NURSING Magazine | 2020 | Volume 1

NURSING

2020 . VOLUME 1

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER SCHOOL OF NURSING

WELLNESS THAT WORKS

Study Shows Success of UR Employee Wellness Program in Improving Heart Health

PICTURE THIS

Highland Hospital CNO Melissa Derleth presenting a button to Becky Stanton.

II NURSING 2020 Volume 1

UR School of Nursing’s Dean Kathy Rideout and assistant professors of clinical nursing Robin Stacy (left) and Lisa Brophy (right) handing out buttons in the lobby of Helen Wood Hall.

WHO Shines Spotlight on Nursing, Midwifery Beginning on the first Monday of 2020, chief nursing officers and nursing leadership from across the University of Rochester handed out more than 1,000 buttons in recognition of the Year of the Nurse and Midwife.

School of Nursing Dean Kathy Rideout, URMC Chief Nursing Executive Karen Davis, and chief nursing officers from affiliates across the system kicked off the URMC celebration of the Year of the Nurse and Midwife on Jan. 6. The leaders distributed “2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife” buttons at URMC affiliates and facilities including the School of Nursing, Strong Memorial Hospital, Golisano Children’s Hospital, Wilmot Cancer Center, Highland Hospital, Noyes Memorial Hospital, Jones Memorial Hospital, St. James Hospital, and FF Thompson Hospital.

In January 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife in recognition of the vital roles those professionals play in delivering care to patients worldwide. The yearlong celebration is also significant because it marks the culmination of the three-year Nursing Now campaign to improve health globally by raising the status of nursing and the dissemination and policy dialogue surrounding the release of the first-ever State of the World’s Nursing report.

Attendees of a Year of the Nurse and Midwife kickoff celebration at Jones Memorial Hospital.

According to the WHO, the world needs 9 million more nurses and midwives if it is to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. The WHO and partners are collaborating to highlight the challenging conditions nurses often face, and advocate for increased investments in the nursing and midwifery workforce.

Read more about how the School of Nursing and URMC are marking this landmark year on page 4.

Update from our last issue After seeing a photo in our last issue (2019 Volume 1) of the mural in the tunnel running below Crittenden Blvd., Johanna Farnham ’15N, a nurse at Golisano Children’s Hospital, wrote in to clarify its origins.

“Unfortunately, the story behind the mural is not quite as lovely as was told in the magazine. The mural is 12 years old and was created by adolescents diagnosed with eating disorders in the 4th floor of Strong Hospital. In the spring of 2007 I was finishing up a thesis for my master’s in creative arts therapy at Nazareth College, which involves using graffiti art techniques (legally) to assist in the development of self-efficacy for these patients. We came up with the design together.

I transferred the outline to the brick wall in the tunnel, and some of the patients were given permission to go on a ‘field trip’ to the tunnel to paint in the colors. The symbolism of the mural was varied to the patients, but included rebirth/transformation, community, personal growth, and a hint at Mercury’s staff at the center of the tree trunk.”

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 1

A Message from the Dean Dear Friends, As I write this in mid-April, we’re now in our second month since life as we knew it has been turned upside down by the coronavirus. Like many of you, I now spend much of my time at home, staying connected with University and Medical Center leadership, our faculty, staff, and students via email, Zoom, and the good oldfashioned phone call.

I send to you, the members of our tight-knit School of Nursing family, my warmest wishes and most sincere hopes that you and your loved ones are safe, healthy, and remaining strong in the face of this global pandemic. This crisis is unlike any other the world has seen in our lifetime in terms of its scope and severity, and we at the School of Nursing are adapting as best we can to rapidly changing conditions.

Kathy H. Rideout, EdD, PPCNP-BC, FNAP Vice President, University of Rochester Medical Center Dean and Professor of Clinical Nursing and Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Nursing

As our Associate Dean for Research Sally Norton so ably described it – we’re in full nurse mode. We’ve instituted many previously unfathomable changes – from delivering instruction completely online to reassigning our faculty and staff to clinical roles to converting unused classroom space in Helen Wood Hall to a child care facility for our health system’s frontline patient care staff. But I think it’s important to note that we’ve also maintained many of the efforts that define us.

Our commitment to sustaining our academic mission, to quality instruction, our personalized approach to student success, none of that has changed.

It is vital that we continue to do “business as usual” whenever possible, including the production of this magazine, which has always been a critical link keeping our alumni, friends, and donors connected to our campus. This issue, in production long before the start of the emergence of COVID-19 in Rochester, highlights many of the academic, research, and clinical achievements of our SON community in the past 6-9 months. But we also included stories that provide a first draft of our response to this unique moment in history. There will be many more remarkable stories of courage, heroism, and selflessness to come. For more timely communications about our efforts, I encourage you to sign up for our email newsletter (https://www.son.rochester.edu/newsroom/enews-archives.html) or follow us on our social media channels (see page 3).

When a crisis like this hits, nurses often make up the bulk of the workers on the front lines, providing care and empathy for all, but also using their skills, knowledge, and education to manage difficult situations. And that’s certainly true now. Nurses are committing long hours to their duties, leaving their families behind, and risking their own health to help care for those in need. I’ve been a nurse for 40 years, and I’m still amazed by their capacity for strength, calmness, and humanity.

On the Cover…

Vestina Turner, a nurse and wellness coach for UR’s Center for Employee Wellness, performs a biometric screening for a client.

How timely that 2020 was designated by the World Health Organization as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. In the spirit of Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and Loretta Ford, we will innovate, we will advocate, we will continue to do all that we can to provide the best possible care for those in need, and we will get through this together.

Photo by Matt Wittmeyer

Meliora!

2 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

NURSING UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER SCHOOL OF NURSING 2020 . VOLUME 1

page 13

page 24

FEATURES

16 In the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, Nurses More Critical than Ever

A look at how the UR School of Nursing has responded to the COVID-19 crisis

18 UR Nursing Bolsters Workforce with More than 100 New Graduates

A roundup of the August and December 2019 pinning ceremonies

20 Wellness that Works

Peer-reviewed study shows longterm success of UR employee wellness program in reducing risk of cardiovascular disease

22 Celebrating the Spirit of Meliora

Photographs from the University’s 19th annual Meliora Weekend

DEPARTMENTS 4 Nursing News page 27

25 Class Notes

24 Alumni Relations & Advancement

NURSING Magazine Credits University of Rochester School of Nursing Kathy H. Rideout, EdD, PPCNP-BC, FNAP

Editor Patrick Broadwater

Vice President, University of Rochester Medical Center Dean and Professor of Clinical Nursing and Pediatrics

Senior Associate, Public Relations Director, Strategic Communications University of Rochester School of Nursing

University of Rochester Medical Center B. Chip Partner Assistant Vice President, URMC Communications University of Rochester Medical Center

Melissa L. Head ’99W (MS) Executive Director of URMC Academic Programs and Alumni Relations Advancement

Jolie R. Spiers ’17S (MBA) Senior Director of Alumni Engagement URMC Academic Programs

Andrea J. Allen Director of Advancement and Alumni Relations University of Rochester School of Nursing

Contributing Writers Ivy Burruto Alexander Dean Reagan McNameeKing Art Director/Designer Brittany Colton Graphic Designer University of Rochester Medical Center Communications

NURSING Magazine is a biannual publication of the University of Rochester School of Nursing in conjunction with the University of Rochester Medical Center Departments of Nursing, Alumni Relations, Advancement, and Public Relations and Communications.

We welcome your letters and feedback concerning stories in the magazine or issues related to the University of Rochester School of Nursing. Send your comments to Editor, NURSING Magazine, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box SON, Rochester, NY 14642 or via email to Patrick_Broadwater@urmc.rochester.edu. www.son.rochester.edu  facebook.com/UofRSchoolofNursing  twitter.com/UofRSON  instagram.com/urnursing  urson.us/LinkedInURSON

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 3

NEWS

UR Nursing in the News What’s new in the School of Nursing? Here are some recent media reports involving UR Nursing faculty, staff, and students.

Kristin Hocker, assistant professor of clinical nursing, was a guest on Connections, a public radio show on WXXI in Rochester.

She was a panelist for a discussion on bridging cultural divides.

Craig Sellers, professor of clinical nursing and director of the school’s master’s programs, was quoted in a Rochester Business Journal article highlighting the increasing demand for nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Dean Kathy Rideout was interviewed for a WHEC-TV story about the 40% enrollment surge at the UR School of Nursing over the past four years.

An emphasis on diversifying its student population, coupled with targeted recruiting efforts, has fueled the school’s growth as it works to meet the demand for more registered nurses.

Singh

Rideout and Mitchell Wharton, assistant professor of clinical nursing, were quoted in a Minority Reporter article examining the School of Nursing’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and the impact it has on the local community.

A Spectrum news story featured Nicole Fleming, a student in the Accelerated Bachelor’s Program for Non-Nurses.

Fleming, who became deaf just a few years ago, said she hasn’t viewed her loss of hearing as a negative. She is proud to be a part of the deaf community.

Associate Professor Kathi Heffner was interviewed by two Rochester TV stations about the establishment of the new Roybal Center for Social Ties and Aging Research.

Both stories focused on how the new center will aim to help caregivers looking after loved ones with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Pesis-Katz

Norsen

Senior Associate Dean Renu Singh, Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing Irena Pesis-Katz, and Professor of Clinical Nursing Lisa Norsen were featured in a WROC-TV story touting the results of a Center for Employee Wellness study. The study showed that the program was highly effective in helping participants reduce their risk for developing cardiovascular disease and other chronic ailments (see story, page 20).

4 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

School of Nursing, URMC Join in Worldwide Celebration of Year of the Nurse and Midwife In conjunction with the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale, the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, and the School of Nursing is playing a leading role in the celebration at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The Medical Center and its affiliate hospitals plan to honor nurses and midwives with special events and stories throughout the year. The campaign will culminate in a gala Nov. 7 at the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa in Fairport celebrating the many contributions nurses and midwives make to the health and safety of our community.

