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News and Announcements for: July 2008
Dr. Steve Morris
USF nursing professor receives elite fellowship with American Academy of Nursing & Institute of Medicine
“My work will provide information on factors that could facilitate the timely and effective implementation of recommendations from recent IOM committee reports and, hopefully, by implication other work underway at the IOM as well as in other scientific venues across the nation,” said Dr. Mary Evans. Obtaining information on factors, particularly social, economic and political factors, could lead to more effective implementation of IOM recommendations. The project will also codify strategies to better prepare the legislative environment at the national level for implantation of IOM recommendations, and will be completed in cooperation with Mental Health America (MHA), the largest and oldest mental health advocacy and public education organization in the United States. Newsbrief by Ashlea Hudak, USF College of Nursing
USF College of Nursing Achieves 100 Percent Pass Rate Again
Triple Crown for USF Nursing Program - Third Time Achieves 100 Percent Pass Rate in State Exams & First Time Test Takers from USF CON Score Well Above the National Average July 18, 2008. Graduates of the USF College of Nursing have once again achieved a 100-percent pass rate on the required exam to practice as a nurse. The outstanding numbers are the results from students who graduated from the USF program and sat for the Registered Nurse Licensure Examination (NCLEX) during the second quarter of this year. The nursing school, based in Tampa, FL, has attained the coveted 100 percent pass rate twice before - first in 2007 and again this past spring. NCLEX results are reported each quarter by the Florida Board of Nursing. These latest results include all graduates of baccalaureate and associate nursing degree programs who sat for the NCLEX during the second quarter of 2008.
“Congratulations to our outstanding faculty and students,” said said Patricia Burns, PhD, FAAN, dean of the College of Nursing. “I congratulate our graduates on a job well done. This is an important measure of our college and demonstrates it’s one of the best in the state.” “This is a critical measure that says the USF College of Nursing perhaps the best in the state, and one of the best in the country,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, USF’s Senior Vice President for USF Health. “My congratulations to the faculty and graduates. We’re all proud of you.” Student nurses who have completed their coursework are eligible to take the national licensing exam. Before nurses begin practicing, they must graduate from a recognized nursing program, like USF’s, meet specific requirements of the state board of nursing, and pass the National Council for State Boards of Nursing NCLEX exam for registered nurses. USF student nurses who sat for the exam in 2003 were the first to have completed their baccalaureate study in the College’s community-based clinical collaborative curriculum. The USF College of Nursing teamed up with nurse leaders from community hospitals to devise the Clinical Collaborative curriculum - a plan to keep new nurses in nursing and in Florida by bridging the gap between academic preparation and professional application of the skills and knowledge a nurse uses every day. Newsbrief by Lissette Campos, USF Health Communications Section-CONDoorsign - Photos for web/creative educational models
'Hola' to Babies in Panama!
Balboa, Panama June 4, 2008 - It never takes long for mornings to become incredibly busy at the Hostal Amador Familiar. Almost with the first light of day, come the sounds of showers running, hairdryers blowing, coffee brewing and the microwave dinging with breakfast. First ones up always get the hot showers. No one wants to be late. No one wants to be last. It’s been the same morning routine at the hostal since the arrival of 15 USF nursing students and 2 faculty members in mid May, but on this particular morning something feels different. Their quick steps and increased back & forth to rooms are a dead give away that something new, something extraspecial will be happening on this day. The anticipation in the air is palpable. “I hope we see a baby today,” says one student. “I hope we see a couple of babies!” says another. Then, a rapid exchange on the topic of scrubs: “Do you have your scrubs? I have mine…don’t forget to bring yours…mine are dirty?!… I may have extra…” The conversation is critically important because having scrubs will be the key to the something special happening today. No scrubs, no delivery room. No delivery room, no babies. “Profesora” Lucero de Estrada, RN, of the University of Panama’s Nursing School has arranged for a three-hour-tour of the Santo Tomas Maternity Hospital in the capitol, and these Bulls are hoping to witness at least one delivery during the visit. With interests as varied as their personalities and backgrounds, this year’s group is pursuing nursing specialties in cardiac care, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, anesthesiology, labor & delivery – just to name a few. But on this hot, humid morning, their areas of specialties all take a backseat to “birth”. Jason Merry, the only male student in the group, explains things this way. “A person once told me, there could be seven people in the (delivery) room and the next thing you know, there are eight! Ever since I heard that, it’s the only way I think about birth. It’s amazing…there’s another life in the room…” he says. 
