This is an exciting time of the year as we recognize the achieve-ments and hard work by faculty and students over this past aca-demic year. This spring the School of Nursing graduates 46 preli-censure students who were the first to complete the “new” curricu-lum that was implemented in Jan. ’13. This five-semester curricu-lum incorporated new courses and created revisions in former ones. An additional 180 clinical hours were integrated into the final se-mester, many of which became a part of the new capstone course. With this new and improved course of study we are confident our graduates will continue to “hit the ground running.”

The RN-BSN option continues to thrive with an ever-expanding enrollment and will gradu-ate 45 this spring. The clinical research program will graduate 42 undergraduates and five graduates from the masters program.

Once again a new era of leadership will commence with the installation of Laurie Badzek as our new Director. We extend a hearty welcome and are looking forward to continued growth under her guidance.

Congratulations to all for the completion of another successful year. Enjoy your summer.

End of School Year Issue May 2015 Volume 8, Issue 4

School of Nursing Newsletter

Upcoming Dates:

Aug. 10: Academic year begins

Aug. 10: Faculty Council, 3:30 -5 p.m., McNeill Hall 1051

Aug. 17: UNCW Convocation, 10 a.m., Trask Coliseum

Aug. 19: Fall classes begin

Aug. 24: Undergraduate Coun-cil, 3-5 p.m., McNeill Hall 1038

Sept. 7: Labor Day. No classes.

Oct. 12-13: Fall Break. No classes.

Nov. 24-27: Thanksgiving holi-day. No classes.

Greetings from the Director

Editor: Sandra O’Donnell (odonnells@uncw.edu) Production: Debra Simpson (simpsond@uncw.edu)

Inside this issue:

Greetings from the Director 1

Notable Recognition 2

Notable Achievements 3

CLR Panel Discussion 4

SLC News 5

2015 CHHS Research Day 6

Honors Student Presentations 7

FNP Poster Presentations 7

Reflection and Celebration Days 8

Graduate Photos 9

May 2015 Graduates 10, 11

Please submit items of interest, calendar events, notable achievements, community events and questions you may have for our faculty and staff to our editorial/production staff: Sandy O’Donnell or Debra Simpson.

Congratulations to the Class of May 2015 Congratulations to the Class of May ’15 on their recent graduation: 42 undergraduate and

five graduates in the CLR program, 45 RN-BS and 46 prelicensure graduates. Pictured below

are a few of the prelicensure graduates. A full listing of graduates appears on pages 10 and 11.

Volume 8, Issue 4

Notable Recognition:

Diane Pastor was inducted as a Distinguished Scholar and Fellow of the Nurs-ing Academy of the National Academies of Practice (NAP) on Saturday, Apr. 18. The NAP is a non-profit, interprofessional organization founded in 1981 to improve healthcare in the U.S. through education, practice, policy and re-search. Fellows and scholars are elected by their peers from 14 different health professions to join NAP's membership of healthcare practitioners dedicated to supporting affordable, accessible, coordinated quality healthcare for all. Pastor is pictured second from right in the photo.

Brandy Mechling (pictured in photo on left) was nominated for a Women of Achievement Award (WOA) with the YWCA of Lower Cape Fear. The WOA Awards recognize outstanding contributions and achievements of women in Brunswick, Co-lumbus, New Hanover and Pender counties. Women are nominated in the following categories: arts, business, communications, education, environmental, health and wellness, public service. Oth-er categories include the Rachel Freeman Unsung Hero, Volunteer and Young Leader. Mechling was nominated by mental health professionals in the Wilmington area from agencies she and her nursing students utilize for mental health clinical. Her contributions to education, public service and health and wellness were highlighted in her nomination. This is the 30th anniversary of this event and 38 women and 14 high school students were nominated. Anne-Marie Goff (on right) was recently awarded an Engaged Teaching Fellows grant from the Center for Teaching Excellence and Center for Faculty Leadership. Goff, together with Jacquelyn Lee and Jessica Strong

from the School of Social Work, will work on a project involving both social work and nursing stu-dents entitled, "Theory In Action: A New Service-Learning Model to Promote Resilience and Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice."