A Year of the Nurse steering committee, including several School of Nursing faculty and staff and led by Kathy Rideout, EdD, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, dean of the UR School of Nursing, and Karen Davis, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, URMC’s chief nursing executive, Have a favorite began meeting in the fall of 2019 nurse or midwife? to plan for the yearlong obserLet us know who vance. The goal of the initiative is it is and why they're to show appreciation and increase worth celebrating! awareness of the importance of Email us at: the profession.

YOTNM2020@URMC “The University of Rochester .Rochester.edu.

School of Nursing attracts hundreds of candidates each year, but the field for nursing is still growing so we are committed to expanding our faculty and adding clinical sites,” said Rideout. “We are excited about celebrating the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. It’s the first time ever that global attention has been placed on nursing and midwifery. It’s so important to focus on the vital part we have in health care and learn how we can continue to expand our roles and our impact.”

“Nurses are the largest workforce in health care and are a critical part of the health care team,” said Davis. “They are special people who are passionate about the work they do. We want to take this opportunity to highlight them and tell their stories.”

Visit the URMC Year of the Nurse and Midwife website at www.son.rochester. edu/yotn to keep up with stories and events throughout the year and join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #URnursingYOTN.

School of Nursing Earns Third Straight HEED Award for Excellence in Diversity For the third consecutive year, the University of Rochester School of Nursing was honored with the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine.

The UR School of Nursing and the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry were among the 43 health professions schools selected to receive the only national honor recognizing U.S. medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, osteopathic, and allied health schools that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. The honorees were featured in the December 2019 of INSIGHT Into Diversity, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.

“I’m absolutely delighted that the School of Nursing has been selected for this honor for a third straight year,” said Kathy Rideout, EdD, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, dean of the School of Nursing and vice president of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). “Having this national recognition continues to bring visibility to our mission of pursuing excellence in clinical and scientific learning, discovery, and nursing care within an environment of diversity and inclusion.”

The UR School of Nursing, one of only eight nursing schools to receive the award in 2019, has a rich history of diversity, welcoming future nurses of varying ages, backgrounds, and talents.

Its most recent class of 68 students in the Accelerated Bachelor’s Program for Non-Nurses (ABPNN) included students from

across the U.S. and countries such as Russia, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, South Korea, Japan, and Ghana. Thirty-seven percent of the new ABPNN students were from underrepresented groups, and 29% were male, approximately three times the national average of men in the nursing workforce.

The school features several innovative programs that contribute to and support diversity efforts on campus. It hosts a number of workshops and lectures as part of its Racial Equity Series and its Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion facilitates offerings of Safe Space Training to provide attendees with critical knowledge on LGBTQ issues. The school also has instituted a number of diversity-based scholarships to admit underrepresented students at the undergraduate level and help support them through graduate programs, creating a pipeline for them to careers in leadership and education.

The UR schools of nursing and medicine also collaborate on an annual diversity-themed picnic each fall welcoming back students and providing them with informal networking opportunities.

“We take a detailed approach to reviewing each application in deciding who will be named a HEED Award recipient," said Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. "Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where diversity and inclusion are woven into the work being done every day across their campus.”

The full list of recipients of the 2019 Health Professions HEED Award is below: A.T. Still University California State University Los Angeles Columbia University, College of Dental Medicine Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Florida State University College of Medicine Frontier Nursing University Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) Johns Hopkins School of Nursing MGH Institute of Health Professions Penn State College of Medicine and

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Rush University Texas A&M University

College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) The College at Brockport, State University New York (SUNY) The Medical University of South Carolina The Ohio State University College of Nursing The Ohio State University College of Optometry The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health University of California at Irvine, School of Medicine University of California, Riverside School of Medicine University of California, San Francisco University of Cincinnati College of Nursing University of Cincinnati James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy University of Cincinnati, College of Allied Health Sciences University of Florida College of Dentistry University of Houston College of Nursing University of Louisville Health Sciences Center University of Maryland School of Nursing University of Michigan Medical School University of Minnesota School of Nursing University of Mississippi Medical Center University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry University of Rochester School of Nursing University of Virginia School of Medicine University of Virginia School of Nursing UT Southwestern Medical Center Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine NURSING 2020 Volume 1 5

NEWS

Mary Carey Named a ‘Health Care Hero’ by Rochester Business Journal Mary G. Carey, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, an associate professor at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and director of the Clinical Nursing Research Center at Strong Memorial Hospital, has been named a Health Care Hero by the Rochester Business Journal.

Carey was one of three honorees selected in the Nurse category. The Health Care Achievement Awards were created in 2003 to recognize excellence in honor of the efforts of those making a significant impact in the Rochester area. The awards were renamed the Health Care Heroes awards this year.

A critical care nurse by training, Carey is a highly respected researcher, educator, and mentor whose work is a key link unifying the three pillars of nursing: research, education, and practice. An accomplished researcher whose scholarly work has informed the understanding of electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring, Carey’s uncommon skill for promoting clinical research among bedside nurses and serving as a hands-on mentor for burgeoning researchers has solidified the academic-clinical partnership at the University of Rochester Medical Center and casts a vast web of influence across URMC and beyond.

Carey joined the University of Rochester in 2013 and has served as a leader through her teaching, research, and mentoring. Her research has focused on ECG monitoring to help better detect disease conditions such as cardiac arrhythmias and myocardial ischemia and infarction, as well as the ECG’s use in predicting cardiac events and sudden cardiac death. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, she has improved the detection of myocardial ischemia in patients with and without heart disease.

A prolific publisher, Carey has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed and scholarly articles. Most recently, she led a research team applying cardiac monitors to on-duty firefighters in Rochester and Buffalo to evaluate whether a more pro-sleep environment would lower their average heart rate and cardiac risk.

Her years of clinical experience in a trauma ICU (in San Francisco and Buffalo) and extensive doctoral education with her mentor, Barbara Drew, RN, PHD, FAAN, a pioneer in electrocardiography, not only shaped her career as a

6 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

researcher, but enhanced her ability to mentor doctoral students and help them become accomplished scientists in their own right. Carey has mentored nearly 40 student nurse scientists across the country over the past two decades as a nurse educator and she has called that her greatest contribution to the discipline of nursing.

As director of the Clinical Nursing Research Center at Strong, Carey also mentors, advises, and supports the scientific aspirations of nurses early in their careers. She is a guiding force in prompting nurses to partake in clinical research projects to improve the quality of care.

Carey is also highly involved in the management and direction of the nursing discipline and nursing faculty.

She currently serves on 16 committees at the university, national, and international levels.

She provides peer review for six journals and is a volunteer on the wellness committee for the Buffalo Fire Department. She is a mentor in the American Nurses’ Association Mentorship Program and chairs the Young Investigator Competition for the International Society for Computerized ECG. At the University of Rochester, her membership on the Board of Trustees Health Affairs Committee, Faculty Senate, Commission on Women and Gender Equity in Academia, and the University Academic Affairs Committee speaks to her respected standing among her peers.

Carey has earned numerous honors in her 30-year career, including being named a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (2014), Nurse of the Year, Education and Research by the March of Dimes (2012), and Dean’s Excellence in Research Award (2008) by the University at Buffalo.

She graduated from UB in 1990 with a BS in nursing and earned a master’s in critical care nursing from the University of California, San Francisco in 1993. She earned her PhD from UCSF in physiological nursing in 2001. She began her nursing career as a trauma ICU nurse at the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo and later served as a coronary care unit nurse at UCSF. She also served as a nurse educator and joined the faculty as a clinical assistant professor. She returned to UB as an assistant professor in 2002 and was granted tenure in 2009.

Blaakman, Rotondo Elected Distinguished Fellows of National Academies of Practice in Nursing Two University of Rochester School of Nursing faculty members have been accepted into the prestigious National Academies of Practice (NAP) in Nursing.

In recognition of their outstanding professional achievements and contributions to the field of nursing, Lydia Rotondo, DNP, RN, CNS, and Susan Blaakman, PhD, RN, NPP-BC, were formally inducted as Distinguished Fellows at the nursing academy’s annual meeting.

Rotondo, an associate professor of clinical nursing, has directed the UR Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice program since 2014 and was named associate dean for education and student affairs in 2015. In that role, she works closely with the dean, program directors, faculty, and students to meaningfully respond to emerging educational needs to meet the health care workforce demands of the future.

Rotondo has become a national contributor to the dialogue on DNP education. She spearheaded the creation of the highly successful DNP Summit, a daylong workshop hosted by the UR School of Nursing featuring speakers from across the country discussing the future of the DNP Rotondo and DNP-prepared nurses.

She was also selected as a 2018 Leadership for Academic Nursing Fellow by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

A former surgical critical care staff nurse, Rotondo has also served as a nurse manager, nursing supervisor, nurse consultant, clinical nurse specialist, as well as a faculty member and administrator. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, American Nurses Association, National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, American Conference of Academic Deans, and the Organization of Nurse Executives and Leaders.

Blaakman has been a member of the psychiatric nursing faculty at the UR School of Nursing since 1999 and has been specialty director of the Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program since 2011.

She is a nationally certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and has acquired vast clinical expertise in psychiatric assessment and diagnosis, crisis intervention,

Clevenger Inducted as American Academy of Nursing Fellow Rhonda "KC" KnappClevenger, PhD, RN, CPNP, CCRP, has been selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN).

Clevenger was among a class of 231 nurse leaders honored at the academy’s annual meeting and conference last October in Washington, DC. Clevenger, who is chief nursing officer (CNO) at the Wilmot Cancer Institute (WCI) and an associate professor of clinical nursing at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, joined the ranks of the nation’s foremost health care thought leaders. Selection criteria includes evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care, and the extent to which nominees’ nursing careers influence health policies and health care delivery.

Clevenger became WCI’s first CNO in 2017, overseeing nurses who work at Wilmot and its affiliates.

tobacco dependence intervention, high-risk youth behaviors, research with vulnerable populations, motivational interviewing, and health behavior change across the lifespan.

