Tribute magazine 2016

SCHOOL OF NURSING | 2016

ALUmNI ANd FACULty RESEARCH ImPROVES INFANt HEALtH CARE | StORy, PAGE 10

Partnering to Protect

tiny Patients

DEAN’S MESSAGE

Dear friends,

Nursing is one of the most meaningful and rewarding professions. The great philosopher Albert Schweitzer once said “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

This issue of Tribute is evidence our alumni and faculty are passionate about their profession. They do what they do because the rewards are priceless. Every story, every page demonstrates their dedication and the partnerships they are creating—all with one goal in mind—to improve the well-being and health outcomes of their patients.

From testing and recalibrating high-tech hospital monitors to analyzing DNA in research laboratories, to traveling across the globe to assist patients in need—our nurses are truly invested and involved. Through research, education, patient care and community partnerships, they are implementing and improving health care delivery systems both locally and abroad.

As you can see, ours is a story of success, and our alumni and faculty are at the core. Please take a moment to read Tribute and be inspired to pursue new paths to connect with us. Your involvement is essential to our continued growth and success.

Thank you for your friendship, generosity and support that make our mission to make lives better possible every day.

Eileen t. Breslin | Ph.D., RN, FAANDean and Professor Dr. Patty L. Hawken Nursing Endowed ProfessorSchool of Nursing The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

MAKING LIVES BETTER THROUGH PARTNERSHIPWilliam L. Henrich, M.D., MACP (center), president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, congratulates nursing faculty from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL), Mexico, on their participation in the Salud: Nuevas Fronteras initiative. This spring, these faculty members completed courses in the School of Nursing that will build upon their teaching and professional clinical skills. Several School of Nursing faculty members served as instructors and mentors in the program, which is a partnership among the Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together (MATT) Foundation, UANL, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania and the UT Health Science Center San Antonio School of Nursing.

02 DEAN’S MESSAGE

04 ACCOLADES

08 ALTERING OUR DNA DESTINy

09 SPARKING AN ELECTRIC CONNECTION

22 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

23 SCHOLARSHIP HONORS A LIFE OF SERVICE

30 ALUMNI UPDATE

30 FUTURE NURSE LEADERS RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIPS

05 10

12 15

20 24

05 MAKING A wORLD OF DIFFERENCE

Nursing students travel the globe to help patients in need

10 PARTNERING TO PROTECT TINy PATIENTS

Alumni and faculty research improves infant care

12 BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER

Nurses connect research, resources to ensure patient safety

15 PATTERN OF PROGRESS Student Success Center

gains momentum

20 THE NATURAL Endowment honors nurse’s innate

dedication, leadership to profession

24 GENERATIONS OF ExTRAORDINARy ALUMNI IMPACT LIVES

School of Nursing Office of the Dean, School of Nursing7703 Floyd Curl Drive San Antonio, TX 78229-3900210-567-5313

ON THE COVERKelly McGlothen, RN (left), a 2012 graduate of the B.S.N. program, is pictured in the School of Nursing’s Biobehavioral Research Laboratory with Lisa Cleveland, Ph.D., RN, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Health Systems. McGlothen, who returned in 2013 to the School of Nursing to pursue her Ph.D., has teamed with Dr. Cleveland in vital research that is impacting the lives of infants and their mothers. Read the story, page 10.

COVER PHOTO By NOELL VIDUARRI, Creative Media Services, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

School of Nursing | The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio TRIBUTE 3

JAmES A. CLEVELANd, m.S.N., RN, was named director of the Center for Simulation Innovation (CSI) in the School of Nursing. He will oversee the design and implementation of high-fidelity, mid-fidelity and low-fidelity training of students in the CSI as well as inter-professional training and skills training for outside agencies. Cleveland will also lead the CSI staff and adjunct professors and will continue in his role as an assistant professor teaching undergraduate courses in acute care and leadership and management. Cleveland will complete his Ph.D. in Adult Professional Community Education at Texas State University next year.

LARk A. FORd, PH.d., m.A., m.S.N., RN, was among 17 outstanding women inducted into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame. Established in 1984, the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame inducts each year selected women in recognition of their service and contributions to their communities. Dr. Ford was honored in the Health Professions category for her exceptional mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students, nursing faculty and community partners. Throughout her career and service in the Army, Dr. Ford has earned numerous additional honors, including the prestigious Order of Military Medical Merit Medal and the San Antonio Express-News’ “Salute to Nurses.”

SARA GILL, PH.d., RN, IBCLC, FAAN, was appointed as the new assistant dean for graduate programs in the Office of Academic Affairs. In her new role she will work with a team to develop, implement and evaluate the School of Nursing’s graduate-level academic programs. Dr. Gill has been a faculty member since 1998 and continues to work with nursing, medical and health professions students. She is also an award-winning and internationally published researcher who focuses her studies on improving the health of mothers and infants.

JANIE CANty-mItCHELL, PH.d., RN, FAAN, received the Texas Diversity Council’s 2015 DiversityFIRST Award. The Texas Diversity Council, part of the National Diversity Council, promotes diversity and leadership and honored Dr. Canty-Mitchell for her success and efforts to help others follow in her footsteps toward professional and personal achievement. This year, Dr. Canty-Mitchell was named chair of the board of the National Healthcare Diversity Council, which also is an arm of the National Diversity Council. As a member of the council since 2013, Dr. Canty-Mitchell’s leadership has contributed to the council’s expansion to eight states within the United States.

CyNtHIA O’NEAL, PH.d., RN, has joined the School of Nursing as assistant dean for undergraduate studies in the Office of Academic Affairs. She will be responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of undergraduate programs and program evaluation plans, and integration of professional organization standards to ensure program quality, including credentialing requirements. Dr. O’Neal previously was an associate professor and department chair of undergraduate programs in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. She brings more than 25 years of professional nursing experience and more than 23 years of teaching experience. She was educated at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Vanderbilt University.

mARk SOUCy, PH.d., RN, APRN, FAANP, was inducted as a 2015 Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) at the organization’s national conference in New Orleans. The AANP impacts national and global health by engaging nurse leaders who make outstanding contributions to clinical practice, research, education or policy. The creation and development of leadership and mentorship programs to advance nurses and students is an AANP priority. Dr. Soucy is an award-winning educator who has authored or co-authored more than 18 peer-reviewed scholarly models of clinical practice and interprofessional and nurse practitioner educational strategies presented nationally and internationally.

Accolades

4 TRIBUTE School of Nursing | The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Diversity

M king a

world of difference

Nursing students travel the globe to help patients in need

By CATHERINE DUNCAN

Every year since 2006, faculty, students and graduates from the School of Nursing leave their families, work and school to travel to remote villages in Guatemala to provide medical and surgical nursing care to the indigenous Guatemalan Mayans. All of these volunteers pay their own way.

While the distance between San Antonio and Guatemala is only about 1,500 miles, those participating in this international health care mission trip find themselves in a different world.

On this San Antonio Guatemalan Endeavor journey, nursing faculty, students and alumni work with an interprofessional health care team in very primitive environments. There are no state-of-the-art facilities here; the team has limited supplies, devices and medicine that are donated by local clinics, hospitals and practices.

Janis Rice, M.S.N., RN, clinical associate professor of health restoration and care systems management, said the experience makes the nursing students “very aware of how rich our country is regarding medical care. They see how little health care is available in other countries.”

Rice, who attended her seventh mission trip last summer but has coordinated the trip since 2006, said the equipment and the clinic set ups are austere. During the last two years, the group has arranged the clinic in a vacant military hospital. “Because of the primitive facility, students get an opportunity to become proficient in so many skills. They also see the dynamics of coming together as a team. They learn how to deal with conflict.

“The students live in barracks with cots and sleeping bags. There are 40 to 50 people per barrack. The bathrooms are definitely not what they are used to. There is no privacy,” Rice explained. “We have communal dining that brings the team together. Those who come on these mission trips make friends forever.”

A wEEK OF HARD wORKThe volunteers arrive at the medical site in Guatemala on a

Sunday and immediately start setting up the hospital with supplies they have brought with them on the plane plus supplies provided by HELPS International, an organization created in 1981 during the country’s civil war. HELPS International was begun by a Dallas investment banker who brought aid to the war-torn country.


The nursing school first participated in the HELPS International mission trip in 2006. Faculty and students became members of San Antonio’s local team, the San Antonio Guatemalan Endeavor.

HELPS International and the Guatemalan government decide each year the location of the temporary hospital. The nursing school volunteers work with health care providers from around the United States and Europe during their 12-day mission.

Surgeries begin on Monday and run through Friday. A HELPS International team will already have patients lined up. “We always have more patients than we can handle,” Rice said. “The local residents are always so excited that we are back for our annual trip. We are loved and respected by the Guatemalans.”

The School of Nursing volunteers learn the challenges of treating patients who do not speak English. The Guatemalan dialects are very different, she said. The health care providers rely on high school students from Guatemala who serve as translators. “These young Guatemalan students see a different part of their country. They learn a lot too.”

Nursing students provide direct patient care in triage, a pre-operative/intra-operative setting, a post-anesthesia unit, and the post-operative arena. In addition to performing surgical procedures, the team also offers eye exams, eyeglasses and dental care. A mobile medical team travels to even more remote areas to see patients.

“We usually see around 200 people a day,” Rice said. “Our nursing students help in many ways. They spend one day with the mobile team in the very remote areas. They spend a day working in pre-op preparing patients for surgery, and they work a day in post-op caring for patients after surgery. Nursing students also spend half a day in the operating room and the other half in the post-anesthesia unit.

“It is hard work, but our students learn so much. They love it. The clinical exposure is huge for them,” Rice said. The students also spend one day installing cement floors, stoves and water purification systems in the homes of Guatemalan families.

The volunteers build what is called an ONIL stove, which was created by HELPS International in response to the amount of burns to children and smoke inhalation exposure from the floor fires traditionally used by residents. The mission volunteers build a clay-fired firebox in an insulated, durable stove that sits off the floor, which minimizes the risk of burns to young children. The stove

also uses one-third of the wood compared to the traditional method.

Nursing students also install the ONIL Gravity Water Filter so families have safe drinking water. The water filter removes parasites such as guinea worm and giardia and pathogenic bacteria such as cholera, E.coli and shigella. The team of volunteers is helping prevent future health issues.

UNDERGRADS VOLUNTEERRice said every year five undergraduate nursing students

participate in this unique international mission trip. The trip has been part of an Accelerated B.S.N. Students Immersion Course for the past five years. The experience helps students meet The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice competencies.

