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GW Nursing Magazine Fall 2018

GW Nursing is a publication of the George Washington University School of Nursing. The magazine tells the story of GW nurses and their endeavors in the areas of education, research, policy and practice.

GW Nursing is a publication of the George Washington University School of Nursing. The magazine tells the story of GW nurses and their endeavors in the areas of education, research, policy and practice.

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the george washington university<br />

<br />

/ fall <strong>2018</strong> issue<br />

THE<br />

BATTLE AT<br />

HOME<br />

how nurses are<br />

treating veterans


students enrolled in bsn veterans option enjoy dedicated space and student support services. see more on page 20.<br />

The George<br />

Washington University<br />

PRESIDENT<br />

THOMAS LEBLANC<br />

School of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

DEAN AND PROFESSOR<br />

PAMELA JEFFRIES<br />

<strong>GW</strong><strong>Nursing</strong><br />

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF<br />

DAVID BIGLARI<br />

MANAGING EDITOR<br />

ERIN JULIUS<br />

PHOTOGRAPHY<br />

ERIN JULIUS<br />

REESE RACKETS<br />

FEATURE WRITERS<br />

LAURA BRADDICK<br />

ERIN JULIUS<br />

WRITERS<br />

RUTH ADAMS<br />

JOAN DAVILA-PASHA<br />

JON EICHBERGER<br />

EDITING<br />

Division of External Relations<br />

RACHEL MUIR<br />

DESIGN<br />

Marketing and Creative Services<br />

HEATHER OESTERLING (Design and Illustration)<br />

JOSH SCHIMMERLING (Project Management)


fall <strong>2018</strong><br />

DEPARTMENTS<br />

FEATURES<br />

03<br />

FROM THE DEAN<br />

04<br />

NURSING NEWS<br />

14<br />

12<br />

POLICY UPDATE<br />

24<br />

RESEARCH TODAY<br />

THE BATTLE AT HOME<br />

Our nation’s veterans and military members<br />

are facing a mental health crisis. This is in large<br />

part due to workforce shortages, but nursing<br />

can bridge the gap through preparation of<br />

practitioners, use of telehealth services and<br />

educating veterans themselves to become<br />

practitioners.<br />

<strong>GW</strong><strong>Nursing</strong> is published biannually by:<br />

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY<br />

SCHOOL OF NURSING<br />

1919 Pennsylvania Ave., NW<br />

Suite 500<br />

Washington, DC 20006-5818<br />

Telephone: 202–994–7901<br />

Email: sonmarketing@gwu.edu<br />

Website: nursing.gwu.edu<br />

Comments, letters, advertising and change of address<br />

notices are welcome.<br />

©<strong>2018</strong> The George Washington University<br />

The George Washington University is an equal<br />

opportunity/affirmative action university.<br />

30<br />

<strong>GW</strong> NURSING AT HOME AND<br />

AROUND THE WORLD<br />

34<br />

ALUMNI NEWS<br />

20<br />

SERVING THOSE WHO SERVED<br />

Veterans’ lives are defined by service. For those<br />

who choose to become nurses, it’s a natural fit.<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> continues their service in a new way.<br />

Since 2014, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> has been translating<br />

veterans’ skills to a workforce in need through<br />

its BSN veterans option.<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 1


2019 <strong>GW</strong> Simulation Conference<br />

Partnerships, Practice and Policy<br />

Explore evidence, ideas and policy implications of<br />

clinical simulations used in nursing and other health<br />

care programs. Leaders from state boards of nursing<br />

and national simulation experts will present the state<br />

of the science and discuss the policy implications<br />

every nurse educator should know.<br />

March 21<br />

Pre-conference<br />

March 22<br />

Main conference<br />

Virginia Science and<br />

Technology Campus<br />

in Ashburn, Virginia<br />

Hosted by the<br />

George Washington University<br />

School of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Learn more and register to attend at simconference.gwu.edu<br />

2 |<br />

The George Washington University does not unlawfully discriminate in its admissions programs against any person based on that<br />

person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.


from the dean<br />

/ students, faculty and staff gathered at the virginia science and<br />

technology campus for a multicultural celebration in july.<br />

‘Working to Improve<br />

the Workforce’<br />

Here in the heart of the nation’s capital, you can<br />

overhear conversations about the gaps in health care<br />

everywhere you go. People are abuzz on the Hill, at<br />

the headquarters of the many health and nursing<br />

organizations that call D.C. home, on the Metro and<br />

in the streets.<br />

As educators and researchers, it is essential to stop and ask ourselves<br />

how nursing can make the most significant impact on health care<br />

and change the landscape as we know it. With most things, we<br />

often have to go back to the beginning, specifically education. As<br />

a nurse educator, I am often asked by hospital leaders, health care<br />

organizations, politicians and peers what can be done to address the<br />

nation’s growing health workforce needs.<br />

At the George Washington University, we start by attracting<br />

students with a well-rounded perspective of the world, grounded in<br />

skills that can be transferred to our profession. One such example is<br />

our Bachelor of Science in <strong>Nursing</strong> (BSN) veterans option (page 20).<br />

Each year, veterans transition from the military to rejoin a civilian<br />

workforce. Many of these remarkable individuals come with military<br />

training related to health. Why not let them continue to serve by<br />

working for an industry in need of providers that could benefit from<br />

their commitment? These are the types of win-win scenarios the<br />

profession needs.<br />

Once students are in the classroom, they need the guidance<br />

of expert faculty and a unique curriculum (page 4) crafted for the<br />

opportunities this wonderful profession provides. Access to state-ofthe-art<br />

facilities is also essential, as simulation is vital to teaching skills<br />

that can sometimes be missed in clinical experience. At <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>,<br />

we doubled our own simulation footprint this summer (page 8).<br />

It doesn’t stop there. Our institutions of higher education have<br />

a duty to augment a health care workforce in need, particularly<br />

with remote-area medical missions and global trips to developing<br />

countries (page 30). These experiences also teach students the value of<br />

contributing to causes greater than themselves.<br />

Finally, we can’t keep all of this to ourselves. We need to ensure<br />

our peers, hospital leaders, the media, our nation’s top government<br />

officials and the world know that nursing has a voice, and it’s time<br />

to be heard. This year, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s Center for Health Policy and<br />

Media Engagement released the Woodhull Study Revisited (page 12),<br />

which found nurses to still be underrepresented as sources in health<br />

stories in the media despite the passing of 20 years since the original<br />

study. We can’t change health care or address the workforce in silence.<br />

I encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with this important<br />

study and its recommendations.<br />

In the end, it all comes back to how we as educators can support<br />

a workforce in need. This is a remarkable time to be in health care<br />

and the nation’s capital. It’s a remarkable time to be a nurse. It’s<br />

going to take work, but we’re committed. Let’s roll up our sleeves and<br />

work together.<br />

PAMELA R. JEFFRIES<br />

dean | school of nursing<br />

the george washington university<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 3


nursing news<br />

A Cure for<br />

the Common<br />

Curriculum<br />

By Jon Eichberger<br />

Administering patient care under<br />

the guidance of a clinical nurse...<br />

Simulating poverty to better<br />

grasp the negative effects it has on<br />

child development... Shadowing<br />

a perioperative nurse in the<br />

operating room. <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

students are taking advantage of<br />

unique opportunities to better<br />

prepare themselves for the everexpanding<br />

responsibilities of<br />

tomorrow’s nurses.<br />

Integrated Education and<br />

Patient Care<br />

As nurses take on a growing role in<br />

providing comprehensive health care,<br />

practical experience is not only useful—it<br />

is imperative. Clinical rotations are the<br />

cornerstone of nursing education programs,<br />

immersing students into the daily rigors of a<br />

clinical nurse’s shift. In recent years though,<br />

the traditional clinical rotation model has<br />

suffered from strong competition for clinical<br />

placements and a nursing faculty shortage.<br />

A different and evidence-based model<br />

known as a dedicated education unit (DEU)<br />

overcomes these challenges by improving<br />

the clinical rotation model and providing an<br />

innovative approach to nursing.<br />

“In the DEU model, the student works<br />

one-on-one with a nurse who works at the<br />

hospital. The role of the faculty member is to<br />

educate staff nurses to function as instructors,<br />

and together they partner to support students<br />

learning,” said Assistant Professor Billinda<br />

Tebbenhoff, a faculty member in the BSN<br />

program. “The administration supports the<br />

partnership by scheduling the staff nurses<br />

to be able to work with the same student<br />

throughout the duration of the clinical<br />

rotation, or as consistently as is possible, so<br />

it’s a true team approach.”<br />

Traditional clinical rotations pair students<br />

(sometimes up to seven) with a clinical<br />

instructor who oversees their interaction<br />

with patients. In the DEU model, a clinical<br />

instructor is available on site, but students<br />

work directly with their clinical nurse<br />

preceptors applying theory to practice.<br />

“The nurses who are precepting enjoy<br />

teaching these students, and I’ve seen great<br />

working relationships form,” said Senta<br />

Purzer, a nurse manager at <strong>GW</strong> Hospital.<br />

“I wish I’d had this when I was in nursing<br />

school. It’s great that [students] get 12 hours<br />

with us and see how we organize our time and<br />

can really see the nursing process throughout<br />

the entire shift,” Ms. Purzer said.<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> launched the DEU in spring<br />

4 |


<strong>2018</strong> with a cohort of 10 students with strong<br />

support from the school’s dean, Pamela<br />

Jeffries, and Angela McNelis, professor and<br />

associate dean for scholarship, innovation<br />

and clinical science, both of whom had<br />

previous success with the DEU model.<br />

The <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> DEU satisfies 90 of<br />

the 500 clinical hours required for a BSN.<br />

All students are able to apply for a clinical<br />

rotation in the DEU, but only a limited<br />

number of slots are available at this time.<br />

“Our goal is to expand the DEU. We<br />

are pursuing opportunities with practice<br />

partners to expand the model so that<br />

more students can have this experience,”<br />

Dr. Tebbenhoff said.<br />

Training Future Pediatric<br />

Providers to Recognize Adverse<br />

Effects on Child Development<br />

Social factors play a profound role in<br />

a child’s development. Just as access to<br />

nutritious food, medicine, shelter and<br />

clothing are essential for healthy growth, a<br />

child’s environment plays an equally pivotal<br />

role in their formative years.<br />

Ashley Darcy-Mahoney, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

associate professor and director of<br />

infant research for <strong>GW</strong>’s Autism and<br />

Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute,<br />

believes pediatrics needs to focus more<br />

on social determinants that have powerful<br />

lifelong effects on children’s health and brain<br />

development.<br />

“Clinicians who care for kids need to<br />

become more attuned to where and how they<br />

live their everyday lives outside our clinic<br />

doors,” Dr. Darcy-Mahoney said. “We can do<br />

a better job preparing future pediatric nurses<br />

and doctors on how to address the effects<br />

of social factors like poverty and trauma in<br />

children.”<br />

Research shows these factors—known as<br />

adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs—are<br />

common: 67 percent of the population had<br />

at least one, and one in eight people had four<br />

or more.<br />

In spring <strong>2018</strong>, Dr. Darcy-Mahoney, as<br />

part of her work as a Macy Faculty Scholar,<br />

collaborated with her colleagues to develop<br />

and launch “Pediatric Adversity and Early<br />

Childhood Development and Health,” a<br />

multidisciplinary elective course for nursing<br />

and medical students who want to learn<br />

about the social factors that shape health. It<br />

includes lessons such as role-playing to assess<br />

ACE scores and simulating living in poverty.<br />

“ACEs—including exposure to abuse,<br />

neglect or violence as well as having a parent<br />

who has a serious mental illness or drug or<br />

alcohol problem—can alter a child’s brain<br />

development,” Dr. Darcy-Mahoney said.<br />

“Future doctors and nurses need to know<br />

how to recognize the warning signs of ACEs<br />

and how to use the ACE screening tool<br />

to understand the impact [they] have on<br />

children across a lifetime of health.”<br />

One of Dr. Darcy-Mahoney’s students,<br />

Jeunesse Garces, says that the course provides<br />

an opportunity for students to share reactions<br />

and learn from one another.<br />

“Although it is an online class, Dr.<br />

Darcy-Mahoney thoughtfully implements<br />

methods to enhance human interaction,<br />

such as optional events to attend and using<br />

VoiceThread for discussions as opposed to<br />

typing a discussion post. We learn from each<br />

other in a nonjudgmental environment that<br />

allows us to be candid, without the hesitation<br />

of sounding scholarly or adhering to proper<br />

APA formatting,” she said.<br />

This course was informed by the work<br />

that Dr. Darcy-Mahoney has done on<br />

improving parent engagement and enhancing<br />

the language and literacy environment in<br />

high- risk babies.<br />

The course fills an important gap that can<br />

be seen in clinical practice where families<br />

are dealing with incredible stressors and<br />

challenging environments. Children are<br />

often in the backdrop of poverty, stress,<br />

violence and mental illness. These can have<br />

lifelong effects on the health of children,<br />

and pediatric clinicians need to know how to<br />

assess, refer and offer community resources<br />

for families—that is where this course<br />

offers students the opportunity to learn<br />

the epidemiology and pathophysiology of<br />

ACEs and stress and how to provide traumainformed<br />

care to their patients.<br />

Students Apply Classroom<br />

Instruction to Perioperative<br />

Care Practice<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> is working to address a<br />

critical shortage in perioperative care, a<br />

patient’s time before, during and after a<br />

surgical procedure.<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s hospital partners—<br />

