Living in South Carolina means that it is likely that each of us has gone through the drill related to hurricane protection. Beginning June 1st of each year we begin to assess our personal and workplace readiness and secure batteries, bottled water, hand-crank radios and other “survival” items. And then we wait and cross our fingers. At the end of November we breathe a huge sigh of relief and mark another year off our list if no hurricanes came across our shores.

But who in New York City and the northeast coast in general really expects such events to happen there? And who could imagine that a second major northeast storm would follow Hurricane Irene in 2011? It is totally unpredictable and yet Hurricane Sandy made its landing like a very scary and truly uninvited Halloween guest. The fact is that no matter how vigilant our sensors nor how good our technology the unpredictable happens every day in many facets of our lives. One of the most challenging areas is that of health care. If you talk with hospital executives they are working hard to try to determine where the wind and waves will be coming from. Equally important, they are examining what would be the best course of action to survive the storm surges of emerging reform. But not everything can be precisely predicted and the interplay of many complex factors impacting health care make prediction seem more like shooting darts at a moving target. What we do know, however, is that people will continue to get sick and communities will continue to need care. What we can learn from hurricanes is that preparation and prevention are essential to survival. In our current system we spend far too much time and money on the impact and damage aspects of health care and not enough on trimming our bad health behaviors, removing dangerous barriers to care, and creating stockpiles of provider expertise. With weather as with health care, you can’t predict but you certainly can prepare....Gail

INSIDE Predicting the unpredictableBy Dean Gail Stuart, PhD, RN, FAAN

VOLUME 9 | NOVEMBER | 2012

eCONnectionsMEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

COLLEGE OF NURSING

PUBLISHED BY:Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing

Send inquiries to:Beth KhanMUSC College of Nursing99 Jonathan Lucas St., MSC 160Charleston, SC 29425

INVESTIGATECOLLABORATEEDUCATE ADVOCATE

MUSC Nurses Change Lives!

COLLEGE NEWS ...........................P. 2

CALENDAR OF EVENTS ................P. 3

OFFICE OF ACADEMICS ...............P. 4

OFFICE OF RESEARCH .................P. 5

OFFICE OF PRACTICE ..................P. 6

THE T

ELEG

RAPH

COLLEGE NEWS

NOVEMBER 2012 eCONnections2

Congratulations to Bernie Jansen and his wife, Franny, on the

birth of their first child, Amelia Hope Jansen on October 25, weighing

in at 4 pounds, 5 ounces.

ABC

Two faculty members receive nursing’s highest honorThe American Academy of Nursing inducted College of Nursing faculty members, Robin Bissinger, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC and Charlene

Pope, PhD, RN, MPH, CNM, to membership during the Academy’s 39th Annual Meeting and Conference held on Oct. 13, in Washington, DC. Induction as a Fellow of the American Acad-emy of Nursing (AAN) is one of the most prestigious honors in the nursing field. Those nominat-ed for induction into the AAN Fellowship are recognized lead-ers who have made significant

contributions to nursing and health care. Today, there are 10 faculty members and five emeritus faculty of the College of Nursing who are members of the academy. Robin, a neonatal clinician, is the associate dean for academics and an associate professor in the College of Nursing. Her clinical and research interests involve the study of respiratory distress and pain among infants. Charlene is an associate professor in the College of Nursing and associate nurse executive for research at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. Her areas of interests include provider-patient com-munication, preventive medicine, and international maternal and child health midwifery. This year, the AAN installed 176 nursing researchers, educators, practitioners and executives from across the country. Following induc-tion, new Fellows have the privilege of using the FAAN credential (Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing).

(L to R) Drs. Charlene Pope and Robin Bissinger after their induction into the American Academy of Nursing.

Another bundle of joy has arrived!

Moving day is only a month away.

Please consider giving to the CON RECOGNITION FUND

($50 for faculty, $25 for staff)

Money is used for flowers and cards for well wishes and condolences.

Please make check to CON Recognition Fund. and give to Lee Horton (rm. 523).

Questions? Email Lee at hortonl @musc.edu.

Saying farewell to Jeannette AndrewsAs you may know, Jeannette Andrews will be leaving the MUSC College of Nursing in January 2013 to become dean of the USC College of Nursing in Columbia, SC. She has been instrumental in establishing the College as a top 30 nursing schools for research and will be missed by all faculty and staff.