Last summer, five registered nurses, who are graduates of the School of Nursing, brought their years of experience to the team.

Christine Ledder, RN, said she attended the trip in 2012 as a student and decided to return as a registered nurse. She works in the neurotelemetry unit at Methodist Hospital.

“I grew a lot as a nurse on that first trip. I learned so much. I was absorbing knowledge the entire time,” she said. “I decided to come back as an RN because I felt like I could contribute much more now.”

During her initial trip, she said she learned from the professionals about team work, safety and flexibility. “During my second trip, it was challenging, and I still learned a lot. I really appreciate how people who don’t know other each other can come together as a team.

“When I returned to work after my second trip, I came back with a huge appreciation of the support staff, such as the phlebotomist who takes blood and the housekeeper who cleans the rooms. We did it all on the mission trip. There was no support staff. I really appreciate them much more.”

Ledder said her experience in Guatemala as a student inspired her to return later. “I’m so happy that I chose a profession where I can give back to the global community.”

GRADUATE STUDENTS PROVIDE CAREIn the summer of 2015, Kathryn Parke, D.N.P., M.S.N., RN,

CPNP, clinical assistant professor of family and community health systems, went on the trip with two family nurse practitioner students.

Dr. Parke, a pediatric nurse practitioner, said the graduate students rode out with the mobile medical units with military escorts to remote villages. They set up a health clinic in a village named Todos Santos, which the organization had never been to before.

“We set up in an empty building and saw adult and pediatric patients for two days. We saw a lot of women with ob-gyn health issues. We saw children with asthma, diarrhea and dental caries. Everyone was treated for parasites,” Dr. Parke said.

Faculty members Janis Rice (back row, second from left) and dr. Frank Puga (far right) work with students to help patients during mission trips to Guatemala. Pictured with them are School of Nursing Class of 2015 graduates who, while they were students, participated in the mission trips. they are (back row, left to right) Adam Rick, Sean Brady, Amy Lynn Rose, (front row, left to right) Christine Johnson, and Ann Lee.


She said they referred some of the residents who needed surgery to the hospital. The two family nurse practitioner students worked with adult care providers who were very pleased with the level of care they administered.

“The physicians said our two family nurse practitioner students allowed them to provide a volume of care higher than ever before. That was really great to hear,” Dr. Parke said. “While our students provided health care, they received a lot in return. This experience gave our students, who have only seen health care in the United States, an entirely new perspective.

“Our students had to use their clinical skills and judgment. They didn’t have all the resources they have here,” she said. “They worked with and respected the different cultures. This is so important because global health is one of the missions at our nursing school.”

Rice said after providing a week of health care, the students, faculty and graduates spend Saturday packing and conducting inventory of all supplies. On Sunday, the team headed to Antigua for much deserved rest and recreation. Each person pays $2,125 for the trip.

“I have been fortunate to take this trip for seven years. I truly enjoy seeing how the trip changes the students,” she said. “I am always impressed by their commitment to their profession. It is wonderful to see how they grow during the 12 days.”

INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAMwORKIn addition to providing health care, stoves and water purification

systems to local residents, the School of Nursing is also performing research on teamwork and cultural competency during the San Antonio Guatemalan Endeavor mission trip. A few years ago, one of these annual mission trips raised the issue of how to improve team performance with a group of strangers.

Frank Puga, Ph.D., assistant research professor in the School of Nursing, said in this unique environment, challenges exist to achieving successful team work.

“The challenges include limited resources, language barriers and working with individuals who they usually don’t work with,” he said. “These challenges can impact how well the team communicates, the clarity of team member roles, and ultimately the safety of patient and team members. To promote a culture of safety, we looked at adopting evidence-based strategies to facilitate effective teamwork.”

As part of the research, they introduced concepts and strategies to the approximately 100 individuals who went to Guatemala.

“We trained the individuals on strategies to improve teamwork. They practiced teamwork scenarios of difficult situations they might encounter during the trip. This was first done the night they arrived in Guatemala before they saw any patients,” he said. “In preparation for the week, we evaluated their perceptions and attitudes toward teamwork. We also identified and discussed barriers to teamwork they might experience,” Dr. Puga said.

With this information, the research team was able to anticipate and respond effectively as a team to difficult situations. “During the training, we learned a lot about the situations the team was most concerned about and how effective teamwork can result in better outcomes. During the week they were delivering care, we performed observations and video recordings to get a sense of how the team was functioning in real time.

“What we found was the training really seemed to help facilitate teamwork. Specifically, we identified opportunities for improvements such as defining roles before going to Guatemala,” he said. “We think this research is important and contributes to the larger body of knowledge related to global health. Delivering care in an international setting has its unique challenges and approaches that can benefit from effective teamwork strategies.”

The researchers also had the opportunity to assess the student experience. “They get a unique experience to learn about teamwork in an environment that is very different than what they have learned in clinical at the nursing school.

“We assess the students’ perceptions and attitudes toward teamwork before and after the trip. We are finding the students are leaving the experience with a stronger sense of what teamwork looks like and the skills they can transfer to their career as a nurse,” Dr. Puga added.

Based on the research performed in Guatemala, Dr. Puga and Rice were asked to co-present their findings at the International Council of Nurses Annual Conference in Seoul, South Korea, last summer.

“This project spoke to the themes of global health, international learning experiences for students, and teamwork across international boundaries,” he said. “Presenting at an international conference in Korea gave us the opportunity to learn about other countries’ and universities’ ways of approaching the issues of teamwork. This experience helped shape our understanding of the importance of teamwork for global health. It highlighted the value and importance of our School of Nursing’s research and education activities.”

Diversity

I have been fortunate to take this trip for seven years. I truly enjoy seeing how the trip changes the students, I am always impressed by their commitment to their profession. It is wonderful to see how they grow during the 12 days.”—JANIS RICE, M.S.N., RN


NIH selects nurses to train at acclaimed genetics institute

By NATALIE A. GUTIERREz

Everyone will fall risk to some sort of health condition or disease at some point in their lifetime. Whether

it is high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or Alzheimer’s, if your mom, dad, grandparent or another relative had it, the chances are higher that you might someday receive the same diagnosis. That’s because genetics, or heredity, play a role in determining your disease destiny.

Nurses are at the frontline of detecting many of the disease risk factors patients present during their regular doctor visits

because nurses are normally the first health care workers the patient sees at the clinic. They discuss with the patient his family history, current symptoms and lifestyle factors that may contribute to his well-being.

Among patients’ most trusted health care workers, nurses possess the skills and knowledge to help patients prevent many of the hereditary diseases for which they may succumb. Yet, not all nurses are trained to apply genetic evaluation when meeting with patients.

Two faculty members from the School of Nursing, Bertha E. “Penny” Flores, Ph.D., RN, and John B. Chavez, D.N.P., RN, FNP-BC, are leading efforts to integrate genetics training into the School of Nursing curriculum so graduates are well versed in the fundamentals.

Dr. Flores is an assistant professor whose research focuses on women’s health, cultural competency, health literacy and health issues of the elderly. Dr. Chavez is an assistant clinical professor who specializes in preventing reversible diseases such as heart attacks, stroke, diabetes and obesity in patients. He focuses on applying genetics and genomics and advanced diagnostic and blood testing as well as incorporating diet and exercise into patients’ treatment plans.

The two were selected to attend the National Institute of Nursing Research Summer Genetics Institute sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and held this past summer on the campus of the NIH in Bethesda.

They were nominated by School of Nursing Dean Eileen Breslin, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, and among 25 nurse researchers from prestigious institutions across the

country hand selected by the NIH. There they attended lectures presented by some of the world’s leading geneticists and took part in hands-on molecular genetic laboratory techniques.

“This was the first time I was in a genetics lab. I was fascinated,” Dr. Flores said.

In labs Drs. Flores and Chavez practiced techniques in micro and serological pipetting and culturing and learned how to isolate cells. They also studied related terminology and examined national policies and laws impacting genetic research and testing.

Dr. Chavez said he was impressed by the rate at which the field of genetics has progressed.

“It’s amazing how far the technology and data have come over the years,” he said. “Advances are allowing health care providers to better tailor care for their patients. It is important for nurses to be involved and up-to-date,” Dr. Chavez said. “When nurses are in the know, they can help explain lab results to their patients and make recommendations because they can understand the process behind the tests.”

Both Drs. Flores and Chavez said they are grateful to the dean and their colleagues for supporting their participation and recommend more nursing faculty attend future institutes.

“In some cases, hereditary factors of some diseases can be slowed or prevented with the right intervention,” Dr. Flores said. “Nurses are essential in disease prevention and patient care so comprehensive training, including in genetics, is important to personalizing care. This is key to our patients’ health now and in the future.”

Bertha E. “Penny” Flores, Ph.d., RN

John B. Chavez, d.N.P., RN

ALTERING OUR dNA DeSTiNy


Discovery

Nurses team with CPS Energy to keep community healthy

By MELISSA MIRELES with NATALIE A. GUTIERREz

what do CPS Energy, the nation's largest municipally owned energy company, and the

UT Health Science Center San Antonio School of Nursing have in common? More than you may know.

The two joined forces in the summer of 2015 to better educate the community on issues related to health and safety.

Jesse Hernandez, director of Community Programs for CPS Energy, said their business is more than just a utility company.

“We serve more than 786,000 electric customers and 339,000 natural gas customers in the greater San Antonio area,” Hernandez said. “We care about the customers we serve and want to be a trusted resource for their home energy health and safety issues. We realized the School of Nursing would be the ideal partner for us in this aim.”

Hernandez’s team collaborated with School of Nursing faculty to increase

awareness of the customer assistance and discount programs CPS Energy offers. The goal is to improve citizens’ health and safety outcomes.

Nursing professors Adelita Cantu, Ph.D., RN, and Karine Crow, Ph.D., RN, immediately saw the connection.

“Nursing students are on the forefront of interfacing with and establishing trust with the community,”

Dr. Cantu said. “Population health relates to the whole of what makes a community healthy and the environment impacts health in a multitude of ways. CPS Energy is working to create an environment that keeps people healthy. Our faculty and students have the skills and knowledge to help make that happen.”

As part of the partnership, nursing students visit San Antonio neighborhoods to participate in public speaking opportunities and to conduct one-on-one conversations and interviews with community members. They inform citizens about myriad community assistance programs CPS Energy offers those in need. Students focus on vulnerable populations including residents at senior centers and those living in low-income housing areas. They conduct community assessments and help identify homeowners who may need help with energy efficiency problems or assistance with their energy bills.

Darinka Hudson, RN, who is a student in the M.S.N. program in the School of Nursing, said participating in the partnership gave her confidence to help bridge gaps between the public and CPS Energy.