MedStar Washington Health Center and the<br />

George Washington University Hospital—<br />

approached the school with the idea of<br />

creating a perioperative course that would<br />

provide a truly hands-on experience for<br />

students in the operating room.<br />

Assistant Professor Michelle Rumble<br />

coordinates “Introduction to Perioperative<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong>,” an elective that was officially<br />

launched in fall 2017. <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> is one of<br />

only a few schools in the U.S. to offer such<br />

a course.<br />

“Perioperative nursing used to be a twoweek<br />

intensive course held during the winter<br />

and spring breaks. The new course is now<br />

an entire semester,” Dr. Rumble said. “And,<br />

in addition to classroom instruction, the<br />

students complete 36 hours in perioperative<br />

services, which includes the operating<br />

room, the pre-operative area and the postanesthesia<br />

care unit.”<br />

Students are paired with a preceptor in<br />

the perioperative unit, while a clinical faculty<br />

member oversees the students’ learning<br />

and is available to answer questions or offer<br />

guidance.<br />

“The students enjoy the<br />

classroom and clinical combination,”<br />

Dr. Rumble said. “Additionally, it provides<br />

them the opportunity to observe another<br />

type of nursing that, without this course, they<br />

may not be able to experience.”<br />

Morgan King, one of the students<br />

taking the perioperative course, echoed Dr.<br />

Rumble’s sentiments.<br />

“It is such an advantage to be able to<br />

experience the OR before graduation in<br />

applying to nursing positions,” Ms. King said.<br />

“I have been reminded multiple times by<br />

current OR nurses that they never had<br />

this opportunity.”<br />

Ms. King hopes to work at a naval hospital<br />

in Okinawa, Japan, where her husband is<br />

stationed, and believes the advantage of<br />

experiencing the OR as a student will help her<br />

secure a job.<br />

“Even if it doesn’t work out right away,<br />

thanks to this course, I know where my<br />

niche is and I can continue to pursue that<br />

throughout my career,” Ms. King said.<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 5


nursing news<br />

/ dr. kathleen griffith is assistant dean of the phd in nursing program.<br />

PhD Program to Shape Next<br />

Generation of Nurse Scientists<br />

By Jon Eichberger<br />

Beginning in fall 2019, <strong>GW</strong> will<br />

have a new addition to its degree<br />

program lineup–a Doctor of<br />

Philosophy in <strong>Nursing</strong>.<br />

The PhD in nursing will be a three-year,<br />

full-time, 57-credit program, delivered in an<br />

executive format, that aims to train the next<br />

generation of nurse scientists and educators.<br />

“<strong>GW</strong> has been a long-time contributor<br />

to the doctoral education of nurses through<br />

our Doctor of <strong>Nursing</strong> Practice and other<br />

health science degrees,” said Dean Pamela<br />

Jeffries. “Creating a PhD in nursing will<br />

provide another opportunity for students to<br />

pursue their doctoral education here in the<br />

nation’s capital.”<br />

Kathleen Griffith, a cancer symptom<br />

researcher and oncology nurse practitioner,<br />

was appointed as assistant dean of the PhD<br />

program and will lead the initiative. “Our<br />

proximity to federal agencies, government<br />

and policymakers offers students a valuable<br />

learning experience with the opportunity to<br />

augment classroom work with D.C.-based<br />

research experiences,” she said.<br />

The program offering comes at a time<br />

when many health care advancements over<br />

the last 20 years have been treatment based<br />

rather than cures. Treatments, such as<br />

chemotherapy with its side effects, can often<br />

cause additional health issues for patients.<br />

Nurses bring a unique perspective to the<br />

research and standardization of best practices<br />

as they often have the most interaction with<br />

patients responding to treatment. Through<br />

collaboration with other health experts,<br />

research studies are able to benefit greatly<br />

from nurses’ well-rounded perspective of<br />

direct patient care.<br />

The school’s PhD Exploration and<br />

Development Committee, commissioned<br />

by Dr. Jeffries, underscored the need for a<br />

terminal research degree with three main<br />

points. First, the discovery of new knowledge<br />

allows development of the nursing discipline,<br />

which ultimately results in improved patient<br />

and other health care outcomes. Second,<br />

due in part to accelerated retirement of an<br />

aging workforce, the nursing faculty shortage<br />

requires new nurses with terminal research<br />

degrees to take their places. Finally, increasing<br />

the number of PhD-prepared partners for<br />

DNP-prepared nurses will result in more<br />

rapid dissemination of interventions to<br />

improve outcomes, as nurses play a pivotal<br />

role in the direct patient care.<br />

“<strong>GW</strong>’s PhD in nursing will offer students<br />

the opportunity to focus on a wide range<br />

of research areas—including policy, health<br />

disparities, chronic disease management,<br />

women’s health, early childhood development<br />

and more,” Dr. Griffith said.<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Named<br />

NLN Center<br />

of Excellence<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> is among 16 nursing<br />

programs nationwide to be named<br />

a <strong>2018</strong>-2022 Center of Excellence<br />

by the National League for<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> (NLN).<br />

The school was recognized in the<br />

category of “enhancing student learning and<br />

professional development” for its enduring<br />

commitment to best practices in pedagogy<br />

and investment in 21st-century technologies.<br />

“Although <strong>GW</strong> has educated nurses for<br />

many years, the nursing school was founded<br />

in 2010. As a young school, this designation<br />

is a testament to our faculty’s commitment<br />

to learning outcomes, world-class student<br />

support provided by our staff and our<br />

students’ dedication in the classroom,” said<br />

Dean Pamela Jeffries. “We are honored<br />

and humbled to be in the company of our<br />

recognized peers.”<br />

Since 2004, the NLN has welcomed<br />

schools of nursing to apply for the<br />

designation based on their ability to<br />

“demonstrate in measurable terms sustained<br />

excellence in faculty development, nursing<br />

education research, or student learning and<br />

professional development.” Applicants for<br />

6 |


this prestigious designation range across the<br />

academic spectrum of higher education in<br />

nursing and leading teaching hospitals and<br />

clinical sites.<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s application showcased<br />

the school and its faculty’s efforts to advance<br />

and apply nursing scholarship, including the<br />

NLN/Jeffries Simulation Theory, by taking<br />

a novel approach to modern education.<br />

Distinguishing characteristics of the school<br />

within the selected category included its<br />

unique pathways for veterans, emphasis<br />

on simulation, community public health<br />

opportunities in global settings, and a health<br />

policy-driven curriculum that leverages the<br />

school’s location in the heart of Washington,<br />

D.C.<br />

“Centers of Excellence help raise the bar<br />

for all nursing programs by role modeling<br />

visionary leadership and environments<br />

of inclusive excellence that nurture the<br />

next generation of a strong and diverse<br />

nursing workforce to advance the health<br />

of the nation and the global community,”<br />

NLN CEO Beverly Malone noted in the<br />

organization’s announcement.<br />

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the<br />

NLN was founded in 1983 and has become<br />

a premier organization for nurse faculty<br />

and leaders in nursing education. It offers<br />

“professional development, networking<br />

opportunities, testing services, nursing<br />

research grants and public policy initiatives to<br />

its 40,000 individual and 1,200 institutional<br />

members.”<br />

What Do<br />

You Want to<br />

Do When You<br />

Grow Up?<br />

By Erin Julius<br />

Surveys show that “astronaut”<br />

and “professional athlete”<br />

are popular answers among<br />

children when they’re asked<br />

what they want to be when they<br />

grow up. By the time they’re in<br />

high school, however, students<br />

begin to seriously consider their<br />

future careers.<br />

<strong>GW</strong>’s Pre-College program aims to help<br />

them with that decision, offering an array of<br />

topics to high school sophomores, juniors and<br />

seniors each summer.<br />

This summer, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> and the School<br />

of Medicine and Health Sciences partnered<br />

in offering “Careers in Healthcare,” a class<br />

introducing students to one of the fastestgrowing,<br />

highest-paid career pathways in the<br />

U.S.<br />

The two-week, interprofessional course<br />

allowed students to explore both the<br />

medical school in Foggy Bottom and the<br />

nursing school at <strong>GW</strong>’s Virginia Science and<br />

Technology Campus (VSTC) in Ashburn,<br />

Virginia.<br />

“At first, I was dead set on being a<br />

physician. But a lot of people talked about<br />

setting their eyes on one plan but, finding it<br />

wasn’t a fit. So now I’m more open-minded,”<br />

said Goodness Ukaegbu, 16.<br />

Ms. Ukaegbu was inspired by Crystel<br />

Farina, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s director of simulation<br />

and experiential learning, who talked about<br />

the one-on-one aspect of nursing.<br />

“I like creating relationships,” said Ms.<br />

Ukaegbu.<br />

In some cases, it was an experience that<br />

made an impression, not words.<br />

While at the nursing school’s simulation<br />

center at VSTC, Adrianna Chan, 17, was one<br />

of the students who helped during a manikin’s<br />

simulated birth.<br />

“I helped take out the baby,” Ms. Chan<br />

said. “I really want to come back.”<br />

Professor to Head<br />

to Capitol Hill<br />

By Ruth Adams<br />

Ellen Kurtzman, an<br />

associate professor<br />

at <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>, was<br />

named one of this<br />

year’s eight Robert<br />

Wood Johnson Foundation Health<br />

Policy Fellowship recipients by the<br />

National Academy of Medicine.<br />

Since 1973, the fellowship program<br />

has sought exceptional midcareer health<br />

professionals and behavioral and social<br />

scientists, placing them in congressional<br />

offices to work with politicians and<br />

policymakers to shape health care policy on<br />

Capitol Hill.<br />

“I think this humbling experience will<br />

be interesting and change my worldview,<br />

allowing me to become a better researcher<br />

and contributor at <strong>GW</strong>,” Dr. Kurtzman said,<br />

adding that she anticipates that the next year<br />

will be life-changing.<br />

For the first three months, fellows<br />

are “schooled in Washington politics,”<br />

meeting with various high-profile visitors to<br />

Washington, D.C. The fellows visit different<br />

government agencies and administration<br />

offices to learn about their work, then spend<br />

the remainder of their time working in<br />

their assigned congressional or executive<br />

office. Past fellows have gone on to work in<br />

Senate offices, health policy committees and<br />

congressional administrations.<br />

“I want to really learn how legislation<br />

happens, and the best way for me to do that<br />

is through an immersive Hill experience,”<br />

Dr. Kurtzman said. Her research and<br />

scholarship have addressed the effects of<br />

federal and state policies and programs on<br />

health care quality and the role of the health<br />

care workforce in higher value care. “I always<br />

think about my research through a policy<br />

lens,” she said. “But I have not had real-world<br />

policymaking experience. I’m hoping that<br />

this fellowship will ignite dozens of new<br />

research questions, sharpen my existing<br />

questions and heighten the policy impact<br />

of my research to improve patient care and<br />

public health.”<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 7


New Student Space, Simulation<br />

Technology Among Improvements for<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Recent renovations at Innovation<br />

Hall on <strong>GW</strong>’s Virginia Science<br />

and Technology Campus nearly<br />

doubled the simulation space<br />

available to nursing students and<br />

opened up the first floor of the<br />

school’s home to create a student<br />

success center.<br />

Originally built in 1997, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s<br />

home in Innovation Hall looked more like<br />

an office building than a college campus.<br />

Thanks to renovation efforts spearheaded by<br />

Director of Operations Joe Velez that started<br />

in February, students now walk into an open<br />

area with a lounge, open collaboration spaces<br />

and six group-study breakout rooms. The<br />

success center is intended to ensure students<br />

are comfortable and have access to the<br />

resources they need on campus.<br />

Upstairs, the other part of the school’s<br />

$3.5 million renovation project invests in new<br />

simulation space.<br />

“Simulation education offers unparalleled<br />

freedom for health professionals. Controlled,<br />

simulated environments allow you to try and<br />

fail, then learn from your mistakes. The real<br />

benefit of simulation is that you can take all<br />

the time you need to understand how you can<br />

improve,” said Dean Pamela Jeffries.<br />

The Objective Structured Clinical<br />

Examination (OSCE) lab, the school’s<br />

fourth simulation lab, is a space for nurse<br />

practitioner (NP) students to improve their<br />

clinical skills.<br />

“Our NP students take their courses<br />

online, but come to campus for testing three<br />

times during their program. These visits<br />

engage students in experiential learning<br />

and provide a mechanism for formative<br />

evaluation,” said Crystel Farina, director<br />

of simulation and experiential learning for<br />

the school.<br />

The new space contains 12 patient exam<br />

rooms and two acute care or “flex” rooms,<br />

bringing the total simulation space to nearly<br />

20,000 square feet. The entire OSCE center<br />

is outfitted with SimCapture, B-line’s health<br />

care simulation management platform<br />

that provides livestreaming, recording<br />

connections to real data and medical devices<br />

and more.<br />

8 |


The Game Changing SimCapture Pro<br />

A universal healthcare simulation management platform for educators<br />

SimCapture Pro is B-Line Medical’s newest<br />

addition to its healthcare simulation management<br />

platform. SimCapture Pro is a cloud-based<br />

and cost effective solution to record, debrief<br />

and track healthcare simulation learning. Visit<br />

simcapturepro.com to learn more.


nursing news<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Welcomes...<br />

faculty<br />

+ MELISSA BATCHELOR-MURPHY,<br />

PhD, RN-BC, FNP-BC, FGSA, FAAN,<br />

is an associate professor of nursing<br />

and a geriatric nursing researcher. Dr.<br />

Batchelor-Murphy has worked as an<br />

administrative nurse in skilled nursing<br />

homes and practiced as a family nurse<br />

practitioner (FNP) across long-term care<br />

settings. Her research, focusing on patients<br />

with dementia, has been supported by<br />

The John A. Hartford Foundation, the<br />

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse<br />

Faculty Scholars program and the National<br />

Institutes of Health/National Institute for<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> Research.<br />

+ SUE BHATI, PhD, NP, is a clinical<br />

assistant professor of nursing teaching in<br />

the BSN program. Dr. Bhati’s research<br />

interests stem from her belief that<br />

educating young underserved women in<br />

preventive health care, and providing free<br />

primary health services to them and their<br />

children, is empowering and improves<br />

outcomes for both women and children.<br />

+ DAVID KEEPNEWS, PhD, JD,<br />

RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, is a professor<br />

of nursing and health policy faculty.<br />

Dr. Keepnews most recently was dean,<br />

professor and endowed chair at the Harriet<br />

Rothkopf Heilbrunn School of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

at Long Island University, Brooklyn.<br />

Dr. Keepnews has served in policy-related<br />

staff leadership positions at the American<br />

Nurses Association, California Nurses<br />

Association and the New York Academy<br />

of Medicine and on the board of directors<br />

of the America Academy of <strong>Nursing</strong>. He is<br />

an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson<br />

Foundation Executive Nurse Fellows<br />

program and has served as editor-in-chief<br />

of Policy, Politics and <strong>Nursing</strong> Practice, a<br />

scholarly journal, for a decade.<br />

+ NADINE MARCHI, DNP, RN, CNE,<br />

CRRN, is a clinical assistant professor<br />

of nursing teaching in the BSN program.<br />

She is a certified nurse educator and<br />

rehabilitation nurse with experience in<br />

dialysis, pediatrics, rehabilitation and<br />

occupational health.<br />

+ ASHLEY PARKS, MS, FNP-BC, is<br />

director of graduate clinical education<br />

and compliance and an adjunct clinical<br />

instructor in the acute and chronic<br />

care faculty community. Ms. Parks is a<br />

family nurse practitioner with extensive<br />

experience in family practice, internal<br />

medicine, and acute and chronic care of<br />

patients and families in urban and suburban<br />

health care environments.<br />

+ LORRAINE TAYLOR RILKO, DNP,<br />

APRN, FNP- BC, ADM-BC, is a clinical<br />

assistant professor of nursing teaching in<br />

the FNP program. Dr. Rilko has 27 years of<br />

clinical experience as a nurse practitioner<br />

in settings that include internal medicine<br />

and family practice. She has cared for inand<br />

outpatient post-transplant recipients<br />

as a heart transplant coordinator at<br />

INOVA Heart and Vascular Institute and<br />

volunteers at the Fauquier Free Clinic,<br />

caring for underserved populations.<br />

+ CHERYL TOULOUSE, PhD, APRN,<br />

FNP-BC, is a clinical assistant professor<br />

of nursing teaching in the FNP program.<br />

She was previously an assistant professor<br />

at George Mason University where she<br />

taught in both the undergraduate and<br />

graduate programs. She also served as the<br />

coordinator of their RN-BSN programs,<br />

including the traditional RN-BSN<br />

program; the co-enrollment program, a<br />

partnership with the Virginia Community<br />

College System; and the military<br />

veterans pathway.<br />

+ Y. TONY YANG, ScD, LLM, MPH.<br />

Dr. Yang is profiled on page 25.<br />

staff<br />

+ AUDREY ANDERSON is contracts<br />

coordinator for the school’s Clinical<br />

Placement team and is a liaison to the<br />

Finance Office. She was previously a<br />

temporary employee with <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>.<br />

