YALE NURSE FALL 2014 
VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1
Michelle Dynes, class of 2000, travels to Sierra Leone to combat the Ebola epidemic. See more on page 6.
1 Letter from the Dean 2 YSN Spotlight News 4 Alumnae/i Spotlight: Kevy Wijaya ’11 5 Alumnae/i Spotlight: Lucy Garbus ’88 6 Alumnae/i Spotlight: Michelle Dynes ’00 8 Alumnae/i Spotlight: Karen Mera ’01 9 Making the Connection: A Look into YSN’s Mentoring Program 10 Annual Fund 12 Alumnae/i Board Update 13 Class Notes 16 A Sneak Peek at the 2014 Reunion Weekend
YALE NURSE Dean: Margaret Grey ’76 Editor: Meghan Murphy Fall 2014 Yale Nurse Contributing Writers: Shirley Girouard ’77 Meghan Murphy Caitlin Sweeney Claudia Wies ’15 Photography: Meghan Murphy Caitlin Sweeney YSN Friends, Staff and Alumnae/i Design: Gregg Chase and Karin Krochmal
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES Former Dean Florence Schorske Wald once said, “We need to cure sometimes but care always.” This sentiment is evident in the work of our alumnae/i whose mission is “better health for all people.”
This year’s Reunion Weekend will also pay tribute to Dean Wald. I encourage you to attend the Reunion events and learn more about her extraordinary career. We here at YSN miss her presence to this day. A hospice pioneer, Dean Wald has inspired future generations of nurses such as Karen Mera, Kevy Wijaya, Lucy Garbus, and Michelle Dynes, to find an area in health care that needs improvement and to work toward filling that gap. You can find their work within the pages of this publication, from a primary care provider for the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal, to a founder, co-director, and principal provider at a premier boutique pediatric practice in Washington State, to a toxic stress expert practicing at an innercity clinic, and a nurse providing support to the CDC Health Promotion team in Ebola-stricken Sierra Leone. With a strong and growing network of alumnae/i, we continue to host gatherings in cities across the United States. Not only is it important that we remain in touch with one another, but it is important that we celebrate the impact our alumnae/i have had on nursing and health care. Our most recent alumnae/i gatherings in San Francisco and New York City were wonderful, and I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events in Boston and New Haven. Our ability to provide a high-quality education for our students is a direct result of your support. Without your contributions to the Annual Fund, our students would be burdened with crippling financial debt. It is thanks to you that we graduate approximately 100 advanced practice nurses each academic year who then go into the world to make a huge difference. Thank you for all that you do to support YSN. With your support, we will continue to strengthen our community and to push the boundaries of what nurses can do.
Margaret Grey, DrPH, RN, FAAN Dean and Annie Goodrich Professor
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SPOTLIGHT NEWS Members of YSN Community Inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame YSN’s Dean and Annie Goodrich Professor Margaret Grey, DrPH, RN, FAAN, Florence Schorske Wald Professor of Nursing and Professor of Epidemiology Ruth McCorkle, PhD, RN, FAAN, and alumnae/i Deborah Chyun ’98, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, and Martha A. Q. Curley ’87, PhD, RN, FAAN, were inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International’s (STTI) Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame at STTI’s 25th International Nursing Research Congress in Hong Kong at the end of July. The inductees were presented with the International Researcher Hall of Fame award, participated in a conversation with STTI President Hester C. Klopper, PhD, MBA, RN, RM, FANSA, and were celebrated for their achievements. A total of 25 individuals were inducted this year.
Margaret Gray (left photo), and Ruth McCorkle, receiving their awards.
YSN Receives Grant for Nursing Scholarships through RWJF New Careers in Nursing Program YSN has been awarded a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing Scholarship (NCIN) program for the fourth time. For the 2014–2015 academic year, YSN will receive $120,000 to support traditionally underrepresented students who are making a career switch to nursing through an accelerated baccalaureate or master’s degree program. “We are so fortunate to admit remarkable men and women that are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and educational background to YSN,” commented YSN Associate Professor Linda Pellico, PhD, MSN, CNS-BC, RN. “Their unique perspective enriches our School and ultimately our profession.” This year, 12 students will be awarded NCIN scholarships. In addition to their $10,000 scholarship, the students will be mentored throughout their time at the School by YSN faculty and will participate in a pre-entry immersion program to assist scholars in learning essential study, test-taking, and other skills needed to succeed in their program of study. Top row (L– R): Tod Imperato, Moriah Freeman, Christopher Schayer, Ana Sofia DeBrito, Gabrielle Gill, Maariya Bassa, Phillip Jones. Bottom row (L–R): Vanessa Kemper, Courtney Hooks, Alexander Van Leer, Susana Rios.
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The National Institute of Nursing Research Appoints Professor Nancy Redeker to the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) recently appointed YSN Professor and Director of the Biobehavioral Laboratory Nancy S. Redeker, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, to the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research (NACNR), the Institute’s principal advisory board. “I am delighted to be appointed to the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research and to participate in the councils’ activities designed to promote and improve the health of individuals, families, communities, and populations,” said Redeker. “This mission reflects the core values of the discipline of nursing and the focus of YSN on better health for all people.” The NACNR meets three times a year on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus to provide recommendations on the direction and support of the research that forms the evidence base for nursing practice. As a council member, Redeker and others will conduct the second-level review of grant applications that have been scored by scientific review groups. Additionally, the council reviews the Institute’s extramural programs and makes recommendations about its intramural research activities.
Holly Powell Kennedy (left), and Margaret Moss
Recent Issue of The Lancet Devoted to Midwifery Features YSN Executive Deputy Dean
Associate Professor Selected as a Fulbright Scholar for the 2014–2015 Academic Year
YSN Executive Deputy Dean and Helen Varney Professor of Midwifery, Holly Powell Kennedy, PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, is co-author of two papers in a special issue of The Lancet, the world’s leading general medical journal. This issue focuses on midwifery and its potential to save lives of women and infants worldwide. Produced by an international group of academics, clinicians, professional midwives, policy makers, and advocates for women and children, the series is the most critical, wide-reaching examination of midwifery evidence ever conducted. The series shows the positive impact that can be achieved when effective, high-quality midwifery is available to all women and their babies. “The Lancet series on midwifery has cast a wide net of evidence to understand the complexities providing quality maternal and newborn care and the power of midwifery as a solution,” said Kennedy.
The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the Academic Committee of the Board of Directors of Fulbright Canada have selected YSN Associate Professor Margaret Moss, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN, as a 2014–2015 Fulbright Scholar. After traveling to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as a Congressional Fellow five years ago, Moss was surprised to learn that disparities in Canada had not closed despite national healthcare provision. “As the percentage of indigenous peoples there is about 4 percent, versus 1 percent in the United States, I knew I wanted to look into why this was using my expertise in legal, nursing and indigenous issues,” explained Moss. Moss’s grant as a Visiting Research Chair in Aboriginal/Indigenous Life and Culture in the North American Context will be at McGill University in Montreal. Her project title is “Counting on Care: Canada’s Challenge in Tracking and Reporting Aboriginal People’s Health Care and Status.”
YSN Alumna Linda Schwartz ’84 Confirmed to Serve as the New Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Policy and Planning Nominated by President Obama in 2013, Linda Schwartz ’84, RN, DrPH, FAAN, has been confirmed to serve as the new Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Policy and Planning in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Bringing extensive experience to this position, Dr. Schwartz has served as the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs since 2003. She concurrently serves as associate clinical professor at YSN, where she has been a faculty member since 1999 and was appointed associate research scientist and scholar. Dr. Schwartz served in the United States Air Force (USAF) Nurse Corps from 1968 to 1986, both on active duty and as a reservist. She retired as a flight nurse instructor, with the rank of major after sustaining injuries in a USAF aircraft accident. In 2001, she served on the Board of Directors of the American Nurses Association and was also elected to the American Academy of Nursing.
