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Inside This Issue

Students’ Corner.................2-3

Faculty & Staff Notes..........4-5

Alumni & Development......6-7

Sigma Theta Tau..................8

Events....................................8

NO LIMITS.............................9

Reflections of 2013

One year ago last weekend, Keith and I began packing up our former home and began preparing for our move to Columbia. A year later, we asked, “where has the time gone?”

Reflecting back, 2013 has been busy, productive, and at times entertaining. Learning from and listening to our 1500+ stu-dents, 150+ faculty/staff, 9300+ alumni, and countless friends and partners have been informative and enlightening. Never a dull moment for sure! As the months have quickly passed, I have developed an even deeper appreciation for the breadth, loyalty intellect, ambition, compassion, complexity, and the commit-ment of Gamecock Nurses and our supporters.

During this past year, I have become even more convinced of the “privilege” to serve as Dean of the USC College of Nursing. There have been many successes, a few surprises, and a challenge or two along the way. I want to thank all of you for your engage-ment, your care and concern, and your willingness to embrace a new vision and change. We have an ambitious journey ahead and are looking forward to 2014.

Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful Holiday and a Happy New Year.

Jeannette O. Andrews PhD, RN, FAANDean & Professor

The CONnectionGAMECOCK

February 2013News and Views from the University of South Carolina COLLEGE OF NURSING DECEMBER 2013

Dr. Julia Ball, Interim Associate Dean for Academics, and Dean Andrews at the Col-lege of Nursing Holiday Party.

Karen Robertson successfully defended her DNP project “Foot Assessment in the Dialy-sis” and will graduate in December.

Chair: Dr. Joan CulleyCommittee Members: Dr. Stephanie Burgess and Dr. Abbas Tava-koli.

Candice Whitfield suc-cessfully defended her DNP project “Emergency Depart-ment Triage Acuity Ratings: Embedding ESI into the Elec-tronic Medical Record” and will graduate in December.

Chair: Dr. Joan CulleyCommittee members: Dr. Jane Richter, Dr. Laura Hein and Dr. Abbas Tavakoli.

Congratulations to our DNP Graduates!

STUDENT Q&A: Senna Desjardins, Class of 2015What brought you to the College of Nursing and what do you want to do with your degree? I have lived in Columbia for most of my life, so Carolina is in my blood. In high school I began to provide childcare for families in my free time. It’s through this experience that I fell in love with taking care of people and decided I wanted to be a nurse. After graduation I plan to pursue a career in pediatric oncology and later get my PhD in nursing. What is most challenging as a nursing student? The most challenging aspect of being a nursing student at Carolina is managing the stress. With our demanding curriculum it is easy to get over-stressed and lose sight of what we are learning. I try to take a day off on the weekend for myself to relax and reboot for the next week.

What is your proudest accomplishment at USC so far?Becoming a member of the executive board of the Student Nurses’ Association my freshmen and sophomore years. I was just re-elected for a second term as the Fundraising Director. I have really enjoyed being a part of this organization and it has created many oppor-tunities for me.

Tell us about the Nurse Code video. I got involved with the Nurse Code video through SNA. We created the video for the SNA State Convention skit competition. Another board member, Savannah Turner, wrote the script and I produced and edited the video. After state convention, a few professors saw it and suggested we enter it into the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nurses’ Future video competition. We were selected as one of the top 4 finalists and our video played at the State Wide Gala in November! I was able to attend the event and it was really exciting to see the reactions of the audience.

Tell us about your extracurricular activities and/or hobbies.Beyond nursing and the SNA, I am a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta honors fraternity and I serve on the 2013-2014 Dean’s Advisory Council. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and crafting creative art projects. I also enjoy playing with my 4 month old kitten Brice, who I rescued in August. He is a great study buddy!

Tell us about your time abroad last summer. This past summer I traveled abroad to a small town in France called Pau. I stayed for five weeks with a host family of seven while taking two French language courses at a local university. My five host brothers and sisters helped me quickly adapt to student life in France. I also got the chance to travel to Paris with my peers for 5 days. It was really fun to see the big landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. I learned a lot while I was there and was especially grateful for the opportunity to study abroad. This experience opened my eyes to an international lifestyle and broadened my understanding of new cultures.

