Loyola Nursing Magazine 2021

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LOYOLA NURSING

BUILDING INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND BEYOND

FROM THE DEAN Lorna Finnegan, PhD, RN, FNP, FAAN Dean and Professor, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing

DEAR LOYOLA NURSING COMMUNITY,

to achieving — and maintaining — excellence. In this magazine, we highlight relationships and initiatives that advance inclusive excellence and positively transform the lives of everyone with whom we connect — our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and practice partners along with the patients, families, and communities with whom we work.

DIVERSIFYING OUR TOP-RANKED BSN PROGRAM

In its first-ever ranking of BSN programs, U.S. News and World Report ranked Loyola’s program 31st of 694 programs in the country and second in Illinois. While we are proud of this recognition, we know that increasing student diversity in our BSN program is essential to reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the communities we serve, achieve inclusive excellence, and address health inequities.

As a first step, we created the Pathway to the BSN program from Loyola’s Arrupe College, which provides first-generation college students and students of color with an opportunity to earn a twoyear associate’s degree and transition to the BSN program. We thank several donors who support the Pathway to the BSN program; you can read what excites them about the program on page 4.

In July, we expanded the Pathway to the BSN program with grants from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and the

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Illinois Board of Higher Education. This new CARE (Collaboration, Access, Resources, and Equity) Pathway to the BSN supports Black and Latinx student and faculty recruitment and development of a student success center to provide customized academic (and career) strategies based on social determinants and other structural factors.

Read more on page 5.

INCORPORATING INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH EQUITY RESEARCH

Achieving inclusive excellence requires both an acknowledgment that racism is woven into our nation’s fabric and a commitment to working together toward a more just society. In this magazine, we share the work of three Loyola Nursing scientists, Karen Saban, PhD, APRN, RN, CNRN, FAHA, FAAN, Regina Conway-Phillips, PhD, RN, and Lindsey Garfield, PhD, RN, whose research addresses the impact of chronic racism and health inequities among Black women. We also feature an interview with our 2020 commencement speaker, Shannon Zenk, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), who is well known for her pioneering research on racial/ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities.

LOYOLA NURSING’S FIRST ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

I am pleased to announce that following a national search, Loyola Nursing welcomed its first associate dean for inclusive excellence, Associate Professor Dian Squire, PhD. Squire intends to listen to and learn from the Loyola Nursing community and collaborate to ensure that everything in the school — from curriculum to wellness services — incorporates inclusive excellence.

As we come to the close of our first semester fully back on campus since the start of the pandemic, I would like to express my gratitude to the Loyola Nursing faculty and staff, who go above and beyond to meet the needs of students; to our students, who continue to impress me with their commitment to be the best they can be; to our community partners, who understand that building relationships with the Loyola Nursing community can help transform lives; and to our generous donors.

My thanks to all of you for helping us continue to build the very special Loyola Nursing community.

PHOTOS: ERIK UNGER

I hope you and your loved ones are staying well. During these extraordinary times, coupled with the uncertainty of the last many months, I am particularly proud of the work our students, faculty, and staff have achieved over the last year. I am also especially thankful for the generosity of many donors who are helping to support our students and some of the school’s key initiatives.

Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, faculty and staff gathered virtually to create a “Why” statement that defines Loyola Nursing’s unique contributions and impact: “To build relationships so that lives are positively transformed.” Central to building relationships is our commitment to inclusive excellence — a call to address diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism as critical building blocks

2021

LOYOLA NURSING LOYOLA NURSING MAGAZINE is published annually for alumni and friends of Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing

EDITOR

Dawn Carter DESIGNER

Kate O’Neil PHOTOGRAPHERS

Erik Unger Lukas Keapproth Holly O’Connor COPY EDITOR

Evan Eckerstrom CONTRIBUTORS

Nicole Etter Naomi Gitlin

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ON THE COVER

INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

PATHWAY TO THE BSN PROGRAM FROM ARRUPE & THE CARE PATHWAY NEW PROGRAMS HELP DIVERSIFY NURSING WORKFORCE

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INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

MEET THE FIRST ASSOCIATE DEAN OF INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing students: Front row from left to right: Alexandria Craig, Emmy Kwiatkowski Back row from left to right: Ryan Choy, Cierra Colell, and Nathan Rivera Cover Photo: Erik Unger

LOYOLA NURSING WELCOMES ITS FIRST ASSOCIATE DEAN OF INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

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RESEARCH

REDUCING RACE-BASED STRESS IMPROVES WELL-BEING LOYOLA NURSING RESEARCHERS DISCOVER STRATEGIES TO HELP WOMEN OF COLOR

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TRAINING GRANTS

NIH FUNDING AND A SALUTE TO GRADUATES

C O N TAC T U S QUESTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, O R C O M M E N T S M AY B E E - M A I L E D T O :

L OYO L A N U R S I N G M A G A Z I N E

schoolofnursing@luc.edu

©2021 Loyola University Chicago

NIH AWARDS CRITICAL FUNDING; NINR DIRECTOR GIVES COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

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INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

Generous donors help build the Pathway to the BSN program from Arrupe SEVERAL YEARS AGO, two mem-

bers of the Loyola Nursing leadership team, Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Lee Schmidt, PhD, RN, and Assistant Dean for the BSN Program Jorgia Connor, PhD, RN, had an idea to create a pipeline to increase diversity in the nursing workforce. They partnered with Arrupe College, Loyola University Chicago’s two-year college that offers rigorous liberal arts education to a diverse population of first-generation students and students of color, to launch the Pathway to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

Students complete year one of their studies through Arrupe

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College. Beginning in year two, students complete Arrupe College coursework concurrently with first-year courses of the BSN program. After earning their associate of arts degree, students complete the remaining three years of the BSN program, leading to earning a BSN degree and eligibility for the nursing licensure exam. The first group of students began the Pathway to the BSN in the Fall 2020 semester.

“Our Pathway to the BSN program from Arrupe College is one of the foundational elements of Loyola Nursing’s Inclusive Excellence initiative to strengthen diversity, equity, and

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inclusion in the School of Nursing and the nursing workforce.

It also is an inspiration to some very generous donors who have invested in it,” says Dean Lorna Finnegan, PhD, RN, FNP, FAAN, Loyola Nursing.

KAREN AND BOB DESJARDINS

When Karen and Bob Desjardins heard about Arrupe’s transformational work with students from underrepresented backgrounds, it sparked their interest. As they learned more, the spark lit a flame that would blaze a new path for their family’s giving—and for the students’ lives they would change.

PEGGY AND TOM BELL

Peggy Bell’s deep appreciation for cura personalis — care for the whole person — is why she and her husband Tom enthusiastically support Loyola Nursing. “To me, Peggy’s education at Loyola represented a transformation that was life-changing,” says Tom. “I watched from the sidelines as Loyola shaped her.”