Congratulations to the following faculty and staff who have been recognized by the May ’15 graduat-ing seniors as making a significant impact on their education at UNCW: Nancy Ahern, Tammy Arms, Janis Cox, Jerre Garnett, Saralyn Gillikin, Anne-Marie Goff, Carol Heinrich, Carolyn Jones, Soo Kim-Godwin, Kelly Laham, Pam Levesque, James Lyon, April Matthias, Michelle McEwen-Campbell, Brandy Mechling, Barbara Pen-nington, Debbie Pollard, Penny Sauer, Patricia Schulz, Susan Sinclair, Stephanie Turrise, Marge Verzella, Patty White, Robin Williams and Heidi Winslow. The faculty were honored at a university reception, sponsored by the UNCW Office of Student Affairs, on Apr. 29.

Congratulations to our Newest Doctors! Congratulations to Michelle McEwen-Campbell (at left) on her May graduation from the Gardner-Webb University with her DNP. Her capstone topic was “Evaluating Chain of Command Self-Efficacy through High Fidelity Student-Directed, Obstetrical Simulation. research dissertation was “Comparing the Impact of High Fidelity Simulation, Low Fidelity Simulation and Video Training of Oral Medication Administration for State Anxiety in First Year Under-graduate Nursing Students.” Congratulations to Carolyn Jones (at right) for successfully defend-ing her PhD dissertation on May 8 at UNC-Chapel Hill. Jones’ re-search, titled “Parental Stress and Coping During the Hospitaliza-tion of a Child,” was a qualitative study examining blogs written by parents who have an infant or child in the hospital.

Page 2

Page 3 Volume 8, Issue 4

Notable Achievements

Diane Pastor, SLC coordinator, Robin Cunningham and Stacey Kolomer from the School of Social Work, presented a breakout session about delivering difficult news at the National Academies of Practice Annual Meeting and Forum on their interprofes-sional work with MSW and NP students using standardized patients. Barbara Lutz also presented her work at this meeting on family-centered care in rehab.

Tammy Arms and College of Social Work faculty, Noell Rowan, presented at The Interprofessional Healthcare Summit in Savannah, GA on April 10. Also, participating in the project was Anna Eusse, a graduate SW student. The project was also published: Arms, T., Rowan, N. & Eusse, A. (2014). “Interprofessional approaches to symptoms of dementia.” European Sci-entific Journal. 10, (33) 115-124. Andraya Zelle (’14) and her faculty advisor Tammy Arms have received notification that Zelle’s Directed Independent Study (DIS) project last semester has been accepted for publication. The citation: Zelle, A., & Arms, T. (2015). “Psychosocial Effects of Health Disparities of LGBT Older Adults.” Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services.

Nancy Ahern (pictured left) presented a poster “Writing Children's Books to Enhance the Professional Image of the Nurse: An Evidence-Based Pro-ject” on April 21 at the 2015 ATI National Nurse Educator Summit in San Diego.

RN-BSN student Ricky Deese had his letter to the editor published in the Kol Association of Black Nursing Faculty Journal: Deese, R (2015, April). Letter to the Editor, ABNF Journal.

Robin Cunningham, Stacey Kolomer, Patty White and Diane Pastor re-ceived an internal CHHS grant to bring an interactive theater group, The-atre Delta, to campus on April 7 to present a theater production "Suffering: Adult Palliative Care and Advance Directives." Approximately 75 people attended the event.

Diane Pastor participated as a panelist at the Self Mentoring and Leadership conference held in the Watson School of Educa-tion on Apr. 11. She discussed the value of coaching and mentoring in leadership.

Congratulations to Beth Gazza for the funding of her proposal for the ETeal Supported Pedagogy Initiative. The project, titled “Leadership and Management Practicum: An Applied Learning Initiative,” will take place in the RN-BSN Leadership and Management course. Gazza will collaborate with Beth Oyarzun in E-Learning and Michael Barugel in Career Services to imple-ment this applied learning project. Penny Sauer, Nancy Murdock, Marge Verzella and student Allison Hannon made a group podium presentation at the AACN’s 2015 Hot Issues Con-ference on Civility Rising in Las Vegas. Their presentation was on “Exploration of Incivility in Nursing Students,” a study supported by the Cahill Fund. Sauer made a single podium presentation in which she presented her research findings of a statewide survey of RN’s experiences with bully-ing: “Nurse Bullying: Effects on Health and Intent to Change Employment.” Her research was funded by the Corbett fund. Pictured from left to right in the photo: Verzella, Sauer, Hannon and Murdock.