Come by and wish Jeannette farewell at a reception honoring her many accomplishments

Monday, November 12 @ 4:00 P.M.CON Historical Library

1-2 THURSDAY-FRIDAY AHEC Bench 2 Bedside Initiative Basic Sciences Bldg & various locations on campus

2 FRIDAY Acclerated BSN Mini-Orientation 1 - 4 p.m. CON 220

3 SATURDAY 4th Annual Nurses Care Walk 9:30 a.m. (9:00 registation) Palmetto Islands Park - Mt. Pleasant

5 MONDAY Dean’s Student Leadership Meeting 12 - 1 p.m. CON 322

What’s New in Moodle? w/ Dr. Sally Kennedy 2 - 4 p.m. CON 401

7 WEDNESDAY CON Alumni Association Social 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Mad River Bar & Grill (32 N. Market St.) - See flyer ] ] ]

8 THURSDAY Dean’s Education Committee 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. CON Historical Library

8-9 THURSDAY-FRIDAY DNP/MSN Clinical Immersions

12 MONDAY Veterans Day CON open

Farewell Party for Dr. Jeannette Andrews 4:00 p.m. CON Historical Library

15 WEDNESDAY BlueCross BlueShield Foundation Luncheon Celebrating Our DNP Program 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Marriott Hotel, Lockwood Dr.

16 THURSDAY DNP Students Practice Improvement Projects Presentations CON 401

19 MONDAY Reception Honoring Dr. Debbie Bryant (see p. 6 for details) 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Hollings Cancer Center Pavilion (1st floor) RSVP: siresj@musc.edu

22-23 THURSDAY-FRIDAY Thanksgiving Holiday CON closed

26 MONDAY Gigi Smith’s PhD Dissertation Defense 10:30 a.m. Storm Eye Auditorium (8th floor)

1 FRIDAY Convocation 10 - 11:30 a.m. Charleston Music Hall (37 John St.)

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

3eCONnections NOVEMBER 2012

CONAlumni AssociAtion

sociAlWednesday, november 7 • 5 to 7 Pm

Join your fellow MUSC Collge of Nursing alumni, students, and friends to mingle and make new connections.

MAD RiveR BAR AnD GRill, 32 n. MARket StReet

Free

AppetizeRS & non-Alcoholic BeveRAGeS

drink sPecials

$3 DoMeStic BeeR$4 MixeD DRinkS

$5 peR peRSon (incluDeS one DRink ticket At the DooR)

FoR MoRe inFoRMAtion, contAct MARDi lonG At 792-6683 oR lonGM@MuSc.eDu

All StuDentS, FAculty AnD StAFF ARe welcoMe to AttenD!

November

December

OFFICE OF ACADEMICS

December 2012 convocation newsConvocation is set for Saturday, December 1 at 10 a.m. in the Charleston Music Hall located at 37 John St. Graduates should arrive by 9 a.m. Student services staff will be there to assist with graduation regalia. An e-mail will be sent when regalia arrives with directions for pick-up. If you are unable to pick up the regalia prior to convocation, it will be at the Music Hall on Saturday morning. Faculty should dress in full regalia and plan to arrive at the Charleston Music Hall between 9 and 9:30 to line up for the processional. All participants should leave personal items with a family member or non-participant. There are three parking garages located near the Charleston Music Hall, as well as hotels and restaurants. Reservations are highly recommended. Go to http://charlestonmusichall.com for more information about this location.

New MSNA officers namedCongratulations and thank you to these newly appointed MSNA officers for 2012-13.

President: April Dove

President-Elect: Kyra Wilson

Recording Secretary: Erica Haynes

Corresponding Secretary: Shanice Strobhart

Treasurer: Jennifer Lowe

Corresponding Treasurer: Courtney Benjamin

Volunteer Chairs: Aminah Frasier, Katherine Reeves

Historian: Zora Johnson

Fundraising: Anna Heyward, Taylor Alexander

Public Relations: Matt Couture The Campus Liason position, Social and Culture Comitteeand Mentoring Committee are still open. If you are interested in any of these committees contact, April Dove at dovea@musc.edu or Ida Spruill at spruilli@musc.edu.

Students selected for ANET fundingIn October, the College of Nursing was awarded a $700,000 HRSA grant for the Advanced Nursing Education Traineeship (ANET) program. The purpose of this grant is to increase the number of primary care nurse practitioners. This grant will provide funds for 28 nurse practitioner students over a two-year period. These student have made a commitment to work in rural or medical underserved communities providing primary care after graduation. For the 2012-2013 academic year, the following 19 students have been selected to receive ANET funding:

-- DNP/FNP STUDENTS --

Cynthia Akpaka, Heidi Alterson, Kasey Bamel, Lisa Carraher, Heidi

Courban, Lavon Fenderon, Jessica Fralick, Charita Greene, Lisa Klasek,

Njideka Osuala, Emily Pond, and Mary Courtney Robinson (DNP/PNP).

-- MSN/FNP STUDENTS --

Carla Escobar, Kayla Hanks, Keyonia Johnson,

Devon Licari, Leonor Lourido, Joye Rogers, and Samantha Wadford.