South Carolina Nurses Foundation Walk

The SCNF Nurses Care Walk was held on November 2, 2013 at Riverfront Park in Columbia and James Island County Park in Charleston, SC. Almost 300 individu-als participated and approximately $10,000 was raised to support the mission of the South Carolina Nurses Foundation, which promotes advancement of the nurs-ing profession in SC. The USC Educational Foundation was honored as a Hope level sponsor with a donation of $750. The Alpha Xi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau Inter-national supported the walk as an Integrity level sponsor. The USC College of Nursing Team, which consisted of faculty, staff, students, and parents, was honored as the walk team that raised the largest amount of funds for the Columbia walk with a total of $875 raised. Several faculty, former faculty, staff, and students from the col-lege of nursing participated as walkers and/or volunteers. Nurses honored by individual donors of the College of Nursing walk team include Dr. Gwen Felton, Joy Pautz, Dr. Joynelle Rivers, and Kathleen Roberson. In addi-tion, the executive board of the South Carolina Student Nurses Association participated and walked in honor of Professor Kate Chappell.

College of Nursing faculty and students attended the Johnson & Johnson Promise of Nursing Gala held at the Charleston Marriott on November 6th. The Cam-paign for Nursing’s Future joins with local health-care organizations, hospitals, and schools to host The Promise of Nursing Events. These events celebrate the nursing profession and raise money to support nurs-ing programs and students in communities all over the country.

View more photos from the event HERE and on the College of Nursing Facebook page.

Promise of Nursing for SC Gala

SNA Fundraiser

The Student Nurses’ Association and Chi Eta Phi Soror-ity, Inc. are selling Holiday ornaments. All profits will be donated to the Sir Big Spur Project. This project is a joint venture between the College of Nursing and Col-lege of Engineering to build Sir Big Spur’s “new ride.” The owners Mary Snelling (USC CON alum) and Ron Albertelli are supporters of the College of Nursing and will donate royalties from sales of Sir Big Spur mer-chandise for College of Nursing student scholarships.

The Holiday ornaments will be available December 2nd (until supplies last) for $8 at the College of Nurs-ing through the SNA and Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc.

Purchase this unique ornament and support Sir Big Spur! Contact: Justin Chavis, chavisjr@email.sc.edu

Faculty and Staff Notes

Faculty Publications & Presentations

Heiney, Sue P., Tavaloki, A., Million Underwood, Sandra, Wells, Linda M., Weinrich, Sally P., Social Con-nection in African American Women with Breast Cancer. The Journal of the Black Nurses Association, in press.

As an expert consultant, Dr. Swann Adams presented her research on Cancer Disparities to the Academy of On-cology Nurse Navigators on November 16th at their annual conference in Memphis, TN.

Dr. Ronit Elk has been appointed to serve on the Health-Care Chaplaincy’s Palliative Care Advisory Committee.

Dr. Deb McQuilkin has been appointed to the ANA Scope of Practice and Standards Revision Task Force and to the ANA Code of Ethics Revision Advisory Committee.

On November 14th, Dr. Stephanie Burgess was one of six awardees to receive the Milestone Award for the College of Nursing’s partnership with the Kershaw Community Medi-cal Clinic in Kershaw County. The award was given to those that have made a significant contributions to the Clinic and enhanced their capability to expand their services.

Dr. Ronit Elk has been appointed as a reviewer to the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta for their RFP “Dare to Think Out of the Box” Community Projects. This RFP is for funds to help organizations and their partners address issues in education, income, health and homelessness in Atlanta Communities.

Dr. Karen McDonnell was selected as a featured schol-ar for November 2013. Her information can be viewed on the Office of the Vice President for Research’s website which highlights faculty excellence, innovation, and creativity.

The second edition of Dr. Sue Heiney’s book, Cancer in Our Family, has been selected as a finalist in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards.

Eileen Leaphart received the South Carolina League of Nursing’s “Nursing Excellence Award” at a ceremony at the Clarion Hotel on November 8th. Accompany-ing Professor Leaphart at the ceremony was Dr. Deb McQuilken, Dean Andrews and her husband, Ron Leaphart.