Volume 8, Issue 4

Panel Discussion on the Past, Present and Future of Clinical Research in NC CLR Assistant Professor Jared Kerr (standing in photo on left) organized and moderated a panel discussion on Apr. 8. The dis-cussion was part of the 2nd annual CHHS Week. Major themes identified from the panel discussion were the need for improve-ments in patient access, better collaboration and the huge poten-tial for economic development opportunities in the region.

The panelists represented a diversity of CLR organizations and decades of experience and consisted of the following (with organi-zational affiliations): Kevin Cannon (Medical Director, PMG-Research of Wilmington), Paul Covington (Contracting Consult-ant, Clinical Dynamics & former SVP Clinical Development & Operations, Furiex), Angela Dentiste (VP, Osmotics Pharmaceti-

cal), Jim Esinhart (CEO, Chiltern International Inc.), Randall Johnson (Exec. Director, SE Office of NC Biotechnology Cen-ter), Lynette McFayden (Director of Research, SEAHEC), and Patricia Steigerwald (VP, Regional Managing Director of Ameri-cas, Quintiles).

Thanks to the efforts of CLR faculty Kerr, Jim Lyon, Barbara Pennington and Susan Sinclair, the event drew over 70 faculty, students and community attendees. Over 100 on-demand viewers have watched the recorded video available from the UNCW Mediasite: http://uncw.mediasite.mcnc.org/mcnc/Play/d0be89981dc049879f5c3ac9190b1f781d.

Nu Omega Chapter News RuthAnne Kuiper, president of the Nu Omega Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, extends an invitation to members to assist the chapter in achieving another recognition of the Chapter Key Award from Sigma Theta Tau International for this Biennial period. Kuiper and other Nu Omega board members request that members submit listings of accomplishments from the past two years in order to complete the application for the chapter’s second key award for the years of 2013-2015. If enough points are achieved, the Nu Omega chapter will be awarded the honor at the next STTI Biennial Convention in Las Vegas, NV in Nov. ’15. The deadline for submitting materials is June 15. Any assistance and information provided that would contribute to this award is appreciated. For further infor-mation members may contact Kuiper at Kuiperr@uncw.edu or Tom Curley at Tom.Curley@nhrmc.org.

News from the SON Program Evaluation Committee

The Program Evaluation Committee (PEC) completed their evaluation of several key elements included in the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accreditation standards. Nursing faculty participated in the process by providing their perceptions about available resources and the curriculum in each nursing program. Using this and several other sources of data the committee concluded that the SON successfully demonstrated achievement of key elements under review. Appreciation is extended to PEC Chair Beth Gazza, Nasrin Falsafi, Diane Pastor, Nancy Ahern and Debra Simpson for their contributions to the committee during the Spring ’15 semester and to all faculty who participated in the evaluation.

Page 4

Volume 8, Issue 4

Pediatric Cancer Symposium Through a collaboration of interprofessional instructors in CHHS and with assistance of a Cultural Activity Grant, a Pediatric Cancer Educational Program sponsored by SEAHEC was held on April 14. Titled “Fighting Pediatric Cancer Together.” Meredith Tetloff, the mother of a cancer victim and an advocate for pediatric cancer awareness, was the keynote speaker. A panel discussion followed with various pediatric cancer per-spectives: Jacob Herman, cancer survivor, Cathy Hall, social worker at the Ronald McDonald House—Chapel Hill, David Smith, pediatric intensivist at NHRMC, Judy Kinney, lecturer in the School of Health and Applied Human Services, Lowel Higgins, pediatric RN at NHRMC, and Beth Hood, pastor and pediatric cancer survivor. Those responsible for organizing this event were Jacquelyn Lee, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, Lisa Sprod, assistant professor in the School of Health and Ap-plied Human Services, and SON lecturer Patty White.

Students in the School of Social Work conducted a raffle where all proceeds went to pediatric cancer research and supplies for the Ronald McDonald House. Pictured at left is Tetloff (on right) and Lee (on left).