An associate professor of clinical nursing, Blaakman has co-authored many publications and was honored with the 2013 Rochester Academy of Medicine Nursing Award for her clinical research. She also serves as a project nurse, motivational interviewing interventionist, research mentor in general pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center, and a clinician in the community. Her active professional memberships include Sigma Theta Tau, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, and the American Psychiatric Nurses Association for whom she is a founding member of the Blaakman Motivational Interviewing Task Force, and former co-chair of the Tobacco Dependence Council.

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 7

NEWS

SON Founding Dean Honored with Nightingale Award Loretta Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, FAAN, FAANP, the co-developer of the nurse practitioner model and founding dean at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, was recently honored with a prestigious award from the Center for Nursing at the Foundation of New York State Nurses.

Ford, whose innovations thrust the nursing profession in a new direction and revolutionized the health care system, was the first individual recipient of the Nightingale Award, given to those whose actions mirror the legacy and accomplishments of the great Florence Nightingale.

An internationally renowned nursing leader whose vision and habit of questioning the status quo galvanized colleagues and continues to inspire those who have followed in her footsteps,

Ford’s studies on the expanded scope of practice in public health nursing led to the creation of the first nurse practitioner (NP) training program at the University of Colorado in 1965.

Her work revolutionized the delivery of health services and the role of nursing in clinical care. Today, there are more than 350 academic institutions offering nurse practitioner programs and more than 270,000 practicing NPs. In 1972, Ford was recruited to become the first dean of the newly independent School of Nursing at the University of Rochester. She brought the same passion and powerful thinking to her role as an administrator and educator, guiding the school to new heights. It was at the University of Rochester that she developed and implemented the Unification Model of nursing, where research, practice, and education are combined to provide nurses with a more holistic education.

She retired from the school in 1986, but continues to be a sought-after speaker on the nurse practitioner movement.

Named a “Living Legend” by the American Academy of Nursing, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011.

PhD Student Martez Smith Honored for Contributions to LGBTQ Community Martez Smith, LMSW, a University of Rochester Provost Fellowship Recipient and third-year graduate student in the University of Rochester School of Nursing’s PhD program, was honored with two prestigious awards for his contributions to the LBGTQ community.

Smith was awarded the 2019 Plug’d Trailblazer of the Year Award from the Haitian-American Community Coalition on Aug. 30 and received the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Student Mentorship Scholarship on Nov. 9.

The Plug’d Trailblazer of the Year Award is presented to one community activist who has demonstrated excellence in their contributions to the LGBTQ community via advocacy, activism, and community organizing. Smith, a licensed social worker, was chosen for the award because of his tremendous work in addressing HIV health disparities and improving health for racial/ethnic, sexual orientation, and gender minorities. He was presented with the award at the 2019 Plug’d Masqerade Gala on Aug. 30 at the Alibi Lounge in New York City.

Smith was selected for the ANAC DEI scholarship after being nominated by Mitchell Wharton, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, CNS, an assistant professor of clinical nursing at the University of Rochester School of Nursing.

Smith has been a voracious advocate for the House Ball Community (HBC), a global network comprised of “houses,” which serve to groom LGBTQ people for participation in elaborate competitions against other houses, known as 8 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

“balls.” His interest in HIV care is motivated by his experiences as a child in the House of Lanvin, an HBC house which is composed primarily of LGBTQ individuals of color. As an openly gay black man living with HIV and as a co-chair of the Black Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) subcommittee of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council’s Committee to End the Epidemic, Smith has observed the positive impacts of his research on the individuals and communities he advocates for.

Smith is co-founder of the Keeping Ballroom Community Alive Network (KBCAN), a national network of house ball community members and activists. In August, Smith worked with KBCAN and local New York City organizations to host a ball at the New York City Mayor’s Office, advocating for the end of cash bail and remand, solitary confinement, and the decriminalization of sex work in New York state. Smith has also worked with KBCAN to create the Crystal LaBeija Organizing Fellowship, which provides 10 trans and gender nonconforming activists in the house ball community across the United States with resources, leadership development, and capacity-building opportunities.

SON Announces Faculty Leadership Appointments The School of Nursing recently announced faculty leadership appointments for Susan Ciurzynski, PhD, RN-BC, PNP, VCE, FNAP, Tara Serwetnyk, MS, RN-BC, and Maria Quinones, PhD. Ciurzynski, a professor of clinical nursing, stepped down from her role as director of the Center for Lifelong Learning to assume a new leadership position with the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. She is now the assistant DNP program director and will assist Lydia D. Rotondo, DNP, RN, CNS, with her responsibilities as the program’s director.

Serwetnyk, an SON teaching associate, takes over as interim director of the Center for Lifelong Learning. In her new role, she will facilitate strategic planning initiatives and support the ongoing advancement of educational programs.

Quinones, an assistant professor of clinical nursing, has been named one of the school’s Faculty Diversity Officers and assistant director of the Elaine Hubbard Center for Aging.

Ciurzynski

Quinones

Serwetnyk

Underhill-Blazey, Flanagan Join SON Faculty The UR School of Nursing added two new full-time faculty members in the 20192020 academic year.

The school welcomed Meghan L. Underhill-Blazey, PhD, APRN, AOCNS, and Annmarie Flanagan, DNP, APN, FNP-C, to its faculty midway through the year and also added a new postdoctoral fellow in Yang Yu, PhDc, MPHc, MSN. Underhill-Blazey joins the School of Nursing as an assistant professor. She previously worked at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School, where she acted as interim director and associate director for the Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research.

Underhill-Blazey’s practice and research have primarily focused on promoting optimal health in individuals

living with increased risk for cancer. She has led multiple studies and co-authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications. In addition to her School of Nursing faculty role, Underhill-Blazey holds a secondary appointment as a nurse practitioner at the Wilmot Cancer Institute Hereditary Cancer Screening and Risk Reduction Program.

Flanagan joined the School of Nursing in December 2019 as a full-time assistant professor of clinical nursing. She is working closely with primary care nurse practitioner students during their clinical placements in the community. A nursing professional for more than 35 years, Flanagan has worked in the public health and community health arenas and focused on the needs of individuals and families within rural America.

Yu obtained her PhD and

MPH from the University of Pittsburgh where she received substantial training on weight management and behavior change theories and practices. Her current research focuses on disordered eating behaviors, such as loss of control eating and binge eating, in patients with severe obesity who are seeking or have undergone bariatric surgery. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases and American Journal of Health Behavior.

The school also announced that Chen Zhang, PhD, MPH, successfully completed her postdoctoral fellowship and accepted an offer to join the tenure track faculty as an assistant professor.

Underhill-Blazey

Flanagan

Yu

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 9

UR Nursing Makes Big Move in U.S. News Rankings The University of Rochester School of Nursing made a big move in the highest-profile rankings of master’s nursing programs. The school jumped nine places, landing at No. 26 in the 2021 Best Graduate Schools guide produced by U.S. News and World Report.

The ranking is the school’s best showing in the publication since coming in at No. 29 in 2004, when nursing schools were featured on a quadrennial basis.

The UR School of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program ranked No. 40 in 2021, keeping the school as one of only three institutions in the state — and the only one outside of New York City — ranked in the top 40 for both master’s and doctoral programs.

“While we’re proud to rank among the best nursing schools in the nation, we know that subjective measures like these are just one of many ways to gauge the success of an institution,” said Dean Kathy Rideout, EdD, PPCNP-BC, FNAP. “I’m most proud of the innovative and forward-thinking work of our faculty and staff across all three missions of the school — research, education, and practice — and the development of students into talented health care providers for future generations.”

The U.S. News rankings are conducted annually, and each school’s overall score is based on indicators in categories such as: student selectivity and program size, faculty resources, and research activity. The largest factor in the ranking is peer assessments provided by nursing school deans. Additional information on the nursing program rankings can be found at www.usnews.com.

No.

26

University of Rochester School of Nursing’s spot in the 2021 U.S. News and World Report’s rankings of master’s nursing programs.

UR School of Nursing Ranks among Top 25 in NIH Funding for Fourth Time in Five Years The University of Rochester School of Nursing ranks No. 22 in 2019 research grant funding issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The school has maintained its top 25 ranking of all nursing schools in four of the last five years, and nine times in the past 12.

This year, the NIH awarded the UR School of Nursing with $2.8 million in research grant support, according to data compiled by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.

The UR School of Nursing is widely known for its rich history of nationally-funded research for its areas of investigative expertise: symptom management across diverse populations, integration of data and technology amidst rising health care costs, and creative solutions for optimal health around biological, environmental, and social intersections.

10 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

“I’m proud to say the NIH sees the same value and potential that I see in our researchers. They have the capabilities to improve the lives of people we serve and the larger health care system,” said Dean Kathy Rideout, EdD, PPCNP-BC, FNAP. “We are grateful to earn support from the NIH year after year.”

The NIH is the largest public funding source for biomedical research in the world, investing annually to enhance health, increase life spans, and reduce illness and disability.

School of Nursing Hosts National Nursing Leaders in 4th Annual DNP Summit The UR School of Nursing welcomed nearly 140 guests and several dynamic speakers at its highly successful 4th annual Doctor of Nursing Practice Summit on Nov. 1.

The event featured interactive presentations from national experts on nursing education and practice as well as a poster session. The theme of the daylong summit was progress, promise, and possibilities, as advanced practice leaders, policy-makers, and scholars collaborated on showcasing the contributions of DNP-prepared nurses while exploring the evolving vision for DNPs to positively affect clinical practice, health policy, and care delivery across the health care continuum.

Ruth Kleinpell, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAANP, Independence Foundation Professor of Nursing Education at Vanderbilt University, gave the keynote address focused on assessing outcomes and demonstrating the impact of DNPs. UR Nursing’s DNP director, Lydia Rotondo, DNP, RN, CNS, gave welcoming remarks and led an interactive open session during the summit. The day also included presentations from Joanne Phillips, DNP, RN, CNS, CPPS, NEA-BC, FCNS, director of clinical practice at Virtua Health System; as well as alumni Laura Black, DNP, FNP-C, senior vice president of care management and clinical services at Commonwealth Care Alliance; and Deb Zimmerman, DNP, RN, NEABC, FAAN, chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.

