FOCUS ON FACULTY
BISSINGER NAMED ASSOCIATE DEAN
Robin L. Bissinger, PhD, APRN, NNP-BC assumed the role of associate dean for academics on June 1. In this role, Dr. Bissinger provides leadership in managing various facets of the college’s academic nursing programs including faculty and student affairs, program coordination and resource development and allocation. In addition, Dr. Bissinger continues to serve as the director of graduate programs leading the Doctor of Nursing Practice and master’s degree programs. Dr. Bissinger previously functioned as the manager for the neonatal nurse practitioner team at the Children’s Hospital and dedicated her clinical work to support, educate and advance the role of the neonatal nurse practitioner. College of Nursing Dean Gail Stuart, said she is proud to bring someone of Dr. Bissinger’s leadership and clinical and academic experience to the role. “Dr. Bissinger is an excellent addition to my leadership team as she brings exceptionally strong skills in clinical practice, national nursing leadership and expertise in quality care and patient safety. I anticipate continued academic growth and outstanding outcomes in the days to come.” First appointed to the College of Nursing faculty in 1994, Dr. Bissinger is board certified by the National Certification Corporation as a neonatal nurse practitioner. She also is founder and past chair of the National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners, past president of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses, past president and executive director of the Carolina’s Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners and liaison to the perinatal executive board for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Currently, Dr. Bissinger is president of the National Certification Corporation and vice-chair of the Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics. She is an active member of the National Alliance and LACE groups, which are moving the advanced practice registered nurse toward a consensus model. Dr. Bissinger earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology and psychology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western Carolina University, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing from the MUSC College of Nursing. She was presented with the Distinguished Leadership in Neonatal Nursing Award and the South Carolina League of Nursing Excellence Award. The author of numerous publications, Dr. Bissinger’s clinical and research interests involve the study of secondary surfactant dysfunction and deficiency in neonates. She is active in the South Carolina Neonatal Medical Consortium and has worked to help the state initiate and publish process improvement efforts on “The Golden Hour: A resuscitation strategy for very low birth weight infants.”
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Lifelines
FALL | WINTER 2012
STUART’S 10TH EDITION PUBLISHED
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Since its initial publication in 1979, generations of nurses have been educated using Dean Gail Stuart’s award-winning textbook,
Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing. More than 30 years later, publisher Mosby Elsevier released the 10th edition in summer 2012. Previous editions were honored with four Book of the Year Awards from the American Journal of Nursing, and the text has also been translated into six languages. This 10th edition continues to be the true leader and standard-bearer in the field as it takes content to a new level, reflecting contemporary aspects of health care. Specifically, this edition includes new content on motivational interviewing, traumatic brain injury, substance use screening and brief interventions (SBIRT), lateral violence in nursing, health care reform including integrated physical and mental health care, virtual mental health care, patient-centered health care homes, and care management and collaborative care models. In addition, there are new chapters on Policy and Advocacy in Mental Health Care and The Military and Their Families, and in response to the important work of the Institute of Medicine, there are Quality and Safety boxes included in each clinical chapter. Finally, this text, in conjunction with the Evolve website, presents an innovative and complete educational package that includes videos and podcasts and goes well beyond the pages of the textbook.