Simulation Learning Center News The Simulation Learning Center and CHHS sponsored a workshop on April 13 titled “Inter-professional Simulation, Using Simulation in Teaching and Assessment.” Mary Rawlings discussed using simulation in Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCE) and measures to assess stu-dents in simulation. Several nurses from the NHRMC Obstetrics Unit demonstrated a live simulation that nurses and physicians have used to enhance communication and interventions in clinical emergency situa-tions. Obstetrical nurse (Wendy Adkins, ’07) played a role in the simula-tion. Becky Threatt from Wingate University shared a simulation con-ducted at Wingate University on nursing and physical therapy care for simulated burn patients. Mary Holtschneider and Dr. Chan Park of the Durham Veterans Medical Center presented inter-professional simulation examples that included a stroke “code.” The workshop ended with col-laboration between different disciplines writing simulation scenarios after being provided with prompts. (Pictured at right are SON faculty Nancy Murdock and Adkins.)

Faculty members are eligible to apply for a new summer fellowship to create a collaborative interprofessional educational simu-lation among CHHS schools. Work will commence over the summer with implementation planned for the next academic year.

A new simulation for a virtual hospital for undergraduate nursing students was created in April. The simulation involved six patients with different medical diagnoses and health needs. Undergraduate students enrolled in the Adult Health I course par-ticipated with two senior students acting in the charge nurse role. Activities included student assessments, administering medi-cations and treatment and prioritizing patient care.

Office of Student Success News

The Office of Student Success continued to have a busy semester with the addition of three new RN-BS advisors in the office. Student advisors Ashley Auerbach and Kristen Meyer came on board at the end of March and Mark Forbes became a part of the staff the final week of April. An additional advisor is expected to be hired. The work assignments of the advisors involve assist-ing RN-BS students through the orientation and initial advising phase, RN-BS process mapping and assisting with Assessment.

Page 5

.

2015 CHHS Research Day

Jeanne Kemppainen, the Irwin Belk Distinguished Professorship, made a podium presentation at the 2015 CHHS Research Day on April 10. Her presentation, entitled “Building Inter-professional Research Networks,” outlined a theoretical basis for inter-professional collabora-tion. Kempainnen (pictured at left) presented examples of an inter-professional research team and described challenges and opportunities in inter-professional research.

Various nursing and clinical research posters were presented: nursing faculty (and the titles of their posters) who presented posters were: Traci Bramlett (Fit Start: An Obesity Prevention Educational Pilot Program in a New School-Based Health Center), Nastintaj Falsafi (A Random-ized Clinical Trial of the Effects of Mindfulness and Yoga Practices on Depression and Anxiety in College Students), Beth Gazza and April Matthias (Using an Interdisciplinary and Interdepart-mental Approach to Enhance a New Accelerated Online RN-BS Program), Anne-Marie Goff (Stressors, Learned Resourcefulness & Academic Performance in Baccalaureate Nursing Students: A Longitudinal Study), Diane Pastor (Current Trends in Health Care Services and Nursing in

Vietnam) and Elise Thompson (Comparing the Impact of High Fidelity Simulation, Low Fidelity Simulation, and Video Training for Oral Medication Administration on State Anxiety of First Year Undergraduate Nursing Students). CLR faculty Susan Sinclair (and the title of her poster) from CLR was: Enrolling Pregnancy Registries: How are We Doing?).

Also presenting a poster were RN-BSN students Cynthia Dequenne, Jennifer Joyner, Barbara Goden and Kala Morton, on “Filling the Gap of Infection Control Adherence.”

ANS Information

The purpose of the Association of Student Nurses is to contribute to nursing education and influence the educational process, as well as provide programs that relate to fundamental and current nursing professional interests and concerns. In addition, the organization seeks to develop its members into their professional roles and responsibilities for caring for people of all walks of life. For more information regarding membership, please contact one of the officers for the 2015-16 academic year: Katherine McGowan (president), Nicole Shepard (vice president), Joice Bendo (treasurer) and Caitlin LeVee (secretary).