Visit our photo gallery to see images from this exciting day. https://photos.son.rochester.edu/Events/DNP-Summit/DNP-Summit-2019/

A large audience of nearly 140 turned out in the School of Nursing's auditorium to hear from national leaders on the contributions and direction of DNP-prepared nurses at the 4th annual DNP Summit.  Ruth Kleinpell, a professor of nursing education and assistant dean for clinical scholarship at Vanderbilt University, mingled among the audience while giving her keynote address.  UR Nursing's DNP director Lydia Rotondo (left) and Kleinpell pose with Loretta Ford.

Alumna Deb Zimmerman gave an inspired presentation about the roles DNPs can play in advocacy and policy making.

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 11

NEWS

NIH Grant Funds Center for Social Ties and Aging Research Caring for a family member with Heffner will co-direct the center with A goal of the STAR Center is to grow dementia creates both challenges and Kimberly Van Orden, PhD, an assocollaborations and foster new approaches opportunities for families. Strong social ciate professor in the Department of to ensuring social connectedness in careconnections can help caregivers manPsychiatry and co-principal investigator givers. To that end, STAR Center leaderage the challenges, but the demands on the center grant. The STAR Center ship will encourage investigators new to of caregiving sometimes create obstabuilds on a growing foundation of aging social connectedness research to apply cles to social connections. When this research at the UR Medical Center their expertise to the area and those who happens, caregivers may experience (URMC). Heffner is also the associate study social connectedness to apply their social isolation and loneliness, adding to chief of research for the URMC Division expertise to caregiver health. stress, low quality of life, and increased of Geriatrics and Aging in the DepartBecause there is no “one-size-fitsrisk for poor health. ment of Medicine. all” approach to connectedness among A new center at the University of The long-term effects of caregiving caregivers, the STAR Center will aim to Rochester is bringing together research- on caregivers’ health are well-estabdevelop behavioral interventions that ers to find new and innovative ways to lished. Caregivers also face numerous help caregivers overcome the specific promote social connectbarriers to social conedness and the overall nectedness that are health of older adults unique to their personal caring for a loved one circumstances. with dementia.

Two pilot studies were The Roybal Center for funded as part of the Social Ties and Aging NIH grant. The first, led Research (STAR), a joint by the School of Nursinitiative between the ing’s Associate Dean for UR School of Nursing Research Sally Norton, and the Department of PhD, RN, FNAP, FPCN, Psychiatry, is funded by FAAN, is geared to a $3.6 million grant from helping caregivers gain the National Institutes an understanding of of Health. The center connectedness, idenwill focus on fostering tifying their personal collaboration among barriers to it, and finding researchers to make a local resources to help significant impact on the them stay connected. problem of social disconThe second pilot study, nection in older caregivled by Van Orden, uses ers of individuals with psychotherapy as a A new center at the University of Rochester is bringing together researchers Alzheimer’s Disease and second-level approach to increase social connectedness in older adults caring for a loved one with other related dementias. for caregivers who did dementia. Social connectedness is a critical indicator of health and Its major activity will not successfully engage well-being, but often neglected by older adults overwhelmed by their be funding pilot studies with the connectedness caregiving responsibility. through its annual Pilot education alone.

Award Program.

Co-investigators “We are thrilled to be launching a and dynamic barriers to connectedserving additional leadership roles in center committed to the well-being ness and thus are vulnerable to social the STAR Center include Norton and of caregivers,” said Kathi Heffner, isolation, poor quality-relations, and Feng (Vankee) Lin, PhD, RN, from PhD, an associate professor of nursloneliness. “Social disconnectedness the School of Nursing, and Benjamin ing, psychiatry, and medicine, who is is a critical determinant and indicator Chapman, PhD, MPH, Yeates Conco-principal investigator on the center of health and well-being,” said Van well, MD, and Carol Podgorski, PhD, grant. “We hope it enriches our already Orden. “Yet, the science of developing, MPH, MS, from the Department of strong collaborations in aging research testing, and deploying interventions to Psychiatry. and, through the pilot program, brings promote connectedness is still in its more University of Rochester investiga- infancy.” tors into aging research.”

12 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

NEWS

Researchers Find Long-Term Benefits of Nurse Home Visits for New Mothers and Infants Home visits by nurses to check on infants and first-time mothers offer learning benefits for the children and savings in the cost of public welfare programs, according to new research published in December 2019 issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, University College London (UCL), and the University of Rochester School of Nursing evaluated the long-term effects of nurse home visiting programs. The initial visits were conducted in June 1990 and continued over many years. The studies follow up on families 18 years after they participated in the nurse-visit program and compare outcomes for those families with control groups.

"It's rare for studies of early invention programs to examine early-intervention effects over an 18-year period," said David Olds, PhD, professor of pediatrics at University of Colorado School of Medicine and one of the lead investigators of the studies.

"This early intervention, Nurse-Family Partnership, produced long-term improvements in the cognitive functioning of 18-year-

old youth born to mothers who had limited personal resources to cope with the adversities of living in deep poverty," Olds said.

"This new evidence shows promise that Nurse-Family Partnership's effects may carry over into adulthood."

Olds is the first author of the study, “Prenatal and Infancy Nurse Home Visiting Effects on Mothers: 18-year follow-up of a randomized trial.” Harriet Kitzman, PhD, from the University of Rochester School of Nursing is the first author of the second article, “Prenatal and/or Infancy Nurse Home Visiting and 18-Year Outcomes of a Randomized Trial.”

Joyce Smith, PhD, RN, ANP; Elizabeth Anson, MS; and Robert Cole, PhD, were UR Nursing co-authors on both studies.

The studies followed 742 low income first-time mothers, primarily African-American, and their children, who were part of the Nurse-Family Partnership program in Memphis, Tennessee, from June 1990 through to September 2014. Eighty-five percent were living in households below the federal poverty level and in highly-disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Among the findings: • Improved cognitive function and academic performance of 18-year-olds born to high-risk mothers with limited psychological resources to cope with poverty. Outcomes included improved math achievement scores, receptive language abilities, working memory, and ability to accurately read others' emotions. Nurse-visited children were three times as likely to graduate from high school with honors compared to the control group • Savings of $17,310 per family in public benefit costs, with reduced expenditures for Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and welfare cash assistance.

The reduction in the cost of public benefits is explained in part by nurse-visited mothers being better able to plan for subsequent pregnancies.

In comparison, the visiting nurse program costs were $12,578 per family, resulting in a net savings of $4,732 per family.

• Working with high-risk mothers improved the mothers' economic self-sufficiency and strengthened their families. Nurse-visited mothers, in comparison with mothers in the control group, were more likely to get married, had higher rates of co-habitation, and a greater sense of confidence in their ability to manage the challenges in their lives.

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 13

NEWS

Ying Xue Installed as Loretta C. Ford Professor Ying Xue, DNSc, RN, whose research has helped inform national policies regarding how and where nurse practitioners can practice, was installed in October as the UR School of Nursing’s Loretta C. Ford Endowed Professor in Primary Care Nursing.

Loretta Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, FAAN, FAANP, UR Nursing’s founding dean and co-creator of the nurse practitioner role, returned to the school for a threeday visit last fall and was on hand to present Xue with the professorship medal.

In her acceptance remarks, Xue noted what an honor it is to receive the professorship named for Ford, 99, a literal

living legend in the field of nursing. Xue also recalled other nurses who had an impact on her as a child and inspired her to pursue a career as a nurse researcher.

“Nurses touch people’s lives,” said Xue, an associate professor at the School of Nursing. “And that is the power of nursing.”

The overarching goal of Xue’s research is to develop empirical evidence to guide national policies to optimize the nursing workforce and to improve health care delivery and outcomes. Her current work focuses on examining the role of nurse practitioners in improving primary care

delivery for vulnerable populations. Her research has been funded nationally and been published in top journals such as Health Affairs and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A former faculty diversity officer and co-chair of the Council for Diversity and Inclusiveness at the School of Nursing, she has demonstrated a commitment to issues of diversity and inclusiveness University-wide, and was awarded the Mary Dombeck Diversity Enhancement Faculty Award in 2015. In 2008, she was one of only 15 junior faculty members nationwide selected to receive an inaugural Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar award.

The Xue File: Ying Xue, DNSc, RN •

•

Doctor of Nursing Science, Yale University

Post-doctoral fellowship, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania

•

Assistant Professor, 2006-2012

•

Associate Professor of Nursing, 2012-present

•

•

•

UR Nursing Promising New Investigator Award, 2007 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar Award, 2008 UR Nursing Mary Dombeck Diversity Enhancement Faculty Award, 2015

Ying Xue was installed as the Loretta C. Ford Endowed Professor in Primary Care in a ceremony last October that included the school’s founding dean. Xue’s research into the nursing workforce and improving primary care in vulnerable populations, has informed national policy discussions about the role of nurse practitioners.

To see more photos from Loretta Ford's visit to campus, please see photos.son.rochester.edu/Events/Loretta-Ford-Visit-Fall-2019 14 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

UR Nursing Professor Receives $500K Award to Fund Childhood Obesity Research

UR Research Associate Receives Grant to Clear Uncertainties from Cancer Diagnoses

Ying Meng, PhD, RN, ACNP, an assistant professor at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, was awarded nearly $500,000 through a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.

Totaling $462,808 over the course of three years, this career development grant supports Meng’s research project “Delineation of the biopsychosocial risks of obesogenic eating behaviors.”

The study will observe 3-year-old children and delineate the psychosocial and genetic risks of obesogenic eating behaviors to determine the effect these behaviors have on the development of childhood obesity. Insight into obesogenic eating behaviors, such as a preference for high-calorie foods, in young children could provide new avenues of preventing and treating childhood obesity.

Yingzi Zhang, PhD, RN, a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Nursing, was approved for a $25,000 research grant from the Oncology Nursing Foundation. The grant supports her proposal, “Refinement and pilot testing of a couple-based uncertainty management intervention for patients with gynecological cancer and their partners.”

Conducted at the University of Rochester’s Wilmot Cancer Institute, Zhang’s study examines the uncertainties surrounding how patients and their partners feel after a gynecological cancer diagnosis.