Arrival at Santo Tomas Maternity Hospital… The arrival at Santo Tomas Hospital is marked by long welcomes and formal introductions. Over three hundred years old, the hospital is rich in history & tradition, and its proud nurses are brimming over with stories to share. Santo Tomas is one of only two large, public maternity hospitals in this nation of just over 3 million people. Its labor & delivery rooms, the busiest on the isthmus. Last year approximately 12,000 babies were delivered here. So far this year, the hospital is averaging 35 – 40 births a day. Women from all over the countryside travel here to delivery their babies at a cost of $25 U.S. dollars for a vaginal delivery, $50 U.S. dollars for a Cesarean- section. In modern Panama, the U.S. dollar has become the nation’s currency. No patient is turned away, regardless of whether they can pay their bill in full, in part, or not at all. Finally in the Sala de Parto! USF students have plenty of questions, asking about immunizations, prenatal care, and HIV testing prior to delivery. While their hosts are happy to answer the steady flow of questions, word comes that the head doctor has given permission for USF students to enter the Sala de Parto – Labor & Delivery. They reach for their backpacks with scrubs tucked inside. “We were all really excited, but we didn’t think that we were going to be able to see a delivery,” says Alexandra “Lexa” Henry. “We were looking up at the clock and thinking ‘Oh, we’re going to have to go soon.’ …then, all of a sudden, two ladies that came in were in labor! It was great!” Great indeed! With both patients giving the okay for USF nursing students to enter, they split into smaller groups, change into their scrubs and head for the delivery rooms. Humbled by the inclusion in such a personal moment, our students stand quietly in the corner of the delivery room - eyes wide…at times, almost holding their breath…watching everything and everyone. 
Caitlin Brock and Jason Merry are in the back. Caitlin inches forward on the tips of her toes to watch the final push, while Courtney Rice bends her knees and leans in to get a clearer view. Lydia Pendino and Jessica Dorey are wringing their hands, while Erin Smith keeps hers firmly planted over her heart. 
Erin suddenly switches over to a ‘thumbs up’ after seeing the baby boy’s head emerge from the birth canal. 
In the span of only eight minutes, our students had witnessed the birth of two babies - a girl born at 11:44 AM…a boy born at 11:52 AM. “I feel that giving birth is such a personal, special experience, and for us to be able to share that with her, it was really cool,” says Caitlin Brock. “It was breathtaking, the whole experience!” says Christine Doherty. “Even from the medical perspective, it was a beautiful thing,” says Jessica Meerbott, who witnessed the birth of the baby girl in the next room. “I didn’t start to get emotional until I went over and looked at the baby. She was just so beautiful and peaceful, this little bundle of life and I got to be a part of that. It was just very special,” she says. The Panamanian mom informs the nurse that her daughter’s name is Kimberly, and with her permission, our students take out their cameras for the first time and take a picture. The Santo Tomas nurses stop to smile and remark, in Spanish, about the tenderness and respect exhibited by these students. 
Holding the babies… Profesora Estrada is pleased. Every single one of her USF estudiantes – students- for the day has witnessed a birth. Still in her scrubs, she leads them into the room where babies are being washed and diapered. Once inside the profesora begins helping our students hold babies and feed them milk out of an espresso-size cup. “un poquito, only a little,” she says. “We don’t use bottles to make it easier for the baby to breastfeed,” she explains. 
Q: Profesora Estrada it must give you great satisfaction as you watch students and see when they are really engaged in the learning process, fully experiencing the moment? For Tara Casimir, the experience at the Santo Tomas Hospital is only part of a greater story she has to tell of the month long exchange program in Panama – how it’s changed her perspective about life and even herself. “It’s given me so much more confidence… especially with the language barrier and yet I’ve done so many things here…it’s really tested my own abilities,” she says. Now home in the U.S., students share that day’s anticipation & the babies with friends & loved ones, near and far. Taken in by the miracle of life, they are moments students say they will never forget. 