“When students joined the effort, people seemed more open to recognizing the benefits CPS Energy programs offered them,” Hudson said.

Dr. Cantu indicated the goal is for nursing students to deliver the message to qualified community members and

encourage them to apply for CPS Energy services. The initial engagement improves the opportunity for CPS Energy staff to communicate with and help those who qualify for their programs.

Dr. Crow added that the program allows nursing students to experience firsthand what it takes to meet public health needs.

“Poor housing quality for example can lead to a homeowner’s inability to maintain his home’s temperature control, which could render him susceptible to illness when climate changes. That in turn can lead to ailments and absenteeism and a decrease in productivity in our city’s workforce,” she said. “It’s a vicious cycle.”

The partnership helps demonstrate to students the various potential energy-related home health hazards that might bring people into a hospital.

“It also helps students realize how public health nurses have an impact on patients’ health even if they aren’t administering medication or tending to more common ailments. It makes the connection more real.”

Students and faculty are continually working with CPS Energy to improve the new partnership. In one instance, students found community members complained that assistance applications were too complicated, wordy and difficult to read. When they alerted CPS Energy staff, the Community Programs team quickly made changes to improve the forms.

“The goal is for the School of Nursing to be the conduit to increasing awareness about our community programs, and they have,” Hernandez said.

“Our preliminary data indicates that students have helped identify more than 200 homes as qualifying for programs we offer to help citizens improve their homes’ energy efficiency. We tailored promotional pieces and created an online application that helped increase the number of applicants to the programs,” he said.

Dr. Crow said the experience broadens students’ awareness of resources available in the community.

“They gain a wider perspective,” she said. “This effort is a perfect example of an academic and health partnership that allows us all to think more creatively about ways we can work together to enhance the health of our community.”

SPARKING AN ELECTRIC CONNECTION

Nursing student darinka Hudson (left), works with Sonia moreno Rogers of CPS Energy, to inform San Antonians about available resources to help ensure their home health and safety.



At 9 p.m. on a Friday, many young professionals are unwinding, preparing to enjoy the beginning of a weekend away from the office. Not Kelly McGlothen. This

is when the 26-year-old nurse comes to life as she heads expeditiously toward the Biobehavioral Research Laboratory in the School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In her arms she cradles four small test tubes. To most, the contents might seem unpleasant, but to McGlothen, the saliva inside is as good as gold.

In the lab, she loads the specimens into a centrifuge where they spin for 15 minutes. Then she gently tucks them into the freezer at minus 82 degrees Celsius where they’ll remain until she collects more to analyze.

A registered nurse, McGlothen earned her B.S.N. from the School of Nursing at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio in 2012 and returned in the fall of 2013 to pursue her Ph.D. As part of her coursework, McGlothen serves as a graduate research assistant. Under the tutelage of her mentor Lisa Cleveland, Ph.D., RN, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing’s Department of Family and Community Health Systems, McGlothen launched a pilot study with the goal of helping some of San Antonio’s most vulnerable patients—infants born to mothers addicted to and recovering from opioids, including drugs such as heroin, methadone, Vicodin and others both legal and illegal.

PARTNERING TO PROTECT TINy PATIENTSAlumni and faculty research improves infant health care


McGlothen, who grew up in Texas, where teen pregnancy rates are among some of the highest in the nation, said that as a teen she was well aware of the problems that young mothers can encounter when life stresses become overwhelming.

“When I lived in Corpus Christi, I had some friends who became pregnant very early on and weren’t ready for the responsibilities of motherhood,” McGlothen said. “One was 15 and the other was only 12 years old. I could see how a troubled young woman not equipped to handle the pressures of being a new mom could turn to substance abuse or other unhealthy habits as an escape.”

McGlothen recalls serving as a support system for her expectant friends by going along with them to their clinic visits. She’d wait patiently, offer encouragement, and lend a sympathetic ear and shoulder. It was then that she decided she wanted to be a nurse.

“I wanted a career that would allow me to help others, especially those who don’t have the resources or support to help themselves,” she said. “Nursing offers all of this plus the opportunity to delve into research, which is something I was very interested in doing.”

McGlothen said she is pursuing her dream, thanks to the dedicated faculty of the School of Nursing. Her faculty mentor, Dr. Cleveland, who has more than 20 years of experience as a neonatal nurse, established in 2013 a partnership among the School of Nursing, University Hospital, the Center for Health Care Services and the Department of State Health Services. The purpose is to disseminate a San Antonio treatment and

counseling effort called “The Mommies Program” for substance-abuse recovering mothers and their newborns. Since then, more than 1,000 women have benefited from the program. McGlothen considers herself among the beneficiaries as she was able to engage in the program as Dr. Cleveland’s research assistant.

“I’m doing what I love: helping young women, their babies and contributing to important research,” McGlothen said.

She doesn’t mind being on call in the evenings or on weekends. When she gets a call, she hurries to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital where the program’s participants are practicing Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), a method of skin-to-skin mother-infant cradling. She gingerly collects samples of saliva from both mom and baby and transports the specimens to the lab in the School of Nursing. There, she and her research team measure cortisol (a biomarker of stress) levels in recovering mothers and their babies before and during KMC to discover if this technique reduces stress and improves attachment.

McGlothen is adding to Dr. Cleveland’s research and hopes to help her learn more about whether KMC decreases the infants’ need for medication and reduces their hospital stays and cost.

Dr. Cleveland was awarded a two-year, $264,000 grant from the Department of State Health Services to expand her study to other hospitals throughout the state. McGlothen in the meantime has added another feather to her cap—teacher. She recently began lecturing students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to encourage undergraduates to enroll in the B.S.N. to Ph.D. in Nursing program, a pipeline program to recruit more nurses into research. McGlothen, who is herself a product of the B.S.N. to Ph.D. program, said she considers encouraging nurses to pursue research to be a privilege.

“The greatest gift students can have is faculty like Dr. Cleveland who take them under their wing and help them develop their passion and grow into their own,” McGlothen said. “It happened for me. I hope I can do the same for others.”

For more information about research efforts in the School of Nursing or the B.S.N. to Ph.D. in Nursing program, contact Melissa Mireles at 210-567-5534 or email [email protected].

“We need more qualified nurse researchers who will be the next great scientists and teachers.” —KELLy MCGLOTHEN, RN, B.S.N.

kelly mcGlothen, RN (left), who earned her B.S.N. from the School of Nursing in 2012, is now enrolled in the Ph.d. program. While teaching students on campus, mcGlothen takes time to encourage undergraduates to enroll in the B.S.N. to Ph.d. in Nursing Program.

Discovery

Assistant Professor Lisa Cleveland, Ph.d., RN,

and Ph.d. student kelly mcGlothen, RN, B.S.N. ’12,

load specimens in the centrifuge in the

Biobehavioral Research Laboratory in the School

of Nursing.


http://inside.uthscsa.edu/

These sights and sounds are standard in any hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Every mechanism is essential to monitoring a critically ill patient’s vital signs and can mean the difference between life and death for the patient.

This scenario may sound intimidating, even distracting. Now imagine you are a nurse in an ICU surrounded by dozens of critically ill patients at all hours of the day and night, responsible for these devices and the patients’ well-being.

Although hospital technologies are designed to improve patient safety, they can create new hazards if not carefully implemented and managed.

The U.S. Joint Commission on Patient Safety reported that between January 2009 and June 2012, nearly 100 documented hospital device alarm-related hazards occurred in hospital ICUs and telemetry units across the country. Of those, 80 resulted in a patient’s death. The remaining caused a patient permanent loss of function and unanticipated additional needed care.

Unfortunately, perils like these transpire every day in hospitals nationwide and are a result of system and staff failures to respond in a timely and appropriate manner to alarm signals.

The Commission found that in these cases the major contributing factors were: absent or inadequate alarm systems, improper alarm


Breaking the

CARING CREw: Pictured in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital are partners in research (left to right) Albert tarriela, RN, CCRN; Ileana Fonseca, m.S.N., RN; Azizeh Sowan, Ph.d., RN; Charles Reed, Ph.d., RN, CNRN; and Ana Vera, m.S.N, RN.

The whir of the ventilators.

The web of wires and tubes that wind

across the walls.

The flashing of lights and the constant buzzing

and beeping of monitors by the patient’s bedside.

Nurses connect research, resources to ensure patient safety


settings, alarm signals not audible in all areas, or alarm signals turned off. In 2013, the Commission made addressing and improving clinical alarm system safety a national goal.

TACKLING AN ALARMING TRENDOne researcher in the School of Nursing at The University

of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is on a mission to improve safety outcomes for patients in the ICU through her study “Usability Testing of ICU Cardiac Monitors: Guiding Quality Initiatives on Improving Clinical Alarm Systems Safety.”

Azizeh Sowan, Ph.D., RN, assistant professor in the Department of Health Restoration and Care Systems Management, is leading this unique study that analyzes both the alarm system technology and staff performance involved in safely and effectively caring for critically ill patients in the hospital.

“Hospital staff has the ultimate responsibility of ensuring patients are safe throughout their hospital stay,” Dr. Sowan said. “Nurses in particular must be alert, experienced with protocols and tailored care plans for every patient, and up-to-date with hospital equipment at all times.”

With technology advancing at such a high rate, Dr. Sowan said hospital devices are becoming more sophisticated and complex in design and function.

“Every day in a single hospital, hundreds of alarms are triggered by patients’ bedside monitors that are programmed to sense when patients are in distress. Those can translate into several thousand alarms sounding during a single shift depending on the unit,” Dr. Sowan said. “Nurses are the primary responders to these monitors and the patients’ needs,” she said.

Not all of the alarms require immediate intervention, however. The U.S. Joint Commission on Patient Safety estimated that between 85 percent and 99 percent of alarm signals do not require clinical intervention, such as when alarm parameters are set too rigidly causing alarms to sound precipitously and often; default settings are not adjusted for the individual patient; electrocardiography (ECG) electrodes have dried out; or sensors are not placed correctly on a patient’s body.

“Oftentimes, health care workers become desensitized or immune to the multiple alarms sounding and can become overwhelmed by information. This phenomenon is called ‘alarm fatigue,’” Dr. Sowan said. “In some cases, health care

workers respond by simply turning an alarm volume down, turning it off, or adjusting the alarm settings outside the limits that are safe and appropriate for the patient—all of which can have serious or fatal consequences,” she said. Some common patient injuries or deaths the Commission traced back to alarms included those caused by falls, delays in treatment, improper ventilator settings and medication errors.

