2 Yale r e b m u n e 9 Nursing m u l o v 9 0 Matters 0 2 g New Haven native n pri Everol Ennis ’09 s Yale Nursing Matters Yale Nursing Matters is a publication of Yale 3 Letter from the Dean University School of Nursing and Yale University School of Nursing Alumnae/i Association. 4 Spotlight News Dean: Margaret Grey ’76 6 The Making of a Yale Nurse Editor: John Powers 6 PhD Program Advances Nursing Research & Practice Associate Editor: Zoe Keller 8 A Long and Winding Road Spring 2009 Yale Nursing Matters Editorial Board: 10 A New Haven Native Finds a Home at Yale Lisa Hottin Karla A. Knight ’77 12 GEPN Program: YSN’s Second Career Launching Pad Frank Grosso Angela Kühne 14 Scholarship Recipients Contributing Writers: 15 Nursing is a New Direction for RWJF Grant Recipients Daniel Champagne Kathy Katella 16 Campaign Update Karla A. Knight ’77 Angela Barron McBride ’64 Luc R. Pelletier ’82 17 Donor Profile: Evelyn Anderson ’50 Sioux Saloka 18 In Memoriam Photography: 19 Grant Awards Don Gerda Zoe Keller 21 Truth of the Matter: Angela Barron McBride ’64 Michael Marsland YSN Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumnae/i Yale Nurse Printing: Premier Graphics 22 I Am a Yale Nurse: Tara Walsh Malbasa ’06 Design: Gregg Chase 24 YSN Alumnae/i by State Yale University School of Nursing 25 Expanding the YSN Community—Paying it Forward 100 Church Street South Post Office Box 9740 26 Class News New Haven, Connecticut 06536-0740 28 Alumnae/i Board Update 203-785-2393 nursing.yale.edu fall 20 08 voluMme 9 numbeNr 1 Yaualterts eirnsg S h o w c a s ianngd C Clionmicaml uEnxicteyl lOenutcree ach Cover: Everol Ennis ’09 grew up in New Haven and is now pursuing his master’s degree in nursing at Yale. Article on page 10. This issue of Yale Nursing Matters covers the events that took place from fall 2008 through winter 2009. mat•ter n. Something that occupies space and can be perceived by one or more senses; a physical body, a physical substance, or the universe as a whole. A subject of concern, feeling, or action. Something printed or otherwise set down in writing. v. To be of importance or value. Signify. Focusing on YSN’s Remarkable Students We at Yale University School of Nursing are privileged to have the brightest and most committed students entering the nursing profession today. Our Graduate Entry students enrich YSN with their unique backgrounds, and our RN students bring a wealth of experience to the classroom and clinic. YSN PhD students share a passion for developing the evidence to drive nursing care and health policy. Students at YSN are at the heart of our mission, “better health care for all people.” Their commitment to changing health care for the underserved—wherever they may be, locally in New Haven, across the U.S., or around the world—is truly inspirational for our faculty and staff. Because they come to YSN with such varied experiences and abilities, our students are not limited by one view of what is possible. They make use of their gifts to creatively solve problems in health care. In this issue of Yale Nursing Matters we focus on our remarkable students. Their profiles will tell you a bit about their backgrounds and where they are going. Most importantly, they tell you about why they came to Yale to study nursing and their commitment to our profession. I hope you will be as inspired by their stories as we are every day. We live in tumultuous economic times. And, as with the rest of the world, YSN will face some difficult decisions. Nonetheless, we know that our students will be needed more than ever, as clinicians, and as the next generation of leaders and faculty. The looming nursing shortage, caused primarily by the aging of the nursing professoriate, assures the importance of recruiting and retaining these extraordinary young people. If you would like to help us assure that we can always support such students at YSN, I hope you will let me know. Margaret Grey, DrPH, RN, FAAN Dean and Annie Goodrich Professor voLUME 9 NUMBER 2 YALE NURSING MATTERS 3 ysn spotlight news YSN and Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative Partner to Advance Nursing in India YSN and the William J. Clinton HIv/AIDS Initiative have partnered with the government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Indian Nursing Council to develop a new curriculum for the training of post-graduate nurses and faculty in the prevention and treatment of HIv/AIDS, with the primary mission of training nurses to serve in public health in India. The curriculum will be the centerpiece of the state-of-the-art Indian Institute for Advanced Nursing (IIAN), the new national hub for nursing training, research, and education in HIv/AIDS in India. YSN Professor Nancy Reynolds, PhD, and YSN Researcher Angelo Anthony Alonzo, PhD, will serve as co-directors on the multi-year project. “HIv/AIDS is one of India’s most pressing public health priorities,” said Dr. Reynolds. “The establishment of IIAN provides an exceptional opportunity to work Former President Bill Clinton greets YSN Dean Margaret Grey to acknowledge with nursing and government leaders to develop and provide the the partnership between YSN, the Clinton Foundation, and the Indian government in establishing the