School of Nursing

March 26, 2018

Welcome to spring quarter!

Azita Emami

Welcome back! I hope you all had a restful spring break. As we begin our final quarter of the academic year, I would like to express my profound gratitude for your tireless work, team spirit and countless contributions to our nursing community.

Thank you for your dedication to our shared cause of preparing the next generation of nurse leaders, conducting innovative research and making an impact in communities in Seattle and throughout the world.

Our vision is to be a global leader among nursing schools, and through knowledge generation and discovery, make a difference in the world’s health and access to healthcare through:

  • Innovative research that advances nursing science
  • Effective teaching that disseminates and propagates that knowledge
  • Community service that shares, empowers, and implements science-based solutions derived from the knowledge we discover

Integrated goals across the academic spectrum will help us realize this vision. I am pleased to announce that we made wonderful progress in the winter quarter, and I have highlighted a few of these accomplishments below. This spring, we will continue building on this work.

Five-year operational road map

Last year, we developed an operational road map and prepared a report to the UW Provost defining the school’s goals over the next three years. During that process, we identified the following overarching goal: Prioritize discovery and knowledge generation in our four research pillars (health equity; innovative interventions; lifespan health; symptom science) to drive the mission and vision of our school.

Re-envisioning initiative: We have begun implementing an initiative to re-envision our organizational structure to make it more effective, efficient and capable of delivering on the goals and priorities established in the five-year road map. We have hired a facilitator to guide us in this process and have enjoyed active engagement by faculty and staff councils.

Strategic enrollment management plan (SEMP): The SEMP provides a holistic and formal process to evaluate nursing’s existing and new academic program offerings. The plan is led by Dr. Anne Hirsch, our new Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, in coordination with the five-year operational road map work.

  • Undergraduate curriculum: The undergraduate re-envisioning committee, led by Dr. Tatiana Sadak, undergraduate program director, are working on revising the BSN and ABSN curriculum. The updated undergraduate curriculum will be more focused on population health. The faculty have adopted the National Academy of Medicine’s framework for diversity, equity and inclusion, which will inform the creation of the undergraduate program. In partnership with local health care systems, the new undergraduate curriculum will also have a stronger focus on ambulatory care in both the didactic and clinical learning settings to more fully address the needs of our community. More information about the updated curriculum will be shared this spring.
  • Population Health Nursing: As part of this work, the Community Health Nursing track within the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program has been renamed to Population Health Nursing. The change goes into effect for the 2018-2019 academic year. This name change reflects recent curriculum enhancements that deepen our school’s longstanding commitment to preparing nurse leaders to care for whole communities and populations. The new track has three areas of focus: health systems transformation, community engagement for health equity, and global and cross-cultural health.
  • Nurse-Midwifery accreditation renewal: We worked with the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME) to renew the accreditation of our Doctor of Nursing Practice-Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse-Midwifery Certificate Program. This is a 10-year re-accreditation and separate from that of the DNP program accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The three-day ACME Accreditation Site Evaluation concluded with a meeting where the evaluators read an incredibly positive report. This report goes to the ACME Board, and they will make a decision regarding accreditation in June.

Continuing Nursing Education: CNE has begun working with Scott Sadler, a consultant with Ostara Group, to explore new opportunities for delivering the expert educational content for which they are known. Under Scott’s leadership, the team has kicked-off a project that will help them identify and implement innovative ways to deliver content  to nurses and healthcare professionals in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment. The goal is to ensure that CNE remains the best resource for nurses striving to provide the high-quality, safe, evidence-based care.

Research

Science is at the front and center of our institution and the foundation of everything we do. Our Office for Nursing Research (ONR) is an essential operational resource.

Operational excellence: ONR continues to prioritize operational excellence. The team recently completed a thorough review of requests received during a needs assessment last year. The team is now in the process of identifying which services will provide the most value to faculty and staff and will conduct a feasibility analysis in the coming months. ONR has also begun hiring additional staff to maintain current levels of services.