PARTNERING TO PROTECT PATIENTSFunded by a grant from the UT Health Science Center’s

Nursing Advisory Council in 2015, Dr. Sowan reached out to School of Nursing alumnus Charles Reed, Ph.D., RN, CNRN, to partner with her in assembling a team at University Hospital, the UT Health Science Center’s teaching hospital.

Dr. Reed earned his B.S.N. in 1996, his M.S.N. in 2006 and his Ph.D. in 2014 all from the School of Nursing and now serves as executive director of the Center for Nursing Excellence at University Hospital.

With University Hospital in close proximity to the university and with Dr. Reed at the helm of the hospital’s patient care program, Dr. Sowan said “we had the trifecta of resources—leadership, facilities and equipment, and availability of participants”—for their study.

Dr. Reed added, “The collaboration between the School of Nursing faculty and University Hospital is first rate. It creates a pipeline for innovation and provides an excellent training ground for students who rotate through the program.” Dr. Reed said more than 100 UT Health Science Center nursing students rotate through University Hospital each year to train and shadow their nurses.

Drs. Sowan and Reed assembled a team to conduct the study in University Hospital’s cardiac/transplant ICU.

“National research tells us that triggered alarm rates are the highest in ICUs across the nation and that cardiac monitors are associated with the highest number of alarms and patient deaths,” Dr. Sowan said.

TEAM TECHNIqUENurse team leaders Ileana Fonseca, M.S.N., RN, and Ana

Vera, M.S.N., RN, collaborated with Albert Tarriela, RN, CCRN, to advance the studies. All work at University Hospital.

Fonseca and Vera collected data from a survey of 30 ICU nurses at University Hospital, observed and monitored how the nurses used and interacted with the monitors, and performed usability tests of the monitors.

Discovery


Fonseca, who earned her M.S.N. in 2013 from the School of Nursing, said the study is uncovering a surplus of valuable information.

“What we’re finding is that although all monitors are basically built and operate in a similar way, nurses navigate them in different ways,” Fonseca said. “The newer models, like the ones University Hospital uses, are highly complicated,” she said. “With the responsibility of caring for multiple critically ill patients, nurses need proper training and troubleshooting skills and practice on this technology.”

PIONEERING PROCESSDr. Sowan said the study is one-of-a-kind because it builds

on two previous alarm fatigue studies embarked on in 2013.Albert Tarriela, RN, CCRN, who was among the

2013 study leaders, delved deeper into the details of the technology by working with a representative of the company that manufactures the monitors and a University Hospital biomedical engineer. They were able to retrieve and analyze data from the devices that shed light on how the devices work, how they are programmed, how the various settings operate and how nurses navigate them.

“This previous knowledge coupled with the results from our current nurse surveys is allowing us to devise a training plan for nurses so they can learn how to adjust the parameters of the monitors to function safely and appropriately for each individual patient in their care,” Dr. Sowan said. “One size does not fit all. Customizing care in all aspects and comprehensive training for all nurses are crucial to patient safety.”

As a result of Dr. Sowan’s research, Dr. Reed and his nursing team have achieved a 25 percent reduction of the total number of false alarms triggered in the cardiac/transplant ICU at University Hospital. Training and simulation sessions are being developed that will guide nurses in all hospital units and floors to efficiently and effectively program and operate monitors to prevent errors.

“It’s an exciting time to be a nurse with these new advancements in professional training,” said Ileana Fonseca, M.S.N., RN. “It also makes me proud to be a part of this important research that is coming from my alma mater—our very own School of Nursing. Ultimately, it’s going to improve the work environment for nurses nationwide and most importantly, create a safer environment for our patients.”

Discovery

AzIzEH SOwAN, Ph.D., RN

Dr. Azizeh Sowan’s successful track record in creating evidence-based practice resources for nurses and her expertise in informatics has given her team a leading edge in research. Prior to joining the UT Health Science Center faculty, Dr. Sowan was a nurse researcher in her home country of Jordan where she created an interactive evidence-

based practice course that was placed online for health care professionals in 15 Jordanian hospitals. The course served as a resource to help clinicians learn how to find answers to research questions involving patient care. The success of the project earned Dr. Sowan the “Best Nursing Project in the Arab World Award” from the League of Arab States just three years ago.

“I’ve always had an interest in mathematics, physics and incorporating logic and statistics into nursing research,” she said.

For more information about Dr. Sowan, visit UTHSCSA.edu/stories and search for Dr. Azizeh Sowan.

CHARLES REED, Ph.D., RN, CNRN

Mentoring nurses and nursing students is something Dr. Charles Reed enjoys most about his career. That’s because he remembers being mentored by nurses he admired, including his own mother, Suellen Reed, Ph.D., RN, who was among the School of Nursing’s first cohort of faculty members when the school opened in 1969. She served as an associate dean and retired in 2000.

“When I was a kid, my mom would sometimes take me with her to the office in the School of Nursing,” Dr. Reed said. “I felt really comfortable there because it was an environment where learning and caring about people were encouraged. I wanted to be a part of that when I grew up.”

Today, Dr. Reed is fulfilling his dream. Armed with three degrees in nursing from the UT Health Science Center, Dr. Reed leads in multiple roles: as executive director of the Center for Nursing Excellence at University Hospital, as a nationally published researcher, and as a mentor to hundreds of nursing students who rotate through University Hospital as part of their curriculum.

“It is a privilege to be where I am today,” he said. “I have the School of Nursing, my mom and my mentors to thank for putting me on this remarkable path.”

dr. Sowan (center) discusses research results with nurses (left to right) Ileana Fonseca, Ana Vera and Albert tarriela.


UTHSCSA.edu/stories

http://www.uthscsa.edu/stories

PAT T E R N •O F •

P R O G R E S SSTUDENT SUCCESS CENTER

GAINS MOMENTUM

By MELISSA MIRELES with NATALIE A. GUTIERREz

Every student dreams of graduation. They anticipate wearing a cap and gown, imagine the pomp and circumstance and envision the pride in their family’s eyes. But the road to completing their education is never easy, especially for students who embark on the rigors associated with achieving a nursing degree. Additionally, the everyday challenges that some students experience from juggling a job and family with studying can make achieving their ambitions can seem daunting.

The Student Success Center in the School of Nursing at the UT health Science Center San Antonio developed from the foundation for student support of the Juntos Podemos mentorship program and the pioneering efforts of faculty member Norma Martinez Rogers, Ph.D., RN, FAAN.

Now in its second year of operation, the center is continuing the School of Nursing’s rich history and tradition of producing remarkable leaders for the future of nursing.

Designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, the School of Nursing received a five-year $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The funding has allowed Student Success Center leaders to expand their undergraduate student development and research programs, bolster faculty enrichment modules, enhance student enrichment services and grow their staff.

Their progress is quickly creating a pattern of success that is evident in the lives of the student they’re impacting. The following stories are just a few examples of how the Student Success Center is transforming students’ goals and ambitions into positive actions that are propelling them forward.

SEE STORIES, NExT PAGE >>

Delivery

ACHIEVEMENT!FEDERAL AND PRIVATE

FUNDING MADE POSSIBLE …(fall 2015)

Nursing student Adam Rick leads an SI study session.

students participated in SI instruction sessions624of participating students achieved a successful pass rate in the curriculum’s most rigorous courses

99%

SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION (SI)

academic consultations provided to students77

ACADEMIC SUCCESS COACHING

peer mentors selected and trained in the 2015–2016 academic year30

PEER MENTORING

Workshops covering topics including time management and study skills strategies, stress management, financial aid and scholarship application approaches, and resume building

ACADEMIC ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOPS

contact hours of tutoring in the curriculum’s most rigorous courses87

PERSONAL TUTORING


Stephanie GuoGrowing from experience, sharing her wisdom

Inspiration and motivation sparked Stephanie Guo’s interest in becoming a tutor. Guo, a second-year accelerated B.S.N. student, applied to become a tutor after she benefited from attending a few of the Student Success Center’s supplemental instructor-led pathophysiology course sessions.

Since establishing the tutoring component in the fall of 2014, Student Success Center staff continually seeks to improve and refine methods. One of the most advantageous ways they gain insight to implement improvements is through the student tutors they’ve appointed.

“With the tutors’ help and feedback, the Student Success Center staff experiments and applies new ideas to improve and expand the tutoring program,” Guo said. “The staff involves us and considers our input to develop solutions to problems that might come up.”

Guo said she considers the Student Success Center a vital part of nursing school life.

“Our professors want us to succeed and the Student Success Center is the solution,” she said.

Guo believes her participation as a tutor prompted her to perfect her own studying abilities. She participates in monthly training sessions to learn about new resources she can recommend to her tutees.

Guo, who will graduate in August 2016 from the School of Nursing, is setting her sights on working in a hospital. She hopes to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner and specialize in family medicine.

• Provides one-on-one, comprehensive tutoring sessions based on a student’s individual needs

• Focuses on helping students improve subject matter knowledge and understanding

• Assists students in enhancing their test-taking strategies and study skills

TUTORS …

• Can spend up to 10 hours per week tutoring students in a wide range of subject matter

TuToring program

I am so proud of the accomplishments of our students. Their

academic success is a testament to their

dedication to engaging in the resources our

Student Success Center offers and using them discerningly to help

them flourish.”

—VANESSA MELING, ED.D.Director for Academic Enhancement, Student Success Center, School of Nursing


Delivery

In addition to offering nursing students a full spectrum of academic assistance programs and preparation for licensure exams, the Student Success Center also supports students’ participation in campus activities, events and student organizations that contribute to building students’ leadership skills.

ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED INCLUDE …• Acting as student officer, leader and voice for

the student body such as a liaison between students and School of Nursing administrators.

• Fundraising to support various class events• Representing peers at university-wide events• Serving as the class representative who

delivers the commencement speech during graduation ceremonies

• Conducting monthly leadership meetings• Hosting community wellness events• Volunteering to help patients at the

Refugee Clinic

STUDENT ORGANIzATIONS SUPPORTED INCLUDE …• Hispanic Student Nurses Association • International Nurses Student Association • Men in Nursing• National Student Nurses Association • Muslim Student Association • PRIDE (interprofessional organization

that provides resources to medically underserved gender and sexual minorities, including LGBTQ individuals)

• Christian Medical and Dental Association

molding models of excellence

Will lonGEncouraging involvement, leading by example

Encouraging fellow students to pursue leadership roles is something nursing student Will Long enjoys. He doesn’t just talk the talk. He leads by example. Long has served as the 2016 School of Nursing class president since his first semester in the fall of 2014. By January 2015, he was also elected to serve as the School of Nursing Student Council president. In addition he was the School of Nursing presidential ambassador for the 2015–16 school year. As a Student Advisory Council representative during the 2015–16 school year, he made recommendations regarding student issues to The University of Texas System Board of Regents and chancellor.