+ NORAH BENNETT is a new simulation<br />

operations technician. Ms. Bennet has<br />

numerous years of experience in simulation<br />

education as a retired firefighter, paramedic<br />

and surgical technology faculty. She is an<br />

innovative addition to the simulation team,<br />

as demonstrated by her design of a gravid<br />

uterus used during an interprofessional<br />

education exercise.<br />

+ KATIE BRAKEFIELD returned to <strong>GW</strong><br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> as a senior administrative assistant<br />

supporting the senior associate dean for<br />

academic affairs, and serves as a liaison for<br />

the Dean’s Office on the Virginia Science<br />

and Technology Campus.<br />

+ KRISTEN CABRERA has been promoted<br />

to assistant director of admissions.<br />

+ MEGAN FUJITA is the new assistant<br />

dean of assessment and evaluation working<br />

to prioritize evaluation, assessment, quality<br />

improvement and student achievement<br />

initiatives. Ms. Fujita brings experience<br />

working in higher education in various<br />

capacities, including at the institutional<br />

level, as well as accreditation experience at<br />

a professional education association.<br />

+ DAWN GRIFFIN joins the Office<br />

of Marketing and Communications<br />

as a web strategist. She studied visual<br />

communication design at Stevenson<br />

University and has worked in the design<br />

industry for over 10 years, specializing<br />

in typography, color theory and brand<br />

development.<br />

+ CHLOE HARNER joins Student Affairs<br />

in the new role of academic adviser.<br />

Ms. Harner earned her master’s in higher<br />

education administration from the College<br />

of William and Mary and has been working<br />

with students since 2013, most recently at<br />

Virginia Commonwealth University.<br />

+ TINA LE joins <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> as academic<br />

affairs manager. She has extensive<br />

experience in program administration,<br />

grants management and project<br />

management. She comes from the<br />

Department of Integrated Health Sciences<br />

10 |


in <strong>GW</strong>’s School of Medicine and Health<br />

Sciences where she served as director of<br />

academic operations.<br />

+ REBECCA MELSON also joins <strong>GW</strong><br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> as a simulation operations<br />

technician in our Simulation and<br />

Innovation Learning Center. She<br />

brings a wealth of experience from her<br />

previous role as a nationally certified<br />

pharmacy technician with a focus on<br />

sterile intravenous compounding and safe<br />

medication administration.<br />

+ JOSHUA MANNIX joined the Policy,<br />

Populations and Systems faculty<br />

community as a community coordinator.<br />

He holds a Master of Science degree in<br />

philosophy and public policy from the<br />

London School of Economics.<br />

+ TIFFANY MOY is a new instructional<br />

learning coordinator with the Office<br />

for Online Learning and Instructional<br />

Technology. She has a background in<br />

teaching high school and recently earned<br />

her master’s degree in curriculum and<br />

instruction at Concordia University<br />

of Chicago.<br />

+ REESE RACKETS has been promoted to<br />

senior communications associate.<br />

+ ANDREW SMITH-MUI is a financial<br />

analyst for <strong>GW</strong> after previously working<br />

for the school in a freelance capacity during<br />

the past year and a half. He was previously<br />

a senior accountant at Tate & Tryon, a<br />

Washington, D.C., firm specializing in<br />

accounting for nonprofit organizations.<br />

Awards,<br />

Honors and<br />

Accomplishments<br />

+ CAROL BRAUNGART now serves as<br />

director of both the FNP and AGPCNP<br />

programs, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s two primary carefocused<br />

nurse practitioner options.<br />

+ ASHLEY DARCY-MAHONEY was<br />

selected as a <strong>2018</strong> Health Disparities<br />

Research Institute Scholar, sponsored by<br />

the National Institute on Minority Health<br />

and Health Disparities.<br />

+ MERCEDES ECHEVARRIA was elected<br />

to the board of directors of the National<br />

Organization of Nurse Practitioner<br />

Faculties as the director at large for<br />

2017-2019.<br />

+ MAJEDA EL-BANNA won the <strong>2018</strong><br />

Morton A. Bender Teaching Award,<br />

a university-wide award. She was<br />

honored April 25 at the annual Faculty<br />

Honors Celebration.<br />

+ CAMERON HOGG joined the team at<br />

Rosh Review as a family nurse practitioner<br />

champion, writing and editing questions<br />

for their board review program. She will<br />

help build their question bank for students<br />

to use in preparation for their ANCC or<br />

AANP certification.<br />

+ The American Association of Critical Care<br />

Nurses recognized KAREN KESTEN<br />

with a Visionary Leadership Lifetime<br />

Achievement Award. Dr. Kesten is a<br />

frequent writer and national presenter<br />

on APRN education and practice,<br />

competency-based education, nursing<br />

workforce issues and AACN’s Healthy<br />

Work Environment Standards as well as<br />

a contributor to peer-reviewed journals<br />

and a presenter at AACN’s annual<br />

National Teaching Institute & Critical<br />

Care Exposition.<br />

+ ANNE-MARIE O’BRIEN has been<br />

appointed director of Accelerated BSN<br />

Clinical Coordination. With the number<br />

of clinical sites increasing due to growth in<br />

student enrollment and an increased need<br />

to create standard evaluation across the<br />

clinical courses, Dr. O’Brien will provide<br />

leadership for these efforts.<br />

+ This May, members of the <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

community gathered for the Annual<br />

Faculty and Staff Awards Luncheon.<br />

Faculty award recipients this year included:<br />

CAMERON HOGG (Excellence in<br />

Graduate Teaching); JOYCE HAHN<br />

(Excellence in Teaching in a Semester<br />

Appointment); JOANN CONROY<br />

(Excellence in Student Mentoring<br />

and Advising, Undergraduate);<br />

ARLENE PERICAK (Excellence<br />

in Student Mentoring and Advising,<br />

Graduate); KAREN DAWN (Excellence<br />

in Undergraduate Teaching); and<br />

DANA HINES (Civility Award).<br />

+ Staff award recipients included:<br />

SYDNAE LAW (Citizenship Award);<br />

SRIJANA SILWAL (Excellence in<br />

Service Award); MIRO LIWOSZ<br />

and JANICE OUELLETTE (tied for<br />

Impact Award); and DIANNE ALSTON<br />

(Civility Award).<br />

new fellows<br />

JOYCE HAHN will be inducted in<br />

November as a fellow in the American<br />

Academy of <strong>Nursing</strong> during its<br />

Transforming Health, Driving Policy<br />

conference in Washington, D.C.<br />

Dr. Hahn is a founding faculty member<br />

and brings extensive knowledge and<br />

expertise in nursing education, nursing<br />

leadership, quality, regulatory issues,<br />

policy and health care delivery issues<br />

to her teaching. She also serves on the<br />

Virginia Board of <strong>Nursing</strong>.<br />

JEANNE MURPHY was inducted as<br />

a fellow in the American College<br />

of Nurse Midwives in May during<br />

the organization’s annual meeting.<br />

Dr. Murphy is a practicing certified<br />

nurse-midwife with special interests<br />

in lactation, colposcopy and care of<br />

underserved women. In addition to<br />

teaching, she works as a nurse-midwife<br />

at University of Maryland St. Joseph<br />

Medical Center.<br />

KAREN WHITT was inducted as a<br />

fellow in the American Association of<br />

Nurse Practitioners in June. Recently,<br />

Dr. Whitt has been working on a<br />

collaborative project with the Office of<br />

the National Coordinator of Health IT to<br />

evaluate electronic health records and<br />

patient safety. Dr. Whitt teaches in the<br />

school’s graduate programs.<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 11


policyupdate<br />

Study Finds Nurses<br />

Nearly Absent in Health<br />

Care News<br />

Nurses comprise the nation’s largest group<br />

of health care professionals, but are nearly<br />

invisible in news stories about the industry, according<br />

to the first major study by the Center for Health<br />

Policy and Media Engagement.<br />

Senior Policy Service Professor Diana Mason and her colleagues,<br />

including Barbara Glickstein, public health nurse and health reporter,<br />

recreated the original Woodhull Study on <strong>Nursing</strong> and the Media:<br />

Health Care’s Invisible Partner, published in 1997.<br />

The original study showed that nurses were identified as sources in<br />

only 4 percent of quotations or other sourcing in health news stories<br />

in leading print national and regional newspapers and only 1 percent of<br />

stories that appeared in news weeklies and in industry publications.<br />

Twenty years later, not much has changed. The Woodhull Study<br />

Revisited: Nurses’ Representation in Health News Media showed no<br />

statistical difference between the presence of nurses as sources in 1997<br />

and 2017 news stories.<br />

“We found that nurses accounted for only 2 percent of quotes<br />

in health care articles in newspapers and weekly news magazines<br />

and only 1 percent in health care industry publications,” said Laura<br />

Nixon, a senior media researcher at Berkeley Media Studies Group,<br />

who presented the updated Woodhull findings at a May <strong>2018</strong> press<br />

conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. More<br />

details on the replication of the original study can be found in the<br />

December <strong>2018</strong> issue of the Journal of <strong>Nursing</strong> Scholarship.<br />

With a population of at least 3.5 million, almost 90 percent of<br />

whom are women, nurses are the largest group of health professionals,<br />

outnumbering doctors three to one, according to the Bureau of Labor<br />

and Statistics. Despite the profession’s progress and the Institute of<br />

Medicine’s Future of <strong>Nursing</strong> 2010 report, nurses remain invisible.<br />

“That report underscores the importance of nurses’ voices being at<br />

all decision-making tables related to health and health care, but that<br />

aim is undermined if we are not visible as experts in the media,” Dr.<br />

Mason said at the press conference. “The other reason is that nurses<br />

have important perspectives on health and health care that are often<br />

unique, so journalists may be missing the best part of a story if they<br />

don’t talk with nurses.”<br />

NURSES ARE LARGEST GROUP OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS<br />

3 nurses to 1 doctor<br />

~3.5 million RNs in U.S.*<br />

~800,000 physicians in U.S.<br />

*Bureau of Labor and Statistics<br />

Dr. Mason and her colleagues also interviewed health journalists<br />

during a second phase of their updated Woodhull study. This phase of<br />

the study appeared in the October <strong>2018</strong> issue of the American Journal<br />

of <strong>Nursing</strong>.<br />

They found that a range of issues contribute to news outlets<br />

overlooking nurses. Journalists don’t fully understand the range of<br />

nurses’ roles, work and education, and don’t know how to find<br />

nurses amid deadline pressures. Editorial biases, policies and<br />

processes, for example, conventions that dictate the identification of<br />

medical doctors but not RNs, can also get in the way of using nurses<br />

as sources.<br />

For more information, visit go.gwu.edu/Woodhull2<br />

12 |


In the Media<br />

The New York Times<br />

Choosing the Best Online Program<br />

for You<br />

Scott Kilgore was frustrated. He had been<br />

a registered nurse for 18 years, specializing<br />

in oncology and emergency care, but every<br />

time he tried to advance his career in nursing<br />

administration he hit a wall. (a)<br />

August 2, <strong>2018</strong><br />

US News & World Report<br />

More <strong>Nursing</strong> Disciplines Require a<br />

Master’s or Doctoral Degree<br />

“…As I began to practice in the real world,<br />

I found that I loved the process of normal<br />

labor and that I wanted to take a larger role<br />

in managing my patients, which required<br />

me to go back to school and get a graduate<br />

degree,” says [Alyssa] Craig, a master’s in<br />

nursing student in her final year at George<br />

Washington University in the District<br />

of Columbia.<br />

March 22, <strong>2018</strong><br />

United Press International<br />

+ ellen kurtzman highlighted<br />

Study finds no difference in care between<br />

physicians, clinicians<br />

New research suggest that Americans<br />

receive equivalent care from physicians as<br />

well as non-physician clinicians at community<br />

health centers. (c)<br />

February 22, 2017<br />

Health Affairs<br />

+ ed salsberg highlighted<br />

Health Care Jobs Projected To Continue<br />

To Grow Far Faster Than Jobs In The<br />

General Economy<br />

In many ways, health-sector jobs helped<br />

the US economy recover from the financial<br />

crisis of 2007-08. (b)<br />

May 9, <strong>2018</strong><br />

STAT News<br />

+ woodhull2 highlighted<br />

Nurses play vital roles in health care. Why<br />

are they invisible in the media?<br />

Nurses have made vital contributions to<br />

health and health care for generations and are<br />

essential players today.<br />

June 13, <strong>2018</strong><br />

a<br />

c


14 |


y erin julius<br />

A national opioid epidemic, semiregular<br />

mass shootings and high-profile<br />

celebrity suicides have drawn Americans’<br />

attention to mental health. Media outlets<br />

ranging from CNN to Cosmopolitan are<br />

educating their audiences on mental<br />

health using the same tone and terms<br />

they would to address other health issues.<br />

On social media, users share photos<br />

of their scars from cutting, count the<br />

number of days they’ve been sober and<br />

search #mentalhealth to find and offer<br />

support. All these things help normalize<br />

conversations about mental health.<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 15


feature | the battle at home<br />

t h e b a t t l e a t<br />

ho<br />

me<br />

But what happens when patients<br />

seek professional care? Too often,<br />

it’s a waiting list, a long drive or<br />

practitioners who aren’t trained<br />

to manage mental illness. Experts<br />

agree the health care workforce<br />

simply does not include enough<br />

mental and behavioral health care<br />

providers to meet demand. Even<br />

as the need has grown, the pool of<br />

psychiatrists working with public<br />

sector and insured populations<br />

declined by 10 percent from<br />

2003 to 2013, according to a 2017<br />

report from the National Council<br />

for Behavioral Health (National<br />

Council).<br />

/ navy cmdr. eric pauli is one of many psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in the nation<br />

treating “signature wounds” of veterans and members of the military.<br />

Due to the shortage of psychiatric<br />

care providers, the vast majority of<br />

antidepressants are prescribed by primary<br />

care providers, according to Dr. Jess Calohan,<br />

an assistant professor at <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>.<br />

