NOTEWORTHY

Harriet R. Feldman, dean of Lienhard School of Nursing at Pace University in New York, has been elected the 2008 chair of the Board of Commissioners of the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the national nonprofit agency that exclusively accredits baccalaureate and higher degree programs in nursing. She also was honored this month at her alma mater, New York University, with this year’s Grace E. Davidson award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions of nursing administrators to the education of nursing students. A fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and of the New York Academy of Medicine, Feldman is a member of U.S. Representative Nita Lowey’s (D-NY) Health Advisory Committee and is on the board of Nurses Educational Fund, Inc.

Vernice Ferguson, past president of Sigma Theta Tau International (1985-87), was honored with the Lifetime Nursing Pioneer Award at the annual best practices conference of the National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC) in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Oct. 7. Located in Philadelphia, NNCC is a subsidiary of the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, a non-profit public health organization committed to improving the health of the community through advocacy, outreach, program development and coordination, information systems and data sharing, research, planning, technical assistance, and direct services.

Rita A. Frantz, professor in The University of Iowa College of Nursing, was named dean of the college effective July 1, 2007. Frantz first joined the faculty of the College of Nursing as an instructor in 1972, and joined the tenure track as an assistant professor six years later. She was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 1991, and has been a full professor since 1996. Widely sought after as a consultant on management of pressure ulcers and other wounds, Frantz also serves as a clinical associate in nursing and has conducted a wound care clinic at the Iowa Veteran’s Home in Marshalltown, Iowa, a long-term facility.

Terry Fulmer, dean of New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN), together with co-investigator Sheryl Strasser, also of NYUCN, and Stefanie Russell, of NYU College of Dentistry, have received a two-year $346,569 grant from the National Institute on Aging to study elder mistreatment. In the study, titled “Primary Care Clinics for Estimating the Prevalence and Incidence of Elder Mistreatment,” researchers will conduct screenings for elder mistreatment among 982 older adults who visit their doctors at five primary care clinics. Goals of the study include: 1) estimating the prevalence of elder mistreatment in a large urban sample of community-dwelling elderly persons; 2) estimating the six-month incidence of elder mistreatment among these patients; and 3) comparing a standardized, proven instrument used for screening for elder abuse with a newly developed instrument. Elder mistreatment (EM) is a potentially fatal public health problem that causes human suffering and preventable morbidity and mortality. Infected pressure ulcers, urine burns, fractures, depression and death are examples of the horrific outcomes of EM.

Andrea Gregg, associate professor at University of Florida College of Nursing and director of the college’s Jacksonville campus, has been elected president  of the Florida Nurses Association. Gregg, who has practiced as a registered nurse for 35 years both in clinical and administrative roles, has served as an elected officer on numerous professional and community boards, including the Florida Nurses Foundation, the Florida League for Nursing and the Child Guidance Center. She is the past chairwoman of the Florida Center for Nursing and continues to sit on the center’s board of directors.

Divina Grossman, dean of Florida International University’s College of Nursing & Health Sciences, was one of three panelists who addressed the 27-member Florida delegation of the U.S. Congress on health profession shortages on Wednesday, Nov. 7. In addressing the delegation, Grossman focused on the nursing shortage and discussed potential opportunities for averting a public health crisis such a shortage would cause by increasing capacity of Florida nursing schools.

Carol M. Headley, advanced practice nurse in the Nephrology Division of Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, is editor of Career Fulfillment in Nephrology Nursing: Your Guide to Professional Development. Fully revised and updated by experts in nephrology nursing and career development, the 116-page guide covers every major area of professional development for nephrology nurses and contains nine continuing nursing education (CNE) self-evaluation forms, one following each chapter for up to 11 hours of CNE credit.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) as Health Policy Fellows for 2007-08, of which the following are registered nurses: Susan Hinck, associate professor, Department of Nursing, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA; Nancy Ridenour, dean and professor, Mennonite College of Nursing, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, USA; Lupita Salazar Letscher, former deputy director, Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future, Northwest Health Foundation, Portland, Oregon, USA; and Deborah E. Trautman, interim vice president for patient care services at Howard County General Hospital, director of nursing for emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and faculty associate at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. The fellows will spend a year in Washington, D.C., working in a congressional office or the executive branch.  There they will enrich their understanding of public policy practices and the ways government health research relates to the mission of their home institutions and local communities.  Afterward, the fellows will apply their experiences to improving health policy and management locally.

Karen Johnson, assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, has been selected to serve a one-year term on the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ Evidence-Based Practice Work Group.

Jane Kapustin, assistant professor at University of Maryland School of Nursing, has been named assistant dean for master’s studies. A member of the faculty for seven years, she has served has director of the adult nurse practitioner program, helped develop the school’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program and teaches several of the program’s core courses. President of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Maryland and a member of the Leadership Council for the Baltimore Chapter of the American Diabetes Association, Kapustin maintains a faculty practice at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Baltimore, where she manages complex diabetic patients.

Karen Kauffman, associate professor at University of Maryland School of Nursing, has been appointed chair of the Department of Family and Community Health. She previously served as interim assistant dean for master’s studies. Kauffman, a certified gerontological nurse practitioner, maintains a private practice as a long-term care consultant for older adults and their families in the community. An ethnographer, she has conducted numerous ethnographic inquiries and has served as a qualitative research consultant on many grants.

Nancy Kupka is principal investigator of a study by the Joint Commission’s Division of Quality Research and Measurement to ascertain how rapid tests for influenza are implemented in outpatient medical settings, including solo and group practice physician offices, community health centers, and acute care hospital emergency departments throughout the United States. The study is funded by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jana Lauderdale, assistant dean for cultural diversity at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, has been elected president of the Transcultural Nursing Society (TCNS) for the 2008-10 term. Lauderdale was also notified recently by TCNS International of her selection as a Transcultural Nursing Scholar for 2007-08 for significant contributions in leadership, education, scholarly publications and public policy at local, regional and national levels. The mission of TCNS is to enhance the quality of culturally congruent, competent and equitable care that results in improved health and well being for people worldwide.

Melissa Dixon LeVine and her husband Harry LeVine III recently made a $600,000 bequest to establish an endowed professorship at the University of North Carolina School of Nursing to promote healthy living. Ms. LeVine is an alumna of the school.

Frances E. Likis, deputy editor of the Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health since the beginning of 2007, will be editor-in-chief of the journal, starting Jan. 1, 2008. The journal is published by the American College of Nurse-Midwives. In addition to her editorial responsibilities, Likis is coordinator of graduate education at the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing and is in clinical practice as a sexual assault examiner in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She began her career in health care as a nurse practitioner in Nashville.

Melanie Lutenbacher, associate professor of nursing and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing is collaborating with Patricia Temple, a medical doctor and professor of pediatrics, in a four-year, $2.48 million Better Birth Outcomes study, funded by a grant from BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation, that compares outcomes for women who receive usual prenatal care in a clinic that alternates with home visits from a nurse-midwife—called System of Care (SOC)—with those given routine prenatal care and interviewed 13 times over 20-24 months. SOC, which is based on the best evidence available, combines medical and biobehavioral interventions expected to reduce premature births and delay subsequent pregnancies in women with a history of preterm births. Three hundred women will be enrolled in the study.