Research priority pillars: Faculty conduct groundbreaking research in four key areas: health equity, symptom science, innovative interventions and lifespan health. ONR hosted Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute investigators to promote collaboration. These included:

  • Cancer control: from screening to survivorship; Jessica Chubak, PhD, MBHL
  • Team Approaches to cost of care conversations; Nora Henrikson, PhD, MPH
  • Sit, stand, move: the activity spectrum in older adults; Dori Rosenberg, PhD, MPH

Research and Intramural Funding Program (RIFP): ONR released the Winter 2018 Call for Proposals. Through a partnership with the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the latest call includes a new category of funding consideration for applications that support projects that explicitly focus on health equity and inequalities. The fall funding cycle included the following awards:

  • Sarah Gimbel: Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach to Optimize the Hypertension Diagnosis and Care Cascade for HIV Infected Individuals.
  • Teresa Ward: Sleep Deficiency and Symptoms in Youth with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Notable applications: We recently submitted a P-20 center grant application to the National Institutes of Nursing Research for a proposed Center for Integrated Biological Mechanisms in Symptom Science. Writing grants is a resource-intensive process, and this one required an unusual degree of collaboration and cooperation between participating School of Nursing faculty and faculty from several School of Medicine departments. Thanks to the work of many individuals in our school, and leadership by PI Cindy Dougherty, our Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics Department and Office for Nursing Research teams, we were able to submit a very strong proposal. Other notable applications in process include:

  • Contract that will support DNPs for Global Health Research Fellowship (PI Sarah Gimbel)
  • T32 grant application (PIs Pamela Kohler, Butch de Castro)

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Fostering an open, inclusive, equitable and welcoming environment continues to be one of our school’s top priorities. The Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, under the leadership of the new Associate Dean Dr. Butch de Castro, facilitates efforts by faculty, staff, and students to accomplish goals as described in the Diversity Strategic Plan.

Martin Luther King Jr Service Award: The Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization was selected as the School of Nursing’s recipient for the 2018 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award for the University of Washington Health Sciences Schools. Each Health Sciences school, including Nursing, makes its own recipient selection from among its faculty, staff, students or broader connected community, who are engaged in community service and volunteerism. The award honors individuals or groups who exemplify Dr. King’s principles through a commitment to addressing community needs, particularly communities of color and low income, development and implementation of significant programs to improve the human condition, and outstanding efforts to protect and empower all individuals. Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization has a longstanding history of supporting nursing students through scholarships and leadership mentoring and leading programs that address health issues among underserved communities.

Implicit bias training: The office implemented and conducted implicit bias training for all application reviewers participating in the school’s student admissions process.

GO-MAP Graduate Opportunity Program: Submitted and awarded (on Jan. 31, 2018) a GO-MAP Graduate Opportunity Program (GOP) Award for the 2018-19 academic year.  These funds go to support a graduate student of color.

Black History Month: The DEI office organized a Black History Month event featuring guest speakers Joycelyn Thomas, DNP, ARNP, FNP, president of Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization and member of the school’s Advisory Board, discussing the significance of Mary Mahoney as first African American professional nurse; and Benjamin S. Danielson, MD of Seattle Children’s Odessa Brown Clinic, discussing health equity.

Global engagement

The scope and perspective of nursing has become global. Our Center for Global Health Nursing is an important part of the network of UW academics working in global health research and training across disciplines and across borders to improve health and address questions of health disparities locally and worldwide.

Study abroad in Japan: Two students, Ann Nguyen (BSN) and Brennan Jones (ABSN), traveled to Tokyo to participate in Keio University’s Short-term Nursing and Medical Care Studies program. The students spent a week alongside students from South Korea, China, the United Kingdom and Japan. The program focused on the Sustainable Development Goals and the role of nurses. Students attended lectures, visiting home nursing care in the community, and observed the nursing practices at Keio University Hospital.

