Community Engaged Scholars Program. Training Academic and Community Partners. Proceedings from the Translational Science Conference. Washington DC. Abbas S. Tavakoli, Nikki R. Wooten, Marlene B. Al-Barwani, Selina H. McKinney,
Sue E. Levkoff. Analyzing Longitudinal Data from a Department of Veterans Affairs Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial. Poster presentation at VA Research Day, May 19th, 2015, Columbia, SC. Olga Ivaschkevich and DeAnne K. Hilfinger Messias will present An Analysis of Art and New Media Productions from a Community Initiative for Girls in Juvenile Arbitration and Issues-based Art Workshop with Girls in the Juvenile Arbitration System: A Restorative Youth Justice Approach at the 11th Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 20-23, 2016.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE OF NURSING No Limits to our Teaching • First and largest BSN and nursing graduate programs in the state of SC • NCLEX and Nurse Practitioner Board Pass Rates exceeding both state and national averages • New PhD student fellowships and stipends • National and Internationally recognized faculty • Online graduate programs ranked #3 in the country by US News and World Report No Limits to our Innovation • State-of-the-art Client Simulation Lab providing revolutionizing and quality education to students • Cutting edge research in health care delivery, cancer survivorship, health promotion, and vulnerable populations • 4th DNP program in the country, now provided online • Center for Nursing Leadership is leading state-wide action coalitions responsive to the national Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action No Limits to our Caring • The College of Nursing’s Children and Family Healthcare Center is the only nurse managed medical home in South Carolina • Our dedicated expert clinical faculty provide comprehensive healthcare to all ages of an underserved population • Over 90 scholarships provided each year to our students, with the generosity from our alumni and donors • Well established partnerships with health systems and stakeholders across the state No Limits to our Scholarship • National leaders in nursing research with 86% tenure track faculty have externally funded research, 5 new NIH awards in past two years • Diverse portfolio of research funding from NCI, NINR, NHLBI, NLM, CDC, HRSA, Duke Foundation, & others • Two Research Centers: Healthcare Process and Redesign Center and Cancer Survivorship Center
CONTACT US College of Nursing University of South Carolina 1601 Greene Street Columbia, SC 29208 Office of the Dean: 803-777-3861 Office of Academic Affairs: 803-777-7412 Information Resource Center: 803-777-1213
Office of Research: 803-777-7413 Center for Nursing Leadership 803-777-3039 Employment Opportunities www.sc.edu/nursing www.facebook.com/USCNursing