Assistant Professor and Alumnus is Co-Author of PLOS ONE Article on AIDS and Antiretroviral Treatment in Botswana YSN Assistant Professor Mark Lazenby ’09, PhD, APRN, is co-author of an article recently published in the Public Library of Science’s (PLOS) journal PLOS ONE. The article, titled “Using Health Surveillance Systems Data to Aassess the Impact of AIDS and Antiretroviral Treatment on Adult Morbidity and Mortality in Botswana,” explored the impact of Botswana’s 2002 implementation of free antiretroviral treatment (ART) in HIV prevalence and AIDS-related deaths by analyzing hospital midnight census and death certificate data. From the study, lead author Rand Stoneburner, MD, Lazenby, and others discovered that Botswana’s ART program is working. Nearly a decade’s worth of death certificate data Lazenby collected and analyzed show that AIDS-related deaths have been steadily decreasing since the beginning of the program. “The findings of our study suggest that countries that have large-scale public health programs, such as Botswana’s ART program, can use data they already collect to track their effectiveness,” said Lazenby, who explains that this finding is very important for nurses in Botswana who prescribe antiretroviral medications and record the hospital midnight census. “Nurses, using the data they already collect and without any more tools than they already have, can track the effectiveness of what they do.”
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ALUMNAE/I SPOTLIGHT
Kevy Wijaya ’11 Similar to other Yale nurses, Wijaya had a passion to provide better health care for all people that acted as a compass for his work.
As a founding member, co-owner, and principal provider of his own practice, Kevy Wijaya ’11 maintains a full plate and loves every second of his work. Similar to other Yale nurses, Wijaya had a passion to provide better health care for all people that acted as a compass for his work. Following his graduation in 2011, Wijaya worked at an extremely busy primary care office. There were days when he would see up to 30 patients, with appointments lasting merely 5–10 minutes in length. He became dissatisfied with his work, believing that children everywhere deserve more time and more attention in visits. As a result, he partnered with a colleague to develop a boutique practice, where providers would spend meaningful time with patients, thereby providing superior health care. Stepping Stone Pediatrics, located in Bellevue, Washington, provides patients with high-quality care. Appointments run anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and help foster patient relationships. The practice is contracted with every possible insurance provider (including Medicaid), guaranteeing that everyone has access to Stepping Stone’s services. Wijaya also implemented a direct care plan for those who may have inadequate or no insurance at all. As part of the plan, patients pay a nominal monthly fee and can visit as many times as they want or need. In addition, the practice offers house calls to patients with unique circumstances and chronic conditions.
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“Our practice values the motto and principles of YSN,” stated Wijaya. “Our goal is to provide better health for all people. I believe that everybody should have equal access to health care. That is what we have been taught at YSN, and that is the message we live by at Stepping Stone Pediatrics.” The road to Stepping Stones was not easy, as it took almost a year to submit paperwork and cut through the insurance red tape. Despite the challenges and tedious nature of the overall process, Wijaya urges others with similar goals to not be discouraged. “The roles of NPs are evolving, and fortunately I live in a state where I am able to practice independently,” explained Wijaya. With the recent changes in Connecticut allowing NPs to practice independently, he is hopeful that others will follow his same path. While the majority of his time now is spent at Stepping Stones providing the best patient care possible, he recently started volunteering for the YSN Alumnae/i Board and for the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.
ALUMNAE/I SPOTLIGHT
Lucy Garbus ’88
Have you seen patients that fall into the toxic stress zone? Are you interested in the science of toxic stress? As we journey through this academic year, we hope to continue to shed light on this issue, to better equip Yale nurses with education and awareness. Please contact us if you are interested in contributing to this topic. Together we can make a big difference.
Nursing is a calling, and the path each nurse takes depends on what the individual is passionate about. When Lucy Garbus ’88 stumbled onto a New Yorker article by Paul Tough, she knew in that moment the direction she needed to take. The article, “The Poverty Clinic: Can a Stressful Childhood Make You a Sick Adult?” chronicled Nadine Burke, a pediatrician who has developed a clinic to help children growing up with toxic stress. Garbus herself has been all too familiar with situations where children suffered from toxic stress. She observed this in her patients at the group practice in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where she had been a PNP for 20 years, as well at her current place of work (Bay State Health) in Springfield, Massachusetts. She has been determined to raise awareness of this epidemic, and believes educating others has the potential to vastly impact and improve pediatric care as well as our society as a whole. Toxic stress is a response that occurs when a child experiences strong, frequent, and prolonged adversity without adequate adult support. It can be brought about by physical or emotional abuse, exposure to violence, chronic neglect, caregiver substance abuse, or mental illness. The stress prevents the young brain from properly developing, creating lifelong chronic conditions from mental health problems to obesity, substance abuse, and diabetes, along with a plethora of other disorders. The good news about toxic stress—and where we can have an impact—is that having a strong attachment to one caring adult protects against these effects. A colleague at Bay State Health led her to the Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, a program that aims to support teams in their efforts to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with exposure to trauma and chronic stress in early childhood. BSC works toward developing practical, sustainable processes that integrate trauma stress prevention, detection, and early intervention into primary care for young children.
BSC was a yearlong collaborative in which ten teams of pediatric primary care and mental health providers from all over the country met for three twoday meetings to discuss ways to combat toxic stress. As a result of these meetings, three main priorities were addressed: clinics needed help creating awareness about toxic stress and how stress affects families; mental health care needed to be more accessible; and clinics needed to start screening for toxic stress. Garbus believes that, at a minimum, training needs to be integrated into all pediatric training, including, and perhaps most importantly, in pediatric nurse practitioner education. She hopes to educate other nurse practitioners on the topic through her community and personal network, but she cannot do it alone. Help is needed from the larger nurse practitioner community. The effort has started from the ground up; Garbus now provides toxic stress screening at her practice, one of very few practices that actually provide this service to patients. In addition, her clinic now has embedded mental health services, as well as a social worker with deep understanding of toxic stress and a strong relationship with the local early intervention team. Now, when a family screens positive, there are appropriate resources to offer them. The clinic also has a program for parents of new babies to help them understand how to read and understand their babies’ cues, and they are creating a community-wide program for screening and supporting mothers with postpartum depression. “The great thing about the changes that we are making is that we are identifying families who fall into the toxic stress zone, and can now refer them for the specific care that each family needs,” explained Garbus. She has seen the quality of care for the families in her clinic improve, although there is still much to be done. She is not giving up the fight to raise awareness and integrate training into pediatrician programs. Garbus believes that if we were to assimilate screening, integrated care, and primary prevention across the board, we have the potential to create real societal change, one little life at a time. FALL 2014 YALE NURSE 5
ALUMNAE/I SPOTLIGHT
Michelle Dynes ’00 While the fight against Ebola is tremendous, individuals such as Dynes who are working tirelessly day after day to improve the situation are making an impact. We are proud to call Dynes a Yale nurse.
As a graduate of YSN, you are understood to have a passion to promote and provide “better health for all people.” Our graduates leave YSN with the knowledge, skill, and desire to achieve this mission. Michelle Dynes ’00 is one such alumna. Dynes was recently stationed in Kenema, Sierra Leone, one of the epicenters of the Ebola epidemic and where the Ebola mortality rate is a devastating 70 percent. Dynes was selected to travel to Kenema to work on the Health Promotion team for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in mid-August 2014, and immediately went through a safety briefing at the U.S. Embassy. After she completed the extensive briefing process, Dynes was on her way to Kenema, where she would be providing health care and guidance at Kenema Hospital for the next month. Describing her journey to Kenema from Freetown, Dynes tells of her surprise to find a nicely paved road littered with security checkpoints, there to purposefully quarantine the district. Those wishing to travel into Kenema were required to have a vehicle pass from the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health. Those that wanted to leave Kenema were not allowed without special permission.