In spring 2020, Peggy and Tom created a generous endowment that will fund scholarships for students in the Pathway to the BSN program from Arrupe College. “Through these scholarships, we can provide opportunities for more students to attend Loyola, specifically students from diverse backgrounds,” says Peggy.

THE IMBURGIA FAMILY

A love of nursing has been woven into the fabric of Patrick and Lori Imburgia’s family for three generations. It started when Patrick’s mother graduated from Loyola–Oak Park’s nursing program, a predecessor of Loyola University Chicago’s Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. Next, Patrick’s two sisters and two nieces pursued a nursing career. Then the couple’s two daughters donned nursing scrubs, too. Their oldest

PHOTO: ERIK UNGER

Jessica MartinezVega (Class of 2024) and Diana Duarte (Class of 2024) are students in the inaugural class of the Pathway to the BSN from Arrupe College.

Bob (MD ’71, MRES ’74) says they were amazed by the “really spectacularly successful” results at Arrupe College, which pairs a rigorous, affordable Jesuit education with intensive, wrap-around support services.

Arrupe students have a two-year graduation rate that is more than three times the national average for community college students. More than 70 percent of Arrupe students who pursue a baccalaureate degree graduate within six years, far above the national average for underrepresented transfer students.

INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

daughter, Rachael, graduated from Loyola Nursing with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree in fall 2017, nearly seven decades after her grandmother earned her nursing degree.

It seemed only natural that the Imburgia family would establish a scholarship fund to support aspiring nurses. “We know how important education is,” says Patrick, a retired flavor chemist who built Mission Flavors & Fragrances. “You invest in stocks, bonds, and real estate.

I’m never afraid to invest in my kids’ education.”

SISTERS OF THE RESURRECTION

“Loyola has had an impact on me all my life,” says Sister Donna Marie Wolowicki, C.R. (BSN ’71, MSN ’75). “What I really appreciated was the integration of the whole person in our nursing studies.”

Sister Donna began her career as an intensive care nurse at Chicago’s Resurrection Medical Center where she continued to advance in leadership roles until she became executive vice president/CEO. When she moved to a new leadership position as president of Resurrection College Prep High School, she worked with Vicki Keough, then dean of Loyola Nursing, to bring Loyola faculty to the school to teach students about potential career opportunities.

Those interactions prompted Sister Donna to approach the Sisters of the Resurrection about supporting a Loyola Nursing scholarship, particularly given Loyola’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. When the Sisters learned of the Pathway to the BSN program from Arrupe College, they pledged two endowed scholarships: one for an Arrupe student and one for a Resurrection College Prep High School graduate.

The CARE Pathway to the BSN will improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the nursing workforce SUPPORTED BY A $2.2 MILLION ,

four-year Nursing Workforce Development grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and a one-year, $170,000 grant from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Loyola Nursing launched its CARE (Collaboration, Access, Resources, and Equity) Pathway to the BSN program in July.

The CARE Pathway to the BSN supports Black and Latinx student and faculty recruitment and development of a student success center that will provide customized academic (and career) strategies based on social determinants and other structural factors.

BUILDING A BETTER, MORE DIVERSE NURSING WORKFORCE

In May 2021, the National Academy of Medicine released The Future of Nursing 2020 –2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. As the largest health care profession in the United States, nurses can use their collective power to help achieve health equity throughout the country.

To that end, the nursing workforce must reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the communities it serves. In Illinois, 15 percent of the population is Black, yet only 9 percent of the Illinois nursing workforce is Black, according to 2020 U.S. Census and Illinois Nursing Workforce Survey data. Similarly, Latinx nurses compose only 9 percent of the state’s nursing workforce, although 18 percent of the population is Latinx. A review by the HRSA found that patients of diverse backgrounds had better outcomes with registered nurses of their own race or ethnicity. With CARE funding, Loyola Nursing will strengthen its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and increase Black and Latinx students’ access to a quality nursing education and career.

“Creating a more diverse nursing workforce that reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of communities served is a tangible and essential step toward achieving the far-reaching goal of reducing health disparities and inequities,” says Executive Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Grant Evaluation Director Lee Schmidt, PhD, RN.

WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE PATHWAYS

With this funding, Loyola Nursing will expand its Pathway to the BSN program from Arrupe College through the new CARE Pathway to the BSN. This pathway model includes multiple, evidence-based strategies including individually tailored academic and professional integration programming and support services; recruitment and retention of Black and Latinx faculty; alumni, peer, and professional mentoring and coaching; application support and holistic admissions; and financial support for Black and Latinx students.

A resiliency and well-being program will help students build capacity to respond well when faced with difficult and stressful situations during and beyond their nursing education.

As the largest health care profession in the United States, nurses can use their collective power to help achieve health equity throughout the country.

While grant funding is essential to create the program’s infrastructure and develop the capacity for continued program leadership, Loyola Nursing is committed to sustaining the program after this government funding ends.

“Our CARE Pathway to the BSN program is one of the foundational elements of Loyola Nursing’s Inclusive Excellence initiative to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion in the school,” says Dean Lorna Finnegan, PhD, RN, FNP, FAAN.

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INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE

Meet the first associate dean for inclusive excellence In August 2021, the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing welcomed its first associate dean for inclusive excellence, Dian Squire. A Rambler, Dean Squire earned his PhD in higher education from Loyola, where he led multiple initiatives to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Since then, he has established himself as a leader in higher education. Following are excerpts from a recent interview.

Q: In 16 years, you have made great strides to address issues of diversity and racial equity at the institutions you have served. What was the moment when you witnessed the impact of your work?

I have two. I created the country’s first First-Year Experience program for LGBTQ+ students at the University of Maryland, College Park. The program started following a year that included high-profile LGBTQ+ suicides and harassment across the country. Our community was hurting, and I hoped that this would help. Today, the pro-

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gram exists in a different form and is institutionalized on campus; UMCP is now considered to be the country’s number-one school for LGBTQ+ students.

My second proud moment was success in using holistic admissions to increase the racial

Dian Squire returns to campus as Loyola Nursing’s first associate dean for inclusive excellence

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diversity of students in the academic program I coordinated at Northern Arizona University.

By understanding our students as full humans — by not judging them on standardized tests and other inequitable measures of ability and aptitude — and really

digging into their philosophies of education, social justice, and leadership, we improved our structural diversity from 14 percent students of color to 57 percent in my first two years.

Q: What is the most important lesson we can learn about diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education?

That’s a hard question! There are a few things to think about.

We must delve into the history of our country or local regions to fully understand our relationship to Indigenous peoples and how we can begin engaging in conversations that recognize, respect, and return land to First Nations. We must think of students beyond a monolithic understanding of “first-year,” “Black,” “low-income,” etc. By really asking who our students are, we get to think more critically and specifically about ways to support them. We must start with us. When faced with doing social justice work, instead of saying something like “there’s just so much to change in the world, I don’t know where to start,” look toward yourself and say, “I’ll start with me.” Alongside that is the idea that we have to be content with imperfection.

Our world is changing every day; have humility, listen, ask questions, do your research, and take risks for justice.