International collaboration: Ms. Yunxia Wang, chair of an organizing committee that hopes to establish an International Standard School of Nursing to be offered by Sanya School, located in Sanya, Hainan Province, the People’s Republic of China. The committee is comprised of representatives from Chinese universities, medical hospitals,and businesses that are dedicated to establishing the school. We signed a memorandum of understanding that will foster development of collaborative activities, consulting services, and other forms of cooperation that promise to be mutually beneficial.

Visiting scholar: The center welcomed two new visiting scholars, Tsae-Jyy (Tiffany) Wang and Somjai Sirakamon. Dr. Wang previously studied at the University of Washington and is returning as a visiting scholar from the National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences. She will be conducting research on symptom management, disability prevention, and health promotion for patients with chronic conditions with Dr. Basia Belza. Dr. Somjai Sirakamon will be traveling from Chiang Mai University to research health promotion in higher education with Dr. Margaret Heitkemper.

Research: Yvette Rodriguez, a PhD student and Global2Local Scholar, traveled with Assistant Professor Sarah Gimbel to Peru to support the first round of data collection for the InterACTION lab project, which is piloting an interdisciplinary built environment-community health program with an informal settlement in the Peruvian Amazon. Together with local nurses and nursing faculty, they carried out door-to-door data collection in the community of Claverito, specifically gathering baseline health, wellness, and social cohesion measures. A second scholar, Jamie Langlow, will carry out follow up data collection in June. These Global2Local scholars will also be working with the “tiny homes” community of Licton Park in north Seattle, to share best practices and lessons learned from the Peruvian experience of bringing gardens and improved walkways to low income housing settlements.

Danuta Kakasprzyk and Daniel Montaño, along with Janet Baseman, received a Global Innovation Fund for their project, “Student Epidemic Action Leaders (SEAL) Team and Zimbabwe Field Epidemiology Training Program (Zim FETP): Student Exchange and Research Collaboration.” Read more about their work.

The Center for Global Health Nursing, along with other faculty across various disciplines at the University of Washington, received a Global Innovation Fund for their project, “Global Health Partnerships in Disaster Preparedness and Response.” This grant will focus on disaster preparedness and improving the role that those in health science disciplines can play in addressing the gap in knowledge. Read more about this project.

Fundraising

Much of the good we accomplish is made possible by private support: by people and organizations underwriting leading-edge research, funding scholarships for promising students, and supporting world-class faculty members.

Campaign progress report: In Nursing, our total campaign goal is $40 million. We have raised $30.4 million, or 76 percent, to date. This includes gifts that will provide support for students, faculty and programs, including the Simulation Center.

Student scholarships: We recently received a major gift from the family of Frances Brock Templeton, in her honor to support student scholarships and is one of the largest scholarship funds ever established at our school. Frances Brock Templeton was a dedicated UW Medical Center nurse for 30 years. Her husband, Frederick, was the first executive officer of the UW Department of Radiology. The gift was made on behalf of the family by her son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Hilda Brock.

Centennial planning: In 2018, our school will celebrate 100 years of nursing education at UW. Planning for celebrations of this milestone are underway with the leadership of a Centennial Task Force. The Task Force is chaired by Advisory Board members and Alumnae Charyl Kay Sedlik and Sandy Dyer. A centennial theme, Celebrating 100 Years of Nursing Influence, will be woven into the school’s annual events starting in May with the Nurses of Influence Banquet, formerly the Nurses Recognition Banquet. A Centennial Symposium will be Sept. 28. A Centennial Brunch is planned for Sept. 29. Work on a series of pop-up exhibits celebrating 100 Years of Nursing Influence has begun.

News, updates and accolades

This quarter, we celebrated a number of accomplishments by faculty, staff, students and alumni. Some of those include:

Congratulations on a wonderfully productive winter quarter! I look forward to working with each of you for a strong end to the academic year. If there is any way in which I can help you be successful, please contact me.