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During her first day there, Dynes realized how grim the situation was in Kenema. Before she arrived, more than 20 nurses had died and at least 60 health personnel across the hospital had tested positive for Ebola. She had high hopes of working with the Kenema District Social Mobilization and Psychosocial teams, as well as other organizations in the area, to improve the state of the district. Dynes quickly moved into action and created a proposal to conduct education of trainers for a community-based intervention in two hard-to-reach chiefdoms. Her hope was to have a pilot of the materials and training set in motion before her post was complete in Kenema. She also set about trying to discover ways to reduce the stress of nurses and other healthcare personnel, and to improve morale. With such a low percentage of survivors, a psychosocial/counseling space was created for survivor counseling. Dynes was thrilled to see that the room was being used on a daily basis. “The Social Mobilization team helps these survivors by paving the way for their return and acceptance back into their communities,” explained Dynes. “They travel to the villages and talk with and teach the local leaders, family members, and neighbors that their loved one can no longer make them sick.” On one of her first days in Kenema, Dynes traveled with the Social Mobilization team to assist with a family being reunited after 21 days of isolation. “The husband died and the wife and children were essentially kicked out of the village,” she recalled. “It was all about bringing the young mother and two small children back home to their family. It was very emotional.” It seemed that for every positive piece of news or occurrence, there were two negative. Dynes also recalls very challenging weeks, where people she had become close with in her time in Kenema began falling ill.
Person after person, doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, civilians—all began contracting Ebola. It was spreading like wildfire. “There continued to be several corpses in the community daily, and with each of these that tested positive, we anticipated that two or more additional cases would emerge within the next 10 days,” explained Dynes. In many cases, the local healthcare professionals were not following proper protocol after coming down with symptoms resembling Ebola. Ignoring the outward symptoms, healthcare providers would continue treating patients, but days later would test positive. All the while, Dynes was continuing with her projects. She trained 26 local Red Cross volunteers with the community-based storytelling modules she had created. Receiving positive feedback, Dynes felt like progress was being made slowly, but surely. “The participants had a really positive response and seemed genuinely excited during the training and practice session,” said Dynes. In addition to her work on the community-based intervention program, Dynes traveled into villages with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to conduct
group discussions with staff from community health centers, community health posts, and maternal-child health posts, and with pregnant and lactating women from the communities. The goal of these sessions, Dynes explained, was to identify facility utilization, reasons for decreased utilization, perceptions of fear among staff, commonly held misconceptions about Ebola in the community, and ideas for how to encourage women and children to return to the facility for care. Dynes wrote a report on the findings for IRC, and the organization will use that information to create targeted messaging for communities. Toward the end of her time in Kenema, Dynes received word that the CDC Foundation had approved funding for her projects. “I am extremely excited that it came through and that the training will finally happen!” she commented. “It will literally be my last work here in Sierra Leone, as I will be flying out the next evening.” While the fight against Ebola is tremendous, individuals like Dynes who are working tirelessly day after day to improve the situation are making an impact. We are proud to call Dynes a Yale nurse.
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ALUMNAE/I SPOTLIGHT
Karen Mera ’01 “My colleagues, professors, and fellow classmates have all had an influence in showing me all the possibilities as a Yale nurse practitioner.”
A 2001 YSN graduate, Karen Mera now works as a Foreign Service nurse practitioner for the U.S. Department of State. As part of her job, Mera is presented with the opportunity to travel globally, fulfilling the acute and primary care needs for ambassadors, embassy staff, and their families. She is currently stationed in Kathmandu, Nepal. Mera began her nurse practitioner journey as a healthcare provider at a community health center in Norwich, Connecticut, where she worked for five years. Following her time at the health center, Mera moved on to work at a school-based health center, also in Norwich. Eventually, Mera landed a job at the Department of State overseas. She credits her ability to work overseas with her experience of treating homeless individuals at the community centers. “I knew I needed experience in a clinic before practicing independently to build experience and confidence,” explained Mera. At the same time she was building her repertoire of skills, Mera was battling to pay off her student loans. She believed this was crucial in the process before taking off to work internationally, recommending that students try to do the same. In Kathmandu, Mera provides primary and preventative healthcare services across the lifespan; engages in diplomatic responsibilities including collaborating with local healthcare officials, evaluating local hospitals, and liaising with local and international experts; directs health unit administrative functions such as resources, medications, and supplies; coordinates emergency medical response duties; and accomplishes regional management duties.
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Mera’s first post with the U.S. Department of State was in Sierra Leone, where she served for two years. Despite assignments lasting only two to four years, there is a solid network of more than 100 healthcare providers all over the world at various embassies. Mera explains that the group is consistently in touch via email, even with the mass distances between them. This provides her and others an incredible learning experience. To maintain this support system, the group meets each year to attend continuing education programs and to connect professionally. While her work at the U.S. Embassy treating affluent families is not what she originally envisioned as her career path, Mera finds satisfaction in volunteer ing with various organizations that provide care for underserved populations. Mera thanks the people she met while at YSN for the path she has taken. “The connections I have made with other Yale nurses have enhanced my journey,” stated Mera. “My colleagues, professors, and fellow classmates have all had an influence in showing me all the possibilities as a Yale nurse practitioner.” Her post in Kathmandu will end in two years, at which point she will be stationed at a new location to continue providing primary care globally.
MAKING THE CONNECTION
By Claudia Wies ’15
A
random sampling of any given class at YSN reveals a group of talented, varied individuals, many of whom have moved across the country in pursuit of becoming a Yale nurse. In just a few years, we become licensed practitioners and are catapulted into the real world to provide healthcare for patients on our own—a tremendous privilege but also a weighty responsibility. For more than 20 years, YSN has provided a “Big Sib” peer mentoring program, which pairs new students with seasoned students who have the beginning years of YSN freshly imprinted in their minds. Big Sibs provide invaluable advice and encouragement about everything from where to live in East Rock to how to survive med-surg. These relationships have provided many students with critical support during their classes and training, but when it comes to life after YSN, there can be a sense of looming uncertainty. As a second-year specialty student myself, the prospect of job hunting is a bit terrifying. For many of us, nursing was a career change (from theater or politics or firefighting, for example). Even if we have had previous job search experience, embarking on a nursing career is entirely different. We will need support in our first months and access to enthusiastic and supportive mentors. We’ll need to find an environment that shares our own ideas and values about health care. We’ll have to negotiate salaries and benefits, admin time, and chart review schedules. It has the potential to become overwhelming. To help bridge the transition from student to practitioner, the YSN Alumnae/i Association has created a mentor program that pairs graduated alumnae/i with current
students. The goal of the program is to provide students with support, encouragement, and advice on what lies beyond graduation while allowing mentors to foster a connection with YSN no matter where they may be in the country (or in their careers, for that matter). Last fall, with Serena Flaherty ’06, PNP, spearheading, the YSN Student Alumni Committee connected 115 pairs of mentors and mentees from across the country. All participants filled out questionnaires so that mentors and mentees with similar specialties and geographical locations of interest could be matched. Each individual was sent his or her respective partner’s email address with tips on how to make the most out of the mentorship experience, and the rest was left up to the pair. Since the program’s rollout, we’ve received wonderful feedback. Students are incredibly grateful for the connection: “I feel like I always have someone to talk to about my questions, concerns, milestones, and plans for the future,” said Melissa Sosensky ’16, a pediatric nurse practitioner student. “There is so much to learn about our profession and all that it has to offer, and I am very excited to continue learning from my mentor over the next several years!”