PHOTO: HOLLY O’CONNOR

Q: What drew you to a career in higher education?

It started when I was an undergraduate student leader and employee in various campus roles. My love for working at a university and with students prompted me to get a master’s degree in educational policy and leadership studies with a concentration in higher education. I’m interested in studying how universities are organized and function. What draws most people to this career is the hope that higher education can serve its purpose as a place for democratic education, social change, personal development, and radical thinking to solve global complex problems.

RESEARCH

Empowering cancer survivors As a longtime oncology nurse, Loyola Nursing PhD student Mary Pat Johnston wanted to know if the use of patient-reported outcomes would affect cancer survivors’ feelings of empowerment post-treatment.

Yet just as she was getting ready to launch her dissertation research data collection in 2019, a routine colonoscopy showed she had rectal cancer.

“I’VE TRIED TO BE empathetic and

compassionate in the care that I have delivered over the years to people living with cancer and their families,” says Johnston, who served on the Oncology Nursing Society’s board of directors before starting her PhD. “But now I understand it in a different way. I have the experience of living with cancer and a little more insight into understanding the treatment and what it means when you’re not in the clinic and in front of the cancer care team.”

PUTTING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE

With support from her faculty and mentors, Johnston completed her first grant application the day after her first chemotherapy treatment and eventually received two grants: $5,000 from the Clinical Nurse Specialist Institute and $2,500 from Building Bridges to Research-Based Nursing Practice.

With this funding, she hired two oncology nurses to help collect data from adults who recently finished chemotherapy for breast, colorectal, gynecologic, or lung cancer at the UW Health Cancer Center at ProHealth Care in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, where Johnston works as a clinical nurse specialist.

She’s grateful that she was able to hire research assistants. “My vision was for other oncology nurses to be with me on this road of learning how to put nursing research into practice,” she says.

ASKING QUESTIONS TO EMPOWER SURVIVORS

Much of cancer survivorship research focuses on one year after treatment, but Johnston wondered how survivors were managing during the first few months of recovery after chemotherapy.

“We’re frequently monitoring people throughout their treatment,” she notes. “As they enter the survivorship stage, there’s a little less contact. They’re learning how to manage symptoms at home and how to move back into family and work circles.

And I wondered: What’s happening with them?”

To find out, Johnston uses tools from the HealthMeasures Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®), originally funded by the National Institutes of Health. The tools prompt survivors to provide more detail than they typically would, asking how they manage common post-cancer symptoms such as fatigue, neuropathy, and anxiety.

“I started wondering if asking those questions would empower cancer survivors,” she says. “We hope to understand if there is a relationship between empowerment and cancer symptom management in the early survivorship period.”

While data collection continues, if there is a relationship, it could inform interventions that would help nurses learn how best to support cancer survivors after treatment — research she hopes to lead after she graduates in May 2022.

A ROLE MODEL FOR SUPPORTING PATIENTS’ RECOVERY

“I’m very proud that I’m doing nursing research inside a community-based cancer center,” she says. “It has allowed me to serve as a role model for other nurses. The research also really resonates with me because I am a cancer survivor and it’s about supporting patients, which is the heart of the nursing profession.”

Johnston also hopes to inspire other nurses to make their own cancer screenings a priority. “Sometimes we can get focused on our semester or our work, but it’s so important to take care of our own health and well-being,” she says.

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I started wondering if asking those questions would empower cancer survivors.

We hope to understand if there is a relationship between empowerment and cancer symptom management in the early survivorship period.”

—MARY PAT JOHNSTON, MS, RN, AOCN

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Research collaborators Karen Saban (left) and Regina ConwayPhillips on the Health Sciences Campus.

RESEARCH

Pilot study explores strategies for managing social stressors like discrimination.

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RACISM and discrimination can

seep into every aspect of a Black woman’s life: from the stress of being a minority in a workplace that might be tinged with microaggressions or overt racism to living in a neighborhood that’s not welcoming or still marked by historic redlining to worrying about the safety of loved ones every time they leave the house.

Karen Saban, PhD, APRN, CNRN, FAHA, FAAN, a professor and associate dean of research and scholarly innovation at Loyola Nursing, has studied health disparities in cardiovascular disease for years. “Even

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if you control for things like weight, smoking, and diet, disparities still exist, especially for women of color,” she notes. “We know that stress, particularly social stressors like discrimination, can increase inflammation and risk of cardiovascular disease.” Saban designed the Resilience, Stress, and Ethnicity (RiSE) program to reduce racebased stress in Black women at risk for cardiovascular disease.

After connecting with two local psychologists who were implementing a race-based stress-reduction program for veterans of color in the Chicago

area, Saban collaborated with them to tailor the program for Black women. During the eightweek pilot, 40 women attended in-person small-group sessions facilitated by the psychologists.

Participants shared how racism and discrimination affect their daily lives and discussed how their emotions affect their body.

The psychologists—Darnell Motley, PhD, University of Chicago faculty, and Lamise Shawahin, PhD, Governors State University faculty, introduced the women to stress-reducing strategies, including listening to music, coloring, meditation,

PHOTO: ERIK UNGER

Reducing race-based stress improves well-being

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Black women are exposed to stress almost from day one. We might not even realize it’s stress.

But if your body is on alert at all times it adds up. Living under constant tension isn’t healthy for anyone.”

—REGINA CONWAY-PHILLIPS, PHD, RN

journaling, and setting boundaries. “We give them a toolbox so they can choose the best tools to address their specific needs,” Saban says.

The pilot study was promising, with early data showing a positive impact. Participants gave the program rave reviews; they reported that it increased their awareness of race-based stress, provided coping tools, and enhanced their feeling of empowerment.

Regina Conway-Phillips, PhD, RN, associate professor and department chair of Health Systems and Adult Health Nursing at Loyola Nursing led the qualitative analysis of feedback from participants. “Black women are exposed to stress almost from day one,” says Conway-Phillips.

“We might not even realize it’s stress. But if your body is on alert at all times, it adds up.

When does your body relax?

Living under constant tension isn’t healthy for anyone.”

“Participants said the program provided them with the tools to negotiate life as Black women who are at risk of cardiac issues, hypertension, and other diseases that increase with stress,” says Conway-Phillips.

“It helped them deal with the daily pressures of being Black women in America.” In particular, participants appreciated opportunities to discuss painful issues in a safe space. “When they were subjected to a racist comment, a racial injustice, or someone disrespecting them in another way, the program allowed them to express themselves,” Conway-Phillips notes.

“A lot of that gets bottled up because the comment might come from a manager, and because the woman needs the job she takes it, and takes it, and takes it. After a while, she can’t even validate her feelings. Allowing the women to express their hurt helped validate their feelings.”

Saban notes that while the RiSE intervention can help Black women better cope with stress associated with racism and discrimination, it is imperative to continue working to eradicate discrimination and racism throughout society. “RiSE may help individuals cope with racism, but eliminating structural racism on a systems level is so needed,” she says.