Students who applied this year and did not receive funding are encouraged to apply for the 2013-2014 academic year if they are scheduled to graduate summer 2014 and later.

Promise of Nursing Scholarships available - apply NOWFunds raised by the Johnson and Johnson Promise of Nursing Gala are now available for student scholarships through the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA). The scholarship application is currently avail-able and due January 11, 2013. Scholarships are awarded based on academic achievement, financial need, and involvement in nursing student organizations and community activities related to health care. Scholarships range from $1,000-2,500. To download the application, go to www.nsna.org/FoundationScholarships.

DNP student receives Tylenol ScholarshipKatharine Atkins Few is one of 40 recipients nation-wide of this year’s Tylenol Future Care Scholarship. Tylenol chose Katharine from thousands of applicants describing her an “inspiring student.” Students are selected to receive Tylenol Scholarships based on leadership abilities, academic excellence, and a passion for community involvement. Katharine is a student in the DNP program and completing the Family Nurse Practitioner track. She earned her BSN from Clemson University where she was awarded the Hindemann Excellence in Nursing Scholar-ship and graduated magna cum laude. She works as a registered nurse at Providence Heart Institute in Columbia, SC. Read a testimonial from Katharine and the Tylenol Scholarship Program at www.Tylenol.com/Scholarship2012.

eCONnections FEBRUARY 2012 NOVEMBER 2012 eCONnections4

COMMENCEMENT PERMANENTLY MOVED TO

MCALLISTER FIELD HOUSE

The University Commencement Committee has announced that President Greenberg and the Board of Trustees have decided to move the May 2013 Commencement to the Citadel campus in McAllister Field House. This will be our new permanent home for commencement!

Funded grantsFrank A. Treiber, PhD will receive $45,902 from the Verizon Foundation for his pro-posal titled “Smartphone management of hypertension and diabetes (SMOHAD).” The goal of this study is to conduct a feasibility randomized controlled trial (RCT) for 40 underserved, poor ethnic minority (Hispanic and African American) individu-als who suffer from essential hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes. SMOHAD utilizes an electronic medication tray and a combo blood pressure/glucometer Bluetoothed to a smartphone. Patients receive a series of signals from the tray at predesignated times to take their medication. They also use the BP/glucometer to self monitor their biofunc-tions. Signals from the tray and device are relayed via the phone to a server and processed. Based upon medication adher-ence levels and related biofunction levels, they receive personalized motivational/reinforcement messages. The findings will be used to examine the effectiveness of the SMOHAD program at federally qualified health center provider locations across SC with underserved, lower socioeconomic status patients.

Robin L. Bissinger, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC,

FAAN submitted a proposal to the MUSC Interprofessional Collaboration Grant Pilot Project Program that has been funded in the amount of $14,000. The proposal is titled “The golden hour: improving clini-cal effectiveness of care for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants through interprofes-sional resuscitation and stabilization team training.” The overall goal is to improve patient safety and outcomes and develop strong team communication skills through the implementation of an innovative, adap-tive, multi-modal training program on the resuscitation and stabilization of neonates for an interprofessional group of providers at three local, community-based hospital systems. The golden hour of care refers to

the unique care of VLBW infants in the first few hours of life addressing thermoregula-tion, respiratory support, cardiovascular stability, fluid and electrolyte support, and infection control.

Deborah Williamson, DHA, CNM is receiv-ing $23,416 for a sub award from the Uni-versity of South Carolina for the program titled “PASOs in South Carolina: promoting and bridging the gaps for the vulnerable Latino population.” The project will provide coordinated leadership for program devel-opment and implementation in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties. Additionally, she received $60,000 from the Center for Public Service Com-munications for the Teen Health Advocate Leadership Program Planning Grant.

Submitted grantsMichelle Mollica, MS, RN, OCN, (PhD student) submitted a proposal titled “Transi-tion from Breast Cancer Patient to Survivor in African American Women” for a doc-toral degree scholarship in cancer nursing to the American Cancer Society. The pur-pose of this study is to examine the effect of a peer navigation intervention in a group of African American women completing breast cancer treatment in Charleston on outcomes of follow-up screening for second primary cancers and recurrence, and health-related quality of life.

Publications & presentations:> PUBLICATIONSElliott, L., DeCristofaro, C. and Carpenter, A. (2012), Blending technology in teach-ing advanced health assessment in a family nurse practitioner program: Using personal digital assistants in a simulation laboratory. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 24: 536–543.