Mentors have enjoyed the new relationship to YSN as well: “I have loved the opportunity to be paired with a student from YSN,” said Elizabeth DePrince Smith ’06, PNP. “It’s been wonderful to both help her navigate the program and learn from her experiences. I’ve been working in Wyoming for a few years, so this has been a great opportunity to feel connected to YSN from a distance.” Between studying and attending classes and clinical, students have precious little time for extracurricular undertakings like career planning, and alumnae/i themselves are busy attending to the current national healthcare shortage. The YSN Mentoring Program is the perfect solution to this conundrum of time and space, allowing participants to communicate at their own pace through email, Skype, or even in person when feasible.
Interested in becoming a mentor? Please email ysnmentoring@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!
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ALUMNAE/I GIVING DONOR SPOTLIGHT
2013–2014 Henderson Society
Last fall, YSN launched a special initiative to encourage membership in the Henderson Society. This Society was named after Virginia Henderson, famed Yale Research Associate and “the first lady of nursing.” More than 80 alumnae/i and friends made a commitment at the $1,000+ level to become members. We launched this membership initiative in order to give our most loyal and generous donors prominent and public recognition for their critical role in providing financial aid to many up and coming Yale nurses now at the School. One hundred percent of gifts at this level were immediately distributed to the annual fund for current use scholarships. Our students are especially grateful for each one of our Henderson Society members. The membership establishes a level of giving that enables the School to offer a healthier financial aid package to our Yale nurses. Candace Willet ’14 is one of the many recent graduates who reaped the benefits of this generosity last year. “Through your generous donations and support I was able to realize my dream,” said Willet. “As I look to the future I will bring lessons learned from my alumni, with the hope that I may follow in your footsteps in support of other future YSN graduates.”
YSN Annual Fund 13/14 Results
GIVE NOW
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After graduation, Martina continued to work with YSN as a faculty member lecturing for the diabetes program as a Gynecologic Teaching Associate and preceptor. Martina continues to practice as a full-scope midwife working with a team of perinatologists, OB/GYNs, and midwives in a tertiary facility in Oakland, California. She has a passion for promoting lifelong wellness and preventive care in her service to the underserved of her community.
$176,204 704 DONORS 22.2% PARTICIPATION
We are pleased to share that this past year we raised $176,204 from 704 donors at a 22.2 percent participation rate. Your gifts and participation are immeasurably important and appreciated at the School. All annual fund gifts are allocated to student financial aid, so your support helps us attract and retain the best and brightest nursing students. Please consider making your gift today at www.nursing.yale.edu/giving to help our students in need.
nursing .yale.edu/giving
Natalie Martina ’03, CNM, MSN Last spring, alumna Natalie Martina was one of the many alumnae/i and friends who felt called to support the annual fund at the Henderson Society level. As a YSNAA board member, she has been privy to understanding the financial hardships students endure when they choose to attend YSN. And as a nurse and a YSN alumna, she also knows how critical and meaningful it is to support nursing education. Martina feels that it is her obligation to support the Yale School of Nursing. “Nurses are the foundation of our healthcare system. Each one of us will inevitably be touched by a nurse at least once in our lives, and many of us will have a profound experience during these interactions,” stated Martina. As a board member Martina encourages participation and giving among her friends and colleagues, and said, “It doesn’t matter how much you can give, your participation truly matters. We have a large, powerful network and if everyone would be able to support YSN at their own individual level, we would be able to do a lot of good in the world through educating more Yale nurses together.”
Class Agent Program Welcomes Bridget Cota Our team of over 75 alumnae/i class agents is instrumental to the success of the YSN annual fund. Each year this group reaches out to hundreds of fellow classmates and friends to encourage their participation by way of phone calls, emails, and letters. Led by Class Agent Co-Chair Nina Adams ’77, MSN, the group most recently welcomed Bridget Cota ’09, MSN, who will join Adams as Class Agent Co-Chair. Hailing from Seattle, Cota is a pediatric neurology nurse practitioner at Seattle Children’s Hospital. In this role she is accountable for the care of pediatric neurology patients throughout the continuum of care in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. Cota has been involved with the class agent program since graduation, and she is honored to now serve in a leadership volunteer role for YSN. In this recent interview, she reflected on her giving and participation. Why is it so important to participate in the annual fund? Bridget Cota: Gifts make an immediate and lasting impact in supporting the core components of the YSN experience. We need nurses across all settings to be better educated and to work within and outside of their organizations for safer, patient-centered, equitable, effective, and efficient health care. With its high-caliber faculty, students, and alumni, YSN is uniquely positioned to continue its pursuit of excellence in nursing practice and the accomplishment of the mission of “better health for all people.” As Yale nurses, we pride ourselves in being leaders in research, education, and clinical practice. Engagement and ongoing participation is vital to ensuring that YSN will continue to fill its mission of teaching, research, and service for generations to come. Why do you choose to participate? BC: Being part of tradition means a lot to me. My giving reflects the spirit of shared experience and mutual encouragement. It enables me to make a direct and immediate difference in the lives of current students. Maintaining connections with one another and with YSN ensures that talented students can have the same experience that enriched my own life. Preserving, strengthening, and carrying on the legacy of being a Yale nurse in turn creates a vision for our professional nursing future. What do you hope to accomplish in a leadership position with the annual fund? BC: YSN is powered (and empowered) by student and alumnae/i volunteers. Our voice brings a wider perspective to the conversation and helps guide the fund’s development. Our support shapes
experience and builds community. It also allows us to further demonstrate the vital role and contribution of graduate and professional programs at Yale University. My goal is to encourage others to join in supporting YSN, and to participate in the tradition of giving back. By sharing our experiences and inspiring creativity, we understand what connects us in a wider, shared community. I hope to build momentum for others to make leadership gifts as we continue to help shape the leaders of our discipline. It is important that through this process we acknowledge and celebrate those who support YSN at every level. How do you encourage others to participate? BC: YSN’s leadership in higher education depends on the generosity of alumni and friends, and the diligent stewardship of that generosity over time. Our contributions are a vital source of momentum for YSN. Giving is a way to help sustain the special features that set YSN apart. Participation is an important measure of our confidence and pride in the university. There are many ways to contribute, whether it is through mentoring, preceptorship, and community volunteering or financial contributions. No matter what size, our gifts show gratitude for the education received and support for the students who follow. In what areas do you feel your YSN experience is most prominently reflected in the work you do today? BC: With its appreciation for high standards, YSN fostered an intellectual curiosity that will carry throughout my career. The education and training received equipped me with the knowledge and clinical skills required to provide and improve health care in the pediatric population. I am able to draw on my experience to create a culture and systems in which nurses act as full partners with other healthcare professionals. When families receive a diagnosis, it is my job to provide education, listen, reassure, and help them navigate the maze in which they find themselves. It’s rewarding to watch families grow to understand their child’s condition and gain confidence in their own caregiving abilities. At Seattle Children’s Hospital, I am fortunate to work alongside nearly 10 YSN-trained nurse practitioners who bring with them the spirit of inquiry, commitment, and motivation toward scholarship, leading change, and advancing health. Their passion and enthusiasm inspire me to be a better nurse and mentor. Cota and Adams together welcome your involvement as a class agent. This is an opportunity to stay connected with your former classmates while supporting the School. Please contact caitlin.sweeney@yale.edu for more information.