“Research shows the more involved students are, the better they’ll do in their classroom and program,” Long said. “I hope I’m changing the culture by encouraging students to become more involved.”

Long said his goal as class president is to create a team environment.“I think it’s great to see how much our classmates really help and support one

another,” he said.Among his many duties as class president is to lead fundraising activities, including

for his class graduation party. Because of the camaraderie he sees in his peers, he said he’s confident they’ll reach their goal.

Long meets with his fellow officers on a monthly basis and believes he is privileged to promote the Student Success Center and encourage incoming students to take advantage of the resources the center has to offer.

“The center staff supports me as a leader by operating an open-door policy,” he said. “They always listen and consider my ideas. It’s a student-minded atmosphere that

offers the very best for all students.” After he graduates in May 2016, Long’s ambition is to work at University Hospital

in the Surgical/Trauma Intensive Care Unit. He also hopes to embark on graduate school in the future to obtain his M.S.N. and specialize as an acute care nurse practitioner.


Xavier GrizzellePaying it forward reaps rewards

Demonstrating kindness. Doing good for others. Sharing knowledge and experience. These are some of the things Xavier Grizzelle said he enjoys most about being a peer mentor. But what he is receiving in return he said are invaluable life lessons.

“Nursing school can be stressful so it shows me how resilient I am when I can handle being a student myself and helping others at the same time,” he said. “It brings out the leader in me.”

Grizzelle credits the Student Success Center as one of the best initiatives he’s experienced.

“I’ve attended three different universities and in my six years as a college student, this program ranks at the forefront,” he said, adding that the center’s staff is supportive. “It is a great program that allows you to give back and also get so much out of it,” he said.

Grizzelle’s involvement as a mentor and his clinical rotation experiences helped him realize his passion. After he graduates, Grizzelle said he hopes to focus his career path on working with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) babies in a hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

• Initiated in January 2015 and designed to assist incoming students in transitioning seamlessly to their new School of Nursing environment

PEER MENTORS …• Complete an application and interview

process. Once selected, mentors take part in training

• Are matched with six to 10 students who share the same clinical rotation site

• Have one semester of experience ahead of their mentees

• Contact their mentees on a bi-weekly basis to develop peer-to-peer trust and rapport

• Participate in orientation with their mentees

• Answer questions, provide resources, and are trained to recognize early indicators that a student may need additional help

• Guide students to success throughout their first semester

peer menTorprogram

What began as a vision for assisting students

has evolved into a reality that is achieving much more. The Student

Success Center also strengthens cooperation

among our students and faculty, which

helps build a culture dedicated to student

achievement.”

—DAVID A. ByRD, PH.D.Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Services, School of Nursing


Delivery

• serve as models and mentors to groups of undergraduate students

• FAciLitAtes student study-group sessions for rigorous subject matter areas

• cAn sPend uP to 10 to 15 hours per week preparing for an SI session

• Meet with faculty on a weekly basis to review challenging content presented in class to determine where support may be needed

• deveLoP weekly lesson plans that include diverse learning methods such as collaborative activities, games, student-led instruction and online assignments

supplemenTal insTrucTion (si) leaders

si

• For more information about the Student Success Center in the School of Nursing, contact Dr. David Byrd, associate dean, at 210-567-5837 or [email protected] or Dr. Vanessa Meling, director of academic enhancement, at 210-567-5851 or [email protected].

• To make a gift or support needed resources in the center, contact Melissa Mireles in the Office of Development in the School of Nursing, at 210-567-5534.

www

• Visit the Student Success Center online at nursing.uthscsa.edu/students/academic_support.asp

lauren BatterShellInnovative leader, graduate go-getter

Invested and devoted are qualities Lauren Battershell demonstrates. While pursuing her B.S.N. in the fall 2014 she was selected as one of the Student Success Center’s nine inaugural SI leaders. Upon graduation in 2015 Battershell said the benefits she gained from her involvement in the program continue to serve her well as she embarks on her residency program at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth where she is serving as a staff nurse in the Cardiac Telemetry Unit.

“I saw how important it is for students to review material in as many different ways as possible so they can grasp the concepts,” Battershell said. She reinforced subject matter to a group of about 75 students per SI session. Each session often lasted an hour to an hour and a half.

“SI leaders are invested,” she said. “They get to know the students in their groups and want them to succeed.”

Battershell said the benefits far outweighed the amount of time she committed because the experience allowed her to develop her teaching skills and motivated her to consider pursuing a Ph.D.

“I gained a whole new level of confidence and have a passion for teaching that I didn’t know was there,” she said. “I can’t imagine the School of Nursing without the Student Success Center. It’s an integral part of the student body.”




nursing.uthscsa.edu/students/

https://nursing.uthscsa.edu/students/academic_support.asp

By SALwA CHOUCAIR

As a young girl in South Texas, Juanita Ruth Kirkpatrick Smith would eagerly await her mother’s return home from her shift as a special duty nurse. She loved listening to her mother recount her workday with stories of how she helped

patients by assisting other nurses and doctors. Smith dreamed of the day she would become a nurse too. What she didn’t know then was the impact she would have on future nursing students through an endowed scholarship, which now bears her name.

The Juanita Ruth Kirkpatrick Smith, B.S.N., RN, M.S.H.P.Ed., Endowed Scholarship was established by Smith’s first cousin, Barbara Banker, to honor not only her dream of becoming a nurse, but also the strength and courage it took her to achieve it, and the compassion and focus on patient care that defined her almost 30-year nursing career.

“She is a natural-born nurse,” said Banker, who serves on the Nursing Advisory Council for the School of Nursing. “She hears something that no one else hears

when she takes care of someone. I have always admired her, and she was my inspiration for this scholarship.”

In order to qualify for this scholarship, students must be enrolled at the master’s level majoring in a nurse practitioner program, demonstrate financial need and possess a G.P.A. of 3.5 or above. Applicants must also complete a personal written statement explaining interest and motivation in pursuing their degree.

The first recipient of this scholarship is Erin Brooke Madison, 25, who currently works full time in the pediatric ICU at University Hospital and is enrolled part time in the School of Nursing’s family nurse practitioner master’s degree program.

“This scholarship helps ease the financial burden that comes along with continuing my education,” said Madison, who is also a newlywed and expecting her first child. “Knowing Mrs. Smith’s story and how she never gave up on her dream, encourages me as well. I always enjoy knowing a person’s story, and I think that is why I enjoy nursing so much.”

PHOTO INSET, CIRCA 1942: Juanita Ruth kirkpatrick Smith (right) embraces her cousin Barbara Banker.

PHOTO RIGHT, 2016: Barbara Banker (right) visits with her cousin Juanita Ruth kirkpatrick Smith.

The NaturalEndowment honors nurse’s innate dedication, leadership to profession


With a genuine concern for others and a passion for learning, Madison embodies the characteristics of the nursing student Smith and Banker hope this scholarship continues to help, and ironically, for Smith, now 85, it all began with stories.

“Mother would come home and tell stories about her cases and surgeries,” Smith recalled, “and I would just sit there and soak it in. She never really encouraged me to go into nursing because she said it was really hard, hard work, but I loved the sciences and I wanted to be a nurse.”

A nurse she became. In fact, Smith at age 44 was one of the first graduates of the School of Nursing at the UT Health Science Center in 1975, earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The road to her dream, however, was not a straight one. Graduating from high school at 16, Smith’s mother believed she was too young to attend either of the closest nursing schools in San Antonio or Houston, so her dream was placed on hold. Instead, she took business courses at Texas A&I University in her hometown of Kingsville. Soon, she married and had three children.

A decade later and living in Corpus Christi, her family was in need of a supplemental income, so Smith turned back to her dream by applying for a nurse’s aide position in the local hospital. A job in the admitting office, however, paid double that of a nurse’s aide and once more, her dream was placed on hold.

“She worked very hard for a very long time, and she kind of glosses over some of the obstacles she had,” explained Banker, “but there were obstacles that would have stopped most people dead in their tracks. She just kept going.”

After working the noon to 9 p.m. shift for two years in the hospital and a short stint as a receptionist and transcriber for a medical doctor, Smith returned to school and earned a certificate as a petroleum draftsman launching her almost 10-year career in the oil business.

Eventually, everything aligned and she enrolled in a licensed vocational nursing program at Mercy Hospital in Jourdanton, finally living her dream of studying and working in the nursing profession. Smith worked as an LVN full time and took classes at night for the next seven years in order to receive her B.S.N. in 1975.

She continued her education completing her Master of Science degree in Health Professions and Administration in 1979 from Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State University, in San Marcos and earning her counseling certification in 1990 from the University of North Texas in Denton. Her only regret is not being able to pursue her desire to become a nurse practitioner, which is why the scholarship is focused on helping students enrolled in such a program.

“My main message is,” Smith reiterated, “it is never too late to follow your dream. It just takes a lot of determination.”

For Smith, the simple dream of becoming a nurse culminated in a legacy that even she couldn’t foresee. She founded the health occupations/health careers programs first at John Marshall High School in San Antonio and then at Plano East Senior High in Plano, Texas. The program she created to introduce high school students to careers in the medical field is the cornerstone of today’s successful magnet high school in the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, known as Health Careers High School.

“In teaching, I loved being with the kids,” Smith said, explaining that she continued to work as a nurse and kept her skills up to date while teaching, “but nursing has always been the love of my life.”

The countless patients, students and medical colleagues who had the good fortune to know Smith are certainly grateful that she never gave up on her dream; and now through the scholarship, which bears her name, many more dreams will come true.

Development

My main message is

it is never too late to

follow your dream.

It just takes a lot of

determination.”