Students in Community Clinical Course Provide Assessments in Columbus County

Prelicensure students in Kelly Laham’s community clinical course recently completed a community assessment on Columbus County, which has been deemed the unhealthiest county in NC for the past five years since the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation started this ranking. Students toured the Columbus County Health Department and interacted with director Kim Smith to better understand the county’s health status. They also toured the Dept. of Aging, the Boys and Girls Home of NC at Lake Waccamaw, the Waccamaw-Siouan tribal grounds, a local grocery store, a rural health clinic and the Senior and Youth Center in Bolton. They provided health education topics to the afterschool program for children regarding healthy eat-ing, basic CPR and hygiene. The children were excited and eager to learn from the senior nursing students. This group will present their findings to the class at the end of the semester.

Volume 8, Issue 4 Page 6

Volume 8, Issue 4 Page 7

2015 Clinical Research Graduate Recognition Ceremony

The Clinical Research graduates held their second Graduate Recognition Awards Ceremony on May 8, apart from the awards ceremony of the nursing program. The guest speaker was Sandy Sturman, VP of Cardiovascular, Metabolic and Global Project Management for PPD and head of the Global Therapeutic Area. Her daughter is a graduating senior from the CLR program.

The CLR program was launched in ’04 with start-up funding from PPD. Over 300 students have graduated with a BS degree (the first awarded in ’04) and 18 (including this year’s graduates) in the Masters program, which began in ’11. Over 95% of the undergraduates are employed in clinical research within six months of graduation, many of whom are offered before graduation. Several graduates are mangers hiring the most recent graduates.

Honors Student Presentations

Congratulations to Honors students Sarah Fruendt and Laura Zamora for their recent defenses on research the-ses. On Apr. 27 Fruendt defended her honors thesis titled “The Long Term Effects of Childhood Cancer on Survi-vors Entering Adulthood: A Qualitative Study.” Pic-tured at right is Fruendt (second from left) with her fac-ulty advisor Jane Fox (on far left). Other committee members were Nancy Ahern, Len Lecci, Susan Marshall and Carolyn Jones.

Pictured second from right is Zamora with her faculty supervisor Brandy Mechling (at far right). Zamora de-fended her thesis, “Growing up with a Depressed Parent: Examining Avenues of Social Support as a Pathway to Psychosocial Well-being” on Apr. 6. Other committee members were Nancy Ahern and Stacy Kolmer.

FNP Poster Presentations on Pediatric Analyses

On April 29, the FNP students enrolled in the Graduate Pediatrics course also made poster presentations on topics chosen for either case or PICO analyses. Students presented and discussed a variety of topics. Below are photos of several of the presenters

Volume 8, Issue 4 Page 8

Selected Student Presentations - Spring 2015 Reflection Day: Prelicensure Community and Pediatric Nursing Classes

On Apr. 28, students enrolled in the Pediatric Nursing and Community Nursing courses presented their reflective projects. This

assignment is a collaborative effort between the two courses.

Students were asked to select a patient from one of their clinical experiences who had impacted them in

some way. Each student was required to write a paper

presenting the patient’s pathophysiology and relevant

nursing diagnoses and then use the OPT Model to plan

care for the patient. Students were also required to cre-

ate a project that incorporated the arts and humanities and was reflective of what they saw in patients and/or

the family members. Students explained how the select-

ed patients had impacted them as nurses and how the

caring experiences would frame models they will use in

the future.

Students voted on their choices for recipients of presentation awards. These recipients are (with the award category listed): Mi-

randa Crider, (“The One that Touched Me”), Arely Dominquez (“The One That Made Me Say Wow”), Hyla Smith (“The Most

Talented”), Alyssa Duane (“The One I Wish I Had Thought Of”), Morgan Johnson (“The One That Conveyed the Essence of

Nursing”), Mandy Castillo (“Best Integration of Arts and Humanities”), Morgan Grieninger (“The Most Creative”) and Stacy

Kopfmann (“The One That Made Me Laugh/Smile).” The award recipients are pictured above.

Celebration Day: Prelicensure Issues, Trends & Health Policy Class

The Issues, Trends & Health Policy prelicensure course held a Celebration

Day on May 1. Students shared children's books they had developed over the

semester. The books demonstrated student creativity in projecting the profes-

sional images of the nursing to the pediatric population. Pictured at left are

Derek Johnson (left) and Joseph Kolaszewsk (right), who were selected by their peers for the most creative book of the day. Their book titled "The Ad-

ventures of Joe & Derek" showcased the image of the male nurse.