“Giving to YSN provides extraordinary opportunities for learning and discovery. It enables the financial aid program to be extended to those in need. It creates an environment that enhances diversity, student learning, and professional development that demonstrates effective and innovative evidence-based practices. Providing a world-class learning environment for leaders in health, science, and education in turn creates a healthier world. Without the support of loyal friends, the alumni fund would not be able to continue providing what YSN needs to be its very best.” —Bridget Cota ’09
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BOARD UPDATE As YSN starts a new academic year and concludes the celebration of its 90th anniversary, I am reflecting on the School, new beginnings, and YSN’s impact. We were all changed by our educational experience at YSN, the friends and colleagues made (and those we continue to make) through our Yale connections and the course of our lives since leaving the School.
Your Alumnae/i Association, with the leadership of the Board, has continued to seek ways to serve you, the students, and the School in keeping with the Association’s mission: to strengthen the interests of the School, to promote professional standards and the educational advancement of nursing, to promote fellowship among the graduates of the School, and to increase the visibility of the School within the University. The Board has launched several new initiatives, and continued others, to fulfill our mission to the School. Examples include: • We have a mentoring program for students that has been well received, and we continue with the speed mentoring program aimed at supporting students both while at YSN and as alumnae/i. • Incoming students are given YSN patches and sewing kits at orientation, where they are first made aware of the Alumnae/i Association. At graduation, students are given YSN pins. Our initial effort to raise funds for this purpose is in its second year, and we are hoping to provide pins for all YSN graduates, including those who earn certificates. • A faculty liaison is now a non-voting Board member to link the potential of all alumnae/i to the educational efforts of the School and to coordinate our activities. • We have increased the number of distinguished alumnae/i awards to three so that we can recognize the great achievements of more of our alumnae/i. • YSN continues to be recognized by the Association of Yale Alumni. This year, Nina Adams ’77 was awarded the highest AYA honor for her service to the University. Our colleagues from across the University continue to laud the involvement of our alumnae/i in many AYA activities. In keeping with our mission of supporting you and the School, we hope you will participate in the Association’s work. All alumnae/i are members! Let us know your ideas and what you might like to do, and do stay in touch. Please join us for alumnae/i days in November 2014. Please share your updated information for the Class Notes. The success of the alumnae/i days last year was incredible, and we want to maintain that momentum. Wherever you are in your life and career, there are other alums to connect with! As I step down at the end of this year as YSNAA President, you are in good hands with your elected Board. It has been an honor and privilege to serve as your President during the past several years. With my very best wishes, Shirley Girouard ’77, PhD, RN, FAAN YSNAA President
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CLASS NOTES Nancy Kraus ’78
1940s Eleanor Grunberg (Hoffman) ’46 Despite two hip replacements, I have kept actively involved in my assisted living facility by being on executive committees of four different groups. This mental distraction has helped me following the unexpected death of my oldest son. The proximity of my other son and his family has enabled me to face each day with a purpose and the enjoyment of completing tasks assigned. Mary Margaret (MM) Dunlap Pruitt ’49 I retired from Seattle School of Nursing in 1991 but have kept much involved with health issues as part of a “grassroots advocacy” organization working for universal health care with single-payer financing. Health Care for All–Washington is hoping our state will be ready in 2017 to move efficiently from the Affordable Care Act into universal health care for all Washington state residents.
1950s Shirley Ellefsen (Macek) ’58 I have moved to Harlingen, Texas, to live with my daughter. My arthritis became more than I can cope with by myself. Thank God for daughters! Jane S. Ergood ’58 My husband, Bruce Ergood, (Yale YDS 1958, Fla. PhD, 1980) and I (MN 1958 and PhD Pitt, 1987) are currently directing/managing a 501c3 we started (see El Paraiso Health Ministry). We train rural community health workers in Honduras (since 1998). I have been nursing director of a rural multicounty MIC project in Florida, and exec of a similar project in Ohio Appalachia. I am also a licensed clinical psychologist (got tired of waiting for legislative change) and have two boys and five grandchildren (same husband, as you can see). Getting older. Loved Yale, saw Shirley Hoiland Tenney Merrick ’58 a few years ago in North Carolina.
1960s Charlotte (Pixie) Cram Elsberry ’65 Having now retired, I am able to enjoy the flexibility that comes with that, including reading something other than professional material. Part of my time is spent in New Brunswick, Canada, at my “other” home. We had a devastating storm July 5 in New Brunswick. I still am doing yard pickup and am without telephone service. I do worry about our upcoming election in the United States this fall and am concerned about women’s rights and health care. I also hope that we will continue to improve our healthcare reform. Joyce Light (Wax) ’66 I am a mother of two grown daughters and a grandmother with two grandchildren, a boy and a girl. I have traveled to 44 countries in 40 years. My husband is a marketing consultant. Presently I am a co-chairman of an ART Guild I founded at our condo association in Florida in 2011.
1970s Christine (Tina) Burke ’76 I retired almost two years ago after 40 years of an exciting career in nursing and midwifery. I enjoyed my teaching,
writing, and consultations, but now I am truly having a blast. I stay up late and sleep in until I awake naturally. I am reading so many great books. (So far in 2014 I am just over 70.) Finally, I have time for photography, playing my baritone uke, and writing my children’s stories (hopefully the first one will be published by Christmas). I moved to Lafayette, Colorado, to be five minutes from my daughter and her family, which gives me incredible grammy time with my 3-year-old grandson Jamie. I also have time for my community work: YSN Alumnae/i Board, Lafayette Library Board, and some local projects. Parker, my adorable pooch, rounds out my life. Paris is always in my heart! Life is so wonderful. Harriet A. Fellows ’78 (writing in honor of Barbara Geach ’69) Barbara Geach finished life on August 3, 2014, near her home in England with family at her side. Geach was a superb educator of the human condition as it relates to nursing. She did not just teach the concept of weltansicht to students but inspired nurses to develop and employ a healthy worldview in the complex tasks of caring, coping, grieving, and problem solving. What makes Geach’s life contribution distinctly worthy of notation is this: Despite every possible horror and obstacle life threw at Barbara Geach, she maintained a higher ground and positive philosophy—the last lesson a distinguished professor can offer to an appreciative student. Mary Geary ’74 Since graduating in psychiatric nursing, I spent most of my career in hospital and healthcare administration both as an employee and with my own consulting business in Florida and California. We moved to New Jersey two years ago, and I have been involved in volunteer work, including becoming a YSN delegate to the AYA. I have also joined the board of a local inner-city hospital as part of the movement to get nurses on boards as community members. In early September I gave a presentation at the annual conference of the National Association on Healthcare Quality titled: “Fostering Culture Change in Healthcare: Moving from Accommodation to Accountability.” Shirley Girouard ’77 I am a professor and Associate Dean for Research and Innovations at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate and a member of the State of Connecticut’s Practice Transformation Task Force, a healthcare reform initiative in the state. I am presently living in Branford after nursing education leadership positions at San Francisco State University and Long Island University (Brooklyn Campus) and taking advantage of what Yale University has to offer alums in New Haven and in New York City. Linda Goodhart ’76 I’ve been retired for four years, but started traveling in 1998. I returned to Vietnam after 28 years and rediscovered my passion for photography and experiencing different cultures. Since then I’ve been to the Middle East, the Far East, and the Antarctic. I’ve made a few photo books, but plan to put my best in a coffee table book someday. I figure by that time the pictures will big enough for me to still see! Kathie Hoppe ’76 What is Kathie Hoppe doing? Saging, not aging. As a Gulf War Veteran-Capt in
the Army Nurse corps, I am a mental health advocate for women veterans in the DC Mayor’s Veterans Advisory Council, the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, and the National Association of Mental Illness national headquarters, and I work as a summer intern with the Military/Veteran Policy section (writing a website and helping to prepare for the national conference in DC this September) and as a volunteer at the White House Correspondence department and Women’s Policy Inc. (attending congressional women caucus events). I also swim every day, play piano and pipe organ, and am taking voice and guitar lessons. Nancy Kraus ’78 Still married to Fred Dettmer (Yale Law ’78) and still working as an office-based midwife in NYC. My younger son, Alex, who has a degree in business, has been the practice manager at Downtown Women Ob-Gyn, my employer, for the past two years; it’s interesting when your child is your “boss”! My older son, Will, is married and finishing a master’s in engineering this year; we’re hoping he will produce a grandchild as soon as he graduates! Fred and I sold our house of 25 years last summer and have been enjoying our condotownhouse; we were thrilled to not shovel snow this past winter! I have been very active with the NYS Association of Licensed Midwives, our state affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives; still putting my undergrad degree in government to good use. I’m still committed to midwifery education and take students year-round from the programs at Columbia, NYU, and Downstate. Kathleen Lopez-Bushnell ’74 I am the Director of Nursing Research at the UNM Hospital and associate professor at the UNM/CON. I am also an FNP and see patients every week. Personal news: married with five children and nine grandchildren and live in Albequerque, New Mexico.
