VUSN Dean Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., delivers the State of the School of Nursing address.
photo by Kats Barry
New projects, programs shaping VUSN’s future
Phronietta Kendrick, Office Assistant for the MSN Department at VUSN, kisses Dean Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., after receiving the School Life Staff Award.
photo by Kats Barry
“It's been a good year,” declared Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., Nancy and Hilliard Travis Professor and dean of the School of Nursing, in her annual State of the School of Nursing address and awards ceremony last week.
Enrollment in the school reached another record high this year and this fall's numbers already indicate that the school should meet the budgeted numbers. With the influx of students, the school has purchased state-of-the art equipment to enhance the learning environment. The school will add an additional SimMan, a simulated training manequin that talks, breathes, moans, and even dies, just like a real patient; a SimBaby; a birthing simulator; a new crash cart; and a new hospital bed to its learning skills labs.
The School of Nursing announced it has approved plans to offer a joint master of science in nursing and master of theological studies or master of divinity degree in partnership with the Vanderbilt Divinity School. “We have several students already interested in such a program and it will continue to evolve,” said James Pace, D.S.N., M.Div., professor of Nursing and director of the new palliative care focus in the Adult Nurse Practitioner Program. Students will apply to both schools and have to be accepted to each one, meeting the same requirements and admissions standards for both programs.
Moving to a plus or minus grading system was also discussed at this year's assembly. VUSN faculty leadership groups have been collecting data since 2003 to begin moving to a plus or minus grading system, but more details have to be finalized before the school will announce a change in the current grade point average system.
Vanderbilt Medical Group's Chief Operating Officer, David Posch, who has a daughter in the nursing program at VUSN, was also on hand, to inform faculty and staff about the elevate initiative across the Medical Center.
“It's a fundamental culture change here at Vanderbilt,” said Posch. “Great patient service and clinical quality starts with happy, satisfied staff and faculty.” He said even though VUMC enjoys nursing staff turnover rates below the national average, the elevate program has proven it can reduce turnover in hospitals by two-thirds.
The practice operation of the School of Nursing announced several new plans in the works for expansion amidst continued success among the VUSN community-based clinics and services. A grant has been submitted to more than double the clinic space of the school's Vine Hill Community Clinic.
The school's practice administrators have been shifting gears and making plans for a massive influx of patients due to anticipated TennCare disenrollments. Vine Hill currently cares for 10,200 TennCare enrollees.
The new “Vandy Calls” program is set to begin this summer, operating out of a new community clinic housed at Trevecca Towers. Seven hundred independent dwellers with an average age of 84 live in the Towers and will be able to take advantage of the services offered in the new, on-site clinic.
The Dayani Center and Vanderbilt Senior Care Services will also offer services. The “Vandy Calls” program will operate out of the clinic site, but will also serve the broader community with a house calls type of system.
“It's another way the Vanderbilt School of Nursing is reaching out to the underserved in our community, going to the homes of elderly or home bound patients in Davidson County who can't get out to their providers office and often miss important tests and the follow-up care they need,” said Bonnie Pilon, D.S.N., senior associate dean for Practice at VUSN.
The Vanderbilt Nurse-Midwives practice continues to thrive and they will now be the round-the-clock attending practitioners in the new OB Evaluation Center at VUMC, set to open late this summer. “We've been using the facility here at VUMC for our deliveries for years in close partnership with the Medical Center, but this moves us more intimately into the system and into the mainstream even more so,” said Pilon.
The program is recruiting new Nurse-Midwives. The practice had delivered 500 babies as of March and is the second highest volume delivering service at VUMC.
Several awards were handed out to VUSN faculty and staff at the annual address. Susan Cooper, M.S.N., R.N., director of the Center for Advanced Practice Nursing and Allied Health at VUMC, assistant dean for Practice, and assistant professor of Nursing, was given the Dean's Award for Outstanding Service to Faculty and Students. Lynda LaMontagne, Ph.D., R.N., professor of nursing, was given the Dean's Award for Recognition of Faculty Achievement in Scholarly Endeavors. Judy Sweeney, M.S.N., R.N., director of the Pre-Specialty Program, was given the Ingeborg Mauksch Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentoring. Janie Daddario, M.S.N., R.N., director of the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Program, was given the Excellence in Teaching Award for Teaching in the Lecture or Small Group Setting. Dawn Vanderhoef, M.S.N., R.N., instructor in Nursing, was given the Excellence in Teaching Award for Teaching in the Clinical Setting. Renee McLeod, D.N.S., R.N., director of the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program, was given the Excellence in Teaching Award for Educational Innovation. Jennifer Ezell, M.S.N., R.N., assistant professor of Nursing, was given the VUMC Faculty Nurse Award. Phronietta Kendrick, an office assistant for more than 25 years at VUSN, was given the School Life Staff Award.