She plans to continue examining the effectiveness of RiSE in a larger, randomized controlled trial and says that the program also may benefit Black men, students of color, LGBTQ individuals, and anyone experiencing stress associated with racism and discrimination. “I’m excited about it because it can be replicated in other populations,” she says. “RiSE is a low-cost, low-risk intervention that may be effective in helping reduce chronic stress in a variety of populations experiencing discrimination.”

Understanding disparities in breast cancer screenings CHRONIC STRESS IS JUST ONE FACTOR affecting the health

of Black women. They are also less likely to get potentially life-saving early cancer screenings because of distrust of the health care system, lack of access, and other barriers. The problem is especially acute in Chicago, which has one of the nation’s highest disparity rates in breast cancer mortality.

To better understand the thought processes of Black women considering a mammogram screening, Associate Professor Regina Conway-Phillips, PhD, RN, led a qualitative study of rarely or never screened Black women. She learned that some barriers were logistical, such as lack of insurance and access to health care. Other barriers were deeply rooted in cultural beliefs and fear: some women did not trust the health care system because of past and present systemic racism; others were fearful of pain; and some believed a myth that mammograms cause breast cancer. Yet others believed it wasn’t their place to interfere with God’s plan or worried that thinking about cancer would make it more likely to occur.

Many women admitted they would not feel comfortable sharing their beliefs and fears with their health care providers. “The women were open to exposing their true concerns because I’m a Black researcher. They could be honest and open in a safe space about what they really believed and how they really felt,” Conway-Phillips says. “They are reluctant to tell doctors their real reasons.”

Diversifying the health care field is one way to bridge the gap and more effectively address health disparities, ConwayPhillips notes. “We need to get more Black nurses into the profession,” she says. “It’s so important. People will tend to go to, listen to, and trust people who look like them and who come from the same culture or ethnic background. They know that if they say something that sounds different to a white health care provider or white nurse who doesn’t understand their culture, they run the risk of being criticized. People feel safer sharing a cultural belief with someone who shares that culture.”

In her study, Conway-Phillips discovered that female relatives and close family friends were the most powerful influencers of a woman’s decision to have a mammogram, and she plans to use that insight to develop an intervention. “I’d like to explore the intergenerational aspects of breast cancer education and awareness,” she says. “It’s not necessarily to make women have mammograms. Rather, it is to give someone the facts about cancer screenings so they can make an informed decision.”

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GRANTS

New toolkit helps nurses manage telehealth boom WITH THE RIGHT TRAINING, A PRIMARY CARE NURSE PRACTITIONER (NP) CAN MAKE A LIFE-CHANGING DIFFERENCE FOR PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH COMPLEX MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DISORDERS OR ADDICTION — EVEN FROM ACROSS A SCREEN.

PhD, APNBC, CHSE, assistant professor, Loyola Nursing, is on a mission to enhance the education of NPs to meet the mental health and substance use disorder needs of underserved communities. Her project, Extending P-PATH (Promoting Primary Care Access to Healthcare) to M-PATH (Mental Health), is supported by a fouryear, $2.8 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The project includes new content for JENNY O’ROURKE,

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students and preceptors around mental health, addiction, and telehealth; bolstering clinical partnerships; and scholarships for nurse practitioner students.

Telehealth is a key strategy to address mental health and addiction needs, particularly in rural and other medically underserved areas. Additionally, O’Rourke notes that some patients prefer telehealth.

“Mental health issues have been increasing with COVID-19 in all patient populations, but especially in adolescents and teens where there’s a shortage of

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providers,” she says. “Many kids don’t want to go to a clinic, but they will do a telehealth visit.”

TOOLKIT MEETS GROWING DEMAND FOR RESOURCES

When O’Rourke first included development of a telehealth toolkit as a small part of her grant application in 2019, she had no idea how demand for it would grow. “I never envisioned that COVID-19 would happen and that telehealth training would become such a great area of need for nurse practitioners,” O’Rourke says.

The toolkit project grew to include approximately 50 nursing faculty from 19 states, making it O’Rourke’s most ambitious collaboration. After 19 months, she and her colleagues spoke at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties Conference in April.

More than 700 people have accessed the free toolkit.

“We’ve received a lot of feedback and people are grateful for the telehealth resources,” says O’Rourke, who was the project’s co-director. “I’m proud that we leveraged the passion of

nurse educators to create something so useful. Having an idea come to fruition and knowing it’s going to have an impact is amazing.”

NEW GRANT EXPANDS PROGRAM

The toolkit includes a wealth of telehealth education resources in categories such as didactics, simulation, projects, clinical rotations, technology, and evaluation. The interactive content covers everything from telehealth etiquette to how to assess a patient via videoconferencing.

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We’re going to be looking at telehealth from different angles and really growing it within Loyola.”

—JENNY O’ROURKE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, LOYOLA NURSING

It provides nurse educators with tools to build and assess students’ telehealth competencies.

O’Rourke admits she knew nothing about telehealth when the project started. “It’s not my area, but I’m super-passionate about nursing education. I was excited about the opportunity to develop this phenomenal and much-needed resource because of the shift toward telehealth,” she says. “Even though providers are using telehealth at a high rate — 300 percent higher in this past year — there’s no training for them. Meeting a patient on

Zoom is not the same as meeting them in a clinic.”

The telehealth project is paving the way for collaborations. With support from a new $1.92 million HRSA grant, Loyola Nursing is partnering with Loyola’s School of Social Work to focus on advanced clinical interventions, including the use of telehealth, to address behavioral health in medically underserved areas.

“We’re going to be looking at telehealth from different angles and really growing it within Loyola,” O’Rourke says.

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His experience at Hines VA influenced James Dao (BSN ‘21, RN) to work at a VA hospital.

GRANTS

Preparing nursing students in primary care Loyola Nursing educates the community nurse leaders of tomorrow.

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“OH, I CAN’T READ, so you don’t

need to give that to me.”

Abby Disher (BSN ’21, RN) experienced that eye-opening moment after she gave a patient a pamphlet about COVID-19 prevention. “It made me realize primary care is an opportunity for nurses to talk with their patients and identify the barriers to care,” says Disher, who was a Primary Care Summer Fellow at an Access Community Health Network (ACCESS) site. “It made me realize this patient could be in a hospital or going through a procedure and not understand anything that was happening to him.”

The eight-week, paid fellowship for rising seniors is part of Loyola’s Primary Care Community Health Nursing Scholars (PCCHNS) program, which is supported by a four-year, $2.79 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program is designed to prepare students to consider careers in primary care, particularly with underserved populations.

Program Director and Associate Professor Ann Solari-Twadell, RN, PhD, MPA, FAAN, says she’s not aware of another primary care summer nursing fellowship like Loyola’s.

Because students’ summer hospital internships between junior and senior year often turn into post-graduation job offers, it’s a critical time to provide students with an intensive primary care experience.