The military is a microcosm of these<br />

issues seen in the broader population.<br />

Thanks to medical advances, troops are now<br />

surviving physical wounds that would have<br />

killed them in previous conflicts. All wars<br />

result in trauma, but the “signature wounds”<br />

of recent conflicts are traumatic brain injury<br />

(TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder<br />

(PTSD), the military and the Department of<br />

Veterans Affairs (VA) face a particularly acute<br />

mental health crisis. “In previous wars, folks<br />

would not have survived some of the things<br />

they’re surviving now, which is part of why<br />

we’re seeing higher rates [of TBI and PTSD]<br />

now,” said Navy Cmdr. Eric Pauli, an assistant<br />

professor in the Psychiatric Mental Health<br />

Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program at the<br />

Uniformed Services University in Bethesda,<br />

Maryland.<br />

To deal with the crisis, military and<br />

veteran care providers are reinventing how<br />

care is delivered to better treat veterans and<br />

those still in the armed forces.<br />

Combat exposure and cumulative<br />

deployment time are among the strongest<br />

predictors associated with having a mental<br />

health need, according to “An Evaluation<br />

of the Department of Veterans Affairs<br />

Mental Health Services,” published earlier<br />

this year by the National Academies of<br />

Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Of the<br />

4.2 million veterans from recent conflicts<br />

(Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation<br />

Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn),<br />

41 percent of those have a potential need for<br />

mental services.<br />

Yet many of them do not perceive a need<br />

for mental health services.<br />

More than half of veterans surveyed who<br />

had sought mental health care from the VA<br />

described the process as burdensome. Onethird<br />

said that they had other concerns about<br />

seeking care, including taking time off work,<br />

harming their careers, being denied a security<br />

clearance and losing the confidence and<br />

16 |


espect of their co-workers and supervisors.<br />

For veterans and others, treating people<br />

where they are, better preparing practitioners<br />

to manage mental health and educating<br />

veterans to become practitioners comprise<br />

a multipronged approach to better mental<br />

health care.<br />

better preparing<br />

primary care<br />

practitioners<br />

The National Alliance on Mental Illness<br />

addresses the mental health concerns of<br />

veterans and active-duty troops on its<br />

website, listing a hotline, primary care<br />

providers and behavioral health specialists as<br />

sources of help. This is all good advice, but<br />

while primary care providers are prepared<br />

to identify mental health issues, they are not<br />

necessarily prepared to manage them.<br />

“Nationally, we have a shortage of<br />

providers, especially in rural areas. <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

can play a much bigger role in prevention and<br />

education. We need to be empowering nurses<br />

as much as possible because we’re going to<br />

have to look at solutions,” Dr. Pauli said.<br />

The National Council’s report<br />

recommends removing barriers in state and<br />

federal law that restrict physician assistant<br />

(PA) and advanced practice registered<br />

nurses (APRNs) from providing psychiatric<br />

care consistent with their education and<br />

experience and expanding the use of other<br />

providers, such as APRNs, who prescribe<br />

psychiatric medications. “APRNs ... bring<br />

unique skills to these behavioral health<br />

settings and can complement the team-based<br />

approach to many patients with complex<br />

comorbid medical and behavioral health<br />

problems,” according to the report.<br />

To rise to this challenge, primary care<br />

providers need to be better equipped,<br />

said Carol Braungart, director of the FNP<br />

and adult-gerontology primary care nurse<br />

practitioner (AGPCNP) program options at<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>.<br />

“There’s this big knowledge gap when<br />

it comes to behavioral and mental health<br />

disorders,” Dr. Braungart said. “With the<br />

increase in behavioral health problems in our<br />

communities, we need to better equip our<br />

NP students with a vast skill set that<br />

allows them to manage a broader foundation<br />

of issues,” she said.<br />

At <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>, primary care nurse<br />

educators collaborate with psychiatric mental<br />

health experts to integrate that content into<br />

the FNP and AGPCNP curriculums.<br />

“Students have a foundation of what<br />

Jess Calohan, an assistant professor at<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>, developed telehealth services<br />

in Iraq for the Army starting in 2011.<br />

“With telehealth, we could provide<br />

services to guys at the remote bases,” he said.<br />

# m e n t a l h e a l t h<br />

mental health disorders are, but they don’t<br />

delve into some of the other issues, like<br />

actually managing obsessive-compulsive<br />

disorder or when somebody is particularly<br />

at risk for suicidal or homicidal ideation.<br />

How do you recognize and deal with<br />

that? And where do you go with that?”<br />

Dr. Braungart said.<br />

When crafting the curriculum, faculty also<br />

consult with a pharmacist who specializes<br />

in managing medications for those seeking<br />

mental health care to provide additional<br />

resources and knowledge. This perspective<br />

helps ensure NP students are skilled in<br />

identifying the needs of their client base,<br />

Dr. Braungart said.<br />

In addition to incorporating lecture series<br />

into the didactic curriculum, educators<br />

are creating workshops and simulation<br />

scenarios for students during their on-campus<br />

experiences. This past spring, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

incorporated a simulated learning experience<br />

with an anxiety and depression component<br />

into students’ on-campus learning activities.<br />

Truly specializing in psychiatric care<br />

is also an option for APRNs. In <strong>GW</strong><br />

<strong>Nursing</strong>’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse<br />

Practitioner Certificate, students learn<br />

neuropsychopharmacology, interprofessional<br />

collaborative practice, crisis intervention,<br />

trauma-informed care, psychotherapy, group<br />

therapy, care of vulnerable populations,<br />

promotion of mental health and prevention<br />

of mental illness, substance abuse and<br />

co-occurring disorders, and other mental<br />

illnesses across the lifespan.<br />

telehealth<br />

Providers now have access to much more<br />

sophisticated technologies to deploy in<br />

treating those who need care. The Defense<br />

Health Agency has even collaborated with<br />

developers to create a whole host of apps<br />

available to both patients and providers.<br />

“It improved access for sure.”<br />

Dr. Calohan saw telehealth expanded<br />

stateside in the Army too, because bases in<br />

remote areas like Fort Irwin in the Mojave<br />

Desert and Fort Wainwright in Alaska lacked<br />

psychiatric services. While these bases might<br />

have social workers, Dr. Calohan said they<br />

had no prescribing psychiatric providers and<br />

some of the cases were too much for primary<br />

care providers to manage.<br />

Now a civilian, Dr. Calohan has carried<br />

the principles he first implemented for the<br />

Army into his practice. He works at <strong>GW</strong><br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> in the D.C. area while maintaining<br />

a clinical mental telehealth practice for a<br />

hospital system on the West Coast. Whereas<br />

the no-show rates at most community mental<br />

health centers hover around 20 percent,<br />

Dr. Calohan said his telehealth practice has a<br />

no-show rate of about 10 percent.<br />

Mental health visits to the hospital<br />

system’s emergency room are also down about<br />

25 percent since he started seeing patients<br />

virtually 18 months ago, according to Dr.<br />

Calohan.<br />

A 2012 study published in Psychiatric<br />

Services was the first large-scale assessment<br />

of telemental health services and found<br />

that psychiatric admissions of telemental<br />

health patients decreased by an average<br />

of 24.2 percent, and the patients’ days of<br />

hospitalization decreased by an average<br />

of 26.6 percent.Telehealth can make an<br />

especially positive impact on patients in<br />

rural areas. Providing specialty services using<br />

telehealth is easier than staffing rural facilities<br />

with specialist providers, according to the<br />

Rural Health Information Hub.<br />

In terms of providing care to veterans,<br />

expanding telehealth in rural areas could have<br />

a major impact. Almost one-quarter of U.S.<br />

veterans aged 18 years and older lived in rural<br />

areas between 2011 and 2015, according to the<br />

U.S. Census Bureau.<br />

A new generation of providers and<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 17


feature | the battle at home<br />

t r e a t i n<br />

p e o p l e<br />

t h e y a r<br />

18 |


g<br />

w h e r e<br />

epatients grew up in an online world and<br />

are open to receiving care. Of the veterans<br />

surveyed for the National Academies<br />

evaluation, 45 percent from recent conflicts<br />

said they would likely use the internet and 44<br />

percent would likely use the phone to receive<br />

mental health care, with younger veterans<br />

tending to be more open to seeking mental<br />

health care using the internet.<br />

“To me, you can’t put a price on that<br />

convenience for the patient,” Dr. Pauli said.<br />

The Pentagon is now supporting telehealth—<br />

even pushing for it—because the benefits are<br />

clear, he said.<br />

Telehealth also offers a big opportunity<br />

for interprofessional teams to see patients,<br />

Dr. Pauli said.<br />

By allowing specialists to consult services<br />

from afar, telemedicine has the potential to<br />

increase access to medicines and concurrent<br />

therapy for those suffering from opioid<br />

use disorders in underserved, remote and<br />

rural areas, according to a study led by <strong>GW</strong><br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> Professor Tony Yang (see page 25).<br />

alternative/<br />

integrative<br />

treatments<br />

Mental health issues are an especially<br />

complicated issue for military mental health<br />

providers. Because of the military’s unique<br />

mission, troops must maintain operational<br />

readiness. Providers grapple with issues<br />

like the side effects of medication, for their<br />

patients more than most civilian mental<br />

health providers.<br />

“Every single decision we make affects<br />

their readiness and ability to deploy. If I<br />

prescribe a medication they can’t deploy for<br />

90 days,” said Dr. Calohan.<br />

Because of these issues, the military<br />

and VA have been exploring integrative<br />

treatments for the last decade.<br />

“We’re the support for the line community<br />

[for the Navy, all the ships and Marines], so<br />

it’s more advantageous to use treatments that<br />

don’t have side effects or other downsides,”<br />

said Dr. Pauli.<br />

Substance abuse is integrally tied to<br />

mental health issues. More than one in four<br />

adults living with serious mental health<br />

problems also has a substance use problem,<br />

according to mentalhealth.gov. An awareness<br />

of opioid abuse has turned the spotlight on<br />

the use and overuse of substances to cope<br />

with stress and other health issues.<br />

Dr. Pauli began his mental health career in<br />

the Navy around 2000. “Even when I started,<br />

I felt somewhat isolated. But because of the<br />

national crisis, we see much more willingness<br />

to talk about mental health,” he said.<br />

Substance use is an issue in the military<br />

and one that clearly impacts readiness.<br />

Because it’s a crisis nationwide not unique to<br />

the military, there is a general willingness to<br />

have the conversation surrounding treatment,<br />

said Dr. Pauli.<br />

“Of course, opioids get a lot of attention,<br />

but we still haven’t addressed that nicotine<br />

use kills more people than opioids. Alcohol<br />

use kills more people than opioids,” he<br />

said. “We need to make sure we don’t say<br />

it’s just this one particular drug; there’s<br />

an overarching dilemma, but also it’s<br />

also an opportunity to make sure we’re<br />

addressing broader substance abuse issues,”<br />

Dr. Pauli said.<br />

Military members and veterans are<br />

sometimes concerned about traditional<br />

treatment methods (medication) for TBI/<br />

PTSD because of known side effects such as<br />

substance dependence so he’s seen a dramatic<br />

shift toward not only accepting mental<br />

health care but also openness to integrative<br />

treatments, including yoga and acupuncture,<br />

over the last decade, Dr. Pauli said.<br />

“Just as a generation of new providers can’t<br />

imagine a world without the internet, we see<br />

the same thing with integrative treatments;<br />

there’s a willingness to consider them both<br />

in and out of the military. In 2000, someone<br />

on my base was practicing acupuncture and<br />

I heard a lot of jokes,” he said. “Now younger<br />

folks that come in are very open minded,”<br />

Dr. Pauli said.<br />

educating veterans<br />

to become<br />

practitioners<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> educators are working to<br />

turn veterans, who understand military<br />

personnel’s medical experience firsthand,<br />

into practitioners themselves. Through an<br />

HRSA grant, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> over the past<br />

five years created a BSN veterans option<br />

to efficiently transition military veterans<br />

into nursing careers. Although the initiative<br />

started as a way to match veterans in need<br />

of civilian careers with a profession facing<br />

severe shortages, it has the added benefit<br />

that veterans will increasingly see providers<br />

who have a deeper understanding of<br />

their experience.<br />

“I think there is some credibility amongst<br />

veterans if you’re a veteran provider,”<br />

Dr. Calohan said. “One thing we have in<br />

common is that combat patch on our right<br />

shoulders. It’s not that I’ve been through the<br />

same experience as them, but we do have a<br />

common language and that builds credibility,”<br />

he said.<br />

bringing it a l l<br />

together<br />

Experts see nurses playing a key role as<br />

the nation moves forward in the treatment<br />

of mental health. APRNs are part of the<br />

frontline of primary care providers who<br />

routinely see patients with mental health<br />

needs, and their education should reflect<br />

this reality. Telemedicine breaks down<br />

barriers between providers and patients, so<br />

all providers should be trained in effectively<br />

using tools to make this possible. Providers<br />

are exploring a wide variety of treatments to<br />

best serve their patients. A small but growing<br />

cadre of nurses and APRNs who are veterans<br />

themselves bring their personal experience<br />

and expertise to the care of those who<br />

have served.<br />

“<strong>Nursing</strong> can play a much larger role in<br />

prevention and education, all of which could<br />

be rolled out via telehealth,” Dr. Pauli said.<br />

“We need to be forward-thinking in how<br />

we do that and make sure we have nurses<br />

working within their best scope of practice.”<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 19


serving those<br />

Making<br />

an impact<br />

on nursing<br />

and veterans’<br />

education<br />

BY LAURA BRADDICK<br />

Veterans’ lives are defined by<br />

service. For those who choose to<br />

become nurses, it’s a natural fit.<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> continues their service in<br />

a new way.<br />

Since 2014, more than 100 former service<br />

members have taken the first steps to become<br />

nurses through <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s veterans BSN<br />

option.<br />

With tailored resources and dedicated<br />

mentors, the program provides an accessible,<br />

accelerated and supportive track for veterans<br />

who are transitioning back to civilian life<br />

and want to work in a profession where their<br />

experience and strengths make an impact.<br />

Those who work with them say veterans<br />

bring leadership, teamwork and a hard work<br />

ethic to the classroom, benefiting their<br />

non-veteran classmates. With an NCLEX<br />

pass rate of 94 percent for this unique<br />

population of students, these graduates<br />

translate their invaluable experience in the<br />

armed forces into the practice of nursing.<br />

As the program grows, so too does its<br />

impact in shaping best practices for educating<br />

veterans—sharing knowledge with other<br />

institutions in increasing and improving<br />

educational opportunities across the board.<br />

“Veterans deserve the best,” said Associate<br />

Professor Billinda Tebbenhoff, who oversaw<br />

the launch of the BSN veterans option. “They<br />

were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice<br />

in service of our country. Offering them some<br />

time, support and opportunities to build<br />

community as they attend nursing school is<br />

the least that we could do.”<br />

20<br />

|


KALISA<br />

MARTIN<br />

BRADLEY<br />

CROFTS<br />

NAVY RESERVES<br />

10+ YEARS<br />

AIR FORCE<br />

26 YEARS<br />

KWAKU<br />

ASANTE<br />

ARMY<br />

7 YEARS<br />

who served<br />

THE RIGHT THING TO DO<br />

Recruiting more veterans was already<br />

a priority for <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> when the<br />

opportunity to apply for a grant from<br />

the Health Resources and Services<br />

Administration (HRSA) came along. The<br />

mission: Make an easier path for service<br />

members to obtain a nursing degree.<br />

“We had an initiative that was focused<br />

on recruiting more veterans,” said Mary Jean<br />

Schumann, associate professor and principal<br />

investigator on the initial grant. “HRSA was<br />

seeking to help schools establish the best<br />

practices and resources to enable veteransfocused<br />

programs to be successful.”<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> was selected as one of 31<br />