The College of Nursing’s Associate Dean for Nursing Practice, Dr. Stephanie Burgess, received the 2014 American Association of Nurse Practitioner’s Advocacy Award. She was presented with the award on Novem-ber 20th at the Upstate Nurse Practitioner Association’s meeting in Greenville. The annual award recognizes leadership in promoting Nurse Practitioners at the state and local level. Read more HERE.

Faculty Spotlight: Sabra Smith, DNP, MS, FNP-BC

Dr. Smith joined the College of Nursing in August 2010 as a clinical assistant professor, after completing her DNP here in May 2010. She credits strong mentors including Dr. Ken Phillips and Dr. JoAnne Herman for encouraging her to enter the DNP program. Dr. Smith started the DNP program as a non-BSN student

in August 2004 after earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in exercise science.

Early in the DNP program, she participated as a research as-sistant on many of Dr. Phillips’ studies involving symptom control for persons with HIV. Through these experiences she became inspired to work with this disease and persons affected by it.

Throughout the last two years of her DNP program, Dr. Smith taught various clinical sections and was also asked to teach NURS 216, Biophysical Pathology. She now also teaches NURS 324, Chemical Therapeutics, and co-coordi-nates NURS 435, the Senior Capstone course. Of all her courses, Dr. Smith continues to have the strongest passion for NURS 216. She says “Patho is a tough class and I push the students to work hard, but when the pieces from their previous classes come together and they start to truly under-stand disease processes, it’s really exciting.” Students report that Dr. Smith “brings out the best in students and pushes us to be the best we can be.”

In addition to teaching responsibilities, Dr. Smith practices two days a week at the USC Immunology Center, under their Ryan White grant, seeing patients who are HIV-positive. She is a member of their AIDS Education Training Center faculty and speaks frequently to local and state groups re-garding HIV care. This spring, Dr. Smith completed data collection on a Clinical Incentive Grant “Examination of Prenatal Care of HIV+ Pregnant Women and Clinical Out-comes”, a retrospective data collection done at the Immu-nology Center. She hopes to expand this pilot data set to other clinics around the state to more accurately describe and improve upon pre and postnatal care of HIV+ women in the state. In October, Dr. Smith co-mentored two ju-nior nursing students on submission of Magellan Scholar proposals, which are both related to HIV policy and care. She is currently collaborating with staff at Palmetto Health Richland and the SC Office of Victims Assistance to de-velop a pilot program to implement an HIV post-exposure prophylaxis protocol for victims of sexual assault.

What exactly do you do? I provide admininistrative and technical support in the IRC for students, faculty, and staff. Assist the IRC Director (Ben Card) with admininistrative duties and helpdesk requests. I manage the student assistants in the IRC. Manage, proctor, and schedule the ATI testing.

How long have you worked at the CON and/or USC? I started USC officially in November 1995. I have been with the CON since 2/1/2008.

What do you like best about your job?I like working with the students. Working with the students keeps me young and up to date. They make me laugh and keep our lab interesting.

What do you do when you’re not working? I am usually with my family. I have a wonderful husband and daughter and spend all my free time with them.

Tell us something people may not know about you.My daughter and I are volunteers at Agape Senior Care in Lex-ington. I teach Children’s Church once a month at Fish Hatchery Road Church of God.

STAFF Q&A: Patty Moorer, Information Resource Coordinator

Thank you to Dr. Ju-lia Ball who has served as our Interim Associ-ate Dean for Academ-ics September 2012 - December, 2013. She will be returning to her home institution, USC-Aiken in January, 2014. We appreciate all she has done for the USC CON.

Goodbye Dr. Julia Ball

VITAL SIGNS....An Update from Alumni and Development

Jancy Houck, Vice President, Development and Alumni Re-lations, attended the October Partnership Board Advancement Committee meeting. As the new VP, she is visiting each College and Unit to discuss the priorities set for the remaining 20 months left in the USC Capital Cam-paign. Jancy offered her assis-tance to the Partnership Board in meeting the CON goal of $10 Million.