“Within the nursing culture, there’s this idea that you need to have experience in the hospital setting. And for an undergraduate student to say, ‘I’m going to skip the hospital set-

ting and go right into primary care’ is really forward-thinking,” Solari-Twadell says. “But it is important to recognize the unique role of nursing in advancing health equity through primary care. These students are committed to work in the community to address social determinants of health and advance health equity with increasingly complex clients.”

Since its 2018 start, 28 students have participated in the program. Fellows have clinical experiences at ACCESS, which operates 35 federally qualified health centers that see primarily patients who receive Medicaid or do not have insurance; primary care clinics at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood, Illinois; and the Loyola Nursing School-Based Health Center at Proviso East High School, also in Maywood.

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

During the intensive clinical experience, fellows learn how to coordinate care for patients in communities that are medically underserved and gain exposure to primary care nursing roles, health policy, community-based programming, and special populations, in addition to quality and safety programs. Reflections, journaling, book discussions, and a group project help fellows connect their clinical experiences with classroom learning. Fellows also meet with nursing leaders at their clinic sites, exposing them to leadership roles in primary care.

“What’s really fun for me is to collaboratively create this program that provides nursing students new opportunities to change their world view, prepares them for the future of health care, and gives them

‘‘

I found it very rewarding to work with veterans at Hines VA. To help provide quality, holistic care for a population that is sometimes neglected by society was inspiring. ” —JAMES DAO (BSN ’21, RN)

deeper insight into what they might be ‘called’ to do to provide purpose and meaning in their careers,” Solari-Twadell says.

The HRSA grant will conclude in 2022, but the fellowship will continue. ACCESS committed to funding summer fellows at its sites and also has hired Loyola Nursing first- and second-year students as greeters at its COVID-19 vaccination clinics. “Some of our students are getting an experience in primary care before they even begin their clinical rotations,” Solari-Twadell says. “That’s a huge benefit.”

COMMUNITY PARTNERS THAT HOST FELLOWS BENEFIT, TOO

“It’s a win-win-win situation,” says Anna Bretschneider, PhD, APRN-BC, chief of education service and designated learning officer at Hines VA. “For the veterans, who work with students; for the primary care staff, who now have this fresh perspective and also a very informed, evidence-based practice perspective; and for students, who study and bring contemporary nursing knowledge, infusing that and integrating it into those teams.”

ACCESS Chief Operating Officer Ann Lundy, RN, BSN, MBA, says she’s continually impressed by the caliber of Loyola Nursing students. “They are very well prepared academically, and their hearts and souls are prepared, too,” she says.

“That really speaks to our mission at ACCESS and is probably one of the main reasons why this works out so well — it’s the combination of heart and brain, and Loyola Nursing students really want to come into an area of great need and service for very vulnerable populations.”

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EDUCATION

Moving Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist Preparation to the DNP Degree PhD, RN, FNP, FAAN, began as Loyola Nursing dean in 2019, she was president of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) and leading its commitment to move all entry-level nurse practitioner education to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree by 2025.

Fittingly, one of her first initiatives as dean was to work with Loyola Nursing faculty to move Loyola’s nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist tracks to the DNP degree.

“Today, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) enter health care systems caring for vulnerable and often underserved populations with multiple coexisting conditions and numerous unmet needs.

As a result, we need to prepare students at the highest level to WHEN LORNA FINNEGAN,

DNP programs in the U.S. grew from

53 to 357 from 2007 to 2019

monitor care for populations of patients, identify gaps in care processes and outcomes, use data and information technology, and critically appraise and apply evidence to improve practice and population health,” says Finnegan.

Susan Buechele, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, IBCLC, assistant dean

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of graduate clinical programs and clinical assistant professor, discusses why the DNP degree is an essential degree for APRN practice and highlights benefits of earning a DNP degree at Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.

Q: Why is the DNP degree the credential of choice for entry to APRN practice?

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated health care complexity and exposed longstanding health inequities. As APRNs, nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists need to be prepared at the highest level of practice to navigate and lead through these complexities and design novel strategies to reduce health disparities and achieve health equity for all. The DNP degree prepares APRNs to think about practice problems at a systems level, identify social determinants and other structural factors that impact the lives of patients, and develop and implement interventions and programs for the promotion of optimal health and health equity.

Q: What differentiates the Loyola Nursing DNP program?

At Loyola Nursing, our “Why” is to build relationships that positively transform lives. Our relationship-focused approach to teaching and learning is grounded in Jesuit values, par-

L OYO L A U N I V E R S I T Y C H I C AG O M A R C E L L A N I E H O F F S C H O O L O F N U R S I N G

ticularly those related to social justice, care of the whole person, and service to others. This approach underscores everything we do and provides our students with a truly transformative education. I am consistently impressed when I sit and listen to students and faculty and learn about projects, clinical experiences, service trips, and research initiatives they are spearheading; they are making such a big difference and positively transforming the lives of individuals, families, and communities.

Our faculty members are expert clinicians who maintain clinical practice and have firsthand, current knowledge of the complexities of clinical practice.

They bring their real-world experience to the classroom environment and guide students to apply best evidence and meet the challenges of achieving positive health outcomes in a complex, dynamic health care environment.

Our relationship-building extends well beyond Loyola.

We have a robust network of clinical practice partners. Our clinical placement team finds and secures clinical placements for each student, based on the network of stellar partner sites in the Chicago metropolitan area. Students are matched with clinical placements and preceptors so that they can meet the competencies that prepare them for advanced nursing practice.

‘‘

I chose the Loyola DNP program because it will prepare me to deliver high-quality health care with a focus on ethics and justice.

My calling is to be a primary care nurse practitioner capable of delivering exceptional care to adults of all life experiences.

With DNP preparation, I will be able to meet such care needs in an everchanging world.”

—ERICA DIXON-JOHNSON DNP STUDENT, ADULT GERONTOLOGY PRIMARY CARE NURSE PRACTITIONER TRACK

DNP GRADUATE

Bridging the gap between “medicine and miracle” for Advocate Trinity Hospital’s inpatient palliative care program, nurse practitioner Shawndra Ferrell, DNP ’20, APRN, FNPBC, ACHPN, is used to having difficult conversations with patients and their families. But she noticed a common thread in the patients most reluctant to discuss advance care planning: religious faith.

“You’d be amazed how many people will say, ‘I don’t have to worry about things like that because God has a plan,’” says Ferrell, a former minister and faith community nurse. “You’ll plan for your kids’ college, for a cruise three years from now, for your burial, but not for your future health care in the event of a crisis because you don’t think God will think it’s OK?” In a community that is 83 percent African American and where health disparities abound, Ferrell was determined to break down barriers to advance care planning. She asked patients if she could invite their faith leaders to the discussion, which led to rich, empowering conversations. That inspired Ferrell’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project, “Advance Care Planning in the African American Church: Taking the Dis-ease Out of the Conversation.”

Ferrell’s own faith inspired her to attend Loyola Nursing.

Initially, she wasn’t sure about pursuing a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) degree, but three words suddenly came to her: tables, doors, and platforms.