schools to implement such a program. The<br />

grant funded resources for recruitment,<br />

admissions, enrollment and support services<br />

of new students.<br />

Through this initiative, <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

admits veterans regardless of whether they<br />

have had previous military medical training<br />

and who likely have not received a bachelor’s<br />

degree. These individuals are fully integrated<br />

into the school’s accelerated BSN program.<br />

Veterans who took relevant courses through<br />

military training may receive academic credit<br />

toward prerequisites, affording them quicker<br />

entry into the program.<br />

“These vets come in with as few as<br />

60 hours of academic credit,” said Dr.<br />

Schumann. “They can transfer credit for<br />

many of those courses. For example, if they<br />

took an anatomy and physiology class during<br />

basic training, that class was probably very<br />

similar to the prerequisite course we offer.”<br />

Of the 107 veterans admitted since<br />

2014, only 38 possessed at least a bachelor’s<br />

degree prior to entry. The remainder met<br />

the criteria of 60 credit hours and all the<br />

required prerequisite courses. Of the veterans<br />

admitted, 48 percent had military training to<br />

prepare them for direct patient care.<br />

Prospective students are assigned a<br />

dedicated admissions counselor who helps<br />

them assemble and review their joint services<br />

and academic transcripts. If there are gaps in<br />

credits or prerequisites, the counselor helps<br />

students create a plan to address them. Once<br />

enrolled, students can complete the program<br />

in 15 months.<br />

“Most of the students coming into the<br />

program were not field medics,” said Dr.<br />

Schumann. “We took the approach of ‘We<br />

don’t care if what you did in the service was<br />

medical-related or not.<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 21


Here to help.<br />

Joe Rebideaux<br />

BSN ‘17<br />

Joseph Rebideaux, BSN ’17, served<br />

as an Army combat medic for eight<br />

years before leaving the service and<br />

earning a bachelor’s degree in history<br />

and political science.<br />

“After a short break, I realized I<br />

missed taking care of people,” he said.<br />

Of all the nursing education<br />

programs Mr. Rebideaux explored,<br />

<strong>GW</strong>’s BSN veterans option was the<br />

best fit.<br />

“They were very approachable,”<br />

he said. “They were receptive to<br />

my experience in the Army and as<br />

a medic.”<br />

The advisers were also<br />

straightforward about the rigor.<br />

“They told me, ‘This is a tough<br />

program, but it is doable,’” he said.<br />

“‘You’ve been through worse. You can<br />

handle this, and we’re here to help.’”<br />

Mr. Rebideaux’s time in the BSN<br />

program was vastly different from<br />

his previous college experience. The<br />

courses were more challenging—in<br />

a good way—and faculty and staff<br />

provided an invaluable support<br />

system, he said.<br />

“They took a vested interest in<br />

making sure I was successful,” he<br />

said. “It was a personal—almost<br />

one-on-one—approach.”<br />

Like all of the program’s students,<br />

Mr. Rebideaux was offered the<br />

opportunity to complete his clinical<br />

training at a Veterans Affairs health<br />

care facility, which he accepted.<br />

“It was a really meaningful<br />

experience to bond with people who<br />

needed help and who shared the<br />

same or similar experiences as you,”<br />

he said.<br />

While his Army service introduced<br />

him to health care, <strong>GW</strong>’s program gave<br />

him the foundation to be a nurse and<br />

deliver expert care. The program’s<br />

emphasis on humanistic and holistic<br />

approaches to nursing prepared him<br />

to deliver true patient-centered care.<br />

“If you’re interested and can meet the<br />

admission criteria, come in. We’re going to<br />

integrate you and help you be successful.’”<br />

NO ONE LEFT BEHIND<br />

The program’s flexibility and admissions<br />

counseling are just the first steps. <strong>GW</strong><br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> takes seriously veterans’ transitions<br />

from military settings to an academic one.<br />

While all students coming into the<br />

program have taken some college courses—<br />

whether online, part-time or at community<br />

colleges—most have never been fully<br />

immersed in the culture of higher education.<br />

Once enrolled, they are in a full-time<br />

program next to classmates who may have<br />

just completed bachelor’s degrees, said<br />

Gretchen Wiersma, veterans and military<br />

faculty liaison.<br />

94 %<br />

48 %<br />

BSN Veteran Students<br />

BY THE NUMBERS<br />

nclex passage rate of veteran bsn<br />

graduates<br />

admitted veterans who have military<br />

training to prepare them for direct<br />

patient care<br />

“Part of the full-time academia experience<br />

requires a lot of organization and time<br />

management around coursework that is<br />

determined by the individual,” said Dr.<br />

Wiersma, a veteran who served in the Army.<br />

“You are not told what to do and how to<br />

do it. This is a change from the military<br />

where there is so much structure. While<br />

the student veteran might be organized and<br />

have great time management, they might not<br />

understand the breadth of what is needed<br />

starting out. But with support and a semester<br />

or so of exposure, they figure it out.”<br />

To assist with this transition and ensure<br />

their success, veteran students are provided<br />

with dedicated support services such as<br />

advising, coaching and mentoring from a<br />

support team composed primarily of nursing<br />

faculty members who are veterans.<br />

In addition to adjusting to an academic<br />

setting as students, some veterans face<br />

challenges and needs unique to a military<br />

background. They may struggle with the<br />

relative lack of structure in an academic<br />

institution, for example, or have financial<br />

difficulties. Faculty, coaches, mentors and<br />

civilian students all support the transition<br />

to a significantly less-structured but<br />

otherwise rigorous environment. Mentoring<br />

covers everything from managing living<br />

arrangements, making social adjustments,<br />

stress management techniques, time<br />

management and study skills, as well as<br />

mental health counseling.<br />

“I offer a listening ear, strategies for<br />

studying, self-care and encouragement,” said<br />

Paul Tschudi, a transition coach and mentor<br />

who served as an Army medic and surgical<br />

tech during the Vietnam War. “Veterans<br />

are used to clearly defined instructions and<br />

expectations. Most have not been immersed<br />

in a university culture before entering<br />

our program.”<br />

Veterans as a group tend to be older and<br />

have more life experience, which, he said ,may<br />

add to feelings of isolation. They also miss<br />

being a part of a cohesive unit, with buddies<br />

whom they trust to have their backs and work<br />

effectively with as a team.<br />

“We also create opportunities for cohort<br />

cohesion, outside activities and team<br />

meetings,” said Mr. Tschudi. “We continually<br />

search out community resources and support.<br />

And as veterans ourselves, we have a better<br />

understanding of the unique challenges that<br />

they may face.”<br />

To combat isolation, peer support<br />

activities are encouraged. Coaches provide<br />

monthly formal and informal meetings of the<br />

veterans in each cohort, as well as periodic<br />

gatherings inclusive of veterans in all cohorts,<br />

with the goal of creating a community of<br />

mutual support. The veterans’ lounge at <strong>GW</strong><br />

<strong>Nursing</strong>’s Virginia Science and Technology<br />

Campus in Ashburn provides a space for<br />

social gatherings and study sessions.<br />

“We provide monthly meetings where<br />

students can talk about some of their<br />

challenges and what they are doing to tackle<br />

the issues at hand,” said Veterans BSN<br />

Project Coordinator and Instructor Carolyn<br />

Cummings, who served more than 20 years<br />

in the Air Force. “We routinely invite veteran<br />

students more senior to them to talk about<br />

what was helpful in addressing changes.”<br />

In addition to the tailored support<br />

services, all faculty members teaching veteran<br />

students receive orientation and training to<br />

better understand and meet their learning<br />

needs. New faculty members are required to<br />

22 |


have one-on-one sessions regarding teaching<br />

and learning methods to address challenges<br />

that surface among veteran students.<br />

“One need identified by the faculty and<br />

addressed through faculty development has<br />

been a better appreciation of military culture<br />

that includes branches of service, level of rank<br />

and the rank structure,” said Dr. Schumann.<br />

IMPACT FROM CLASS TO TRIAGE<br />

Full integration into the larger accelerated<br />

BSN program from the beginning through<br />

completion is key to the veteran students’<br />

transition into the civilian workforce.<br />

However, this integration does not solely<br />

benefit veterans.<br />

“Because of their world experience,<br />

their military-acquired maturity, diversity,<br />

teamwork mentality and opportunities<br />

for leadership in the field, veterans<br />

unquestionably bring a lot of value to the nonveteran<br />

students,” said Dr. Schumann. “They<br />

also stick to the philosophy of ‘leave no man<br />

behind.’ If a classmate is struggling, they will<br />

be the first to offer to help that person.”<br />

Veteran BSN students are also used to<br />

working under pressure.<br />

“They have a ‘failure is not an option’<br />

mentality,” said Mr. Tschudi. “They ask<br />

questions. They have a respect for authority<br />

and hierarchy. They often bring leadership<br />

skills. They are used to serving their<br />

community, their team and the nation.”<br />

Integration of veterans into the<br />

accelerated BSN program has boosted<br />

diversity as well, increasing the male student<br />

body population from 11 percent to 16<br />

percent, higher than the national average.<br />

The value veterans contribute to others<br />

and their environments doesn’t end at<br />

graduation either.<br />

“Veterans bring a unique level of<br />

commitment and dedication to the<br />

profession,” said Dr. Tebbenhoff.<br />

These attributes make them sought after<br />

and highly valued by employers.<br />

“I hear from alums who work with vets,<br />

and they say that they understand what it is to<br />

show up, be responsible and do the job,” said<br />

Dr. Schumann.<br />

“They’re not rattled by things others<br />

might be,” said Dr. Schumann.<br />

BSN faculty members recall teaching a<br />

class when students saw a man injure himself<br />

while performing electrical repairs outside.<br />

Two veteran students ran out without<br />

hesitation to stay with him and provide basic<br />

care until emergency services personnel<br />

arrived. This is just one example of the value<br />

they bring to the profession before they even<br />

get to the bedside.<br />

LEADING THE WAY<br />

Those involved with the veterans BSN<br />

initiative are actively establishing and<br />

disseminating best practices to benefit<br />

other programs.<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> is currently pursuing<br />

membership in the education training alliance<br />

of the Virginia Values Veterans initiative<br />

spearheaded by the governor’s office.<br />

“We’ve been awarded federal grants<br />

and will be presenting around the state<br />

to organizations like the Virginia Nurses<br />

Association so other institutions can learn<br />

from best practices,” said Dr. Wiersma.<br />

Dr. Wiersma credits the collective efforts<br />

of the program’s faculty and staff, who are<br />

passionate about helping veterans and<br />

dedicated to each and every student.<br />

“We have a faculty and mentor team that<br />

works closely together to keep close track<br />

of our students, learn what their needs are<br />

and set the students up for success early on,”<br />

she said.<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s philosophical approach<br />

of making veterans a priority drives the<br />

program’s success, said Dr. Schumann.<br />

“When you take a step back and look<br />

at the big picture, a lot of times, veterans<br />

struggle for whatever reasons and there might<br />

be barriers,” she said. “We need to commit to<br />

making extra efforts to remove those barriers<br />

for our veterans so they can be successful. It’s<br />

a win-win for everyone.”<br />

Supporting veterans, adding qualified and<br />

service-oriented nurses to clinical settings,<br />

increasing diversity and fostering best<br />

practices ultimately benefit everyone, said Dr.<br />

Wiersma.<br />

“We consider it an obligation to provide<br />

extra support for our veterans,” she said.<br />

“They’ve given so much to serve our country.<br />

We need to continue to step up and work to<br />

understand their challenges and give them<br />

the tools to be successful.”<br />

Learn more about the BSN veterans<br />

option at go.gwu.edu/vetsBSN<br />

We’ll work with you.<br />

Brendalyn Tavel<br />

BSN ‘19<br />

When Capt. Brendalyn Tavel set out<br />

for her annual training deployment<br />

with the Army Reserves in Washington<br />

state this summer, she thought she<br />

would help with the logistics of units<br />

arriving from across the country for the<br />

training exercises and expected to be<br />

stationed in a hotel room near Tacoma.<br />

Those plans quickly changed.<br />

“When two soldiers had to go<br />

back home due to unforeseen<br />

circumstances, I found myself in the<br />

field, which meant no electricity,<br />

internet or showers, and living in tents<br />

for 18 days,” she said.<br />

While happy to fulfill her new duties,<br />

Capt. Tavel, who is enrolled part-time<br />

in the RN to BSN program, realized<br />

she would not be able to complete her<br />

coursework assignments for her online<br />

class while stationed in a tent in the<br />

middle of the Washington wilderness.<br />

She wrote an email to her instructor<br />

and got a supportive reply.<br />

“She said, ‘Don’t worry about it.<br />

We’ll work with you,’” Capt. Tavel said.<br />

“They’ve been so helpful.”<br />

As an officer overseeing a watercraft<br />

unit with full-time soldiers assigned to<br />

it in the 359th Transportation Battalion,<br />

Capt. Tavel dedicates more duty time<br />

than a typical reservist. She also works<br />

full-time as a cardiac progressive<br />

care nurse at Virginia Commonwealth<br />

University Health System in Richmond,<br />

Virginia.<br />

“Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but<br />

I try my hardest to be organized,” she<br />

said. “I have friends [in the service]<br />

who are afraid to go back to school<br />

because of the time constraints. So<br />

it’s a great thing that <strong>GW</strong> has been so<br />

supportive of military members and<br />

veterans.”<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 23


esearchtoday<br />

laos<br />

vietnam<br />

Improving Rural Malaria<br />

Treatment Abroad<br />

By Joan Davila-Pasha<br />

thailand<br />

Although it’s preventable and curable, malaria is still a widespread<br />

and lethal disease in many parts of the world. In 2016,<br />

the World Health Organization estimated there were 216 million<br />

cases of malaria across 91 countries. In Cambodia, where 1 million<br />

people are infected each year, Bertha Wojnarski, DNP ’18, aims to<br />

do something about that.<br />

While living with her husband who is<br />

stationed in Thailand, Dr. Wojnarski got to<br />

know neighboring Cambodia firsthand, a<br />

country where over half the landscape poses a<br />

malarial risk.<br />

Rural areas in countries such as Cambodia<br />

rely on local health care workers for medical<br />

care, specifically treatment for vivax malaria.<br />

These local workers are volunteers with little<br />

financial backing from the government, and<br />

they lack medical degrees or proper training<br />

to safely screen and treat malaria patients.<br />

Home care is also a vital lifeline in rural<br />

areas, as local health centers are remote and<br />

transportation is costly.<br />

“These volunteers remain passionate<br />

gulf of<br />

thailand<br />

cambodia<br />

malaysia<br />

about serving their community,”<br />

Dr. Wojnarski said. “They open up their<br />

homes to allow the sick to be treated.”<br />

Dr. Wojnarski’s first-of-its-kind study<br />

in collaboration with the national malaria<br />

program, which is making plans to introduce<br />

Primaquine (PQ) to cure P. vivax, one of the<br />

parasites that commonly infects humans.<br />

For her Doctor of <strong>Nursing</strong> Practice (DNP)<br />

capstone project, Dr. Wojnarski evaluated<br />

the effectiveness of counseling on CareStart<br />

G6PD rapid diagnostic test and treatment<br />

with PQ. G6PD deficiency is a genetic<br />

disorder, resulting in no or low G6PD activity.<br />

People with G6PD deficiency should not take<br />

PQ, an antimalarial drug, and other drugs<br />

with high oxidative stress<br />

because it can cause serious<br />

side effects. Before the study,<br />

there was no way to assess<br />

the effectiveness of treatment<br />

performed by local volunteers.<br />

Nearly 100 health care<br />

workers in Cambodia were<br />

trained to perform G6PD<br />

testing in the field and to educate over<br />

1,500 volunteers on the benefits and risks of<br />

PQ treatment.<br />

“I was pleasantly surprised with the<br />

enthusiasm that volunteers showed. The<br />

concepts of hemolysis, G6PD testing and<br />

limitations of diagnostic tests, as well as the<br />

risks and benefits of treatment with PQ to<br />

prevent relapses, are not easy concepts,”<br />

Dr. Wojnarski said.<br />

CareStart aims to spread knowledge and<br />

training, and with it a greater willingness to<br />

use PQ in countries like Cambodia, so they<br />

can reach their P. vivax elimination goals<br />

by 2025.<br />

“CareStart is the most promising,<br />

qualitative G6PD screening potentially<br />

suitable for use at the point of care where<br />

malaria patients seek treatment in their<br />

villages at homes of malaria workers,”<br />

Dr. Wojnarski said.<br />

Testing had previously been performed<br />

mostly in laboratories by experienced<br />

technicians, necessitating hands-on<br />

workshops and training modules for health<br />

care providers so that they can safely perform<br />

and interpret CareStart G6PD test results,<br />

their limitations and the risks and benefits<br />

of treatment.<br />

Once trained, Dr. Wojnarski said village<br />

malaria workers performed as well as<br />

experienced nurses.<br />

Community engagement and education<br />

proved to be powerful tools in malaria<br />

treatment in Cambodia. “Available tests<br />

have limitations, and effective treatment<br />

is not without risk. But by educating the<br />

community about PQ treatments, life-saving<br />

interventions are possible.”<br />

24 |


Professor<br />

Examines<br />

Legality of<br />

Requiring<br />

Vaccines<br />

for Health<br />

Care Workers<br />

By Joan Davila-Pasha<br />

It happens every year. Health care<br />

facilities and workers face the<br />

daunting challenge of preparing<br />

and responding to seasonal<br />

influenza. Flu becomes a topic of<br />

discussion at dinner tables, water<br />

coolers and medical facilities<br />

nationwide. The Centers for<br />

Disease Control and Prevention<br />

recorded more than 224,000 cases<br />

of influenza during this past flu<br />

season—numbers that are on par<br />

with the pandemic of 2009.<br />

But how effective and necessary are flu<br />

shots really?<br />

Answering this question has been a<br />

dominant focus for Y. Tony Yang, a professor<br />

and health services and policy researcher at<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> who also happens to be a lawyer.<br />