Indian Institute for Advanced Nursing highest-quality educational programs.” Nursing Library Opens in China Thanks to YSN Three YSN Faculty Inducted into American Book Donations Academy of Nursing Thanks to the efforts of YSN faculty and staff, a new library Three YSN faculty members were inducted into the American of nursing opened in China with more than 4,000 books. The Academy of Nursing. The new Fellows include Associate Professor Shanghai Lida Polytechnic Institute opened its English Nursing Angela Crowley, PhD, APRN, BC, PNP, Professor and Associate Library in November after a five-year project at YSN to amass Dean for Scholarly Affairs Nancy Redeker, PhD, RN, and Professor, and thousands of nursing textbooks. The new library is one of the most Associate Dean for Clinical and Community Affairs Martha Swartz, comprehensive English language collections on nursing in China. PhD, RN, CPNP. Fellowship affords them an opportunity to work The official opening was attended by YSN staffer Sydney Martin, with other leaders in health care in addressing the issues of the pictured here unveiling the library’s plaque with Institute Chairman day. In addition, Nancy Redeker was inducted as an American Heart Shan Zhao Hui before an audience of government officials, Association Fellow in the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing. journalists, and university students and faculty. Martha Swartz, Dean Margaret Grey, Angela Crowley, and Nancy Redeker, at the AAN Annual Induction Ceremony YSN Gets a Permanent Home Yale University has recently purchased the School of Nursing building at 100 Church Street South, the site of New Haven’s former Richard C. Lee High School. YSN had been leasing the building from Church Street Development Associates since June of 1996. “We are thrilled with the possibilities, and planning is under way,” said Margaret Grey, YSN Dean and Annie Goodrich Professor. The $33 million deal for the property was completed in late November. 4 YALE NURSING MATTERS voLUME 9 NUMBER 2 new faculty Jacquelyn Taylor, far right, laura kierol andrews, phd, aprn, acnp-bc, at the 2008 American is an assistant professor in the Adult Advanced Academy of Nursing Practice Nursing Specialty track. She holds Meeting with Kathleen Dracup, Dean of the a joint clinical appointment at the Hospital University of California of Central Connecticut at New Britain General San Francisco School of as a senior Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Nursing, and YSN Dean Margaret Grey. in the department of Critical Care Medicine and manager of their Medical Rapid Response Team. karen bearss, phd, is an associate research Yale Professor Named a Robert Wood Johnson scientist with a doctorate in child psychology. Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar Her current work centers around parent- focused interventions and the implementation of evidence-based treatments in community YSN Assistant Professor Jacquelyn Taylor, PhD, PNP-BC, RN, was one mental health centers. Bearss is studying of 15 junior faculty in the nation to receive an inaugural Robert Wood an intervention for parents of preschool-age Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar award. The three-year, children with autism and co-occurring $350,000 grant will support her research to examine the interaction disruptive behaviors. between genome-wide association and social environmental factors related to blood pressure to understand control of hypertension sangchoon jeon, phd, is an associate research among hypertensive parents and early risks for high blood pressure scientist at YSN and works as a biostatistician. among untreated African American children. His education background includes a Master’s Degree in Statistics and a PhD in Epidemiology. He has six years of experience as a research YSN Professor Helps Students Produce Teen assistant in the Family Care Research Program Pregnancy Prevention PSAs in Cancer. In her role as chair of New Haven Mayor John DeStefano’s “Teen geraldine marrocco, edd, aprn, cns, anp-c, Pregnancy Prevention Council,” YSN Associate Professor Alison joined YSN as an assistant professor in January Moriarty Daley worked with a group of students as they developed 2009. Certified as an adult nurse practitioner, and produced video public service announcements. “I still get goose she established a private practice in primary bumps every time I see these,” commented Moriarty Daley. “They care. Marrocco is a clinical nurse specialist are really well done and send a simple but important message: and has taught nursing at all levels. Her ‘It’s my responsibility, it’s your responsibility.’” The clips have been interests include health promotion and disease shown at public and school events. view them online at: prevention in the primary care setting and http://nursing.yale.edu/News/Features/teen_pregnancy.html advanced teaching modalities in graduate nursing education. mary d. moller, dnp, aprn, pmhcns-bc, cprp, faan, is an associate professor at YSN and is dually certified as a clinical specialist in adult psychiatric-mental health nursing and a psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner. Widely published and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Moller