She instantly felt it was a mesAS THE SOLE PROVIDER

sage from God about what a doctorate could make possible.

“To me, it meant tables you’ll be invited to, platforms you’ll have, doors that will swing open because of that degree,” she says.

THE CONVERSATION PROJECT

The doors began opening with her DNP project. Using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s “The Conversation Project” and its faith-based tools, Ferrell built a two-session program to teach faith leaders about advance care planning and how to lead the conversation with others in their community. “The findings were very encouraging,” says Ferrell, who has since presented her work at several conferences. “Both readiness and self-efficacy showed a significant change.”

She wrapped up her DNP project just before COVID-19 hit. Suddenly all the “what if” questions about CPR and ventilators took on a new urgency.

“It became so pertinent, so fast,” she says.

Now she hopes to build on her project and bring the advance care planning message to more faith communities.

“My mind imagined what could happen in my emergency room in five to 10 years if every church, every mosque, every synagogue started doing these trainings,” she says. “It doesn’t need to be a battle between medicine and miracle. If we work hard, we can help people involve their faith experience in their health experience. My

Nurse Practitioner Shawndra Ferrell (DNP ’20) enjoyed a surprise trip to the “big game,” thanks to her dedication.

life goal is to see it happen in every ethnic background and every faith.”

“SUPER” PROMOTION OF COVID-19 VACCINES

Ferrell found other platforms, too. She decided to speak up on social media after getting her first COVID-19 vaccine shot — at a time when she was still hearing hesitancy from friends, family, and patients of color.

She posted a photo and a simple message: “As a Black and Brown person, of course I had reservations. As a nurse practitioner, I take care of the sickest in my hospital. I am glad I chose to do this. Protecting myself and my family. Protecting yours in my care.”

The post generated positive buzz. One day, her hospital’s president invited her to a mysterious Zoom call. It turned

out to be former Chicago Bears cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman with the news that Ferrell was one of four Advocate Aurora Health employees to get a free trip to the Super Bowl. “It was hard to accept it at first,” she admits. “I wasn’t sure why I would be singled out when we were all working so hard during the pandemic.”

Ferrell’s public advocacy for the vaccines had attracted the attention of her hospital’s administrative leadership. The resulting media attention after the Super Bowl surprise gave her another platform to advocate for both vaccination and advance care planning.

Ferrell isn’t sure what table, door, or platform will be next, but she’s ready to seize every opportunity to help patients. “I cannot wait to see what the next year holds,” she says.

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TRAINING GRANTS

NIH funding and a salute to graduates Faculty members receive prestigious grants; NINR director (and commencement keynote speaker) calls on graduates to be problem-solvers, particularly in high-needs communities.

Mindfulness helps support NICU moms Lindsey Garfield, PhD, RN, witnesses the devastating impact of postpartum depression—and she noted a large percentage of the moms affected were women of color.

“The statistics are really startling,” says Garfield, who is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing. “African-American moms are almost four times more likely than white moms to have post-traumatic stress after the birth of their baby and are three times more likely to have depressive symptoms,” she says.

“I could spend my whole career focused on the why, but my real interest is helping these moms.”

Through a highly competitive selection process, Garfield received a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the National Institute of Nursing Research. The funding will support her training and a clinical trial on mindfulness as a stress reduction tool for Black mothers who have an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). She will be mentored by Loyola professor emeritus Linda Janusek, PhD, RN, FAAN, who has extensive research expertise examining the impact of chronic stress on well-being.

“We know that mindfulness is an effective intervention to decrease stress, and Black women who have a baby in the NICU have added stress,” says Garfield. “Moms who have additional stress have impaired mother-infant interactions and bonding because they’re less responsive to subtle cues. Reducing stress would help moms and babies. We really can have a transgenerational improvement of health and quality of life,” says Garfield.

Because many mindfulness resources are geared to white women, Garfield worked with Natalie Watson-Singleton, PhD, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at Spelman College (Atlanta), to adapt the popular Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and make it more culturally appropriate for Black moms. A mindfulness coach who identifies as a Black woman will manage the class, offer virtual mindfulness sessions, and create a community of Black moms. Clinical trial participants will meet weekly in person or over Zoom in small groups for course sessions to discuss topics such as mindful responding, health and AS A WOMEN’S HEALTH NURSE PRACTITIONER,

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illness, and cultural connections to food. The coach also will teach the moms how to incorporate their current spirituality and stressreduction practices with mindfulness.

After the eight-week program, Garfield will measure participants’ stress, depression, and anxiety levels to see if psychosocial wellbeing is improved as compared to a control group that receives an education program focused on maternal and infant health. If the intervention is effective, Garfield will seek additional funding for a larger trial. Ultimately, she wants to see it offered through hospitals, churches, and community organizations.

“A culturally appropriate mindfulness program is a promising intervention to address stress in Black moms, improve their health, and ultimately improve the health of their babies,” she says.

Improving self-management in young patients with spina bifida CHILDREN WITH SPINA BIFIDA are living longer than ever before. So

what sets apart those who thrive in adulthood from those who don’t?

That’s what Associate Professor Monique Ridosh, PhD, RN, hopes to discover. Recently, Ridosh received a highly competitive K1 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from the National Institute of Nursing Research to advance her research with adolescents and young adults living with spina bifida. The funding allows her to spend the next three years concentrating on research under mentor Grayson Holmbeck, PhD, a Loyola University Chicago psychology professor who has followed families with spina bifida for more than 20 years. Ridosh will delve into data already collected from 140 families, learning new skills in advanced statistics and longitudinal analysis.

“It’s an opportunity awarded through a very competitive process.

Honestly, it required great persistence and a rigorous research plan. The award validates that my plan for research and training is promising,” she says.

People with spina bifida face a higher risk of early mortality because of related secondary conditions, but interventions to better manage their condition could make a difference.

“I want to partner with families so they have the tools to help their children become

independent sooner because that is the key for them to be healthier,” Ridosh says. “Delays in reaching independence, known to occur in children with childhood chronic conditions such as spina bifida, likely impact development of important skills needed to manage their conditions such as ordering supplies, managing insurance, making health care appointments, and problem solving. But no one really has studied families who have children with spina bifida over time to determine what has contributed to their independence and successful self-management. We think if we can get them to manage their health better during childhood and adolescence, we can help them be healthier adults.”

Using a self-management and independence measure, Ridosh will study longitudinal data on individuals 18 and older to see if there are factors that predict a healthier trajectory. This research could inform interventions to optimize outcomes for children and adolescents living with spina bifida. And what she learns may apply to chronic conditions other than spina bifida.

“Researching this very complex condition absolutely gives us information that can inform other chronic conditions,” she says.

“Kids are now living longer with chronic conditions, such as cardiac defects and respiratory ailments, but they don’t necessarily have the skills to manage their own conditions. There are lessons here that could help us change that.”