According to Dr. Yang, studies show<br />

that some of the primary deterrents to<br />

immunizations are concerns about the safety<br />

and efficacy of the influenza vaccine, despite<br />

the fact that each year the vaccine is reviewed<br />

by the Federal Drug Administration to ensure<br />

its safety and potency before it is approved<br />

for immunization of the public.<br />

“Influenza is a dangerous disease, and<br />

programs with voluntary compliance<br />

have not had satisfactory results to date,”<br />

Dr. Yang said.<br />

Compliance is particularly concerning<br />

among health care providers, according to Dr.<br />

Yang.<br />

“Health care workers tend to<br />

underestimate their risk of getting the flu or<br />

the risk they pose to their patients,” he said.<br />

Healthy adults can pass the influenza virus<br />

to someone else before symptoms begin, and<br />

they can continue to infect others up to five<br />

days after getting sick. “It is very possible<br />

for a healthy adult to unknowingly spread<br />

the virus to patients at high risk for serious<br />

complications from influenza,” Dr. Yang said.<br />

“An increasing number of hospitals are<br />

mandating their employees get vaccinated<br />

against influenza, and this policy is right.<br />

Having a stronger policy that requires health<br />

care workers to be vaccinated helps protect<br />

employees themselves, but also the patients<br />

for whom they provide care,” said Dr. Yang.<br />

Today, more than 600 health care<br />

organizations in the U.S. have implemented<br />

mandatory vaccination policies, requiring<br />

employees to get an influenza vaccination or<br />

risk losing their jobs. Lawsuits challenging<br />

these policies based on religious grounds are<br />

steadily on the rise.<br />

So how do health care systems strike a<br />

balance between a commitment to preserve<br />

“Having a stronger policy<br />

that requires health care<br />

workers to be vaccinated<br />

helps protect employees<br />

themselves but also the<br />

patients for whom they<br />

provide care.”<br />

– dr. tony yang<br />

public health and a legal obligation to respect<br />

religious beliefs?<br />

Dr. Yang’s interest lies at the intersection<br />

of law and health systems. He has conducted<br />

extensive empirical research and is a<br />

nationally recognized expert in the area of<br />

vaccine and immunization policy and law.<br />

Dr. Yang’s research was recently published<br />

in Vaccine to help educate hospitals on<br />

potential legal challenges based on religious<br />

discrimination claims and to ensure their<br />

own mandates are reasonably applied to help<br />

maintain a healthy and productive workplace.<br />

Dr. Yang’s research demonstrates that<br />

employers can satisfy their legal obligation to<br />

reasonably accommodate workers’ religious<br />

beliefs in a variety of ways—without granting<br />

exemptions from vaccination.<br />

“But employers should try to find the least<br />

onerous option that still protects patients.<br />

Tailoring accommodations to the specific<br />

individual based on how much contact they<br />

have with patients, for example, is good<br />

policy,” he said.<br />

Hospitals can further prevent problems by<br />

giving employees the chance to explain their<br />

deep religious beliefs, so that if exemptions<br />

are denied, the decision can be made with<br />

respect and consideration, balancing the scale<br />

between law and medicine.


esearch today<br />

CCATHERINE COX. “10 Steps for planning a<br />

successful conference.” American Nurse Today,<br />

May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

EI. Benenson, Y.T. Jadotte, MERCEDES<br />

ECHEVARRIA, C. Holly. “The need for care<br />

integration across hospital services for adults<br />

with sickle cell disease.” Journal of Integrated<br />

Care, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Faculty<br />

Publications<br />

February - November <strong>2018</strong><br />

DASHLEY DARCY-MAHONEY, L.A. Parker,<br />

J. Hoffman. “Facilitating early breast milk<br />

expression in mothers of very low birth<br />

weight infants.” The American Journal of<br />

Maternal Child <strong>Nursing</strong>, March/April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Barzgari, J. Sojkova, N. MARITZA DOWLING,<br />

V. Pozorski, O. Okonkwo, E. J. Starks, J.<br />

Oh, F. Thiesen, A. Wey, C.R. Nicholas, C.L.<br />

Gallagher. “Arterial spin labeling reveals<br />

relationships between resting cerebral<br />

perfusion and motor learning in Parkinson’s<br />

disease.” Brain, Imaging, and Behavior,<br />

May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

N. MARITZA DOWLING, T. Raykov, G.<br />

Marcoulides. “A Method for Examining<br />

the Equating of Psychometric Scales and<br />

Tests: An Application Using Dementia<br />

Screening Tests.” Educational and Psychological<br />

Measurement, May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

K. Kantarci, N. Tosakulwong, T. Lesnick,<br />

S. Zuk, V. Lowe, J. Fields, J. Gunter, M.<br />

Senjem, M. Settell, C. Gleason, N. MARITZA<br />

DOWLING, C. R. Jack, W. A. Rocca, V. Miller.<br />

“Brain Structure and Cognition Three Years<br />

after an Early Menopausal Hormone Therapy<br />

Trial.” Neurology, April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

N. MARITZA DOWLING, T. Raykov, G.<br />

Marcoulides. “Examining Population<br />

Differences in Within-Person Variability in<br />

Longitudinal Designs Using Latent Variable<br />

Modeling: An Application to the Study of<br />

Cognitive Functioning of Older<br />

Adults.” Educational & Psychological<br />

Measurement, February <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

C. Holly, S. Porter, MERCEDES<br />

ECHEVARRIA, M. Dreker, S. Ruzehaji.<br />

“Recognizing Delirium in Hospitalized<br />

Children: A Systematic Review of Risk<br />

Factors and Characteristics of Acute Pediatric<br />

Delirium.” American Journal of <strong>Nursing</strong>,<br />

April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

S. Porter, R. Qureshi, MERCEDES<br />

ECHEVARRIA, A.V. Watkins, N. Baker.<br />

“National best practices: screening tools for<br />

economic instability in pediatric primary<br />

care.” PROSPERO, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

MAJEDA EL-BANNA, J. Greene, LINDA<br />

BRIGGS, JEONGYOUNG PARK. “Do<br />

Male Nurse Practitioners Earn More Than<br />

Females, After Adjusting for Differences in<br />

Demographic and Work Characteristics?”<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> Research, March/April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

MAJEDA EL-BANNA, S. Taft, KAREN<br />

KESTEN. “Towards a Framework for<br />

Determining Online Class Size.” <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Research, March/April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

GK. Sagherian, S. Zhu, C. Storr, P.S. Hinds,<br />

D. Derickson, JEANNE GEIGER-BROWN.<br />

“Bio-mathematical fatigue models predict<br />

sickness absence in hospital nurses: An 18<br />

months retrospective cohort study.” Applied<br />

Ergonomics, November <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

JJ. Jacobson, PAMELA JEFFRIES. “Discussion<br />

Paper: <strong>Nursing</strong>, Trauma, and Reflective<br />

Writing.” National Academy of Medicine,<br />

June <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

26 |


KC.L. Savage, A. Daniels, KAREN KESTEN,<br />

D.S. Finnell, J.P. Seale. “The inclusion of<br />

substance use-related content in advanced<br />

practice registered nurse curricula.” Journal of<br />

Professional <strong>Nursing</strong>, July-August <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

LMAYRI LESLIE, J. Greene, J. Schulkin, A.<br />

Jelin. “Umbilical Cord Clamping Practices of<br />

U.S. Obstetricians.” Journal of Neonatal and<br />

Perinatal Medicine, April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

MKATE MALLIARAKIS. “The opioid crisis:<br />

What nurse executives need to know.” Voice of<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> Leadership, July <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

J. Agley, J. Carlson, ANGELA MCNELIS, R.A.<br />

Gassman, RHONDA SCHWINDT, D. Crabb,<br />

J. Vannerson. “‘Asking’ but Not ‘Screening’:<br />

Assessing Physicians’ and Nurses’ Substance-<br />

Related Clinical Behaviors.” Substance Use &<br />

Misuse, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

D. Lindell, C. Koppelman, NADINE MARCHI.<br />

“A Unique Hybrid Approach to the Clinical<br />

Immersion Experience.” Journal for Nurses in<br />

Professional Development, July/August <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

JEANNE MURPHY, D. Goodman, M.C.<br />

Johnson, M. Terplan. “The comprehensive<br />

addiction and recovery act: Opioid use<br />

disorder and midwifery practice.” Obstetrics &<br />

Gynecology, March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

H.R. Han, K. Kim, JEANNE MURPHY, P.<br />

Wilson, P. Sharps, J.E. Farley. “Community<br />

health worker interventions to promote<br />

psychosocial outcomes among people living<br />

with HIV—A systematic review.” PLOSOne,<br />

April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

B.C. Davis Lynn, C. Bodelon, R.M. Pfeiffer,<br />

H.P. Yang, H. Yang, M. Lee, P.W. Laird,<br />

M. Campan, D.J. Weisenberger, JEANNE<br />

MURPHY, M.E. Sherman, E.P. Browne, D.L.<br />

Anderton, K.F. Arcaro, G.L. Gierach.<br />

“Differences in genome-wide DNA<br />

methylation levels in breast milk by race and<br />

lactation duration [abstract].” Proceedings of<br />

the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium,<br />

December 2017.<br />

H. Han, K. Kim, JEANNE MURPHY,<br />

J. Cudjoe, P. Wilson, P. Sharps, J. Farley.<br />

“Community health worker interventions<br />

to promote psychosocial outcomes among<br />

people living with HIV—A systematic review.”<br />

PLOSOne, April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

J. Moss, JEANNE MURPHY, L. Wenzel, L.<br />

Minasian, S. Temkin. “Disparities in healthrelated<br />

quality of life in women undergoing<br />

treatment for ovarian cancer: The role<br />

of individual-level and contextual social<br />

determinants.” Supportive Care in Cancer, July<br />

<strong>2018</strong><br />

JEANNE MURPHY, A.I. Caballero, M.E.<br />

Sherman, E.P. Browne, E.C. Punska, H.P.<br />

Yang, G.G. Gierach, K. Arcaro. “Proinflammatory<br />

cytokines and growth factors<br />

in breast milk of Black and White women:<br />

towards understanding racial differences in<br />

breast cancer etiology.” Breast Cancer Research<br />

and Treatment, August <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

OANNE-MARIE O’BRIEN, R.J. Kane. “Policing<br />

as a social determinant of health: The<br />

impact of drug enforcement on prenatal care<br />

utilization in urban communities.” Medical<br />

Research Archives, February <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

PJEONGYOUNG PARK, ERIN ATHEY,<br />

ARLENE PARICAK, JOYCE PULCINI. “To<br />

what extent are state scope of practice laws<br />

related to nurse practitioners’ day-to-day<br />

practice autonomy.” Medical Care Research and<br />

Review, February <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

CHRISTINE PINTZ, QIUPING ZHOU,<br />

M.McLaughlin, K. Kelly, CATHIE<br />

GUZZETTA. “National study of nursing<br />

research characteristics at magnet-designated<br />

hospitals.” Journal of <strong>Nursing</strong> Administration,<br />

May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

A.C. Wiss, J.A. DeLoia, LAURIE POSEY, N.<br />

Waight, L. Friedman. “Faculty development<br />

for online learning using a cognitive<br />

apprenticeship model.” International Journal<br />

on Innovations in Online Education, April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

SRHONDA SCHWINDT, K. Suchanek<br />

Hudmon, M. Knisley, L. Davis, C. Pike.<br />

“Impact of Tobacco Quitlines on Smoking<br />

Cessation in Persons With Mental Illness: A<br />

Systematic Review.” Journal of Drug Education,<br />

March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

WKAREN WYCHE. “Take the A train” (Flash<br />

fiction). Qualitative Research in Psychology,<br />

April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

YY. TONY YANG, E. Weintraub, R.L. Haffajee.<br />

“Telemedicine’s Role in Addressing the<br />

Opioid Epidemic.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings,<br />

August <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Y. TONY YANG, B. Chen. “Precision<br />

Medicine and Sharing Medical Data in Real<br />

Time: Opportunities and Barriers.” American<br />

Journal of Managed Care, August <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