Students Assist with Red Cross Blood Drive Eight prelicensure students (class of Dec. ’16) assisted with the April 16 American Red Cross blood drive on the UNCW campus. Students who volunteered to work and/or donate blood were: Kayla Work, Liz Kimley, Alexis MacLamroc, Corin Abella, Tori Smith, Stephen O’Con-nell and Crystal Tomburo. Pictured at right are students working at the blood drive: from left to

right are Liz Kimley, Alexis Maclamroc, and Kayla Work.

Volume 8, Issue 4 Page 9

Awards Ceremonies - May 8, 2015

Prelicensure

Clinical Research: Bachelor of Science

RN/BSN Clinical Research: MSN

Class of May 2015 BS Graduates

RN/BS

Prelicensure

Nichole Lashay Adair Shemica Nicole Baker Rodney Warren Bullard Alicia Whitney Burt

Sarah Beth Caudle Rachel Carlie Chapman Dana Lynn Crowder Michele Corcoran De Smet Cynthia Jay Dequenne Kathleen Donohoe DeTreux * Lauren Williams Egan * Joshua Nicholas Ellerbrock Jeffriann Grainger Nikole Howard Courtney Leigh Hurd Johanson DeForest Kenemer III Kimberly Lynn Kirk Jessica L. Kite Megan Nold Knapp Matthew Paul Kreger Paige Thompson Krizmanich Hope Lynn Locklear Christina Michelle Mainz

Jonathan Michael Marek Theresa Anne McNamara Kayla Cherie Morton Lisa Carol Narron Roselyne Bonareri Onkundi / Tiffany Faye Op’t Hof Laura Ashley Reynolds * Taylor Rose Scott Jenean Angela Simmons Kasi Stokes Sneary Jennifer Leigh Spencer William Terrell Stephens Amber Carol Sutton Layne Marie Taylor Lori Coleman Taylor Sachi Ramesh Vora Kimberly Clark Ward Jennifer Pearce Watkins Ashley Barber Weeks Holly Marie Weisz Lawanda Ann White Julianne Natasha Williams

Jordan Nicole Adcock * Diana Anca Ban Alyssa Bodnar * Brittany Morgan Buskirk Karen Michelle Buster *> Catherine Ann Carter *> Hannah Elizabeth Cheek * Molly Cole * Ashley Megan Concepcion * Jessica Lien Croninger Michele Theresa Decarlo Michelle Diaz * Stephanie N. DiBenedetto Jessica Elizabeth DiSalle Delanie Irene Dyer * Caroline Elizabeth Fowler * Sarah Elaine Fruendt ~ Emily Elizabeth Hester * Anna Katherine Hoppe Michelle Elizabeth Horne +* Abby Catherine Hughes * Φ Alicia Esther Iammatteo * Sarah Michelle Jennings

Kristin Mary Kramer * Nicole A. Kramer Samantha Grace Kuhlman * Rebecca Shields Lester *> Amanda Nicole Lindsay > Kali Nicole Londa *> Rachel Elizabeth Lucht * Summer Graylynn Mathis * Leah R. Mayhew * Kellie Ann McCraw * Kasey Batchler McCready Kelly Lynn McPherson +*> Shannon Kathleen O’Toole * Casey Wayne Patula * Brooke Nicole Perrigo Katelyn Rae Simmet * Lauren Mckenzie Stephenson * Paige Thacker April Efland Thompson * Anna Nicole Whetzel Hailey Madison Wiant * Laura Outlaw Zamora * ~ ΦÚ Andraya Zelle

~ Departmental Honor + North Carolina Nurse Scholar Ú Omicron Delta Kappa * Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society Φ Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society > Sigma Alpha Lambda National Honor Society / Honor Society.Org