NINR director urges graduates to reduce disparities leading nurse scientist Shannon Zenk, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), as keynote speaker at its virtual commencement in May. “There is no one path for nurses,” Zenk told the audience. “Our skills are needed wherever decisions affecting health are made, such as in hospitals, public policy, community health centers, school systems, and criminal justice settings. You will bring your voices to all these conversations, to advocate for your patients, our profession, and everyone that it touches.”

Zenk’s accomplished career has included work as a clinician, scientist, educator, and now director of the nation’s leading funder of nurse scientists. The NINR supports and conducts research to solve critical health challenges and provides the scientific basis LOYOLA NURSING WELCOMED

for policy and nursing practice. Prior to joining the NINR in September 2020, Zenk was a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Nursing and a fellow at the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy.

Zenk is well known for her pioneering research on racial/ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities. Her work on urban food deserts sparked national attention to the lack of healthy, affordable foods in low-income and Black neighborhoods. She has studied how community environments and personal factors like stress and income interact to influence health behaviors such as diet and physical activity.

Working as a home health nurse early in her career, Zenk realized her interest in research. “Spending time in patients’ homes and in different communities, I was struck by the tremendous differences in their home and community environments, both in terms of privilege and poverty,” she says. “I found it difficult to talk with some patients about healthy eating when what they really needed to restore their health was far more fundamental: having enough to eat, decent and stable housing, reliable electricity, and a safe environment. These experiences inspired me to pursue my PhD to understand how resources are distributed among communities, and the impact of this distribution on some of the large and persistent health disparities across our country.”

Zenk isn’t surprised that COVID-19 has taken its highest toll in communities of color, she said. “Consider this: Although washing your hands with soap and water is a critical public health strategy to prevent the spread of coronavirus, people living in low-income communities and people of color are at highest risk to have their water shut off,” she says. “Working from home has helped prevent the spread of the virus. Yet, again, people of color are much less likely to be able to work from home.” She notes that the pandemic has exacerbated income inequities that will continue to affect the health of individuals and families for years to come.

Zenk urged Loyola Nursing graduates to use their education to help solve these problems. “Listen to your patients; get to know their communities. Use your expertise, your skills, and your voice to advocate for solutions that will meet their needs,” she says. “Whatever path you choose in your nursing career, we need your ideas. They will lead to solutions for our most pressing health problems and most stubborn health disparities.”

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Loyola Nursing by the numbers BSN PROGRAM: IN ITS FIRST-EVER RANKING OF BSN PROGRAMS, U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT RANKED LOYOLA’S PROGRAM 31ST OUT OF 694 PROGRAMS IN THE COUNTRY.

LOYOLA’S BSN RANKED SECOND AMONG SCHOOLS IN ILLINOIS

93.3% 2020 NCLEX PASS RATE FOR FIRST-TIME TEST TAKERS

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#2

2020 CERTIFICATION PASS RATES FOR OUR NURSE PRACTITIONER AND CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST GRADUATES 93.1%

Family Nurse Practitioner

100%

Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner

100%

Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

100%

Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist

100%

Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner

PHOTOS: ERIK UNGER

31694 OUT OF

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CELEBRATED 85TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2020 12,500 GRADUATES AS OF SUMMER 2021

$748,459 in donor gifts fiscal year 2021.

Thank you to our generous donors!

FALL 2021 ENROLLMENT Students attend Loyola Nursing from 36 states and several countries.

Fiscal year 2020–2021 Research Grant Activity 18 new and ongoing grants totaling

68

1,111 BSN

185

DNP

$2,520,815

MSN

Certificate & Graduate Non-Degree

23

PhD

32

1,419

TOTAL LOYO L A NURSING 2021

19

COVID-19 RESPONSE

Learning, teaching, and partnering with communities during COVID-19 Who would have imagined that the world would experience a pandemic during the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife (2020)? Thanks to the World Health Organization and the American Nurses Association, that recognition year continued through 2021. Read about how Loyola Nursing students, faculty, and alumni experienced this significant and challenging time.

IN-PERSON CLASSES HELP STUDENTS LEARN PATIENT EXAM FUNDAMENTALS

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LOYOLA NURSING ALUMNI ON THE FRONT LINES

Amy Blair, MD, (left) and Thao Griffith, PhD, RN, Loyola faculty, administer COVID-19 testing as part of CERC-L, a program for the communities surrounding the Health Sciences Campus.

UNDERSTANDING COVID-19 THROUGH RESEARCH PROJECTS

address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

What is the pandemic’s impact on nurses? How does the added stress of living through a pandemic impact pregnant women? How are individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 recovering? These and other questions were the focus of three short-term COVID-19 research projects funded by the COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program.

Funded through the Ruth K. Palmer Endowment Fund, which was established by the late Loyola Nursing dean Gladys Kiniery in memory of her beloved sister, this program supports shortterm innovative studies that

WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES TO REDUCE HEALTH INEQUITIES

L OYO L A U N I V E R S I T Y C H I C AG O M A R C E L L A N I E H O F F S C H O O L O F N U R S I N G

When it was clear that COVID-19 was impacting communities of color harder than other communities, an interdisciplinary team from Loyola’s health sciences schools, along with the schools of law and social work, created CERC-L, the COVID Equity Response Collaborative: Loyola. This team provided drive-through testing, contact tracing, and connections to support services.

Loyola Nursing’s Thao Griffith, PhD, RN, along with Stritch

Nina Herkert (BSN ’19) was only months into her first nursing position when the pandemic hit. “Being a first-year nurse in the emergency department during a pandemic— I would be lying if I said I wasn’t overwhelmed,” she says.

Herkert works at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, where she completed her orientation in April 2020. As a young nurse, Herkert said it’s been a difficult experience trying to develop confidence in her nursing practice on top of the challenges facing all health care professionals during this public health crisis. “Along with the fear of shortcomings as a new nurse, I now have the challenge of lack of supplies, large patient volumes, and the concern of contracting the virus.

I anticipated difficulties in my first year as a nurse, but I never anticipated this.”

As a Loyola Nursing graduate, Herkert finds strength by tapping into her Jesuit education.

“Being a Loyola nurse means using my understanding of people as both body and soul and walking alongside them on their health care journey,” Herkert reflects.

PHOTO: LUKAS KEAPPROTH

In the fall of 2020, Madison Stoffel donned her mask and maroon nursing scrubs and participated in her only oncampus class that semester: in the clinical simulation lab.

A hands-on learner, she was grateful to be on campus and learn in person, even while social distancing from her classmates. “It’s not something you can learn online,” Stoffel says. “We are learning to work with blood pressure cuffs, scopes, bandages — it’s not as easy as it looks.”

Leading Stoffel’s lessons was instructor Donna Kamuda.

When she heard that the lab course would remain in-person, Kamuda was just as relieved as Stoffel. “There’s no other way to do it,” says Kamuda.

“We’re teaching students how to examine a patient, how to take a blood pressure, skills they need for their careers.”