established the first nurse- owned and managed outpatient psychiatric clinic in the U.S. jacquelyn taylor, phd, pnp-bc, rn, is an assistant professor in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Specialty. She is prepared as both a pediatric nurse practitioner and a school nurse practitioner. Her career has focused on addressing health disparities in hypertension New Haven public school students produced several videos, including “Boy Swap,” among African Americans. (More at top left.) a humorous role reversal in which a teen boy becomes pregnant and then is ditched by his girlfriend. voLUME 9 NUMBER 2 YALE NURSING MATTERS 5 PhD Program Advances Nursing Research & Practice The Making of a Yale Nurse by frank grosso, phd, assistant dean for student affairs To see the variety Yale University School of Nursing’s PhD program offers, one simply has to look at the diversity of its students and their research. I see it daily. I’m one of the lucky ones, I guess. They are the unmistakable qualities that reside in our students and result from their academic journey. oh sure, they are intelligent, hardworking, and creative. But what I see is more distinctive. It’s what sets them apart from the others: their determination and transformation. When they arrive, their excitement is unmistakable. But as those of you who have been in their shoes know, that excitement quickly turns to anxiousness. And where anxiety lies, doubt is right around the corner. But that’s when these students begin by daniel champagne to dig down deep, when they lean on the very core of what got them T to this point. This is when I see doubt here’s first-year student Leonie Rose selves scientists. You see a great variety turn into determination. Spend ten ’14, a 42-year-old African American wom- of researchers here, and I think minutes with any of our students— an born in Jamaica, who is working to people support looking at things in you can’t miss it. The resolve to suc- improve nurses’ skill in reading and inter- a different way.” ceed, to serve, to evolve, to contribute, preting EKGs in emergency departments. “So far, it’s what I wanted it to be in is uniquely theirs. Fourth-year student Nick Nicholson terms of the type of work, and the staff ’10, a 30-year-old who was born and raised has been great,” Rose said. “There is Then, in the midst of digesting theo- in Portland, Connecticut, is researching definitely a variety in the program. retical concepts, textbooks, and clinical the predictors of social isolation in There are a lot of people in the first-year skills, they begin to transform. on the community-dwelling older adults. program, and they are all researching surface, most are transformed into Jia Guo is a visiting PhD scholar from different things.” nurse practitioners or midwives. others Central South University in Changsha, YSN established a Doctor of Nursing transition from practitioners into researchers and scholars. But that is China, who came to Yale through a fel- Science program in 1994, which was expected and just scratches the lowship from the Yale-China Association. replaced in the fall of 2006 by the Doctor surface. What I see is different: I The 25-year-old is researching self-man- of Philosophy in Nursing. The program witness a metamorphosis. I see nerves agement of type 1 diabetes. has 20 students pursuing 11 areas of turn into confidence, and ideas into Second-year student Monica Roosa research. It was a natural progression scholarly work. I see the sheltered turn Ordway ’13, a Southbury, Connecticut, for YSN to continue its already solid advocate, the favored turn servant, resident and mother of two, is researching foundation by adding a PhD program, and the healer turn leader. Regardless the effect of maternal reflective function- said Nancy Reynolds, PhD, RN, C-NP, of their backgrounds, ethnicities, ing and depression on child behavior. FAAN, Director of the Doctoral Program: passions, and professional desires, I see “Promoting nursing as a science is very “YSN has been recognized for its leader- them all transform. Just look through important, and I feel that is really a ship in nursing for a long time, and the pages that follow, and you’ll strength of the program,” Roosa Ordway the PhD program builds on the very rich see it too. said. “All the researchers consider them- history that was already in place.” 6 YALE NURSING MATTERS voLUME 9 NUMBER 2 Nancy Reynolds, Director of the YSN Doctoral Program (standing), with PhD students (seated left to right) Leonie Rose ’14, Jia Guo, Monica Roosa Ordway ’13, and Nick Nicholson ’10. “Nurses are the ones at the forefront privilege, when you have such a bright Nicholson, an invited student represen- of the health care system, and we need and promising group of students to tative on the YSN Doctoral Committee, researchers who can advance the scientific work with.” has enjoyed faculty support for two inno- knowledge base for improving the health Being encouraged and provided with vations in which he has taken an active of diverse populations through nursing the opportunity to learn from the role this year. One is the development of practice, organizational structures, and different perspectives