Story by Lissette Campos, USF Health Communications
Nursing's Community Health in Panama
A CLOSER LOOK: USF College of Nursing’s Community Health in Panama The “home base” for USF nursing students there is the Hostal Amador Familiar in Balboa, a neighborhood near the Panama Canal which was formerly controlled by and home to U.S. military forces operating the famed canal. During students’ month long stay in Panama, they’re accompanied by faculty members from the Escuela de Enfermeria , Universidad de Panama,– the University of Panama’s Nursing School. Learning Community Health in Traditional & Non-traditional Ways…    This year’s group of 15 USF nursing students was led by Assistant Professor Versie Johnson-Mallard, ARNP, PhD; and Instructor Debra Gottel, MHS, BSN.
For Johnson-Mallard and Gottel, the course abroad is no vacation. The day long excursions and activities end with “class” in the hostal’s kitchen. Surrounded by pots & pans, ripe bananas, and table-top salt & pepper shakers, the assistant professor and instructor go over lessons on a variety of subjects. On any given night, the discussion centers on topics like the care of vulnerable populations, communicable diseases and immunizations, school health, community mental health, the role of the public health nurse, making community assessments and referrals, just to name a few. “The desire for more was infectious,” says Johnson-Mallard. “The eagerness spread among the students, even after a long day, they wanted to talk and attempt to understand. They wanted to hear from other students, their thoughts and experiences. By the end, they were completing each others sentences with wide eyes and eager faces.” “Sharing this experience with the students has been a wonderful opportunity for me as an instructor,” says Gottel. “I have seen the students enthusiastically and competently engage in activities that challenged them in many ways. They left Florida with trepidation and returned feeling confident - confident in their abilities to practice beginning nursing, communicate with people who did not speak their language, navigate new surroundings, make friends and think in new ways.” The group of students consisted of 14 females and one male, all in their senior year. They’re names are Lindsay Betchel, Caitlin Brock, Tara Casimir, Tania Cruickshank, Christine Doherty, Jessica Dorey, Alexandra Henry, Shadae Llewelyn, Jessica Meerbott, Jason Merry, Lydia Pendino, Cristina Penzabene, Courtney Rice, Melissa Skrzypek and Erin Smith.
Educational Program Bearing Fruit…
Sandra Cadena, PhD, ARNP, is the College of Nursing’s Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Director of Global Health. Traveling with students in prior years, she describes the program as one that bears fruit – many and varied, all equally important. “From an educator’s perspective, it’s interesting to watch the growing pride our students feel for their profession. They can make an incredible difference in people’s lives, no matter what corner of the world they choose to nurse in,” says Dr. Cadena. “It also heightens their sensitivity to cultural diversity. I think the immersion can increase a student’s awareness of his/her own cultural identity and, in turn, helps make them more sensitive to a growing culturally diverse patient population in our own country.”
A First for Dean of Nursing…
Students weren’t shy about sharing their opinions with the dean about Panama’s health disparities, medical protocols, infection control and more. It’s music to her ears. Dean Burns happily detecting students’ enthusiasm and passion for the nursing profession.
“I feel that the students gained an appreciation for cultural diversity in health care and a sincere appreciation for procedure and policy differences,” says Johnson-Mallard. “They spoke of noting appreciation by the people for their professional knowledge & skills and how well, comparatively, they are compensated and appreciated for their profession.” “I have always been impressed with the students at the College of Nursing,” says Gottel, now home from Panama. “…but I now have an even greater respect for the dedication and competence that these young adults bring to the profession of nursing. It certainly was a privilege for me to be able to share this experience with such a capable group of students!” says Gottel. Story by Lissette Campos, USF Health Communications PHOTO GALLERY BELOW: 
 
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In July, 2008 the Tampa Tribune featured the amazing disaster-relief efforts, nationwide, of USF College of Nursing faculty member Steve Morris, MD. The story authored by reporter Donna Koehn is entitled “USF Nursing Instructor-Doctor On Call For Disasters” and also appears in the Tribune’s online newsroom, TBO.COM. To view, 
Mary E. Evans, RN, PhD, FAAN, associate dean for research and doctoral study at the USF College of Nursing, received a Scholar in Residence Joint Fellowship with the American Academy of Nursing and Institute of Medicine for 2008-2009. The program prominently engages nursing leaders in health policy development at the national level, and allows Dr. Evans to pursue interests in implementation of recommendations to improve the mental health of Americans.