Where are they now? Young Alumni Update by Madeline Georgino, BSN (‘11)

My journey into doctoral studies began as a sophomore at the University of South Carolina. I recollect sitting in a nurs-ing theory course and learning about the dynamic role of the Nurse Practitioner. From that point onward, I dedicated time researching what this role entailed, and which academic course of action I needed to take to obtain my goal. Subsequently, while taking Dr. Joan Culley’s course on emergency preparedness and disaster re-sponse for nurses in the School of Nurs-ing I found a passion for education in this vital field.

I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of South Carolina in 2011. I immediately began working at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital as a Staff Nurse in Trauma/Vascular Surgery in Pittsburgh, PA. Throughout the course of my first year as a nurse, I had many opportunities to engage with nurse practitioners working for this specialty line; these men and women truly became role models and pushed me to apply to graduate school. In the fall of 2012, after a rigorous interviewing process, I enrolled at the Univer-sity of Pittsburgh in the Acute Gerontology-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Doctorate of Nursing Practice program with a specialty focus in Trauma and Emergency Preparedness. My specialty focus allows me to further delve into research for my future Capstone project, tentatively dubbed: “Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response: Trauma Nurse Education at a Level 1 Trauma Center”. I saw a direct need for education for nurses in this specialty after a devastating active shooter incident at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in 2012. This facility is connected to UPMC Presbyterian via an underground bridge, and many critical care code responder nurses at UPMC Presbyterian responded to this mass casualty incident (MCI). I am currently set to graduate in spring 2015 from the University of Pitts-burgh and hope to obtain a job as an AG-ACNP/DNP in a trauma specialty service line or hospitalist group. In the future, I hope to create more in-depth education programs for new nurses working in trauma centers regarding emergency preparedness and disaster response nationwide. I eventually hope to teach emergency preparedness and disaster response for undergraduate nurses in an academic institution.

Partnership Board Member Ann Henry and her husband Bob Henry at the College of Nursing Holiday Party.

Alumni Q&A: Justin Fulkerson, BSN (‘08), MSN Where do you work now?As a US Navy Reservist, I am currently deployed to the Kandahar, Afghanistan NATO Role III Trauma Bay. Here I also am part of the aeromedical evacuations (EnRoute Care Team) across Afghanistan. I have been in the emergency room the rest of my nursing career with three years as a staff nurse and two years as a nurse practitioner.

What is the most interesting thing you have seen or done as a nurse?A career in the US Navy Reserves has opened up more opportunities than I could have imagined. Devel-oping both the officer and the nurse side of your collar allows you amazing leadership opportunities and professional development. My training for predeployment included two intensive weeks learning how to function in a critical care flight role. I’ve met some of the best friends of my life and have gained a new skillset that is…well, let’s face it, just plain awesome. This opportunity is by far the most interesting clini-cal role I’ve had.

Tell us about your family.All of my family lives in and around Columbia, SC currently. My mother is a nurse at Baptist Hospital and, as a USC nursing alumni herself, pinned me at the pinning ceremony there. My aunt, Nell Mauney, works for the coroner’s officer, so I sadly get to see her at work some days. My dad is retired from the Columbia Fire Department and, with the help of my step mother, has given me a wonderful little brother; Aiden. My sister works at Richland hospital in the cardiac stress lab. My boyfriend is a student and the best hair stylist/colorist in Columbia. We plan to move upon return so I can start my Doctorate in Nursing Practice in Anesthesia.

What does it mean to be a College of Nursing Alumnus? Were there any faculty and/or campus experiences that helped you with your career choices and where you are now?USC prepared me well on a didactic basis. Those first few months as a new graduate baby nurse were terrifying. Although we had some bumps in the road, we all made it through together and have thriving careers now. USC’s School of Nursing did instill a life-long learning mantra that holds to this day; pushing me to complete my master’s (Acute Care Nurse Practitioner) and now doctorate. The seed was well-planted to encourage professional development and always look for the “why” behind our clinical actions

Is there anything you would like to say to your classmates and other reading the newsletter?I’m currently on my first deployment, and I have to say, military medicine creates opportunities that you can’t even begin to imagine. Now, there is plenty of more-than-normal administrative nonsense, but there are incredible opportunities to travel and enhance your-self professionally. Think about world class trauma, humanitarian missions, and opportunities for leadership like you can’t imagine. Not to mention the community you come to love. Nathan Aranas is another who can likely vouch for this. So, I hope everyone is having rich careers and personal lives with the opportunities for which USC has helped lay the foundation.