School of Nursing’s Associate Dean of Research Sally Norton, PhD, RN, FNAP, FPCN, FAAN, and Assistant Professor Marie Flannery, PhD, RN, AOCN, serve as co-investigators in the study. Outcomes of this research will encourage oncology professionals to understand uncertainty management needs and develop patient-centered interventions.

Tobie Olsan Named Inaugural Recipient of Madeline Schmitt Award Tobie Olsan, PhD, RN, CNL, FNAP, a professor emerita at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, was the inaugural recipient of the Madeline H. Schmitt Award for Interprofessional Education presented by the Rochester Academy of Medicine.

The award is named in honor of Mattie Schmitt, PhD, RN, FAAN, FNAP, a decorated professor emerita at the UR School of Nursing, who has long studied and championed interprofessional education and collaborative practice. The award requires that its recipient has “demonstrably ‘broken barriers in health care’ and continues to change the landscape of health care education and practice through steadfast teaching of the importance of collaborative teamwork and by routinely fostering the inclusion of patients, families, health care providers and community partners in the delivery of the highest quality of care.”

A lifelong health care and nursing professional, Olsan’s research interests include enhancing health care team competence in quality improvement, interprofessional collaboration and leadership, and improving home-based care for veterans.

She developed and served as the first program director of the School of Nursing's Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) program.

Tobie Olsan (left) shares a smile with Mattie Schmitt after receiving the inaugural Madeline Schmitt Award for Interprofessional Education from the Rochester Academy of Medicine.

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 15

COVID-19 UPDATE

In the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, Nurses More Critical than Ever Like all institutions of higher learning across the United States, the UR School of Nursing has been dealing with myriad issues caused by the spread of COVID-19.

The school has been a leader in taking the necessary steps to keep students, faculty, and staff as safe as possible. It convened its first emergency meeting of the Dean’s Leadership Council, comprised of Dean Kathy Rideout and 16 members of her senior leadership team, on March 10 to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the remainder of the spring semester.

By week’s end, the school had been closed to non-essential personnel, in-person classes had been postponed indefinitely to comply with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “stay at home” request, and plans were underway to shift all instruction online upon the completion of the school’s spring break.

The online transition, with few exceptions, was complete

by March 23, when classes resumed. Experiential and simulated learning activities augmented virtual classroom instruction. Meanwhile program directors worked to establish new clinical placements at clinical sites that would provide handson opportunities for students in a safe environment.

But overhauling the entire academic model was just one small part of the equation. Faculty, staff, and students all rallied to not only sustain the school’s academic mission but to support the UR Medical Center in its service to the greater Rochester community.

At the request of URMC Chief Nursing Executive Karen Davis, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, the school developed an RN refresher course (see story opposite page). Among other ways the School of Nursing has responded to the COVID-19 crisis:

Extending Application Deadlines The school extended its April 1 deadline for fall admission to May 1 for the following programs: • DNP • RN-BS-MS • Nurse Practitioner specialties • Post-Master’s Certificate The school also relaxed its transcript requirements to accommodate difficulties students faced in getting official transcripts from institutions that were operating on a limited basis. The summer cohort of the Accelerated Program for Non-Nurses was deferred, and all students were automatically accepted into the fall or spring semester.

Commencement In line with President Sarah Mangelsdorf’s announcement, the school’s traditional Commencement ceremony was canceled. Creative plans to celebrate the achievements of students are underway, including a virtual ceremony in May.

UR Child Care Center Opens in Helen Wood Hall As a direct response to the closing of all public schools throughout Monroe County, which left personnel who work in patient care settings without child care, the first-floor classrooms and student lounge area of Helen Wood Hall were converted to a child care center.

Reassignment of Faculty and Staff for Clinical Support As of press time, the School of Nursing remains in “allhands-on-deck” mode, as essential faculty and staff have been called to support the health care community. Center for Employee Wellness and Passport Health nurses are supporting the URMC COVID-19 Employee Call Center, and began offering the same service to Thompson Health employees and other UR Medicine affiliates as needed. Wellness coaches have converted all Condition Management programs to support remote access to help employees with chronic diseases during these times of rapid change, increased stress, and isolation. Students also had the opportunity to assist in a variety of settings, including the employee call center, child care center, and other community organizations.

16 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

When schools and daycares were closed throughout Monroe County, first-floor classrooms in Helen Wood Hall were converted to a child care center for children of Strong Memorial Hospital’s patient care teams.

The “Brady Bunch” Effect: With Helen Wood Hall closed, Zoom was the most effective way for individuals to safely meet face to face, and large “gatherings” such as this faculty meeting, often resembled the opening credits of the popular 1970s TV show.

On the Academic Frontline

SON and SMH develop refresher course for RNs re-entering the workforce With no clear end to the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, a scar- from the UR School of Nursing and begin the onboarding city of nurses is not an option. process at their assigned facility.

To combat a potential shortage, URMC’s Chief Nursing Specialty Director for the Master’s Program in Nursing Executive Karen K. Davis, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, Strong Education, Maria A. Marconi, EdD, RN, CNE, with the help Memorial Hospital, and experts at the University of Rochesof several master’s in nursing education students, designed ter School of Nursing teamed up to create a refresher course the course so nurses can be functioning members of a team for nurses re-entering the workforce. Learners are a combiin a direct patient care environment. nation of registered nurse retirees and nurses who were not Interim Director for the Center for Lifelong Learning currently employed in a patient care setting.

Tara Serwetnyk, MS, RN, NPD-BC, Instructional Design While re-entry courses are not new, this course deviates Associate Nadine Taylor, and Education Innovation Coorfrom the traditional format as it prepares registered nurses dinator Joseph Gomulak-Cavicchio, EdD, MSEd, offered to provide essential care using adapted standards under additional instructional support for the course to be interacextreme conditions. tive, engaging, and feasible in an online forum.

Course candidates participate in a screening intake process The course went through pilot-testing by a few master’s in through Strong Memorial Hospital’s nursing recruitment nursing education (MNE) students—who also contributed office. Once screening is complete, Senior Director of Learnto some of the course content under guidance of Marconi— ing and Development Stephanie Von Bacho, MS, RN, pairs and was successful thanks to the outstanding IT efforts of nurses to affiliates within the URMC system on an as-needService Manager Larry Palumbos and School of Nursing’s ed basis. Then, participants enroll in the refresher course at Director of Information Technology Brian Harrington. the School of Nursing with a click of a link. There is no cost “I feel incredibly privileged and humbled by the mobilization to participants. of our faculty, staff, and students, and their ability to be so According to Director of Clinical Scholarship/Assistant facile under such duress,” said Lydia Rotondo, DNP, RN, Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, Susan CNS, FNAP, associate dean for education and student affairs.

Ciurzynski, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, PNP, VCE, FNAP, who led “The extraordinary teamwork to support the medical center’s this effort, the course is hosted on Desire to Learn (D2L)’s pandemic response inspires me to work as hard as I can Brightspace educational platform and consists of six asynevery day to support their ongoing work.” chronous, self-paced, online modules containing readings, The number of nurses eligible to be enrolled in the course videos, podcasts, interactive activities, and opportunities to will be demand-dependent, up to a limit of 300 nurses test learners’ knowledge. across the URMC system. Recruitment may open to alumni The course can be completed in as little as one day and and the public based on the system’s needs. prepares the nurse with the cognitive knowledge, self-care Those interested in the re-entry course are welcome to skills, and available resources necessary to re-enter the contact the SMH nursing recruitment office at (585) 275workforce at this unprecedented time. Upon completing all 3478 or nursingrecruitment@urmc.rochester.edu. six modules, students receive a certificate of completion NURSING 2020 Volume 1 17

UR NURSING BOLSTERS WORKFORCE WITH MORE THAN 100 new graduates T

he UR School of Nursing supplied the health care workforce with more than 120 new nurses in the second half of 2019. In separate ceremonies, the school graduated two cohorts from its one-year Accelerated Bachelor’s Program for Non-Nurses, allowing the students to sit for the NCLEX licensing exam and begin their nursing careers.

On the following pages, learn more about each cohort and see some photos from their pinning ceremonies.

For more photos from these events or to see galleries from some of our past pinning ceremonies, please visit https://photos.son.rochester.edu/Pinning-Ceremony-Photo-Galleries

August 2019 Cohort The UR School of Nursing graduated 61 students at its Aug. 28 pinning ceremony. Students in the cohort came from as far away as Hawaii, Cameroon, Belarus, and England, and entered nursing school with varied backgrounds full of educational and athletic achievements. Among them: a former All-American football player, a pharmacist, an ultramarathoner, active and retired military personnel, and a two-time Olympian.







With coursework all behind them, graduates were all smiles as they made their way to the stage for the pinning ceremony.  Farrell Elizabeth Cooke was elected by her classmates to be the student speaker. After the ceremony, Janejira Saetang  and Mariah Smith  were among the graduates proudly wearing their pins, posing for pictures, and celebrating with family, friends, and faculty.

18 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

Photos by Je



DECEMBER 2019 Cohort

The UR School of Nursing celebrated the graduation of 60 students at its Dec. 18 pinning ceremony. Students in the cohort came from six countries outside of the U.S. and featured a diverse group of individuals – 34% were from underrepresented groups and 28% were male.







Willow Olivares delivered student remarks on behalf of her classmates.  Dean Kathy Rideout congratulates Krista Chounlapane.  Kyle Kameika and ABPNN co-director Patrick Hopkins share an emotional embrace.  Darrell Lamothe and instructor Jen Zugnoni do a little dance before Lamothe receives his pin from Zugnoni.  A very happy Daniel Gress puts on a big smile after receiving his nursing pin.

eff Witherow

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 19

WELLNESS THAT WORKS

Peer-reviewed study shows long-term success of UR employee wellness program in reducing risk of cardiovascular disease

Although employee wellness programs have become increasingly prevalent in recent years, there has been little research to emerge showing their effectiveness in improving the long-term health of participants.

Until recently.