1980s Deborah Acker ’80 I’ve enjoyed transitioning from life as a lawyer to working as an educational consultant advising pre-professional students (nursing, medicine, law, etc.). I offer services regarding professional school and career planning as well as assisting with application strategies. I had a wonderful midwifery career for 20 years and then practiced as a patent attorney. The latest endeavor allows flexibility as my work life slows down a bit. Ellen Blair ’87 I am currently Director of Nursing at the Institute of Living, Hartford Hospital, being in this role since 2009. I recently began my DNP at University of Saint Joseph’s in West Hartford, CT. I also just received the “APRN Excellence in Nursing Practice” in psychiatric nursing from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association and will be going to the annual meeting in Indianapolis in October to receive the award. So all is going well! Beth Boyarsky ’82 To my friends at YSN: I learned the value of research with clinical care at YSN, so it’s no surprise my career has held both since graduation. I ended up becoming an addiction psychiatrist and have had incredible experiences in academia, physician health, and now public psychiatry. Our two
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CLASS NOTES (continued)
sons have grown to be fascinating adults and are happily married. I’m a grandmother and love having settled in Bethel, Connecticut. I wouldn’t have been so lucky without YSN having taken a chance on me. Thank you for everything you taught me! Douglas Brown ’87 I’ve established a teaching clinic where low-income people receive homeopathic care for chronic physical and mental illness, and where advanced students of homeopathic medicine can refine their clinical skills. More information can be found at www.portlandinstituteof homeopathy.org. Sending warm wishes to all my YSN friends, teachers, and colleagues. Danuta I. Bujak ’81 I’m retired as of July 1, 2014. Just came back from visiting my friends and family in Warsaw, Krakow, and Paris and a trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I am trying to settle into this new life of leisure and pleasure. Lucia Fabrizio ’83 I am working in pediatric orthopedics at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Over the past five years I have become involved with the Foundation of Orthopedic and Complex Spine (FOCOS) as a volunteer, providing care to children with complex spine deformities in Ghana. We opened the FOCOS Hospital in 2012; here I have been able to continue providing care as well as nursing education to the FOCOS nurses. Reaching out and providing care to this vastly underserved population is a dream come true. Mary Jane Fagan ’87 I’m the Vice President for Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego and a candidate for my PhD in Nursing at the University of San Diego. My dissertation is titled “Interprofessional Team Training in the Pediatric Life Support Program: Effects on Teamwork and Quality of Resuscitations.” I have a daughter who is a senior in college, my son is a senior in high school, and we are hoping to graduate in the summer of 2015! Mary Jane Fitzpatrick ’85 I retired from the University of Connecticut Health Center three years ago after 30+ years of service in a variety of positions. For the last 15 years I provided services to persons with Huntington’s disease and their families. In addition to the clinical work, I was a research coordinator for several studies and provided many in-service presentations to facilities that were caring for these clients in the community. I am now enjoying time with my 4-year-old grandson and doing all the things I never had time to do before this! Darlene Fortune ’85 After practicing as a psychiatric nurse practitioner in private practice for 10 years, I applied for psychoanalytic training in 1995 and graduated in 2000. I was the first psychiatric nurse practitioner in the country to be accepted by an American Psychoanalytic Association–approved Psychoanalytic Institute. I then earned my DNP in 2012. I have been in full-time private practice in Coral Gables, Florida, since 1986, and I am the only psychiatric nurse practitioner and psychoanalyst in private practice in Florida. Jocelyn Bessette Gorlin ’84 I am a fourth-year PhD predoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota
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School of Nursing in the Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs. I was awarded a LEND Fellowship to study children with neurodevelopment disorders and their families. I have three beautiful daughters, a dog, and husband (Jed Gorlin, MED Yale ’82), Love life in the Northern Heartland. Christina Malango ’87 I have happily “downsized” my career and am working as a triage nurse in an OB/GYN clinic. I am overeducated for the job but love it and love working part-time. I stay busy training for open water swimming, making baby quilts for my fertile friends and co-workers, enjoying my adult sons, mentoring other women in AlAnon, and traveling with my partner, Denise. Norma McNair ’85 This past April, I received the American Association of Neuroscience Nursing’s 2014 Excellence in Advanced Practice Nursing award. Tina Santoni ’85 My life as an APRN has included a dozen years as a primary care clinician in inner-city Hartford and then another dozen and more as an NP consultant with the Department of Children and Families in New Haven. Both of these jobs, in addition to being opportunities for offering quality health care, have been full of ongoing challenges and learning. An awareness of the diversity of healthcare understandings, practices, and delivery systems and an ability to think outside the box are so helpful to this work. In my work, my day-to-day life in New Haven, and my travels to look at healthcare systems across the world, I continue to be grateful for my YSN education, for the teachers and colleagues who were and continue to be in my life, and to my choice of this amazing profession. I am currently on the YSN Alumni Board for a second term. We are putting together a terrific reunion for this fall, which will include continuing education opportunities.