The IRA Charitable Rollover provision is set to expire December 31, 2013; act now to do a tax-free charitable rollover for the benefit of the College of Nursing.

All Gifts and Pledges to support Nursing can be sent to:

USC College of Nursing, 1600 Hampton Street, Suite 736, Columbia, SC 29208, Gift Processing

Checks Made Payable to the USC , Educational Foundation or at our website http://giving.sc.edu/

To learn how you can make a difference at USC College of Nursing contact the Development Office at 803-777-3468.

UPCOMING EVENTS

December 15 Convocation

2:00 pm, WBB 231

December 16University Commencement

January 16 PhD Information Sessions

6:00 – 7:30 pmPhD Program Office:

803-777-0290

January 24 Aging Research Day

www.agingresearchday.org

January 2513th Annual

Geriatric Symposium

February 5Carolina Day at the Statehouse

February 8 College of Nursing

Clinical Practice Conference: Management of the Complex Patient

February 21 Mary Ann Parsons Lectureship

Topic: The Affordable Care Act and its’ impact on our education and

practice partners

March 22 Midlands Heart Walk

March 27-28 SC Center for Nursing Leadership

Nursing Summit

March 31 Recognition Luncheon

Alpha Xi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau

Join us for the University of South Carolina College of Nursing

Clinical Practice Conference: Management of the Complex Patient

SATURDAY

FEBRUARY

8thThis conference is designed for nurse practitioners, registered nurses, health educators, and other health care professionals.

Presented topics: ●Cardiovascular Concerns ● Treatment Resistant Depression ● HIV ● Complex Care Systems Perspective

COSTS:CON 2013-2014 Preceptors: FreeOther APRNs and RNs: $30All Students: $15

The Center for Nursing Leadership is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the South Carolina Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Ac-creditation.

Successful completion of the entire program will award 3.5 contact hours, 2.5 hours will focus on pharmacology.

REGISTER HERE

8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. College of Nursing

Auditorium 231

For more information visit www.sc.edu/nursing

The 42nd Biennial Convention of Sigma Theta Tau International was held in Indianapolis on November 16-20. Alpha Xi was represented by (left to right) Amber Williams (Vice President), Eileen Leaphart (Presi-dent), Gloria Fowler (Counselor), Sue Haddock (Chair, Finance Com-mittee & member of International Leadership Succession Committee), and Ann Scott (Chair, Governance Committee).

No Limits to our Teaching• First and largest BSN and nursing graduate programs in the state of SC • 96%-100% NCLEX and Nurse Practitioner Board Pass Rates, exceeding both state and national averages • New PhD student fellowships and stipends• National and Internationally recognized faculty• Nationally ranked graduate programs

No Limits to our Innovation • State-of-the-art Client Simulation Lab providing revolutionizing and quality education to students• Cutting edge research in health care delivery, cancer survivorship, health promotion, and vulnerable populations• 4th DNP program in the country, now provided online• Center for Nursing Leadership is leading state-wide action coalitions responsive to the national Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action

No Limits to our Caring • The College of Nursing’s Children and Family Healthcare Center is the only nurse managed medical home in South Carolina• Our dedicated expert clinical faculty provide comprehensive healthcare to all ages of an underserved population• Over 90 scholarships provided each year to our students, with the generosity from our alumni and donors• Well established partnerships with health systems and stakeholders across the state

No Limits to our scholarship• National leaders in nursing research with 70% of our tenure track faculty having received NIH funding • Diverse portfolio of research funding from NCI, NINR, NHLBI, NLM, CDC, HRSA, Duke Foundation, & others• Two Research Centers: Healthcare Process and Redesign Center and Cancer Survivorship Center • One of 10 schools across the country participating in National Simulation Study

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE OF NURSING

CONTACT USCollege of Nursing

University of South Carolina1601 Greene Street

Columbia, SC 29208

Office of the Dean:803-777-3861

Office of Student Affairs:803-777-7412

Information Resource Center:803-777-1213

Office of Research:803-777-7413

Center for Nursing Leadership

803-777-3039

Employment Opportunities

www.sc.edu/nursingwww.facebook.com/USCNursing