Kamuda and co-instructor Kate Hilovsky sensed the added stress on students and did everything possible to ease the pressure. Between lessons, they offered breaks to help students stay on task. Kamuda also encouraged students to contact her at any time with questions or concerns.

“We are here for our students, and they realize it,” says Kamuda.

School of Medicine’s Amanda Harrington, PhD, were the two testing leads.

GIVING

Scholarship commemorates decades of friendship The LULUs (members of the class of 1966) honor Loyola Nursing.

“WE MET IN OUR FIRST YEAR with

dreams of becoming nurses, wives, and mothers, and making our mark on society. We didn’t realize that we were about to become lifelong friends,” recalls Jan (DiVito) Baldwin, (BSN ’66, MSN ’82). “Over the years, we have spoken often of how proud we are to be Loyola nurses and how grateful we are that Loyola brought us together. We came seeking an education but received so much more: true friends for a lifetime.”

The “LULUs” include Baldwin, Posey (Lehman) Woertz, Sandie (Kostos) Maloney, Mariann (Henry) Schmidt, Vicky (Zmudka) Eynon, Judy (Rogers) Powers, Patti (Byrne) Sheehan, Eileen Mulqueeney, and Maura (Condon) Serpe. It was the sort of friendship forged through countless campus lunches and all-night study sessions where everyone brought a fetal pig to anatomy practice before a big exam. Those early gatherings inspired monthly dinner parties for years after graduation and then annual reunion trips after some of the “LULUs” scattered across the country.

Even when the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted their usual reunion plans, the “LULUs” remained connected via email, calls, and texts.

Support from the “LULUs” helped Baldwin through the difficult period after her husband, Allan, died in 2019. That’s when she started thinking about establishing a scholarship at

Loyola, where Allan had worked as vice president of information technology.

“After losing my husband, I had lots of time for reflection and to think about my legacy — what I stand for, what I want to continue,” she says.

When Baldwin decided to pledge $15,000 over the next three years for a current-use scholarship fund named for the “LULUs”, her former ’66 classmates and their children were thrilled to join her to support Loyola Nursing. “I think donating to the school is a way to help the future of nursing,” she says. “I want to give a person the

opportunity to have an education at a wonderful school and become a nurse. Nursing is such a life-changing way to give back to society.”

Loyola touched Baldwin’s life in several ways. Her first job after graduation was as a critical care nurse at Loyola University Medical Center, and she later returned to Loyola Nursing for her master’s degree. As she moved into various senior administrative roles at Cook County Hospital and the University of Illinois Hospital, she was guided by the values that she and the other “LULUs” had learned at Loyola Nursing.

“We became aware that we were part of something bigger when we entered Loyola, that nursing is a high calling, and Loyola’s philosophy of respect for each person as an individual permeated our education,” she says. “Loyola taught us the importance of personal accountability and responsibility, caring, and compassion, as well as the highest level of integrity we would need as nurses. These values made us better nurses and carried over into our personal lives, making us better people.”

With the LULU Scholarship, those values will live on in the next generation.

Front row from left: Patti (Byrne) Sheehan, BSN ’66; Sandie (Kostos) Maloney, BSN ’66; Vicki Keough (Professor and Dean Emerita), Eileen Mulqueeney, BSN ’66, MSN ’70; Vicky (Zmudka) Eynon, BSN ’66; Second row from left: Elizabeth (Lehman) Woertz, BSN ’66; Maura (Condon) Serpe, BSN ’66, MSW ’93; Judy (Rogers) Powers, BSN ’66; Janice (DiVito) Baldwin, BSN ’66, MSN ’82; Mariann (Henry) Schmidt, BSN ’66.

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GIVING

“Anonymous” helps immigrant pursue nursing career

Andrei Dmitriev was selected to receive the scholarship.

We’ve excerpted his compelling essay and thank-you note to share as a source of inspiration and possibility.

FROM ANDREI’S ESSAY:

While growing up in my village of 200 people, receiving proper care was difficult. My grandmother needed adequate, dignified care while battling cancer. During her last stage of fighting the disease, she was treated indifferently. I still remember the care providers yelling that she was “done” and should be sent to the morgue. My grandmother heard the cruel comments and it made her feel helpless; she cried. This is an experience I will not easily forget.

There were prior steps where I was beaten up and hospitalized in St. Petersburg, Russia, for being a gay, Jewish man. And there were steps where I leveraged my multilingual/multicultural heritage to help others through physical pain. I would like to utilize my steps up to now coupled with a nursing profession to show that through hardships, never forgetting who you are, acting with compassion and a little bit of luck, one can overcome many things.

I was accepted into the Loyola Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, a milestone and a big step for a man from Russia trying to live a good life and wanting to love and care for whom he wants. Through hard work and educational opportunities such as the one I am getting with Loyola, I feel there are fewer barriers.

I want to help other underrepresented groups, especially those trying to escape persecution and those who just want a shot at a good and healthy life.

I want to use my journey, my nursing knowledge, my cultural identity, and my personal identity to pay it forward.

AND FROM ANDREI’S THANK-YOU NOTE TO OUR GENEROUS DONOR:

Your generosity validated my steps in coming to the U.S. with basically nothing, escaping oppression and being physically beaten for wanting to love how I was born to love. Nursing will allow me to help those who want to better themselves despite barriers not of their own making and train future health professionals.

Between my citizenship interview and being sworn in as a citizen, your generosity showed up. To put it simply, wow! So many blessings coming through at once.

I hope to someday pay it forward not only by matching your kindness but also by demonstrating through good works that barriers can be overcome. Through hard work, self-sufficiency, and faith, I hope to show others that a person should never be ashamed of who they love, what they believe, or how they want to live.

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ANONYMOUS PHOTO: ERIK UNGER; INVEST PHOTO: LUKAS KEAPPROTH

A generous anonymous donor provided a scholarship to help a student pursue his Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) degree.

luc.edu/nursing/giving

INVEST IN LOYOLA NURSES Your support makes an important impact on Loyola Nursing’s education, research, and service mission.

Your investment — through large and small gifts — will help our students today and for years to come:

• •

Excellence in Nursing Fund Nursing Endowed Scholarship Fund

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Nursing Student Emergency Fund Bell Inclusive Excellence Fund

Please also consider supporting Loyola Nursing through planned giving (will, trust, IRA distributions and other gift planning options).

Email niehoffadvancement@luc.edu to discuss how planned gifts can support nursing education and may provide you with tax advantages.

LOYO L A NURSING 2021

23

NON PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE

PAID PERMIT NO. 5539

820 N. Michigan Avenue • Chicago, IL 60611

ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF NURSING PRACTICE Pursue a DNP from Loyola Nursing Become a transformative nursing leader in today’s increasingly complex and dynamic health care environment.

Shape the future of health care with a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree from Loyola Nursing. Social justice, care for the whole person, and service to others are foundational values of our relationship-focused approach to teaching and learning. Learn more about the benefits of becoming a Loyola nursing leader on page 14.

APPLY AT

• LUC.edu/nursing

CHICAGO, IL