A study by researchers at the UR School of Nursing showed that the UR Medicine Employee Wellness Program has made statistically significant improvement in reducing the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in participants.

The study, published online in September in the Journal of Population Health Management, looked at the health outcomes for more than 16,000 employees at the University of Rochester over a five-year period and found that nearly 50% of those who were at moderate to very high risk for CVD at the start of the program and participated in the program for at least one year were able to lower their 10-year CVD risk, with nearly one-third improving by an entire risk category.

“Beyond the significant and positive outcomes of the program’s impact, this study provides a national, peer-reviewed validation of the UR Medicine Employee Wellness Program.

That’s really the meaningful implication of this study,” said the paper’s lead author, Irena Pesis-Katz, PhD, senior director for population health informatics at the University of Rochester Medical Center and associate professor of clinical nursing at the UR School of Nursing. “To the best of our knowledge, there is no program out there with parallel outcomes published in a peer-reviewed journal. That’s a big accomplishment for the program.”

CVD is the biggest killer in the U.S., accounting for more than one-third of all deaths. Our risk for developing CVD increases as we age but is also affected by factors that individuals can control or modify. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and smoking are not only risk factors for CVD, but they are also associated with cancer, diabetes, and other chronic respiratory diseases which account for two-thirds of all deaths globally. The UR Medicine Employee Wellness Program’s integrated approach to wellness helps address CVD risk and the overall health of participants by helping individuals achieve sustainable improvements among

20 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

modifiable risk factors.

More than 9,000 employees at the University of Rochester participated in the program for at least a year from 2013 to 2017, and each were assigned a 10-year CVD risk score based on the participant’s age, sex, marital status, and health measures such as cholesterol, smoking history, and blood pressure. Eighty-four percent of participants fell in the minimal risk category, while 16% were classified in one of the three remaining categories (moderate, high, or very high).

Of those 1,462 individuals, 48% improved their 10-year risk score over what was predicted without the program. Thirty-three percent dropped into a lower risk category.

“When we developed the program, we recognized the need to have a meaningful, data-driven method that would allow us to objectively assess our effectiveness in improving people’s health,” said Renu Singh, MS, CEO of the UR Medicine Employee Wellness Program and senior associate dean for operations at the UR School of Nursing. “We decided that focusing on the Framingham model of assessing CVD risk was the right choice given that it’s evidence-based, widely used, and recognized internationally. It incorporates several key objective measures that are reliable indicators of an individual’s health risks. If we can reduce those risks, we improve health and quality of life.”

“Our CVD risk increases as we get older, so we have to intervene as early as we can to help people make the modifications that are necessary to keep them at low risk,” said Lisa Norsen, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, professor of clinical nursing and UR Medicine chief wellness officer. “We controlled for the non-modifiable risk factors — we can’t modify age, we can’t modify sex, we can’t modify ethnicity — so one of the things that this study tells us is that modifying behavior really works.”

The UR School of Nursing developed a comprehensive wellness program for the University of Rochester and its employees in 2012. The nurse-driven program consists of an online personal health assessment filled out by the employee; a biometric screening, which gives real-time results of clinical measurements such as blood pressure, weight,

and cholesterol levels; and personalized wellness coaching delivered by the nurse during the screening. The results, with permission, can then be shared with the employee’s primary care provider, connecting the workplace program with the employee’s ongoing care plan.

The program has expanded its operations rapidly over the past seven years. It now serves 54 companies and more than 40,000 employees in the Greater Finger Lakes region.

“We chose UR Medicine’s Employee Wellness Program because it’s about the complete care of the person,” said Sharon Napier, chair and founder of Partners + Napier, an integrated creative agency headquartered in Rochester.

“Health screening services can often seem transactional, but UR offers an experience that looks to understand and support employees before, during and after their screenings — so they are more likely to achieve their health and wellness goals.”

“This important study validates that rigorous wellness programs delivered in the workplace can improve the cardiovascular health of those who participate,” said URMC CEO Mark B. Taubman, MD. “Employer-based wellness can be a useful element of a population health strategy.”

“We’re not a ‘one-and-done’ type program. We have a fully rounded program that not only assesses what your risks are but can also intervene and help coach you, monitor you, and be integrated with your health care provider,” said Singh. “I think that’s why we’re able to make the impact that we are.”

The UR Medicine Employee Wellness Program also offers condition management programs in areas such as asthma, diabetes, and lower back pain to help employees manage chronic conditions. The URMC study found that employees who participated in a condition management program increased their odds of improving their CVD risk by 36%.

“The deeper your engagement with the program, the more likely you are to change,” said Pesis-Katz. “It seems obvious, but we were able to prove it empirically.”

“This is a perfect example of the impact nurses have on improving health through awareness and personal empowerment,” Norsen said. “Wellness is at the very core of what nurses do every day.”

Stats

UR Medicine Employee Wellness

48%

of program participants with moderate to very high cardiovascular risk were able to reduce their risk

LOW

HIGH

33%

of program participants were able to reduce their risk levels by one full risk category

About

Engagement in a condition management program increases the odds of improvement by

36%

UR Medicine Employee Wellness

54

Works with corporations in the Greater Rochester area Serves more than

40,000 lives

Employee Wellness wellness.urcew.com

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 21



Celebrat ing the Spirit of

T

he historic inauguration of President Sarah C. Mangelsdorf highlighted the University of Rochester’s 19th annual Meliora Weekend last October 3-6.

Mangelsdorf, an experienced academic leader who previously served as provost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, became the first female president of the University on July 1. She was formally inaugurated in a ceremony at Eastman Theatre, one of hundreds of events held over the course of the weekend across all campuses.

Among the events were some catered specifically to School of Nursing alumni, such as an all-alumni reception and the Clare Dennison Lecture delivered by Lynn Dow ’59N. The University also welcomed noted headliners, unique speakers, interactive workshops, engaging lectures, and student performances, as well as hosted a number of class reunion activities.

School of Nursing students and faculty strike a fun pose in the Meliora letters outside of Helen Wood Hall. Sarah C. Mangelsdorf holds the mace as she is inaugurated as the 11th president of the University of Rochester. Emmy-nominated actress, comedian, and Saturday Night Live alumna Vanessa Bayer entertained the audience at the Palestra with stories of her time as a drama instructor at summer camp and her time at SNL.  Reunion weekend gives current nursing students a chance to mingle with alumni.  A few nursing and med school alumni of the 50th reunion class of 1969 took a tour of the School of Medicine & Dentistry. Photographed in Miner Library were: standing left to right Linda (Traill) Eminhizer, Carolyn Schodt, Eileen Brophy, Gail Fine and Vicky Klibansky; seated are June (Frie) Seeley and Sharon Chiumento.

22 NURSING 2020 Volume 1









NURSING 2020 Volume 1 23

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The Power of a Smile or Five A smile is a universal gesture that stretches across cultures. Its power can move mountains and break hearts. Its presence can betray happiness and laughter or be forced and released among a complicated mixture of emotions, yet it’s a reaction so simple and natural, even a baby can do it. Take a look at the smiling faces in this undated archived photo. Do you recognize these nurses or know why they’re smiling? If you think you have the details, let us know by commenting on the post with this photo pinned to the top of our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/UofRSchoolofNursing).

2019 Volume 1 Photo Update Rose Marie Medwick Crupi ’59N was the first to offer a guess about the circumstance surrounding the photo in our last issue. “This is Helen Wood Hall and appears to be a meeting of Nursing Instructors for the program. Also appears to be early 1950s,” she wrote.

Doris Sherrill O’Connor ’52N added a little more info, saying she recognized two of the women in the photo: Shirley Kingston Stewart ’51N and Marilyn Lindell Hanson ’51N. 24 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

CLASS NOTES

1950s Joan Bell Marden ’53, ’54N and her husband, Bill, recently moved to a new assisted living community near their family in Oceanside, California, where she was elected president of the resident’s council. Joan reports that she and Bill are both in good health and quite independent. Joan also works with second graders in a Title I school nearby.

Dorothy Hendrick Dickman ’54N and her husband, Richard, are co-owners of Dickman Farms and Greenhouses, which was honored with a 2019 Multi-Generational Family Business Award from the Central NY Business Journal. The Auburn, New York, farm, opened in 1903, now is

in its fifth generation of family ownership and encompasses more than 1,500 acres. The greenhouse business supplies plants to growers, independent garden centers, and Wegmans Food Markets.

1960s Mabelle Pizzutiello ’63N is a trauma nurse consultant/registrar at NY Presbyterian Weill Cornell. She lives in Victor with her husband, Robert.

1970s Gloria Horsley ’79N, ’81N (MS) is an internationally known grief expert, psychotherapist, and bereaved parent. She is the founder

and president of the Open to Hope Foundation and member of the Forbes Nonprofit Council. The council recently posted an article on the Forbes website titled, “12 Ways to Differentiate Your Nonprofit When Others Share Your Mission.”

Carol Seeger ’79N recently earned her post-master’s certificate as a psychiatric nurse practitioner from the Stony Brook University School of Nursing and is employed at Oswego Health at its Behavioral Health Services (BHS) facility. Seeger previously earned her master of science in nursing from Vanderbilt University and her doctorate from the University of California at San Francisco.

1980s Robin Davis ’85N is a clinical nurse at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Davis reflects on how much she has benefited from her nursing education at Rochester. It gave her the background to go in any direction, but she liked direct patient care more than anything else. She has worked in oncology at Dartmouth Hitchcock for the majority of her career. After a brief retirement, Davis has returned to work per diem.

1990s Stephanie Von Bacho ’90N, ’94N (MS) has been appointed to the board of directors of the Monroe Community

Katie Johnson ’77N Katie Johnson ’77N, an assistant professor of clinical nursing at the University Washington School of Nursing, was among the nurse leaders inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2019.

Johnson has more than 25 years of nursing experience, including 15 in school nursing roles at the local, state, and national levels. She has a doctorate in community health systems nursing and is board certified in both school nursing and advanced practice public health nursing.

She was named a fellow of the National Academy of School Nursing in 2016, a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow in 2014, and a Johnson & Johnson School Health Fellow in 2013.