—JUANITA RUTH KIRKPATRICK SMITHEndowment honors nurse’s innate dedication, leadership to profession


Planned GiftsEstate of Anonymous

Kristine ArlittPatricia Kay AvantAnne Fishburne Briscoe

Rebecca Garcia-Michels

Barbara GreeneCarol HuebnerJudith HutchersonGladys LynchMary PenaJudith & William Pesetski, MSN, RN

Philip and Jean Piccione

Susan RoviraShirley Sterling

Endowment SupportDavid and Ginger Baer

Family and Friends of Jennifer Herin-Selvester

Gary BaldwinEileen Breslin and William Israel

Dale and Victoria Dittmar

Rudy and Barbara Gomez

Family and Friends of Rudy Gomez

Lucille HamillCarol HuebnerGladys LynchWilliam Montgomery

Family and Friends of Mary Faye Montgomery

Family and Friends of Mary Margaret Moran

Friends of the Nursing Alumni Scholarship

Walter and Siew Pang

Judith PesetskiPhilip and Jean Piccione

Karen PresleyRonald ReedRick and Elizabeth Rosenblum

Barry and Carol Swartz

President's CouncilPatricia Kay AvantEstela AveryBarbara BankerDonna BlockEileen Breslin and William Israel

Mary Beth FiskJohn Franklin, IIIRonald and Karen Herrmann

Betty HowardGregg MuensterVictoria PaparelliThomas and Jane Powell

Katherine Schwesinger

Gregg and Phyllis Siegel

Paul and Marie Smith

Neill WalsdorfJohn Michael Wilkes

Barbara Wulfe

Foundation Leadership Support **Foundation gifts of $50,000+The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation

Nancy Smith Hurd Foundation

Methodist Healthcare Ministries

Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together Foundation

Nursing Excellence FundBetty AndrewsDouglas BaysingerTerry BeinGus Belitzer, Jr.Sylvia BrownKathryn CloseSusan CogdellAshley CollinsCandace CurleeCarrol DoolenLynn EisbergChristal FlintRebecca GarciaAntonia Goldsmith

Danielle GollnerKaren GoodrickHeinz GungaCynthia HalsteadKathleen HarrPatricia HernandezBarbara HobbsKaren HuffmanJanet JeanninFrances Jean KelleySuzanne LabanskyMary LaraOlga LochaJoAnn LongAnita Lopez-Saldana

Linda McGuire-Dreyer

Sandra McNeaseJohn MelvinShirley MenardJulie MeyerWalter MikaLinda MillerSusan MottaDarrell O'DellJana OrsingerKristen OverbaughOlusola OwoseniDesiree PointerLinda RobertshawMarian RodgersMary RuesewaldOlivia San MartinCarolyn SealeKaren SkillingLeslie SmetzerStephanie SmithRita TenorioJulia ThompsonRandall VoylesJoan WestgorSondra WhiteRussell WiseBarbara Wroblewski

Living Endowment ScholarshipKelly AndersonPatricia ArmstrongMichael and Louise Beldon

Sharon ChathamWilliam and Jean Craig

Polly DavenportJohn and Darlene Gilcreast

Janet JeanninJulie LukeJames LukoseApril Nguyen

Ronald ReedSan Antonio Federal Credit Union

Lewis and Nancy Thorne

Mary WalkerWilliam Williams, Jr.

Barbara Wulfe

Friends of the School of NursingMichael Aguirre Financial Services

American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Bird BakeryLauren BludeauMaria Danet Lapiz-Bluhm

Ruth BowenEileen Breslin and William Israel

Patricia BushDavid ByrdJanie Canty-Mitchell

Matthew CarrollClayton Castleberry

Mark ClarkLisa ClevelandLou Ann ClickJosefina CochettiCPS EnergyCarrol DoolenEilan Hotel & SpaElysian at Arden Park

Christine EvansFloweramaFlying SaucerAlice GallegosAlex GarzaJerry GonzalesCandice GuevaraNatalie GutierrezRebekah GuzmanJames HalloranZebulon HanleyLisa HooterHouse of PhoJoe and Beverly Ingle

Richard Kendrick, III

La Fonda Oak Hills

Benjamin LarsenJanna LesserKaren Levin

Sara LingmannPatricia LivingstonMegan LopezRoberta LuedkeElaine MarshallAndrea MartinezJohn MassVenancio MaysonetVanessa MelingJacqueline MickleyClaire MitchellAllen and Karen Mueller

Carolyn MuellerLeticia MunozGwen NotestineNursefindersOak Hills LanesKristen OverbaughVictoria PaparelliSara PietyWilliam PotterPublic AllianceKathleen ReevesJanis RicePercy RichardJacqueline RockRalph RodriguezCarol RowlandRun Wild SportsDebbie SillimanSmoothie KingAfsha SomaniSports Clips at the RIM

Isabell StoltzSunshine Distributors, Inc.

Leslie TramerJohn TurnerRose Marie VickerySean VillasanaVital Health Primary Care

Shana WeberPatrick WhartonCathy WoodwardYour Fitness 365Herlinda ZamoraLaura Zischke

Nursing Advisory CouncilKathie AduddellBetty AndrewsCarol AndrewsTommye AustinPatricia Kay AvantEstela AveryRandy BakerBarbara BankerLaura Banks-Reed

Baptist Health System

Joyce BatchellerLouise BeldonSusan BerryBioMed SADonna BlockCarolina CanalesDebbye CannonJanie Canty-Mitchell

Jane CardeaIrma CarpinteyroPhyllis CheletteChristus HomeCare

CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Foundation

Frederick CoonanHelen CoronadoCPS EnergyJo Ann CrowPatricia DavidsonIlene DeckerDawn DieterichRobin Ford DillardBarbara EliaMarilyn EtheredgeJohn Franklin, IIIBeverley FreemanFrost National Bank

Cindy GabelRebecca GarciaConnie GilbertPaula GrayWalton GregoryBeverly GroundBarbara HaleyBetty HalffPatty HawkenCatherine HealyLuke HealyIrwin and Betty Helford

William and Mary Henrich

Byron and Debby Hepburn

Martha HixonSusan HolmesBetty HowardCarol HuebnerKaren HuffmanJanet JeanninWesley JenningsRozmin JiwaniJoan KelleherFrances Jean KelleyRichard Kendrick, III

Janice KingBarbara Klaffke

Sandy KleinJennifer KnoultonL.D. Ormsby Charitable Foundation, Inc.

Maria Danet Lapiz-Bluhm

Nancy LoefflerMichelle LongEileen LundinJaney MarmionElaine MarshallDonna MartinRichard MathewsChilton MaverickKathleen McCoySusan McDonaldNatasha MedelLindsay MerrittMethodist Healthcare Ministries

Methodist Healthcare System

Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together Foundation

Robert MeyerRachel MilesNancy MillerMelissa MirelesMission Pharmacal Company

Debbie MorrillJudith MortonPatricia MossDonald MoyeKaren MuellerGregg MuensterLaura NewTessa NicholsNIX Hospitals System, LLC

Gwen NotestineChristina OlsonAmparo OrtizKathleen O'SheaVictoria PaparelliRuth PayneTamara PeavyGay PfaffHope PhillipsJimmy Earl PierceDiana PirzadaCatherine RamirezFrannie RettigAnn RichardsonLorena RodriguezMaria Cristina Rodriguez

San Antonio Medical Foundation

Schnitzler Cardiovascular Consultants, PLLC

Joanie SchwartzCorrine ShermanMarie SmithMichelle SouthwellLinda StaurovskyAnn StevensPatricia Pliego Stout

Karl SwannDana Wheeler Terracina

Teresa ThornhillWendy TillotsonKathleen TregearSue TurnerUniversity Health System

Sandra WeeksMaria WellischWellMed Medical Money Management, Inc.

Barbara WulfeHerlinda Zamora

Alumni MembershipCarol AndrewsSamantha AshtianiLinda BairdJulia BatesBonnie BauerDonna BrunsJosefina CochettiPatricia CordierJeanne CrisciGloria DavisNancy DeeganJaneth Del ToroDonna DavenportOdette DenisaTammy FeyToni GalvanAlexandra GillespieJennifer GonzalesJerry GonzalesMonica GonzalesSandra HagendorfYolanda HallJames HalloranJoyce HolubecPatricia HuffKaren HuffmanBrenda JacksonGloria Jauregui-Lieber

Dana Keith

HONOR ROLL OF DONORS


Gemma KennedyAmy KramerAngela LeproOlga LochaDouglas LuJulie LukeMelindia MannSara MarinMargaret McGillClaire MitchellJudy MoczygembaMiriam MoerbeMichael MoonChristine Morelli

Ann O'Malley Morgan

Marilynn Mujezinovic-Womack

Kimberly MurphyJanice Nickie-Green

Victoria PaparelliAlice PappasJimmy Earl PierceDesiree PointerSandra Powers-Catterton

Mary Rodgers

Mary Anne Romero

Adriana SanchezMartha SandersKatherine Schwesinger

Nancy SmithWren StrattonKaren SvetzHeidi TondreJoan TrimbleJane TustinCynthia WallEileen Weigum

Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2015

Development

SCHOLARSHIP HONORS A LIFE OF SERVICE

Service to his country and to others was Maj. Gen. Bobby W. Presley’s passion in life. Before his passing at age 83, his family and friends recall him continually thinking of how

he could help others, and he did. Through his long and successful career as a highly decorated officer in the U.S. Air Force, through his leadership roles in business, and through his church and community volunteerism, Maj. Gen. Presley touched many lives around the world.

To honor his memory, his family and friends established the Bobby w. Presley Presidential Scholarship in the School of Nursing.

The family said establishing an endowed scholarship in the School of Nursing was an excellent way to continue Maj. Gen. Presley’s legacy of giving to others because it invests in the education of future nurses who will provide exceptional care to the community. This is a gift they believe would have made him proud.

Karen Presley, beloved widow of Maj. Gen. Presley and a major donor to the scholarship, hopes that all nursing students named Presley Scholars will be well supported throughout their education. She said her dream, and the dream of their family, is that the scholarship will play a profound role in developing the next generation of nursing leaders.

“Creating an endowment in our School of Nursing means I can continue to make a difference in the school’s success even after I’m gone. I couldn’t think of a better way to make this happen than through a legacy gift.” —Kay Avant, Ph.D., RN, FNI, FAAN

Dr. Kay Avant treasured her career in the Department of Family and Community Health Systems in the School of Nursing where she served from 2005 to 2015 as a professor, researcher and department chair. Now retired, Dr. Avant said she wants to ensure the faculty who follow in her footsteps

have the resources to flourish and continue making a positive impact on students and the community.

“Federal funding for programs isn’t always guaranteed,” Dr. Avant said. “That’s why an endowment gift is so beneficial. When department funds dwindle, an endowment gift can fund a researcher to travel to work on an important discovery. Or it can fund a scholarship for a brilliant student who just can’t afford the high cost of tuition,” she said.

Dr. Avant knows the benefit firsthand as she was, herself, the holder of a named endowment—the Roger L. & Laura D. Zeller Distinguished Professorship. “I was privileged to be the holder,” she said. “It made a difference for me and now I want to pay it forward.”

PLEASE CONSIDER A GIFT TO THE UT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER SCHOOL OF NURSING IN yOUR ESTATE PLANNING.