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Master’s

Baccalaureate

Emily Susan Edwards

Courtney Beth Edwards

Jason Douglas Weeks

Samantha Jo Womack

Amanda Marie Wehbie

Stephanie Rae Allen

Morgan Nicole Avery

Megan Lyn Bailey

Sarah Courtney Elizabeth Bowman

Nicole Ashley Bravo

Sarah A. Caffery

Grecia Esparza

Sarah Lyn Garcia

Sherilyn Danielle Garcia

Hayley Robin Gastiger

Adriana Isabela Hortelano

Mytisha Roshonda Jarman

Alicia Renee Krieger ~

Elizabeth Christine Lace

Kristin Lee Laughon

Camryn Michelle Leutgens ^

Kimberly Ann Light

Keri Lynn McKenna

Natalie Jane Melki-Ervin

James Robert Migliaccio

Hannah Louise Nevarez

Caitlin Reid Newnam

Arleth Patricia O’Shee

Michael Kent Overby

Leanna Marie Paranto ~

Shanna M. Pascoe

Priya Kirtikumar Patel

Natalie Ann Payan

Christina Elizabeth Roman ~

Kristi Marisa Romero

Karen Ann Ruggiero

Mackenzie James Skrba

Laura Michelle Sturman

Haithim S. Swelam

Gail NicoleThreatt >

Morgan Kathleen Varnell +

Sarah Helena Watts

Kaley Brooke Weaver

Shashonie Nicole Williams

Crystal Joy Woodring

Whitney Danielle Young > ^

Jacquelyn Rae Yow^

^ Honor Society.org ~Tau Sigma National Honor Society > Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society + Zeta Chi Alpha Xi

Notable Recognition: Recipients of the Spring 2015 School of Nursing Awards

Excellence Award: Presented to a student with a minimum overall cumulative GPA of 3.25, outstanding clinical perfor-mances and nominated from students and faculty with final endorsement by the faculty:

Pre-licensure: Paige Thacker, ’15 RN/BS: Cynthia Dequenne, ’15

Achievement Award: Presented to the student who demonstrates growth and mastery of concepts and practices in nursing, utilizes resources effectively to develop potential and takes initiative for personal learning growth:

Pre-licensure: Sarah Elaine Freundt, ’15 Corinthian Abella, ’16 RN/BS: Roselyne Bonareri Onkundi, ’15

Please submit calendar events, organiza-tional news, notable achievements, commu-nity events, research and scholarship activi-ties to our editorial and production staff: Sandy O’Donnell (odonnells@uncw.edu) or Debra Simpson (simpsond@uncw.edu).

Final Lingering Thought . . .

Have a fun and relaxing

summer! (Mt. Timpanogos, Utah)

Faculty Presentation in South Africa

Sarah Lawson (pictured at right) travelled in April to Johannesburg, South Af-rica to moderate and serve as one of the keynote speakers at the first annual International Conference on Health Science, Education, Leadership and Prac-tice. The conference was attended by healthcare providers from South Africa,

Canada, Ethiopia, Bot-swana and the U.S. Lawson’s presentation was entitled “Sexual Assault and Rape Prevention in Young Hispanic Men.” Funding was provided jointly by the UNCW graduate program, CHHS and the SON. Lawson also worked with faculty and administration from North West University, Mahikeng Campus, to develop a multidisciplinary post graduate program on forensic health. The program is expected to begin Jan. ’16, the beginning of the South African school year. Pictured at left are Lawson (center) and her colleagues at North West University.

Volume 8, Issue 4

Lingering Thoughts from the Editor . . . As this newsletter is being written, nurses throughout the U.S. are celebrating National Nurses Week, which according to the ANA, is designed “to celebrate the role nurses play in delivering the highest level of quality care to their patients.” We are also cele-brating our most recent graduates, the newest members of this profession. Regardless of our roles or the settings in which we practice, we as nurses work with peo-ple at their most vulnerable and at times during their lowest points of life. This does not exclude education. As an RN and a nurse educator, I’ve been fortunate to work with and observe nurses (including our capstone preceptors) in a variety of specialties. I have seen nurses who are there at both ends of life’s spectrum. They celebrate the miracles of life as a newborn is brought into the world and they grieve with individuals as they say goodbyes at life’s end. Throughout the joys and struggles, we share in life’s pleasures and sorrows and we assume the roles of advocates for our patients. How grateful I am to be a part of this profession. It’s a career that brings challenges and demands exhaustive work. But it is one that’s also exciting, rewarding and so worthwhile. So I take this opportunity to congratulate our newest graduates for becoming a part of this profession and to say thank you to my colleagues, to the wonderful nurses with whom I have worked and to all of the other nurses who so generously and unselfishly give of themselves. Have a good summer and keep up the great work! Sandra O’Donnell, Editor

Page 12