ZC.M. Ulrich, QIUPING ZHOU, S.J. Ratcliffe,<br />

K. Knafl, G.R. Wallen, T.S. Richmond, C.<br />

Gracy. “Development and preliminary testing<br />

of the perceived benefit and burden scales for<br />

cancer clinical trial participation.” Journal of<br />

Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics,<br />

April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

BOOKS, BOOK CHAPTERS<br />

AND MONOGRAPHS<br />

MAYRI LESLIE. Complications During Labor<br />

and Birth. Varney’s Midwifery, 6th edition.<br />

Jones & Bartlett Learning.<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 27


esearch today<br />

Grants &<br />

Funding<br />

+ Associate Professor ELLEN KURTZMAN<br />

in June was named a health policy fellow by<br />

the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (see<br />

page 7).<br />

+ Professor JOYCE PULCINI and Assistant<br />

Professor ERIN ATHEY in April were both<br />

awarded professional development grants<br />

from the <strong>GW</strong> Honey Nashman Center for<br />

Civic Engagement and Public Service.<br />

+ DR. ATHEY was also named a Clinical<br />

Scholar by the Robert Wood Johnson<br />

Foundation in May.<br />

+ Assistant Professor PEARL ZHOU in<br />

June received an award from the <strong>GW</strong><br />

Cross-Disciplinary Research Fund for<br />

“Using blood glucose feedback to regulate<br />

physical activity to control blood glucose<br />

among women with Prediabetes.”<br />

+ Assistant Professor BEVERLY<br />

LUNSFORD in July received funding<br />

from Mather Lifeways for “Meaningful<br />

Activities that Sustain Older Adults who<br />

are Homebound.”<br />

+ Associate Professor SANDRA DAVIS<br />

received funding from Sigma Theta<br />

Tau International for “Mentorship for<br />

Academic and Professional, Growth,<br />

Guidance and Success” in April.<br />

+ Associate Professor KATHLEEN<br />

GRIFFITH received a VA-SPIRE<br />

subaward for “Progressive Activity-<br />

Based Rehabilitation in Veteran Cancer<br />

Survivors with Chronic Pain.”<br />

+ Associate Professor MAYRI LESLIE<br />

received a R01 NICHD subaward for<br />

“Umbilical Cord Milking in Non Vigorous<br />

Infants (the MINVI Trial) – Domestic.”<br />

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP COUNCILS<br />

EVIDENCE-BASED RESEARCH<br />

The O’Neil Center is the industry’s first<br />

central resource combining guidance from<br />

prominent health care thought leaders,<br />

evidence-based research and proven<br />

translational tools to move patient and<br />

family engagement from theory to practice.<br />

28 |<br />

TRANSLATIONAL RESOURCES<br />

Learn more at getwellnetwork.com


MedStar Health<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> is<br />

proud to support<br />

our academic practice partner,<br />

George Washington School of <strong>Nursing</strong>.<br />

We applaud your vision to drive innovation<br />

and improvements in health care through the<br />

education of compassionate nurses, esteemed<br />

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margaret (maggie) norton, bsn ‘18, talks to patients during the remote area medical clinic.<br />

gwnursing<br />

at home and around the world<br />

A Medical<br />

Mission Right<br />

Here at Home<br />

By Erin Julius<br />

Amid bedsheets and clothespins<br />

rigged to create partitions that<br />

provide some semblance of<br />

patient privacy, five <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

accelerated BSN students are<br />

using the skills they’ve spent 15<br />

months learning.<br />

One provides nutrition counseling to a<br />

woman who came in asking how to eat better.<br />

Another student spends time with an<br />

older man advocating for tobacco cessation.<br />

She connects with her patient by drawing<br />

on personal anecdotes about a loved one she<br />

encouraged to stop chewing tobacco.<br />

In a nearby tent, doctors are performing<br />

minor surgeries. An orthopedist is reading<br />

X-rays in a trailer down the road. Walmart<br />

donated the blood sugar meters students have<br />

available for diabetic patients.<br />

The scene may look like a medical mission<br />

in a developing country, but these students<br />

are completing their clinical hours in Virginia<br />

during a Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic<br />

at Wise County Fairgrounds.<br />

RAM is a nonprofit providing free health<br />

care to those who need it. Thousands of<br />

dental, vision and medical professionals<br />

donate their time at RAM clinics.<br />

Assistant Professor Karen Dawn takes<br />

students to RAM clinics because she believes<br />

understanding a vulnerable population is an<br />

important lesson.<br />

“Most of our students are insured,”<br />

Dr. Dawn said. “This gives them an opportunity<br />

to meet people who have worked hard<br />

all their lives, but still haven’t got a basic<br />

requirement like health care.”<br />

Wise County is in the heart of Virginia’s<br />

coal country. Patients were upfront about<br />

some of their difficulties in accessing health<br />

care, said Clara Rasteiro, one of the students<br />

who provided care at RAM. Lack of providers<br />

and financial struggles are among the barriers<br />

faced by these rural Virginians, she said.<br />

“As I left RAM, I felt it’s our responsibility<br />

as new members of the health care<br />

workforce to make sure that populations<br />

/ clara alexandra rasteiro, bsn ’18, speaks to a patient during the ram clinic.<br />

30 |


like the one in Wise are not forgotten and<br />

receive the appropriate help they need,”<br />

Ms. Rasteiro said.<br />

Now in their final semester of a 15-month<br />

program, these students are able to apply the<br />

skills they’ve learned in the classroom, and<br />

honed during simulated learning experiences,<br />

to populations in need.<br />

For the students, the real lessons won’t be<br />

on any tests.<br />

“On Friday evening, there were a handful<br />

of individuals waiting to see the orthopedic<br />

doctor. After waiting hours, RAM shut down<br />

for the day. They still waited. No complaints.<br />

They just sat there patiently with smiles on<br />

their faces. It was clear that they were grateful<br />

As I left RAM, I felt it’s<br />

our responsibility as new<br />

members of the health care<br />

workforce to make sure that<br />

populations like the one in<br />

Wise are not forgotten and<br />

receive the appropriate help<br />

they need.<br />

– clara rasteiro<br />

for any and all care they received,” said Jillian<br />

Ruppert, one of the student nurses.<br />

This year, Dr. Dawn was also able to<br />

incorporate policy lessons into the students’<br />

weekend at RAM. Gov. Ralph Northam,<br />

himself a physician, is overseeing an expanded<br />

Medicaid program in the state, effective<br />

January 2019. Gov. Northam and Sen. Mark<br />

Warner visited the outdoor clinic.<br />

The planned Medicaid expansion gave<br />

Dr. Dawn an idea: She had students start<br />

asking their patients what they knew about<br />

the program. Patients weren’t sure what<br />

Medicaid expansion meant. Her students<br />

researched how to sign up for the program<br />

and subsequently sent patients to the<br />

Department of Social Services tent so they<br />

could enroll.<br />

“We talked about policy and its<br />

implications on health. Then students<br />

got to educate their patients about it,”<br />

Dr. Dawn said.<br />

Ms. Ruppert said she left with a deeper<br />

understanding and respect of the health<br />

care challenges faced by people who live in<br />

rural areas.<br />

“I know that I can take what I learned<br />

from this experience into the clinical<br />

setting—especially working in the emergency<br />

department. Ultimately, I believe this<br />

experience opened my eyes to providing<br />

quality and compassionate care to those in<br />

need,” Ms. Ruppert said.<br />

Shaping<br />

the Nurse<br />

Practitioner Role<br />

in Latin America<br />

By Jon Eichberger<br />

The Pan American Health<br />

Organization’s (PAHO) goal of<br />

delivering universal health care in<br />

Latin America has created a great<br />

need for additional health care<br />

providers in this region to address<br />

large gaps in care.<br />

Nurse practitioners (NPs) have been<br />

shown to increase patient access to care in<br />

the United States, and while the NP role<br />

hasn’t existed in Latin America, Linda Briggs,<br />

a <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> associate professor, is working<br />

to change that.<br />

To foster growth of Latin America’s health<br />

care workforce, Dr. Briggs is helping to<br />

establish an NP program at the Universidad<br />

de Los Andes (UANDES) in Santiago, Chile,<br />

during her three-year appointment as a<br />

Fulbright specialist.<br />

This past summer, Dr. Briggs visited<br />

UANDES, where she met with students<br />

specializing in cardiovascular care to discuss<br />

how the NP functions within the U.S. health<br />

care system. She also visited a primary care<br />

clinic to gain insight into the current health<br />

care-delivery model in Chile.<br />

She will also help practitioners and<br />

policymakers address the role of advanced<br />

practice nurses, who are not legally<br />

recognized in Chile.<br />

“Currently, the role of NP doesn’t exist<br />

in Latin America,” Dr. Briggs said. “There<br />

is no licensing or regulatory process in place<br />

to allow nurses to function as independent<br />

primary care providers.”<br />

Graduate nursing programs do exist, but<br />

much of the emphasis is on hospital care,<br />

Dr. Briggs said.<br />

The collaboration with UANDES helps<br />

fulfill a 2013 PAHO resolution to implement<br />

advanced practice nursing throughout<br />

Latin America.<br />

“Broadening the role of graduate nurses is<br />

not about substituting or replacing another<br />

professional but about complementing other<br />

professionals while increasing efficiency,<br />

improving results and reducing cost,” said<br />

Silvia Cassiani, adviser on nursing and allied<br />

health personnel at PAHO, in a press release.<br />

Although universal health care exists in<br />

Chile, the level of care administered varies,<br />

in large part because the country offers<br />

providers fewer educational opportunities.<br />

Later this fall, Dr. Briggs will return to<br />

Santiago to meet with legislators, health<br />

service officials and other stakeholders to<br />

put the wheels in motion for developing an<br />

NP curriculum.<br />

“We’re putting together questionnaires<br />

and creating focus groups to find out what<br />

nurses are currently doing in primary care,<br />

how they envision delivering advanced<br />

practice care to their patients and identifying<br />

the gaps in between,” Dr. Briggs said.<br />

Currently, the role of<br />

NP doesn’t exist in Latin<br />

America.<br />

– linda briggs<br />

The Fulbright Specialist Program was<br />

established in 2001 by the U.S. Department<br />

of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural<br />

Affairs. The program pairs highly qualified<br />

U.S. academics and professionals with host<br />

institutions abroad to share their expertise,<br />

strengthen institutional linkages, hone their<br />

skills, gain international experience and learn<br />

about other cultures while building capacity<br />

at their overseas host institutions.<br />

Unlike other Fulbright programs,<br />

Fulbright specialists are offered project<br />

opportunities of two to six weeks in<br />

duration, providing flexibility for<br />

academics or professionals who may not<br />

be able to take extended leave from their<br />

current positions.<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 31


at home and around the world<br />

Local and Global<br />

Presentations<br />

Anaheim, Calif. | Associate Professor<br />

KAREN KESTEN presented “Research<br />

Findings on Pedagogical Guidelines for<br />

Student Enrollment in Online Courses” and<br />

“Moving the Evidence on Online Courses and<br />

Class Size to Practical Application” during<br />

the American Association of Critical Care<br />

Nurses Master’s Education Conference in<br />

February <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Ashburn, Va. | Dean PAMELA JEFFRIES<br />

gave the keynote address, “State of the<br />

Science in Simulation and Policy Implications<br />

Conference,” during <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s<br />

Partnerships, Practice & Policy: Taking Clinical<br />

Simulation to the Next Level conference in<br />

March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Director of Simulation and Experiential<br />

Learning CRYSTEL FARINA presented<br />

“Transition to Practice: Improving Early<br />

Recognition of Patient Deterioration” during<br />

<strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s Partnerships, Practice & Policy:<br />

Taking Clinical Simulation to the Next Level<br />

conference in March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Clinical Assistant Professor PAMELA<br />

SLAVEN-LEE and Associate Professor<br />

ARLENE PERICAK presented “Formative<br />

Group Simulation Based Learning to Assess<br />

Clinical Competency in Nurse Practitioner<br />

Education” at Partnerships, Practice & Policy:<br />

Taking Clinical Simulation to the Next Level<br />

conference in March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Atlanta | Professor JOYCE PULCINI<br />

presented “Teaching social determinants<br />

of health in global health: An intercultural<br />

medical mission to Haiti” at the Beyond Flexner<br />

Conference in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Assistant Professor JEANNE MURPHY,<br />

Professor JOYCE PULCINI, Associate<br />

Professor MAYRI LESLIE, Assistant Professors<br />

JEONGYOUNG PARK and CAROL LANG<br />

presented “Teaching social determinants of<br />

health in global health: an intercultural medical<br />

mission to Haiti” at Beyond Flexner <strong>2018</strong>:<br />

Community, Diversity and Equity in Health<br />

Professions Education in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Baltimore | Assistant Professor CAROL<br />

BRAUNGART presented “Using data to<br />

engage providers” at the CPC+ National<br />

Conference in May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Bethesda, Md. | Assistant Professor<br />

CAROL BRAUNGART presented “Essential<br />

Collaboration for a Well-Designed Online<br />

Course” at Lilly Conference in June <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Associate Professor ARLENE PERICAK,<br />

Assistant Professors CAROL BRAUNGART<br />

and MAGGIE VENZKE, Clinical Assistant<br />

Professor PAMELA SLAVEN-LEE and Senior<br />

Instructional Designer NIKKI GEBARA<br />

presented “Essential Collaboration for a<br />

Well-Designed Online Course” at the Lilly<br />

Conference in May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Buena Vista, Fla. | Assistant Professor<br />

MAJEDA EL-BANNA gave a poster<br />

presentation, “Improving Feedback Skills in<br />

Ambulatory Nurses,” at the <strong>2018</strong> American<br />

Academy of Ambulatory Care <strong>Nursing</strong> Annual<br />

Conference in May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Denver, Colo. | Professor JOYCE PULCINI<br />

presented during a faculty interest forum at the<br />

American Association of Nurse Practitioners<br />

national conference in June <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Indianapolis | Associate Professors<br />

SANDRA DAVIS and KAREN KESTEN and<br />

Professor KIMBERLY ACQUAVIVA presented<br />

“Making the uncomfortable comfortable:<br />

Engaging in difficult conversations about<br />

race, racism and privilege” at the National<br />

Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties<br />

Annual Conference in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Professor JOYCE PULCINI presented<br />

“International Nurse Practitioner/Advanced<br />

Practice <strong>Nursing</strong> role development:<br />

Implications for faculty” at the National<br />

Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties<br />

Annual Conference in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Assistant Professor RHONDA SCHWINDT<br />

presented “Mental Health Care for<br />

Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming<br />

People” at the LGBTQ Healthcare Conference<br />

in March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Las Vegas | Assistant Professor JEANNE<br />

MURPHY presented “Cervical Screening<br />

Recommendation for non-HIV infected<br />

Immunosuppressed Women: Do non-HIV<br />

immunocompromised patients require special<br />

treatment?” at the American Society for<br />

Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology annual<br />

meeting in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Memphis, Tenn. | Dean PAMELA<br />

JEFFRIES presented “Clinical Simulations:<br />

State of the Science and Policy Implications”<br />

at the University of Tennessee Health Science<br />

Center in June <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Naples, Fla. | Associate Professors<br />

SANDRA DAVIS and KAREN KESTEN<br />

presented “Building the infrastructure:<br />

Collaborations for health equity and<br />

community engagement” at the American<br />

Association of Colleges of <strong>Nursing</strong> in January<br />

<strong>2018</strong>.<br />

New Orleans | Dean PAMELA JEFFRIES<br />

gave the keynote address, “Spanning the<br />

Boundaries in Higher Education to Create<br />

Innovations in <strong>Nursing</strong> Education,” at the<br />

Lippincott <strong>Nursing</strong> Education Innovation<br />

Summit in February <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Newark, N.J. | Associate Professor<br />

CATHERINE COX gave a poster presentation,<br />

“Best Practice Tips for the Assessment of<br />

Learning of Undergraduate <strong>Nursing</strong> Students<br />

via Multiple Choice Questions,” at the Eastern<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> Research Society in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Associate Professor LINDA BRIGGS and<br />

Assistant Professors MAJEDA EL-BANNA and<br />

JEONGYOUNG PARK presented “Do Male<br />

Nurse Practitioners Earn More Than Females,<br />

After Adjusting for Differences in Demographic<br />

and Work Characteristics?” at the Eastern<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> Research Society in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Assistant Professor MAJEDA EL-BANNA<br />

and Associate Professor KAREN KESTEN gave<br />

the poster presentation “Towards a Framework<br />

for Determining Online Class Size” at the<br />

Eastern <strong>Nursing</strong> Research Society in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

32 |


Orlando, Fla. | Associate Professor KAREN<br />

WHITT presented “Evaluation of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Students’ Knowledge of EHR Features Related<br />

to Test Results Reporting” at the American<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> Informatics Association Annual<br />

Conference in May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Oxford, England | Assistant Professor<br />

CAROL LANG presented “Developing<br />

Strategic and Sustainable International<br />

Partnerships for Global Impact Focused on<br />

Improving Health and Health Care Outcomes<br />

in Vulnerable Populations Through Innovative,<br />

Multinational, Interprofessional Academic and<br />

Corporate Partnerships” at the International<br />

Health Congress in June <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Philadelphia | Associate Professor ASHLEY<br />