Johnson earned her undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Rochester, her master’s in leadership focus from the University of Washington Bothell and her DNP from the University of Washington Seattle.

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 25

CLASS NOTES

Ann-Marie John ’95N (MS) Ann-Marie John ’95N (MS) is the new dean of the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing at Trocaire College in Buffalo.

John took over the position effective Sept. 16.

Prior to being named dean, John served as an associate professor of nursing, clinical simulation/nursing lab director and assistant dean of nursing at Northern Virginia Community College. She has deep connections to Western New York, having served as assistant professor at Monroe Community College and a dual appointment at the University of Rochester, where she was a teaching/clinical associate professor in the School of Nursing and director of ethnic and multicultural affairs for the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

She also served in nursing leadership roles at Strong Memorial Hospital and Rochester General and in the clinical setting as a registered nurse at Brookdale, Mount Sinai and Kings County hospitals.

A seasoned nurse leader with expertise in diabetes education, John holds a doctorate from the Medical College of South Carolina; a Master of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Rochester; and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn.

College Foundation. Von Bacho is senior director of learning and development for UR Medicine.

Mary Nee Hamilton ’92N is a school nurse at Stafford County Schools in Stafford, Virginia. She writes in that she passed the school nurse certification exam and has been working as a high school nurse for four years.

She and her husband, Alfred, have four children, and their youngest is graduating from high school this year.

Cheryl Robinson ’94N (MS) is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Tendercare Pediatrics in Las Vegas. She shares that she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer one year ago, but is on immunotherapy and doing much better.

26 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

Carla Jungquist ’97N (MS) received the 2019 Mary Hanna Memorial Journalism Award from the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses (ASPAN) for excellence in published nursing knowledge. She was honored for her article, “Preventing Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression in the Hospitalized Patient with Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” published by the Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing in October 2018.

Jungquist is an associate professor at the University at Buffalo School of Nursing.

2000s Patricia Kendall ’03N, ’05N (MS) is a nurse practitioner, CEO, and owner of Wabi-Sabi Wellness in Brockport, New York.

2010s Caroline Gates ’13N is a registered nurse in the digestive health and ENDO lab at the University of Colorado Hospital, and on the side specializes in group and one-on-one nutritional ther-

apy. She also completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training.

She said she would love to connect with other University of Rochester alumni in Denver and the surrounding areas.

Kylie (Bellis) Ewing ’13, ’14N graduated from the acute care pediatric nurse practitioner program at the University of Pennsylvania. In that same August cohort was fellow University of Rochester School of Nursing alumnus Derek Shang ’16N. Bethany Kwarta ’14N recently graduated with her master of science in nursing from the University of Connecticut. She has since moved back to Rochester to start work as a nurse practitioner at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She will be continuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at the University of Connecticut.

ALUMNI PROFILE

‘An Evolution of a Winding Road’ As if she had foreseen her future, Katy Votava ’83N (MS), ’97N (PhD) purchased the URL for Goodcare.com 20 years ago, well before she had a plan for how to use it.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do with it, but I bought it,” said Votava. “I knew one principle — everybody wants good care. So I thought, well, let’s see what I can do with this.”

By 2003, Votava had found her justification. She founded Goodcare.com, a nationwide consulting firm offering guidance to individuals, helping them choose the best health care options available to them and how to plan for health care in retirement.

“When you’re on your own as an individual, it’s daunting enough in the workplace,” she said. “Employers have already narrowed down health plan options, and it’s hard for people to figure it out themselves.

They overspend because they don't pick the right plan.”

Votava’s path to starting her own business began with her enrollment at the University of Rochester School of Nursing to earn her master’s degree as a family nurse practitioner.

Votava then took a position at the Visiting Nurse Service, an organization dedicated to providing home health services to people of all ages, and later served as the director of clinical specialties and education for over 13 years. Votava then pursued a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship and PhD in health care economics and nursing, receiving a grant that supported her four-year fellowship. “I was working on a predictive cost model for home health services to link up clinical needs and outcome costs for at-home nursing care. It took a long time. I had moments where I wondered, ‘Why am I doing this?'”

In 2001, she joined the UR School of Nursing as chief research officer (CRO). She oversaw research projects that fell in line with what she previously studied in her PhD program. “We did contract research in the telehealth space for employee health and wellness, and in-home care. We looked at the outcome of using at-home health monitoring and in-home care services for really sick individuals. We helped them manage their health better, so they could stay home,” said Votava.

In addition to her research duties, Votava also consulted for the School of Nursing. She provided cost-benefit analysis and incorporated financial data into studies. After two years as CRO, Votava came to an intersection in her career. She realized consulting and cost-savings of health care had been a major focal point in her career thus far. Even when working full-time, individuals sought her guidance for their health coverage issues. Health care was becoming complex, and there were more hurdles to jump through.

She began her new venture by educating financial advisors about health care personal finance for their clients, but each case was as complex as the next. Financial advisors were experts in their fields, and Votava was an expert in personal health planning. People needed her help directly.

Over time, Votava’s consulting services flourished. She offered webinars, gave presentations, and wrote a book titled Making the Most of Medicare: A Guide for Baby Boomers. The book, unofficially regarded as the cliff notes of Medicare, earned Amazon’s No. 1 ranking in the Medicare category and is

"I knew one principle everybody wants good care. So I thought, well, let's see what I can do with this."

Photographer: Kelly Kester

How alumna Katy Votava used her education to veer off the beaten path of clinical work

Katy Votava left her job as chief research officer at the UR School of Nursing to open Goodcare. com, a nationwide consulting firm. The move paid off in many ways for Votava, a frequent speaker and presenter whose book on making the most of Medicare is in its sixth edition.

now in its sixth edition. She has been featured on a number of television segments and websites, and speaks frequently on personal health care finance issues.

The continued growth of Goodcare. com has given Votava some firsthand insight into the ways clinicians can turn their experiences into unique careers, just as she did.

“There will always be an evolution of a winding road. I think it’s a matter of following your passion,” she said. “You’ll find yourself doing different things than you ever thought you would do. Just go with it. You could have your projected plan, but then at the time, various things are different than you expected.

As you progress in your career, keep your mind open.”

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 27

CLASS NOTES

Danielle Neal Rogers ’14N was recently promoted to program manager/nurse coordinator at the Stanford Cancer Supportive Care unit for Stanford Healthcare.

She lives in Redwood City, California, with her husband, Bryan, and their son, Wyatt.

Alli Carr ’17N has worked in telehealth and med-surg as an RN. She lives in Montreal with her husband, Michael, and her daughter, Raye Lyon.

Amy Schwab Jerum ’99N, ’02N (MS), ’16N (DNP) Amy Schwab Jerum ’99N, ’02N (MS), ’16N (DNP), an assistant professor of clinical nursing and director of workforce development at the URMC Department of Pediatrics, Complex Care Center, was one of four individuals honored with a 2018 Robert Joynt Kindness Award presented by the URMC Board of Directors.

The award recognized Jerum for providing exceptional care to all and being an exemplary advocate for patients and their families. Her assessment of frequent ED visits among adults with sickle cell disease led to a “Patient Care Coordination Note” in each patient’s eRecord file highlighting the patient’s specific circumstances and needs for individualized care. This protocol streamlined care and resulted in a 28 percent decrease in ED visits and an increase in provider and patient satisfaction.

In March 2019, Jerum also received the Robert Hatcher Award in Contraceptive Technology given to a clinician to incorporate long-acting reversible contraception into a clinical setting.

She also had an abstract accepted for presentation at the 7th International Self Determination Theory Conference in May 2019 in Amsterdam. The title of her presentation was “Recognition and Management of Pediatric Anxiety Disorders in the Primary Care Setting: A self-determination theory guided training program.”

Help Make These Moments Possible Join us in congratulating the class of 2019 and support the health care leaders of tomorrow! When you make a donation toward scholarships at the UR School of Nursing, your gift becomes part of the life-changing moment when a student discovers she or he can afford to pursue a career in nursing.

Visit rochester.edu/giving/nurses to make your gift today.

28 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

IN MEMORIAM

Harriet Kitzman’s lasting legacy

Brilliant research that transformed health care for mothers and their children Harriet Kitzman, PhD, RN, FAAN, a professor and mentor who has a brilliant and internationally renowned encouraged countless other nursresearcher whose lifetime of work in es to pursue their own passions pediatrics reshaped how health care is for research, guiding them toward provided to young mothers and their discoveries and innovations in areas children, died March 11. She was 82. such as pediatrics, palliative care, She leaves a powerful legacy created asthma, HIV/AIDS, and Alzheimer’s during a 60-plus year career as a nurse, disease. researcher, professor, mentor, and leadShe was known for her soft-spoer, most of it spent at the UR School of ken humility as much as her Nursing. uncompromising ethics. In a career Inspired by the disparities she enspanning more than six decades, countered as a pediatric nurse facing she remained a vibrant and essenyoung, socioeconomically disadvantial part of the school’s daily work taged mothers and children, Kitzman’s into her 80s. body of work in the development, deShe directed the Center for sign, and testing of a nurse-home visita- Research Implementation and tion program became the basis for the Translation (CRIT), a vital part of the Nurse-Family Partnership. The program, Medical Center’s Clinical Translawhich sends specially trained nurses tional Science Institute. It served as to regularly visit first-time moms-to-be a national model for how a school and follows them from early pregnancy of nursing can have a leadership through the child’s second birthday, role in a clinical and translational was federally funded in 1996 and now science award program. serves more than 38,000 families per Kitzman earned her nursing diploma year across 41 states. at Genesee Hospital in 1957 and earned The evidence-based community a bachelor’s degree in nursing from health initiative boasts more than 40 Lycoming College, before returning to years of evidence showing significant Rochester to complete her master’s improvement in education. Until the health and the late 1960s, "Kitzman's body of work in the lives of firstshe worked as development, design, and testtime moms a supervisor and their and instructor at ing of a nurse-home visitation children living Rochester Generprogram became the basis for in poverty. al and the Genthe Nurse-Family Partnership."