Your gifts will create a healthier future for generations to come.

Estate gifts provide for:• Education of the next generation or health care professionals• Innovative educational environment• Compassionate care and community health initiatives

Support to the School of Nursing may be provided in many ways. Perhaps you would like to create a scholarship fund for deserving students, provide funds for research, or honor a loved one with an endowment in his or her name.

We are here to help you with sample language for specific goals such as creating an endowment or scholarship fund through your will or trust. Two of the most frequently made gifts are gifts made in a will or those that appoint the UT Health Science Center San Antonio as the beneficiary of an insurance policy or retirement plan.

We also offer the free resource “Provide & Protect: Will and Trust Planning Guide” and companion workbook to help as you record and organize your family information and make your estate distribution plans. To download your free resources online, visit uthscsa.giftlegacy.com/willsguide.

For more information or to receive the free guide, contact Gwen Notestine at [email protected] or call 210-567-5313.

The best way to give depends on your own personal situation and should be discussed with your professional adviser.

YOUR LEGACY OUR FUTURE


http://uthscsa.giftlegacy.com/

Stephani WalSh, J.d., Class of 1977

GENERATIONS OF ExTRAORDINARy ALUMNI IMPACT LIVES

‘70s

By SALwA CHOUCAIR


Dedication

FROM THE BENCH TO THE BEDSIDEJudge Walsh’s nursing degree guides her in courtroom

For one of Bexar County’s civil court judges, a nursing education from the School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio laid the groundwork and foundation upon which she built her

career. Judge Stephani Walsh uses the communication skills she was taught during her first semester at the Health Science Center daily along with valuable lessons such as dedication and knowing how to remain calm during emergencies.

“At the time, I thought I didn’t need social linguistics and such. I thought, ‘What do you mean I’ve got to learn to talk to people and communicate? I know how to communicate!’ Those skills, however, that I learned in the first semester are skills I use to this day almost every day,” said Judge Walsh who completed her B.S.N. from the Health Science Center in December 1977.

Currently serving her first four-year term as the presiding judge in the 45th Civil District Court in Bexar County, Judge Walsh considers the bench her third career. She left nursing to pursue her law degree, graduating from St. Mary’s University in 1985. She practiced law for the next 30 years, specializing in family law. With 85 percent of the cases before a civil bench pertaining to family law, Judge Walsh is both qualified and passionate about the opportunity this new phase in her career allows her to accomplish—serving and giving back to the community.

“My nursing career has been invaluable to me in dealing with family law clients, and now as a judge with family law cases coming before me,” Judge Walsh said. “It has always given me the edge on medical issues; it has always given me the edge on understanding people’s behavior, particularly their variant behavior or their high emotional behavior in times of crises such as divorce. They are usually distraught, and that’s similar to what I dealt with in the emergency room.”

In fact, she spent her seven-year nursing career as an emergency room nurse with the Bexar County Hospital District enjoying the fast pace of the Level I trauma center. She also worked her way

through nursing school in the hospital as a student nurse or a UGN (undergraduate nurse).

“I went from one caregiving role and moved into another caregiving role,” Judge Walsh said. “The communication skills, the ability to break down the language and simplifying the explanations at a third-grade level, are important, because when people’s emotions are high, they retain about 10 percent of what you are saying. I learned that firsthand in the emergency room, and I brought those skills over into the practice of law.”

Having a passion for health care and for the law seemed quite natural to Judge Walsh whose mother was a nurse anesthetist and later attended law school and whose father was an obstetrician/gynecologist with his own medical practice where she began working at 13. In fact two of her brothers are in the medical field. One is a nurse and the other a nurse practitioner.

As she looks to the future, running for re-election and eventually retirement, she remembers where she began and considers her time as an ER nurse as being a part of a family.

“In the ER, we all worked together as a team,” Judge Walsh said. “I enjoyed being part of that team because they were my family too.”

Coincidentally, while campaigning for election, a former ER patient remembered Judge Walsh’s compassion and shared her story of survival with the crowd of supporters, calling the former nurse her “guardian angel.”

“It was really strange,” Judge Walsh recalls, “running into someone who you helped save. I didn’t save her by myself; I was part of a team, but it was nice to be remembered.”

Although she ultimately changed careers, Judge Walsh continues to give back to the Health Science Center by serving on the board of directors for the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program and the Adult Nurse Practitioner Program. The skills she learned as an undergraduate nursing student have served her well, shaping her into the compassionate community leader she is today.

ALUMNI IMPACT LIVES


PASSION FOR PATIENTS AND POLICy POSITIONS GRADUATE TO IMPACT LIVES NATIONwIDE

From her first day in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as an undergraduate to her current focus as an advocate and policy-maker, Dr. Suzanne Staebler’s passion is giving voice to the most vulnerable and voiceless population whom she

serves as a neonatal nurse practitioner.“I love being a nurse,” said Staebler, D.N.P., APRN, NNP-BC. “I

think it is the best job and best profession to be in because you can do so many different things. It is the most versatile too, but ultimately, it is about the patients and the impact we are having on their lives.”

With almost 30 years of nursing experience, Dr. Staebler, who received her M.S.N. with a minor in education from the UT Health Center San Antonio School of Nursing in 1991, knows

how versatile the profession can be. Considered a pioneer in her specialty of neonatalogy, she currently teaches as an associate professor in the clinical track and serves as the specialty coordinator for the neonatal nurse practitioner program at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She also continues her practice as a neonatal nurse practitioner at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, including a joint appointment in Emory’s School of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics.

Her passion, however, extends beyond the classroom and the NICU to advocacy and policy design and analysis. As an active member and leader in several professional organizations such as the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) and the

‘90s

Suzanne Staebler, d.N.P., m.S.N., Class of 1991


Dedication

National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NANNP), Staebler is blazing a trail for others to follow.

“She is an incredible advocate,” said Tami Wallace, D.N.P., APRN, who has worked with Dr. Staebler on policy changes through the NANNP. “While she has made many contributions to our profession, I believe that her legacy will be her work to promote and protect the role of the neonatal nurse practitioner. She has spent many volunteer hours and years in NANN and NANNP, participating in the LACE (licensure, accreditation, certification, education) initiative and more.”

For her work as an advocate and policy-maker, Dr. Staebler received the 2015 Excellence Award from the NANNP, was elected as the NANNP governing council chair from 2012 to 2014, and was inducted as a Fellow into the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) in 2014.

“As much as I love policy, I love my patients more,” Dr. Staebler said, “and I can’t imagine caring for a different population. I love what I do. That is not to say that it’s easy, and there are days that I can barely drag myself home, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

In a way, Dr. Staebler is a pioneer in health care. Upon receiving her master’s degree from the Health Science Center through a dual-track program, she began practicing as a clinical nurse specialist and neonatal nurse practitioner, and soon discovered how much of an enigma she was in the medical world.

“The state of Texas and the hospitals in Texas had no idea what to do with a neonatal nurse practitioner,” Dr. Staebler recalled. “So I ended up leaving Texas for my first neonatal job at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. I was the very first master’s prepared nurse practitioner in that unit.”

In fact, she had to prove herself to colleagues who initially underestimated her capabilities because of her youth, advanced classroom education, and what appeared to them to be a lack of in-the-trenches training. She credits the classroom education paired with the clinical opportunities at the Health Science Center School of Nursing for her initial success.

“I was very well prepared even though I had all of the theory related to a master’s degree with research and more,” she said. “But I was well prepared to do what it was that I needed to do, and I was very ahead of the curve in the realm of nurse practitioner education.”

Specifically, Dr. Staebler points to the close collaborations and partners the School of Nursing had with the San Antonio community, including Wilford Hall, as the reason she was so well prepared upon graduation; and the courses she took for her minor in education such as the instructional design class that introduced her to new technology.

“I really think that the education minor has served me well throughout my career, both as an informal educator—precepting students, teaching, speaking on the national and international level—as well as now in my faculty role.”

Dr. Staebler returned to the Health Science Center recently as a consultant, and she was impressed by the state-of-the-art simulation space and the progressiveness of the School of Nursing. She was

also pleased to discover that many of the same relationships and partnerships within the community that served her many years ago are still serving students today.

“They are maintaining those bonds and relationships with the community,” Dr. Staebler said, “because it is not just about the school, it is about the school and how it relates to and impacts the community, and it is just awesome.”

Staying engaged with her alma mater is important “on both sides of the coin” she said, and discovered that Eileen T. Breslin, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing at the Health Science Center, feels the same way.

“On one side of the coin as an alumna, it’s important for me to stay engaged because I can give back. On the other side, I think it is a two-way street, and I feel that Dean Breslin believes that too,” Dr. Staebler said. “She made a commitment to me as an alumna to mentor me when I needed it, especially as it relates to my career trajectory, and that isn’t something that I’ve necessarily had. I have three different degrees in nursing from three different Texas universities, and this is the first dean that I’ve really made that connection with, and I am very appreciative of her for that.”

Dr. Staebler’s advice to undergraduate nursing students is to keep learning. Her advice to graduate students is to become engaged.

“I truly believe that nursing, especially advanced practice nursing, is the key to the health care crisis that our nation now faces,” Dr. Staebler said. “Nurses traditionally have not been at the table having the discussions with those in control of policy and funding. If we as nurses will engage fully in the system, we could completely change the face of health care in this nation.”

While she is unsure of where her pioneering spirit will take her next, Dr. Staebler has high hopes and big dreams, one of which is to be the first nurse elected to the U.S. Senate. Armed with an education from the School of Nursing and a lifelong mentor like Dean Breslin, Dr. Staebler will continue to defy the odds and break down barriers.

I think [nursing] is the best

job and best profession to

be in because you can do so

many different things … but

ultimately, it is about the

patients and the impact we

are having on their lives.”


MILLENNIAL MAKES HER MARK ON NURSING

Since graduating with her B.S.N. from the UT Health Science Center School of Nursing three short years ago, Talitha Gonzalez has left her mark not only on her patients but also on the profession through her achievements regarding important

nurse reporting procedures at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital. Impressive, considering her career has just begun.

At 24, Gonzalez has taken advantage of every opportunity she can to excel in her chosen field. First, she applied and was chosen as one of three nurses in the VA’s registered nurse transition to practice program, a comprehensive 12-month program with the goal of developing novice nurses into competent professionals.

Next, she focused her evidence-based practice project on bedside reporting, hoping to make a difference for both patients and staff. After completing a pilot study and gathering evidence

proving its success, Gonzalez has been instrumental in the VA’s implementation of bedside reporting in five units.