DARCY-MAHONEY presented “Innovative<br />

Interventions in <strong>Nursing</strong>, Pediatric Healthcare,<br />

and Early Education to Improve Children’s<br />

Language-Learning” at the International<br />

Congress for Infancy Research in July, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Dean PAMELA<br />

JEFFRIES presented “Best Practices in<br />

Interprofessional Assessment and Education”<br />

during the Saudi International Medical<br />

Education Conference in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Salt Lake City | Dean PAMELA JEFFRIES<br />

presented “Best Practices in Online Instruction:<br />

Engaging Students” during the National Nurse<br />

Educator Summit in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

São Paulo, Brazil | Dean PAMELA<br />

JEFFRIES gave the keynote address, “The<br />

Essentials Needed in Building a Simulation-<br />

Based Curriculum,” in June <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Savannah, Ga. | Assistant Professor<br />

JEANNE MURPHY presented “Beyond<br />

teaching: The important role of PhD-prepared<br />

midwives in women’s health research and<br />

practice” at the American College of Nurse-<br />

Midwives <strong>2018</strong> annual meeting in May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Assistant Professor MAJEDA EL-BANNA<br />

was an invited panelist on the Benefits of Team<br />

and Interprofessional Research: Scholarly Panel<br />

on Learning to Do Team Science during <strong>GW</strong><br />

Research Days in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Professor ANGELA MCNELIS and Jessica<br />

Blakely, BSN ’18, presented “Designing<br />

an Innovative Recruitment Strategy while<br />

Navigating IRB Issues in Multisite Survey<br />

Research” at the National League of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

and Sigma Theta Tau <strong>Nursing</strong> Education<br />

Research Conference in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Professor ANGELA MCNELIS presented<br />

“Planning and Thinking Innovatively: Where<br />

to Start Your <strong>Nursing</strong> Education Research”<br />

during the National League of <strong>Nursing</strong> and<br />

Sigma Theta Tau <strong>Nursing</strong> Education Research<br />

Conference in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Assistant Professor ADRIANA GLENN<br />

presented “Qualitative Data Collection<br />

Methods, <strong>2018</strong> Symposium on Airport<br />

Cooperative Research Program” as an invited<br />

speaker during a Transportation Research<br />

Board annual meeting in January <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Portland, Ore. | Associate Professor<br />

KAREN WHITT presented “What are the<br />

most important characteristics of a family<br />

health history tool?” at the Western Institute<br />

of <strong>Nursing</strong> Communicating <strong>Nursing</strong> Research<br />

Conference in April <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Reston, Va. | Assistant Professor MAGGIE<br />

VENZKE presented “The Wonderful World<br />

of Immunizations: So What’s New?” at the<br />

Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners annual<br />

conference in March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Assistant Clinical Instructor LINDA<br />

CASSAR gave the poster presentation<br />

“Does Educational Level or Certification<br />

Status Influence the Level of Breastfeeding<br />

Support That Nurses Intend to Provide to<br />

Newly Delivered Mothers?” during MedStar<br />

Washington Hospital Center Research Day in<br />

May <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Roanoke, Va. | Director of Simulation and<br />

Experiential Learning CRYSTEL FARINA<br />

presented “Using Innovative Partnerships to<br />

Increase Revenue: Thinking Beyond the Box”<br />

at the annual Virginia State Simulation Alliance<br />

Conference in July <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Sutton, Mass. | Dean PAMELA JEFFRIES<br />

gave the keynote address, “Best Practices in<br />

Simulation,” during the Massachusetts/Rhode<br />

Island National League for <strong>Nursing</strong> Conference<br />

in March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Sydney, Australia | Dean PAMELA<br />

JEFFRIES gave the keynote address, “The<br />

US experience of integration of simulation in<br />

undergraduate nursing. What has been the<br />

long-term impact of the NCSBN Study?” at the<br />

Education Simulation and Safety Collaborative<br />

in July <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Washington, D.C. | Associate Professor<br />

SANDRA DAVIS presented “Managing<br />

Diverse Teams” at the United Health Clinical<br />

Executive Leadership Program in April, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

DR. SANDRA DAVIS and Associate<br />

Professor KAREN KESTEN, Assistant<br />

Professors CYNTHIA ALLEN and MALINDA<br />

WHITLOW, Instructor ESTHER EMARD<br />

and Community Manager SYDNAE LAW<br />

presented “The Journey to Building a Culture<br />

of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Aligning<br />

the <strong>GW</strong> School of <strong>Nursing</strong> Strategic Plan, the<br />

Diversity Strategic Plan and the <strong>GW</strong> School of<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> Mission” at the <strong>GW</strong> Diversity Summit<br />

On the Web<br />

Assistant Professor ASEFEH FARAZ gave<br />

the webinar presentation, “Novice nurse<br />

practitioner workforce transition and turnover<br />

intention in primary care,” during the American<br />

Academy of Nurse Practitioner and National<br />

Nurse-Led Care Consortium Lunch and Learn<br />

Webinar series in April, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />

Assistant Professor JEANNE MURPHY<br />

presented “Disparities in health-related quality<br />

of life in women undergoing treatment for<br />

ovarian cancer: The role of individual-level and<br />

contextual social determinants” in an online<br />

poster presentation for the American Society<br />

of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in June<br />

<strong>2018</strong>.<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 33


alumninews<br />

Alumna Draws on<br />

Education to Help<br />

Kidney Donors<br />

By Ruth Adams<br />

As a health care provider in Washington, D.C., which has the highest rate<br />

of kidney disease in the country, Nancy Uhland, DNP ’18, is leveraging her<br />

education to better serve patients.<br />

Her work, which focuses on kidney disease and hypertension, is paying<br />

off. After winning the American Association of Kidney Patients’ Medal of<br />

Excellence in February, she graduated from <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> with a Doctor<br />

of <strong>Nursing</strong> Practice in May. This fall, she began <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong>’s graduate<br />

certificate in Health Policy and Media Engagement.<br />

Dr. Uhland was inspired by family friends to become a nurse, so<br />

she went to nursing school before working in a nursing home and later<br />

the ER at a hospital in Fairfax, Virginia. Before deciding to continue<br />

her education with a master’s, Dr. Uhland took an internship at <strong>GW</strong><br />

Hospital and has been there since 2008 as an interventional radiology<br />

nurse. While earning her master’s, Dr. Uhland entered the field of<br />

kidney health with a focus on donors.<br />

“I was learning this whole new field of nursing. I was talking to<br />

healthy people who were donating kidneys, and trying to predict<br />

whether they would stay healthy in the future,” she said.<br />

Initially aiming to work at the <strong>GW</strong> Transplant Institute, she<br />

started working in <strong>GW</strong>’s Medical Faculty Associates Department<br />

of General Internal Medicine before moving on to the Division of<br />

Kidney Disease and Hypertension.<br />

“I want to tie the health care work I’ve done into health care<br />

policy for our kidney population and link that to policies that are<br />

in need of change or improvement,” Dr. Uhland said.<br />

“D.C. has the highest rate of kidney disease in the country.<br />

We have a population that needs better education and better<br />

access in terms of insurance so that people can get appropriate<br />

preventative care,” she said.<br />

The Health Policy and Media Engagement certificate is a<br />

natural extension of her interests. “Here’s a program that wants<br />

to teach how to engage others, contribute to policymaking and be<br />

mindful of what you’re saying. It wants to give you the appropriate<br />

tools to impact policy, especially here in D.C.,” she said. “It’s silly not<br />

to take advantage of making an impact on policy when you live right<br />

here.”<br />

34 |


WE’RE LOOKING FOR<br />

EXPERIENCED NURSES<br />

to join our critical care team<br />

NEWLY RENOVATED ICUs<br />

A designated Level I Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center,<br />

the George Washington University Hospital delivers complex care to some<br />

of the most severely injured and critically ill individuals in the DC area.<br />

“This is my family.<br />

<strong>GW</strong> Hospital is<br />

my second home.<br />

If I can stay at one<br />

institution for 16<br />

years and still feel<br />

happy about being<br />

a nurse that says a lot<br />

about the institution.”<br />

– Kathleen Firnbach, RN, ICU<br />

We offer robust benefits:<br />

• Sign-on, relocation and RN referral bonuses<br />

• Annual tuition reimbursement<br />

• Eligibility to apply for the <strong>GW</strong> Signature<br />

Scholarship to obtain a degree from <strong>GW</strong>U<br />

• A monthly travel stipend<br />

Join the hospital that is DEFINING MEDICINE<br />

To learn more, contact:<br />

Lauren Graves<br />

Lauren.Graves@gwu-hospital.com • 202-715-5087<br />

Roy Ector<br />

Roy.Ector@gwu-hospital.com • 202-715-5671<br />

The George Washington University Hospital is an equal opportunity employer. Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees<br />

or agents of the George Washington University Hospital. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. 170349 1/17


alumni news | meet the adivisers<br />

Nurses play crucial role<br />

in improving health care,<br />

says adviser<br />

By Jon Eichberger<br />

In Alan S. Cohn’s view, a big part of the problem with health care in the<br />

U.S. is a disconnect between providers and patients. Although patients<br />

may receive the necessary medications and procedures, there is no<br />

support system in place to help them understand why they are sick and<br />

how the treatment may or may not be helping them, Mr. Cohn said. He<br />

believes nurses play a large role in bridging the divide.<br />

Mr. Cohn, a <strong>GW</strong> <strong>Nursing</strong> advisory<br />

board member, is the president and CEO<br />

of AbsoluteCARE, an Atlanta-based health<br />

provider specializing in complex chronically<br />

ill patients. Founded in 2000, AbsoluteCARE<br />

currently has locations in Atlanta, Baltimore<br />

and Greenbelt, Maryland, with a new<br />

location opening soon in Philadelphia.<br />

Defined as a “patient-centered<br />

ambulatory ICU,” AbsoluteCARE employs<br />

a unique, holistic approach to health<br />

outcomes by providing “totally integrated”<br />

health care under one roof. Services include<br />

primary care, chronic disease and infection<br />

management, onsite pharmacies, labs,<br />

X-rays and infusions, behavioral health and<br />

substance abuse counseling and treatment,<br />

community health outreach, nutrition<br />

counseling, transitional care coordination and<br />

health education. Members are admitted by<br />

referral only from insurance companies.<br />

“Educating patients<br />

is imperative, and<br />

nurses are trained<br />

for this.”<br />

– alan cohn<br />

“We have an all-hands-on-deck approach,<br />

where members are assigned their own<br />

multidisciplinary team, including a primary<br />

care physician, a care manager and social and<br />

behavioral experts to help them navigate any<br />

barriers in their lives,” Mr. Cohn said. “We<br />

don’t work in silos.”<br />

He said nurses play a crucial role in patient<br />

education and advocacy to help transform<br />

health care from a volume-based to a valuebased<br />

industry.<br />

“Educating patients is imperative, and<br />

nurses are trained for this,” Mr. Cohn said.<br />

“There’s a tremendous shortage, and we<br />

need more nurses to step in and help solve<br />

the problem.”<br />

An alumnus of <strong>GW</strong>, Mr. Cohn graduated<br />

with a bachelor’s degree in public affairs in<br />

1977, serving as the student representative<br />

to the Board of Trustees and chairman of the<br />

Program Board, a student organization. His<br />

daughter, Madison, graduated with a Bachelor<br />

of Science in <strong>Nursing</strong> in 2011.<br />

Mr. Cohn began his career in health<br />

care while studying law at the University<br />

of Baltimore, working for the Office of the<br />

Attorney Advisor for the Health Care Finance<br />

Administration (now known as the Centers<br />

for Medicare and Medicaid Services). After<br />

earning a J.D., Mr. Cohn joined his family’s<br />

business, which later became Spectera,<br />

Inc., where he gained experience leading<br />

a managed health care company. In 1992,<br />

Mr. Cohn joined the executive team of<br />

Avesis, Inc., an administrator of vision,<br />

dental and hearing insurance plans,<br />

serving as the CEO until 2016, when the<br />

company was sold to Guardian Life Insurance<br />

Company of America.<br />

Members of the Advisory Council<br />

CHAIR<br />

Mary-Michael Brown<br />

DNP, RN<br />

MedStar Health<br />

MEMBERS<br />

Diane Billings<br />

EdD, RN, FAAN<br />

Indiana University<br />

School of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Alan Schurman Cohn<br />

JD<br />

AbsoluteCare<br />

Ellen Dawson<br />

PhD, RN<br />

Professor Emeritus, <strong>GW</strong><br />

School of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Patrick DeLeon<br />

PhD, JD<br />

Retired, Chief of Staff<br />

to U.S. Sen. Daniel<br />

Inouye (D-Hawaii)<br />

Karen N. Drenkard<br />

PhD, RN, FAAN<br />

GetWell Network<br />

Lucas Huang<br />

BEE, BAE<br />

B-Line Medical<br />

Robin Kaplan<br />

MSN, RN<br />

Kushner Hebrew<br />

Academy<br />

Elizabeth (Betsy) K.<br />

Linsert<br />

MS, FNP<br />

<strong>GW</strong> Colonial<br />

Health Center<br />

Molly McCarthy<br />

MBA, RN<br />

Microsoft US Health<br />

Lynn Mertz<br />

PhD<br />

AARP Center to<br />

Champion <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

in America<br />

Angela Patterson<br />

DNP, RN<br />

CVS MinuteClinic<br />

Sandra Ryan<br />

MSN, RN, FAAN<br />

Walmart Care Clinic<br />

Al Shimkus<br />

MSN, RN, Capt. USN<br />

(Ret.)<br />

Naval War College<br />

Janet R. Southby<br />

PhD, RN<br />

Interagency Institute<br />

for Federal HealthCare<br />

Executives<br />

36 |


Alumni Resources<br />

Our more than 2,300 alumni are a vital part of the School of<br />

<strong>Nursing</strong> community, actively giving back by offering their time,<br />

talents and expertise. <strong>GW</strong> offers a variety of programs and<br />

services tailored especially for alumni. We invite you to explore<br />

these resources and opportunities and to stay involved with<br />

the community.<br />

Update your information and share your news!<br />

alumni.gwu.edu/update-your-contact-information<br />

Benefits & Services<br />

Alumni Education Programs,<br />

Transcripts & Diplomas, Email<br />

alumni.gwu.edu/benefits-services<br />

Events & Programs<br />

<strong>GW</strong> Alumni Calendar of Events<br />

alumni.gwu.edu/events<br />

News & Updates<br />

<strong>GW</strong> Alumni News<br />

gwalumni.org<br />

Connections<br />

Update Contact Information, Alumni Directory<br />

alumni.gwu.edu/alumni-directory<br />

School of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

Office of Development and Alumni Relations<br />

45085 University Dr.<br />

Suite 202K<br />

Ashburn, VA 20147<br />

Phone: 571-553-0122<br />

<strong>GW</strong>Alumni<br />

<strong>GW</strong>Alumni<br />

The George Washington Alumni Association<br />

nursing.gwu.edu | 3


School of <strong>Nursing</strong><br />

The George Washington University<br />

1919 Pennsylvania Ave., NW<br />

Suite 500<br />

Washington, DC 20006-5818<br />

Non Profit<br />

US Postage<br />

PAID<br />

Washington, DC<br />

Permit 593<br />

From<br />

practice<br />

to policy,<br />

bring your<br />

vision to<br />

life.<br />

4 |<br />

nursing.gwu.edu

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