McCall, J. M., DeCristofaro, C. and Elliott, L. (2012). Oral sucrose for pain control in

nonneonate infants during minor pain-ful procedures. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00783.x

Nemeth, L.S., Ornstein, S.M., Jenkins, R.G., Wessell, A.M. and Nietert, P.J. (2012). Implementing and evaluating electronic standing orders in primary care practice: A PPRNet study. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 25, 594-604.

Ryan, J.L., Ramsey, R.R., Fedele, D.A., Wagner, J.L., Smith, G., and Chaney, J.M. (2012). Exploration of age and sex differences in depressive symptoms and illness attitudes for youth with epilepsy and juvenile rheumatic disease. Journal of Child Neurology, 27(8), 1004-1010.

> PRESENTATIONS(PhD student) Paguntalan, J. (2012, September). Risk and protective factors for CHD in AA women: A socioecologi-cal perspective. Tenth Annual Research Symposium, Greenville, SC.

(PhD student) Krause, S. F. (2012, Oc-tober). Measurements of social isolation and social support for sarcoidosis patients: An integrative review. World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders Conference, Cleveland, OH.

Donato, A.S., (2012, October). Nurse practitioners in the USA: Today and tomor-row. Dutch National Nurse Practitioner Conference, The Netherlands.

OFFICE OF RESEARCH

5eCONnections NOVEMBER 2012

CongratulationsTara Renee O’Brien successfully

defended her dissertationproposal on Oct.18.

(Chair: Dr. Carolyn Jenkins)

Lynette Smith successfully defended her final dissertation on Aug. 31.

(Chair: Dr. Gail Stuart)

CON graduate first South Carolinian to receive RWJ Foundation Award for Community Outreach LeadershipThe Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced that Debbie Chatman Bryant, DNP, RN has been selected as a recipient of its 2012 Community Health Leaders Award. The RWJ Foundation honored 10 individuals from the entire country who have surmounted signifi-cant challenges to help improve health and health care in their communities. Debbie is the first South Carolinian ever to receive this

prestigious award, which recognizes individuals who have overcome significant challenges to help improve health and health care problems facing their communities. Debbie is the assistant director for cancer prevention, control, and outreach at Hollings Cancer Center at MUSC and a gradate of the College of Nursing’s DNP program. She works to improve healthy behaviors and to lower cancer risk among those living in South Carolina’s Low Country region. As a nursing administrator, Debbie discovered that many low-income or uninsured patients were not receiving diagnosis or treatment until it was too late. To reach patients in need of cancer diagnosis and treatment, she expanded an outreach program using trained “lay navigators” to help residents overcome barriers to receiving the

care they needed. The unique feature of this program is a voucher system that covers copay-ment costs. Following an abnormal screening, each client—regardless of ability to pay—is immediately navigated to a financial counselor and receives a diagnostic test at the Hollings Health Center. The 2012 Community Health Leaders Award recipients provide vital health services to resi-dents in their own communities: refugees grappling with the after-effects of war, the uninsured working poor, children facing obesity, survivors of sexual violence, senior citizens who live in remote, rural areas, and overdose prevention efforts among substance abusers. Now in its 19th year, the Community Health Leaders Award elevates the work of the leaders by raising awareness of their extraordinary contributions through national visibility, a $125,000 award, and networking opportunities. The 2012 awardees were named October 17 at a ceremony in San Antonio,TX.

OFFICE OF PRACTICE

Teen Health Leadership ProgramThe Teen Health Leadership Program (THLP) is part of the Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area, Inc., a nonprofit organiza-tion whose mission is to help all students complete high school by improving attendance, behavior, grades, and making better choices to support their academic goals. Over the last month, the THLP has been working in the Johns Island commu-nity to help raise awareness of breast cancer through their Think Pink Campaign. The Teen Health scholars sold bracelets, necklaces and other awareness items to students and faculty at St. John’s High School. To date, the students have raised over $170 for the Barrier Island Medical Clinic, a local health clinic on the island. The Teen Health scholars also participated in The Convoy of Hope on Octo-ber 27. The community outreach event offered complimentary goods and ser-vices such as job training, employment opportunities, groceries, haircuts, health and medical education for families in need on and around Johns Island. That night the student scholars traveled downtown Charleston to Memminger Auditorium to watch the Lowcountry High Rollers, Charleston’s female roller derby league. The THLP was selected to be the featured fundraising organization for skaters’ last bout of the season. During the derby, the students handed out health information and sold additional Think Pink items.

eCONnections FEBRUARY 2012 NOVEMBER 2012 eCONnections6

THLP scholar, Latarsha Green (senior), points out her accomplishments.

There will be a reception honoring Dr. Debbie Bryant on November 19 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Hollings Cancer

Center Pavilion (first floor, HCC). RSVP to siresj@musc.edu.

Boat CruiseRetreat

MUSC College of Nursing’s