“In the beginning, I thought of bedside reporting like the telephone game,” she said. “With every transfer of information there is always the potential for misinformation or incorrect information to be reported. Once implemented, we were able to decrease the amount of time it was taking for nurses to get into the rooms and assess the patient; nurses were able to prioritize their day, increasing ownership and accountability; and we are able to address problems immediately.

“I think we can make a little bit more of a connection between the patient and nursing staff, as well. At the end of the day, before I go home, I can thank the patients for allowing me to take care of them while I hand them off to the next nurse,” Gonzalez said. “When they’ve come to trust me in the past eight to 12 hours, it’s

‘10s

talitha Gonzalez, B.S.N., Class of 2013


Dedication

nice to able to say, ‘Hey, I’m going home, but my colleague is now going to take care of you.’”

A bonus she points out is that it also gives patients and their families a chance to say “thank you” as well, giving them both closure.

Currently, Gonzalez has come full circle with the VA and the Health Science Center School of Nursing, serving as a lead teacher with the dedicated education unit (DEU) where she once was a student of the DEU model.

“She was a student in the very first DEU at the VA,” said Vicky Dittmar, M.S.N., RN, CNE, the clinical coordinator for the DEUs and assistant professor in the School of Nursing in partnership with the VA. “While we now have three DEUs and continue to expand, in order to maintain sustainability, we need those students who complete the DEU program to get hired in the units in which they served as students. As they grow and blossom, like Gonzalez has, they can later serve as teachers with that professional commitment. It’s truly a full circle.”

In fact, as Dittmar has stayed in touch with Gonzalez, she has watched her commitment not only to her patients grow but to the profession as well.

“She can be very quiet, but she has an incredible intellect that is always driving her forward,” Dittmar said. “She wants to do things better and she wants to give back. She is just a very giving and caring person.”

Dittmar said she envisions Gonzalez as a future researcher or faculty member.

“Taking the role as a lead teacher in a DEU is a nice step in terms of the beginning of her teaching credentials, and hopefully, applying to graduate school which would be the next step,” Dittmar said.

Gonzalez is hoping to take those steps as well when it comes to her future plans. She enjoys teaching, is interested in graduate school, and hopes to pursue a doctorate, perhaps in the nurse practitioner program. She also enjoys developing relationships with her patients at the VA, often seeing some more than once when they return to the facility for additional appointments and care. These returning

I think nurses can

be the champions

to lifestyle changes

that prevent chronic

illnesses or recurring

health problems.”

patients have inspired Gonzalez to consider her long-term career path with disease prevention in mind.

“I see patients return and in the back of my head, I’m always asking myself, ‘If we could have caught that diabetes or the high blood pressure sooner, could some of these health issues have been avoided?’ I think I see nursing moving toward more health care promotion and disease prevention,” Gonzalez said. “I think nurses can be the champions to lifestyle changes that prevent chronic illnesses or recurring health problems.”

Gonzalez said she is grateful to the Health Science Center because of its partnership and collaboration with the VA and for the simulation lab technology, which she sees as a valuable piece of the nursing education.

“Clearly the partnership between the VA and the School of Nursing benefited me,” Gonzalez said. “I grew up in the VA. I did my first clinical there, and I think that partnership is crucial. It has created a pipeline to get future nurses and nurse leaders into the VA.

“I love the VA and I love working with the veterans. They are such a unique patient population, and hearing their stories is the best part for me. We still have veterans around from World War II, and while you grow up in school learning about those events, to be able to talk to people who actually experienced it, who lived through World War II and Vietnam and such; I think it is a huge honor to be able to take care of them,” Gonzalez said.

With this type of giving spirit and desire to serve her community, the patients at the VA are the lucky ones; and with graduates like Gonzalez leading the profession, the future of nursing looks very bright, indeed.


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Dedication

ALUMNI UPDATEA MessAge froM your BoArd President

Dear fellow alumni,I am honored to serve as your new School of Nursing Alumni Association Board president! My term

began January 2016 when Christian Doll, M.H.S., RN, B.S.N, CPN, handed me the proverbial reins. Special thanks go to Christian for his enthusiasm and outstanding leadership that reenergized our organization.

Although he recently relocated to Fort Worth, we continue to benefit from Christian’s legacy of leadership. I am proud to report that his hard work and dedication contributed to increased membership as well as success with a number of our events.

This past year we reached nearly 150 members including lifetime, annual and new graduate members. If you haven’t already, please join today and help us continue this exciting momentum.

Our second spring mixer at Bar Louie and the fall alumni mixer at Austin’s Rattle Inn were two of our most fun-filled and memorable events. This past November, we received great support from a dedicated group of alumni, faculty, students and members of our community who braved the winter weather to run, walk and trot in our annual Turkey Trot fundraiser. Fun was the order of the day with games, goodies, prizes and warm camaraderie. Our sincere gratitude goes to our Turkey Trot sponsors. Without their support, this event would not have been a success.

In December, we closed out the year with our second “Converse with a Nurse.” Our colleague Charles Reed, Ph.D., RN, CNRN, served as guest speaker. Dr. Reed, who is executive director of the Center for Nursing Excellence at University Hospital, spoke to our Ph.D. and D.N.P. students about “Work/Life Balance While Pursuing the Doctoral Degree.” Dr. Reed, who earned his B.S.N. in 1996 and his Ph.D. in 2014 from our School of Nursing, shared his personal experiences and insight on balancing career and family with being a full-time student. Because of the event’s success, we plan to hold another “Converse with a Nurse” this spring. We hope you will join us for our future alumni mixers.

Dean Eileen Breslin is looking forward to hosting her annual Lifetime Member Dinner. Lifetime members will receive an invitation from her in the mail soon.

Your involvement in our School of Nursing Alumni Association is key to our success. Please join us to help ensure a bright and proud future for your alma mater and future students who will follow in our footsteps.

Thank you for your continued friendship and support. Please let me know if there is anything I can do. We want to hear from you!

Sincerely,

future nurse leAders receive scholArshiPsCongratulations to this year’s School of Nursing Alumni Association scholarship

recipients. They are (pictured with alumni association president Odette V. Denisa):

B.S.N. student Monica Garza-Vickery (left) and M.S.N. student Isabel Martinez.

Scholarship recipients not pictured are: Annabelle Fulencheck and Edith Phillips,

who are students in the B.S.N. program, and Meaghan Mugleston and Jasmin

Villarreal who are studying in the M.S.N. program. The students attended the School

of Nursing’s annual Scholarship Luncheon held March 5 at the Oak Hills Country

Club. For more information about making a gift to support student scholarships,

contact Melissa Mireles at 210-567-5534 or email [email protected].

To become a member of the School of Nursing Alumni

Association, please visit makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/sonmembership. For information about joining

the Board of Directors, contact Melissa Mireles

at 210-567-5534 or [email protected].

For information about giving opportunities and

on how to include the School of Nursing in your

estate plans, contact Gwen Notestine at 210-567-5313 or

[email protected].

THANK yOU TO OUR 2015 TURKEy TROT SPONSORS!

Odette V. Denisa, M.S.N., RN, ACNP-BC President, School of Nursing Alumni Association


https://makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/sonmembership




DEANEileen t. Breslin, Ph.D., RN, FAAN

EDITOR AND PUBLISHING DIRECTORNatalie A. Gutierrez, M.A. Director of Communications, Office of Institutional Advancement

PRODUCTION MANAGERmelissa mireles, M.A.Development Officer, School of Nursing

CREATIVE DIRECTION AND PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGEMENTJennifer BittleCreative Director of Communications

CONTRIBUTING wRITERSSalwa Choucair, Catherine duncan, Natalie A. Gutierrez and melissa mireles

DESIGN AND PRODUCTIONCausality: Brand Marketing for Good Causes

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETINGkris Enders doyleOffice of Institutional Advancement

Photos provided by Creative Media Services and printing provided by UT Print, UT Health Science Center San Antonio.

© The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 2016. All rights reserved.

www.nursing.uthscsa.edu http://makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu

SCHOOL OF NURSING | 2016

ON THE BACK COVER

Talitha Gonzalez, a 2013 graduate of the B.S.N. program in the School of Nursing (right), is pictured with nursing student

Katherine Wells in the Dedicated education Unit (DeU) at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital. Gonzalez has come full circle in regard to her nursing education and her career at the VA where she once was a student in the VA’s inaugural DeU model. Today, Gonzalez serves as a lead teacher for the DeU, guiding and molding the professional skills of young nurses like Wells. See related story, page 28.

(BACK COVER PHOTO By NOELL VIDAURRI, Creative Media Services, UT Health Science Center San Antonio)

DON’T DELAy! JOIN yOUR NURSING ALUMNI ASSOCIATION TODAy!

your Alumni Association membership is the perfect way to …

Stay connected Network Support your alma mater

Get involved

Join today at MakeLivesBetter.uthscsa.edu/SoNalumni or call 210-567-5534.

LET US HELPRESTART yOUR NURSING CAREER.your experience is in demand.

Enroll in the department of Lifelong Learning's RN Refresher Course.

VISIt NURSING.UTHSCSA.EDU/CE/RNREFRESHERCOURSE.ASPx FOR mORE INFORmAtION.

CALLING ALL ALUMNI!MEET, GREET, RECRUIT AND GET HIRED AT OUR NURSING

CAREER FAIRSAre you seeking top talent for your private practice, company or organization?

Join us for the opportunity to recruit the cream of the crop during two Career Fairs to be held this fall and spring on the campus of the School of Nursing. Hosted by the school’s Student Success Center, the events bring employers to campus to meet with undergraduate and graduate students and alumni.

Exhibit space is available at the Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsorship levels to alumni in practice, employers or companies interested in securing a table where

they can meet with potential recruits. Each level offers unique benefits.

For more information or to reserve your spot, call 210-567-5892 or email [email protected].

Special thanks to our Gold sponsors for the fall 2015 and spring 2016 Career Fairs.

NAVy ReCRUiTiNG DiSTRiCTSan Antonio

http://makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/SoNalumni

http://nursing.uthscsa.edu/ce/rnRefresherCourse.aspx

http://makelivesbetter.uthscsa.edu/

http://www.nursing.uthscsa.edu/


We make lives better. Every day. The UT Health Science Center School of Nursing remains at the forefront of nursing education through its commitment to excellence, innovative teaching, collaborative research, compassionate care and service to our South Texas community and the world. A profession inspired by your leadership starts here. Find out more at Nursing.uthscsa.edu.

We teach. We discover. We heal.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San AntonioOffice of the Dean, School of Nursing - Mail Code 79237703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900

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