N
r e t t e l s w e The Glen Taylor Nursing Institute
for Family and Society at Minnesota State
University, Mankato is dedicated to providing leadership
and expertise in family and societal health at local, state,
national and international levels. The Institute, Taylor Visiting Scholars and Becky Taylor Doctoral Fellowships are made possible by a
$7 million endowment established by Glen and Becky Taylor.
Spring 2018 • Issue 8
From the Director
As we begin 2018 I am excited to share recent initiatives of the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society at Minnesota State University, Mankato. This newsletter celebrates the graduation of one of our Becky Taylor Fellows and the hiring of a faculty member to serve educational needs of nurses and health care professionals. Our efforts to strengthen collaboration with practice partners allows us to capitalize on simulation opportunities in the new Clinical Science Building and move toward transforming nursing practice. Faculty and students continue to engage in local Dr. Sandra Eggenberger and international conferences where they can learn from colleagues and disseminate their scholarship. We are excited about our new partnership with the Bloomington School District where faculty and students provide an innovative model of nursing practice to students, families and communities. Wishing you a great New Year!
Darmofal Research
Leslie Darmofal, an assistant professor in nursing at Bemidji State University and recent doctoral graduate of Minnesota State Mankato School of Nursing, has been using her Becky Taylor Fellowship to identify and measure the psychological distress that comes with -- and after -- cancer. Distress, she says, can be part of any stage – from diagnosis to remission to a clean bill of health. Her premise is that in the majority of cases, the effects of having cancer at any stage will likely produce psychological effects that linger. Yet over time, health care provider’ concerns and inquiries about how the patient and family are feeling psychologically tend to fade. “It’s not like a broken leg and once it’s fixed it’s fixed,” Darmofal said. “You carry this with you for the rest of your life. Sometimes anniversaries of diagnosis or when you go for your annual check, all the emotions come back.” She envisions a time when the psychological distress of cancer for the patient and caregiver is
Webinar for IFNA Institute Director Dr. Sandra Eggenberger and colleague Dr. Sonja Meiers from Winona State University recently shared their expertise in family interviewing with the global community of International Family Nursing Association. The State of the Science of Family Interviewing webinar focused on family interviewing in nursing research, education and practice. These leaders in family nursing provided a review of evidence and shared their experiences with family meetings and family interviews.
monitored over time and nursing actions are implemented. At this stage, though, guided by nursing faculty Dr. Sue Ellen Bell, she's off to a promising first round of research. Reviewing recent literature on the topic and having access to more than 70 individuals at varying stages of living with cancer, Darmofal’s work opened her to a flood of responses that convinced her there is plenty of data to mine and examine. “I had, across the board, every type of comment,” she said. “It didn’t matter if you were 10 years out from cancer diagnosis and treatment, or if you were one year out. People had very strong feelings about how they felt about themselves living with the cancer experience.” The next stage of her research includes replicating the project to see if it points out treatment options that are the most effective. Given that cancer “survivorship” is a hot topic in the medical and nursing communities, it’s likely she’ll find others researching along those lines as well. Together the findings will inform next directions. “The idea is if we keep moving forward one further step,” Darmofal said, “we will be able to identify the effective interventions for the distress of people at the right times for the right cancers.” Darmofal received her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at Minnesota State Mankato in December 2017.