1990s JD Wailua Brandman ’94 I’ve been reelected to the Board of Directors of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association for a second two-year term, and was inducted into the Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (formerly American Academy of Nurse Practitioners) in 2011. I am founding president of the Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses and current recipient of their 2014 Annual Leadership Award, and chair of their Legislative Committee. Caroline (Vig) Dryland ’99 I am working in Oregon at the Southern Oregon VA as clinical director of our sleep lab. The early stages of research projects are blossoming with the Portland, Oregon, VA. (4.5 hours north). I’ve been at the VA for almost five years and really appreciate both the population and the benefits of the job. It’s very family friendly. My daughter, Amelia (14), who was born at Yale, is starting high school in Boston, so I am visiting the
east coast more often. My son (Alexander) and I will miss her a lot this year. We will settle her in and return to celebrate Christmas in Boston this year. I would love to see some classmates—please call or email if you are close by! Neil Ead ’90 I have been working at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, in the division of Pediatric General Surgery for the past 18 years. I also completed a term as President of the American Pediatric Surgical Nurses Association (APSNA) 2013–2014. Emily Florian-Tynan ’92 I have a busy family life. We are sending our oldest child to college. Our second child is starting high school. In addition to my family, psychiatric nursing is my passion. I enjoy serving clients across the lifespan in my private practice located in Southington, Connecticut. I also consult in geriatric nursing at the Center for Geriatric and Family Psychiatry in Glastonbury. I feel blessed to be involved in a helping profession that I love. Ann Kurth ’90 I am associate dean for research at NYU’s new School of Public Health, called Global Institute of Public Health, and am running NYU College of Nursing’s Global program. I am also still working with colleagues in Africa and the United States on HIV issues. Kerri Langevin (Mudano) ’91 I recently started the doctoral program in nursing education at Southern Connecticut State University (expected year of graduation 2017). I am currently working at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in the Craniofacial program. My article “An Uncommon Case: Cleft Palate, Respiratory Compromise, and Klippel-Feil Anomaly” will appear in the fall issue in the Plastic Surgery Nursing journal. Tina London ’95 I have been living in Pittsburgh since 2002 with my husband Nick and children Naomi (14) and Ethan (10), practicing full-scope midwifery in a nine-midwife and one-NP practice at Magee Women’s Hospital. I am so lucky to have wonderful colleagues/friends in this midwifery practice! Would love to hear from classmates anytime—please get in touch! Jeanne Murphy ’94 I just finished my PhD in Nursing at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. In June, I began as a postdoctoral fellow at National Cancer Institute in the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program. I still catch babies per diem at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Maryland. Laura O’Shea ’93 Many in the class of 1993 will recall two midwifery students (Cynthia Beatty Reese ’93 and me) who gave birth to daughters within a week of each other while we were students at YSN. Jane O’Bryan, my daughter, is now a senior at Yale College and plans to pursue an MPH at the Yale School of Public Health after graduation. Elisabeth A. Reilly ’90 I am pleased to announce that I joined my dear friend and classmate Diane Fahey in the grandmothers club! My firstborn had her firstborn...with an amazing midwife and nurse team as attendants (not to mention husband and grandparents!).
Left to right: Norma McNair ’85, JD Wailua Brandman ’94, Emily Florian-Tynan ’92, Ann Kurth ’90, Kerri Langevin (Mudano) ’91, and Esther Seibold ’06.
2000s Malia Davis ’02 After graduating from YSN in 2002, I spent 10 years providing health care for the homeless in Denver, Colorado. In 2012, I accepted a job at Clinical Family Health Services, a primary care community health organization, as Director of Nursing Services and Clinical Team Development. I was selected as a 2014 Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow in July of this year. I live in Denver with my husband Matt and two young sons, Finnegan and Everett. Annie Berman-Greenstein ’08 My husband Seth and I welcomed our baby boy Nolan Asher Greenstein, January 30, 2014. Here is a photo of Nolan and big sister Olivia.
Heather Gilmartin ’00 I just completed my PhD in Nursing at the University of Colorado. My dissertation, titled “Organizational Context and Healthcare-Associated Infections: Theory Building Through Inductive and Deductive Approaches” was a secondary data analysis using structural equation modeling methods. I will be starting a postdoctoral nurse fellowship with the Veterans Health Administration in Denver in the fall. I am living in Vail, Colorado, with my husband and two boys (Oliver, 11 and Simon, 9). I am still a skier and mountain biker, but miss my days sailing on the Connecticut coast. Christa Hartch ’02 I accepted a full-time position as an assistant professor at Norwalk Community College. Eden E. Henderson ’09 After doing full-scope family practice for four years at a community health center in Washington, DC, last year I got married to a wonderful man and transitioned into a new professional role. I am now teaching in the FNP program at Catholic University, and working clinically in the student health center at Catholic caring for sick and chronically ill students. Kimberly Lacey ’97 and ’03 I continue to teach at Southern Connecticut State University. Entering my 10th year! Time flies. I really enjoy my work and the opportunity to mentor future nurses. My wife Carla Giugno and I enjoy watching our three children grow! We are truly blessed! Nate and Izzy turn 11 in November, and Jack will be 13 in February. Our family also includes three dogs, four rabbits, and five chickens! Nicole (Langan) Maciejak ’06 My husband Chris and I just welcomed baby #2! Genevieve Louise Maciejak was born August 11. She was a healthy
9lb. 8 oz.! I am enjoying a few months at home with Evie and big brother, Will, before returning to my National Health Service Corps APRN position at Winthrop Elementary School Based Health Center in New London, Connecticut. I continue to work at Branford Pediatrics and Allergy per diem and precept YSN PNP students at my school-based site. Alison Marshall (Doran) ’05 In January 2014, I was appointed an Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Simmons College of Nursing and Health Sciences, located in Boston. While I continue to practice at the South Boston Community Health Center, I am very excited about moving into the field of academics and helping to shape the next generation of family nurse practitioners. Christina Martinez ’09 I have been enjoying life in the Pacific Northwest and working as a fullscope CNM. I earned Provider of the Quarter in 2013 among 300 physicians and advance practice providers. I alongside a colleague brought Centering Pregnancy group prenatal care to our medical group and hospital system this year. Michael graduated from the University of Washington with his master’s in education in 2014. For me, the most exciting news I have to share is that on April 12, 2014, Michael and I welcomed our son, Asher Matthew, into the world. He was delivered into daddy’s hands by a dear colleague, and my labor was supported by another dear colleague. Jessica Pettigrew ’09 I have left the Sagua Managu Birth Center in Guam where I practiced for five years. I am currently faculty at University of Colorado Denver with the Center for Midwifery providing care and support to women in the Denver area seeking low-intervention midwifery care.
part of starting Centering Pregnancy for teens. I left this position to do a mission with Doctors Without Borders in South Sudan. I was the sole women’s health provider for a refugee camp of about 15,000 people. Since then I have been teaching midwifery at Georgetown University and coordinating the simulation-based education for the midwifery students. I am currently pursuing my PhD in Nursing at Johns Hopkins with research focused on reproductive health of refugees/displaced populations. I also have a part-time full-scope clinical practice here in the DC area. Sarah Gilbert ’13 I am going on eight months as a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood Northern California and I am loving it. It is extremely challenging and fast-paced, but it’s getting a little easier every day (I think). Being back in San Francisco is wonderful, but, come fall, I’m sure I will miss hiking up East Rock. Erin (Coughlin) Herman ’13 I moved to Berkeley, California, after graduation, and had a baby girl, Ada, a few months after we moved. She was born at home, and is incredibly joyful and fun to be around. I’ve had a wonderful year staying home with her. She just turned one, and I just started a new NP job at a primary care practice in Oakland, California. I’ll be doing one day of diabetes care, and two days of primary care. Very exciting! Jenn Kolinski ’11 I continue to work part-time as an FNP at San Diego American Indian Health Center, and I am a participant in the National Health Service Corps. Our beautiful daughter, Kate, was born last June and is 14 months old. She is walking now, and keeps us extremely busy! We love living in sunny San Diego!
Esther Seibold ’06 I am still teaching at the University of Massachusetts Boston College of Nursing and Health Sciences, but have recently moved to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. So beautiful up here, it’s hard to go back to the city. My daughter is now 20 years old, attending Middlebury College. Hard to believe!