Literally putting esee hospitals, the intervenbefore accepting tion under a microscope, her research a position at the University of Rocheshas proven that nurse visits do in fact ter Medical Center as a project nurse in lead to healthier pregnancies, improve pediatric primary care. the health and development of chilInspired by the school’s then-chair, dren, and help at-risk families improve Eleanor Hall, Kitzman became a key their self-sufficiency. The program’s player in a partnership between the Decontinuous funding was fueled by the partment of Pediatrics and the School outcomes of more than two decades of of Nursing to develop health care randomized, controlled research trials services for children in the community. for which Kitzman served as principal In this role, she developed the School investigator or co-investigator. of Nursing’s pediatric nurse practiAs a longtime dean of research at tioner program in cooperation with the the School of Nursing, Kitzman was Department of Pediatrics. The program

prepared nurses to provide primary care to children.

In 1972, she was named the school’s first clinical chief of Pediatric Nursing during a pivotal time when the school united the three pillars of nursing: education, practice, and research – a radical concept at the time, which is now embraced by schools across the country.

She earned her PhD in 1984 and was named chair of Primary Care Nursing and Pediatrics, and three years later was promoted to associate dean for academic affairs. She became associate dean for research in 2004 and in 2009 was named senior associate dean for research, a position she maintained until her death.

A fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Kitzman was presented with the Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Hutchison Medal, the University of Rochester’s highest recognition of personal achievement. She was presented with the Dean’s Medal, the School of Nursing’s highest honor, in a private ceremony late in 2019.

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 29

IN MEMORIAM Jerome Lysaught ’64W (EdD) Jerome (Jerry) Lysaught, a former University of Rochester professor and a prolific author who was a longtime champion of the nursing profession, died Sept.

22 in Rochester. He was 89.

Lysaught was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in political science at the University of Kansas. He later earned a doctorate from the University of Rochester. A former Marine who served in Korea, he was awarded the US and Korean Presidential citations. He completed active duty in 1952 and retired from the Marines in 1954 with the rank of captain.

Newly married, he moved to Rochester in 1954 to work for Eastman Kodak where he was employed until he joined the UR faculty in 1962. In his academic career, he held positions on the faculty at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the School of Nursing, and the Warner School of Education and Human Development.

Lysaught was particularly well received in the field of nursing. He authored 13 books and numerous articles for publication in nursing journals. Twice (1974 and 1980) he was awarded the “Book of the Year in Nursing” award. A conference room on the fourth floor of Helen Wood Hall is named in his honor.

Outside of the University, he was instrumental in establishing a college of nursing at D’Youville College in Buffalo, and for enhancing nurse practitioner education throughout upstate New York. He also received a commendation from the secretary of the Air Force for his work as chairman of the Advisory Board of the Community College of the Air Force.

Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Delores; a daughter; and four granddaughters.

Pamela York Klainer ’80W (EdD) Pamela York Klainer, author, entrepreneur, and longtime friend of the School of Nursing, died Sept. 14 in Seattle. She was 74.

A native of Kearny, N.J., Klainer attended The College of St. Elizabeth, and following a stint in rural Panama with the Peace Corps, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she met her husband, Dr. Jeremy Klainer. They settled in Rochester, where she earned a doctorate of education from the University of Rochester and they lived for more than 30 years. She spent her last 10 years living in Seattle, enjoying time with her children and grandchildren.

In Rochester, she was a highly sought-after executive coach and workplace consultant whose clients included Fortune 500 companies such as Xerox, Kodak, and Bausch & Lomb. She was also author of two books and published more than 10,000 posts on her personal blog. With her husband, she co-founded Professional Planning Associates.

She cared deeply about philanthropy, establishing the Drs. Jeremy A. Klainer and Pamela York Klainer Endowed Dean’s Discretionary Award at the UR School of Nursing. She also helped found the Knox Clinic, providing essential medical care to the uninsured in Maine.

She is survived by her children, Sara Klainer (Ben Stolt) and Matthew Klainer (Amy); two grandchildren; and her sisters Linda Janesko (Ron) and Wendy Witterschein (George).

30 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

Word has reached us of the passing of the following alumni and friends. The School of Nursing expresses its sympathy to their loved ones.

Virginia (Deisher) Alexander ’48N April 24, 2019, Rochester, NY Christine M. Bodelson ’73, ’77N April 28, 2019, Sacramento, CA Dorothy E. (McCarthy) Brennan ’55, ’56N June 2, 2019, Stephenson, VA Susan (Murray) Burris ’55, ’56N July 22, 2019, Walpole, ME Janet (O’Brien) Carroll ’52N Aug. 6, 2019, Rochester, NY Mary (Graton) Comstock ’48N July 4, 2019, Saint Augustine, FL Marie (Zimmerman) Costich ’44, ’45N April 20, 2019, Lexington, KY Allene (King) Covey ’49N March 7, 2019, Webster, NY

Laura Ann (VanHaelst) Hogan ’97N (MS) Aug. 22, 2019, Fairport, NY Judy Holtz ’94N July 29, 2019, West Henrietta, NY Margaret A. (Northup) Jenkins ’46N, ’59W March 24, 2013, Perinton, NY Sharon Lee Johnson ’56N July 27, 2019, Trenton, NC Barbara Kelly ’64N Sept. 8, 2019, Somers Point, NJ Jean Marie (Walter) Kimmel ’59N May 17, 2019, Sayre, PA Margaret Samuel (Lesser) Lake ’79N Jan. 16, 2015, Putney, VT Kathleen A. Larsen ’57N June 29, 2019, Santa Rosa, CA

Catherine (Searles) Dashevsky ’65N, ’69N (MS) July 1, 2019, Tinton Falls, NJ

Valerie (Biekarck) Lynde ’57, ’58N Dec. 2, 2018, Bemus Point, NY

Barbara (Philip) Dekleva ’50N Aug. 27, 2019, Albuquerque, NM

Carol Patricia Marcklinger ’93N (MS) May 6, 2016, Seminole, FL

Dolores Miller Dewhirst ’56N April 13, 2019, Alexandria, VA

Charles L. Maxon ’64N Oct. 17, 2010, Albion, PA

Ruth Dray ’43N June 13, 2018, Rochester, NY

Donna Marie McCagg ’95N (MS) June 4, 2019, Honeoye Falls, NY

Florence Entner ’42N Jan. 17, 2018, Pompano Beach, FL

Barbara A. McGuire ’55N Dec. 1, 2017, Rochester, NY

Leona M. (Frost) Hess ’54, ’55N May 26, 2019, Hot Springs Village, AR

Janet (Canning) Rae ’51N April 28, 2019, Penfield, NY

Beverly (Fanton) Rahr ’51N May 31, 2019, Yucaipa, CA Joyce (Measor) Rude ’45N, ’52 May 18, 2019, Rochester, NY Barbara (Tremaine) Sanford ’61N April 13, 2019, Horseheads, NY Yvette (Gabrielli) Selmyer ’74N Sept. 10, 2017, Naples, FL Eleanor (Quinn) Siegfried ’75N July 15, 2019, Rochester, NY Frances (Wustrack) Smith ’61, ’62N April 6, 2019, Hiawassee, GA Julia M. Thornbury ’89N (PhD) Aug. 7, 2019, Niwot, CO Mary Elizabeth (Hansen) Vevera ’58, ’60W (MS) July 4, 2019, Rochester, NY Karen (Farney) Vinkey ’58, ’59N April 28, 2019, Watertown, NY Ardis (Borglum) Vokes ’43N July 26, 2019, Fairport, NY Lauretta (Schulze) Williams ’49N Dec. 6, 2019, Wheeling, WV Marilyn (Fink) Williams ’48N July 3, 2019, North Tonawanda, NY Sally (Graves) Wright ’55N May 20, 2019, Torrance, CA

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 31

Your classmates want to know your news!

Did you receive a promotion?

Move to a new city? Publish your research findings?

Email us at sonalumni@admin.rochester.edu or visit urson.us/SONalumninews to share your news and get it published in NURSING magazine.

Information Update Have you moved or changed your email address, or do you have news you want to share with School of Nursing alumni and friends? Fill out the form below and mail it back to us at School of Nursing Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations, Larry and Cindy Bloch Alumni and Advancement Center, P.O. Box 278996, Rochester, NY 14627-8996. Or submit your news online at urson.us/SONalumninews Today’s date _ _ /_ _ / 20 _ _  This is new information which I’ve not submitted before.  Please publish my news in NURSING magazine.

Name

Class Year

(include maiden name, if applicable) Address City State, Zip Email Phone (

)

-

Cell Phone (

)

-

Occupation Employer Family information (Spouse, children names)

Here is my news

32 NURSING 2020 Volume 1

Investing with heart, creating a legacy.

“Over the course of our lives, my husband Frank and I shared the same philosophy of working and saving so we could plan for our future. Our wish has always been to make enough money that we could share it—so that’s what we did. Although we didn’t win the lottery, we invested wisely. Recently, we turned those earnings into an estate gift that would provide scholarship support to University of Rochester School of Nursing students. Helping others pursue their dreams will impact not only their lives, but the lives of so many patients in the future.”

—I LENE WA L LM UE LLE R ’7 4 N , ’ 82N ( MS) Colorado Springs, Colorado

To learn more about bequest intentions and other planned giving methods, contact the Office of Trusts, Estates & Gift Planning (800) 635-4672 • (585) 275-8894 giftplanning@rochester.edu • www.rochester.giftplans.org/bequests

Imagine your legacy.

Charitable Gift Annuity Rates (as of January 1, 2020)

Age

60

65

70

75

80

Rate

4.3%

4.7%

5.1%

5.8%

6.9%

NURSING 2020 Volume 1 33

Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 780 Rochester, NY 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 643 Rochester, New York 14642 Change Service Requested

Parting Shot

SON Selfie: Kyle Kameika raises his phone to capture a group shot in front of the Meliora letters with his classmates in the Accelerated Bachelor’s Program for Non-Nurses, Daniella Cipolla, Megan Fujiyoshi, and Darrell Lamont.

Photo by Matt Wittmeyer