and expertise of a “Faculty-Student Exchange” designed to health policy leadership,” added Reynolds. YSN faculty is something the students facilitate the school’s community of schol- The PhD curriculum is designed to said makes the program special. “One arship through one-hour forums that pro- prepare expert nurse scholars. Students of the great privileges of being a PhD vide an opportunity for open discussion take core courses in knowledge develop- student at YSN is the support you get,” exploring cutting-edge issues and ideas. ment, research methods, statistics, and said Roosa Ordway, a 1997 graduate The other, “The Doctoral Corner,” is health policy as well as cognates that give of YSN’s Graduate Entry Prespecialty in an online site developed for students to students the opportunity to select courses Nursing program. “No one here has get together as a group to talk and share that enhance their depth and breadth of ever made me feel that there’s only one helpful information to support one knowledge in a focused area of study. Yale way to do something.” another, even when away from YSN. has a vast array of intellectual resources Guo said she has been very pleased Reynolds, who became director of the and supports for research which provides with the PhD program because research- doctoral program last September, said a remarkably rich environment for ing the self-management of type 1 she wants the program to provide its training nurse scientists, Reynolds said. diabetes wouldn’t have even been an students with the preparation needed “We have a group of extraordinary faculty option in China. “YSN is very good in this for the 21st century. “We are preparing who are leading researchers in their area and there are many scientists I can the next generation of nursing leaders. fields. They are extremely knowledgeable work with,” she stated. “In China, we We always need to be looking ahead and and dedicated to mentoring doctoral don’t have this type of research so it’s anticipating trends that will affect the students to become strong critical thinkers been helpful for me…I know I can get health and health care delivery systems and capable researchers. This is a joy, a any help I need from the faculty at YSN.” of the future.” voLUME 9 NUMBER 2 YALE NURSING MATTERS 7 A Long and by zoe keller Winding Road For Leslie Wheeless ’10, the path to YSN has been full of surprises by zoe keller L eslie Wheeless ’10 is a part-time student learning to be a over a year, as one of four women in a 200-person unit. First family nurse practitioner at Yale, while working as an RN in in Djibouti and then Qatar, she served in both Operation an inner-city emergency department. The urban setting is a Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. long way from her origins in rural Wyoming, but her journey While in Djibouti, Wheeless became the assigned expert on has already taken her much further from home. Somalia and was moved by the humanitarian efforts she Wheeless first left Wyoming and her family, rooted in the witnessed there. She was inspired by the international teams of American Indian community, for Dartmouth College in New medical workers and the difference they made in Somalia, even Hampshire, in 1998. Once there, she found her passion for after much of the world stopped paying attention. “It dawned pre-med studies had turned to ambivalence. Feeling the pres- on me that nursing was a way to make a difference in the sure of mounting student loan debt, Wheeless wished she world,” Wheeless added. could buy time. “I was a lost soul looking for purpose,” she said Wheeless had intended to return to Dartmouth after her of this period. “I was 19, my only skills were checking groceries four-year enlistment but realized that her GI Bill funds would and waiting tables; living on my own wasn’t an option.” get eaten up quickly there. Instead, she decided to enter a In what Wheeless described as “either a moment of nursing program and found that, by coincidence, the most weakness or a moment of clarity,” she saw an ad for the Army economical option was at the University of Wyoming, and so and decided enlisting would give her the time she needed. she returned to her home state. Intending to serve the military in the medical field, Wheeless While earning her RN, Wheeless interned with a nurse was instead recruited into Army Intelligence. Life at Fort practitioner at the VA hospital. Her mentor talked about the Lewis in Washington State, researching Asian topography, was autonomy of the nurse practitioner role, while maintaining far from the James Bond lifestyle she had imagined while in “a sense of how a nurse relates to people.” Wheeless had the recruiter’s office. planned to stop with a bachelor’s degree, but through these After September 11, 2001, she suddenly had a new assign- conversations she realized that, “an advanced practice degree ment. “I was just pinned with my sergeant stripes when I is what I want.” received word I’d be reporting to the Middle East, alone, with- This is a common motivation for pursuing an advanced out my unit,” she said. Wheeless was deployed overseas for degree, according to YSN Associate Professor Ivy Alexander, 8 YALE NURSING MATTERS voLUME 9 NUMBER 2