2010s Evelyne DeLoughery (Irimies) ’13 The past year since graduation has been one of great change and new experiences. I’ve been working in the pediatric primary care setting for a little over a year and recently joined a new practice close to home. In the meantime, I got engaged, planned a wedding, and got married this past May. Life is great and I love being a PNP! Landry Deuboue ’13 Since I left the school, I have relocated in North Texas. I have completed my certification process as an adult geriatric nurse practitioner, and today I am licensed to practice as an AGNP. On the professional side, I started working at the Dallas County Health & Human Services, HIV Early Intervention Clinic. Today, I work at the American Institute of Gastric Banding, a partner of the Baylor Health Care System. Christina Fleming ’10 Since graduating I spent two and half years at a large urban practice where I was
Heidi Keng (Lim) ’10 I am currently working as a nurse practitioner in acute pain medicine and regional anesthesia at the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs in Palo Alto, California. Christopher Norman ’14 Now ANCC certified as an AGPCNP! I am the newest nurse practitioner at Upstate Medical University’s Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, in Syracuse, New York. The position comprises mostly primary care with individuals 65 years and older, but includes some inpatient consultation with hospitalized older adults, and community outreach and educational program development and implementation (all geared toward older adults), too! Please refer to www.nursing.yale.edu/ysn-classnotes to review all of the Class Notes in their entirety. We were delighted to receive an overwhelming response of great news!
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2014 YSN REUNION WEEKEND: NOVEMBER 7 AND 8, 2014 “Safe Passages: Innovations in End-of-Life Care” This year’s reunion pays tribute to Florence Schorske Wald as an outstanding Dean and leader at YSN, as well as a clinical innovator in bringing the hospice care movement to the United States. In the spirit of Dean Florence Wald, the conference will focus on innovations related to palliative care, spirituality, and dying with dignity, highlighting the value of interdisciplinary care. The agenda features a number of expert speakers across many disciplines.
WE HOPE YOU CONSIDER ATTENDING THIS INSIGHTFUL PROGRAM. IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE ENJOY A PREVIEW OF OUR SPEAKERS AND WHAT THEY PLAN TO SHARE.
16 YALE NURSE VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1
Ruth McCorkle, PhD, RN, FAAN
Florence Schorske Wald Professor of Nursing and Professor of Epidemiology “Tribute to Florence Wald” Ruth McCorkle is the first Florence Schorske Wald Professor at YSN. She also is the director of the Psychosocial Oncology Research program at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center. McCorkle’s interest in cancer and palliative care is long-standing. Over 35 years ago, she studied at St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, England, and participated in clinical studies to relieve distressing symptoms associated with dying. Since then, the National Institutes of Health and other prestigious groups have continuously funded her for her studies on managing life with cancer. Our program celebrates the life of this remarkable woman and her dedication to the core values of nursing care. Florence’s vision is reflected in some of our best advances that have evolved from her recognition of Dr. Saunders’s philosophy of hospice care. For example, included in our program are the challenges of caring for prisoners, to acute care, to a broader application within hospitals. The key is to help to create environments where people dying feel safe and cared for, that they have opportunities to express their wishes, and they have safe passage. “I have been committed to improving the care of the dying patient since my service in the Vietnam War,” stated McCorkle. “When President Levin awarded me the Florence Schorske Wald Professor of Nursing chair in 2001, he acknowledged this commitment. Her professorship has been both an opportunity and responsibility to continue her vision at YSN and Yale University. I am humbled and honored to bear Florence’s name.”
Mark Lazenby, PhD, MSN
Assistant Professor of Nursing “Variations of End-of-Life Care in Global Context”
Dr. Mark Lazenby is Assistant Professor of Nursing at YSN and an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse Practitioner. He received his MSN, with a specialty in oncology, from Yale in 2009. He also holds a PhD in philosophy of religion from Boston University, and before coming to YSN, he was a professor of philosophy. Currently, he has an ongoing project focusing on strengthening palliative care nursing in Botswana, South Africa. In his presentation, Dr. Lazenby will discuss spirituality at the end of life, identifying similarities and differences across global spiritual traditions. Spirituality is increasingly considered as a factor in healthcare decision-making, especially in end-of-life care. “Although religious affiliation wanes in the United States and Europe, the numbers of people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious grow,” Lazenby states. Spiritual beliefs and practices are often relied on during profound life experiences—like the end of life. Dr. Lazenby will share best practices for APRNs to deliver spiritually sensitive and culturally safe care to patients nearing the end of their journey.
Siobhan Thompson, MPH
Yale School of Medicine Research Administrator and Co-Founder of the CT Prison Hospice Program “Florence’s Vision for Hospice in Prisons”
Thompson will discuss her work with Florence Wald and Nealy Zimmerman in developing the Connecticut Prison Hospice program. During the late 1960s, Wald worked with Thompson’s father, Yale Professor John D. Thompson (Nursing and Health Care Hall of Fame recipient), to help bring the first hospice, the Connecticut Hospice, to the United States in 1974. “Florence’s original interdisciplinary group of hospice founders had all these progressive ideas, but they didn’t have somebody that could mine data to show the Connecticut state legislature why there was a need for hospice and the need for a free-standing hospice facility,” explained Thompson. “That was my father’s prodigious contribution.” In 1996, more than two decades after the first hospice opened in the United States, a new Wald-Thompson team started planning hospice in the closed society of state prisons. They wrote a proposal for a prison hospice feasibility study that was funded by the Project on Death in America from the George Soros Foundation in New York City. “We managed to get support from the Connecticut Department of Correction administration to do the study with the caveat that exploring the concept of inmate hospice volunteers had to be cursory,” said Thompson. “Florence and I pushed back, and eventually, with the help and commitment of many people, including faculty at YSN, we developed a training program.” Since the feasibility study the program has graduated approximately 200 inmate hospice volunteers who care for other dying inmates. Siobhan’s 14-minute, self-funded documentary is unlike any other film in the country. Thompson was granted permission to film in Connecticut state prisons, capturing footage of both male and female prisoners. However, filming was stopped in 2008 shortly after the Petit family tragedy in Cheshire, Connecticut. Thompson will be showing a portion of the film in her presentation.
Diane Robbins, RN, A-NP, MSN
Avon Breast Center at San Francisco General Hospital “Florence’s Vision for Hospice in Prisons” Since graduating from YSN in 1999, Robbins has worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health for over 15 years in a variety of settings, from primary care, to marginally housed homeless folks in their single-room occupancies, to a mobile health van testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). She currently works at the Avon Breast Center at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) helping women with new breast cancer diagnoses and in urgent care per diem at SFGH. Diane Robbins had a keen interest in hospice care and treating underserved populations well before enrolling in YSN’s GEPN program in 1996. After learning that Florence Wald was tirelessly working on a feasibility study on implementing hospice services into the Connecticut prison system, Robbins reached out to see if she needed any assistance. Wald accepted her offer, and Robbins accompanied her to a number of visits throughout Connecticut to correctional facilities and other interested partners. As part of her role, Robbins helped acquire and prepare the data that was ultimately presented at a conference that she also helped organize: the National Prison Hospice Association—Connecticut affiliate in 1998 at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut. The presentation was titled “Statistical Analysis of a Feasibility Study on Hospice Care for the State Correctional Facilities in Connecticut.” It was a culmination of an experience that Robbins found to be invaluable to her nursing school experience at Yale. While Robbins did not know Wald prior to YSN, she had a vested interest in hospice. She explains that she was pleasantly surprised to meet and work with her while at the School. Robbins’s presentation will discuss her experience working alongside Wald.
The weekend will conclude with the annual YSNAA banquet along with the Distinguished
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Currently a Research Administrator at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), Siobhan Thompson is Co-Founder of the Connecticut Prison Hospice and Palliative Care program, working as a volunteer in the Connecticut Department of Correction. She earned her bachelor’s in biology from the University of Connecticut and her master’s in public health from Southern Connecticut State University. She is currently developing a clinical trials research program in the Department of Nephrology.
Alumnae/i Award ceremony Saturday evening at the Graduate Club in New Haven. Please join us by registering today! Contact Caitlin Sweeney at caitlin.sweeney@yale.edu or 203-737-2137, or visit www.nursing.yale.edu/ alumreunion.
FALL 2014 YALE NURSE 17
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