SPRING 2007 - School of Nursing - University of Virginia

S P R I N G 2007

LETTER FROM THE ALUMNI PRESIDENT
Dear Fellow Alumni, Parents, and Friends,
As I write this letter the Alumni
Council has just met for our winter
meeting. We spent the day discussing
proposed changes to the Alumni Association
bylaws. By now our graduates should have
received a copy. I hope you will take advantage
of the opportunity to cast your vote; as always,
we welcome your thoughts and comments.
Those attending Reunions
weekend in June will have
an opportunity to vote in
person. I am excited that
these changes will further
strengthen our organization
and allow us to
accomplish even more
on behalf of all nursing
alumni. Your voice counts,
so let us hear from you!
This issue’s cover story, “Narratives
in Nursing,” gives voice to
the largely unsung heroes in the health care
system. These stories remind us of the human
element in the art and science of nursing care;
enjoy these personal and often creative narratives
from students, faculty, and alumni. I imagine
many of you might have similar stories to tell.
The topic brings to my mind a memorable Bice
lecture, delivered in 1990 by Mary Mallison who
spoke about “Celebrating Ourselves—Nurses as
Heroes.” Ms. Mallison asserted that, as nurses,
we must tell our stories. The creative work in this
issue aims to do just that.
The feature story will help you understand the
many paths to a nursing degree at U.Va. Times
have changed the face of the academic programs
but the school’s core values remain the same. You
might find it educational to read about the wide
variety of program options, including the new
DNP program and how it compares to the PhD
program. Dean Jeanette Lancaster, in her role as
president of the American Association of Colleges
of Nursing (AACN), has repeatedly been called
upon as an expert on the subject of the nursing
and faculty shortage that will worsen over time
unless measures are undertaken to fix the situation.
I feel a deep sense of pride knowing that
our alma mater, with expert guidance provided
by Dean Lancaster, is taking a proactive, leadership
role to educate more undergraduate nurses
and advanced practice nurses who will become
leaders in either the clinical or academic arenas.
Work continues on the new Claude Moore
Nursing Education Building. In late fall of 2006
the site work began and utility work commenced.
A webcam was installed on McLeod Hall and can
give you a 24/7 view of the building progress.
You can avoid the construction noise and traffic
delays by making a “virtual visit” on the school’s
new and improved website. The new building
and planned renovations of McLeod Hall will enable
the School of Nursing to expand and further
improve our programs. What an exciting time in
our history!
I encourage you to plan a visit to the School
of Nursing and support the work of your Alumni
Association. Whether or not you are able to visit
Charlottesville this year, give thought to hosting
or attending a ‘Hoos Coming to Dinner event
next October. Check the website for information
about this fun, social networking opportunity
and sign up to host a party. You will enjoy a
chance to renew old bonds or forge new ones
with fellow alumni.
Warmest regards,
Cindi Colyer Allen
BSN Class of 1975
(804) 360-4836
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

The Virginia Legacy is published two
times a year by the University of
Virginia School of Nursing and Nursing
Alumni Association. Your comments,
feedback, and story ideas are always
welcome! Please contact the editor.
University of Virginia School of Nursing
Alumni and Development Office
P.O. Box 800782
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0782
(434) 924-0138
(434) 982-3699 FAX
E-mail: nursing-alumni@virginia.edu
Editor
Karen Jordan Ratzlaff
Editorial Advisers
Reba Moyer Childress, Shannon
Marshall Ikenberry, Lisa Kelley, John
Kirchgessner, Melissa A. Sutherland,
Dory Hulse
Class Notes & News Editor
Barbara Blum
Design
Richard Montoya: design
Contributing Writers
Cathy Eberly, Karen Ratzlaff, Dory Hulse
Photography
Tom Cogill, Kathy Kayser,
Dan Addison, Eric Kelley
The Virginia Legacy is published using
private funds.
________________________________
University of Virginia School of Nursing
Established in 1901
Main Switchboard: (434) 924-2743
Admissions & Student Services
Toll-free: (888) 283-8703
Visit us on the web at:
http://www.nursing.virginia.edu
Jeanette Lancaster, RN, PhD, FAAN
Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of
Nursing and Dean
contents
13
Becoming a U.Va. Nurse
An Overview of Academic Programs
16
Narratives in Nursing
Stories From the Frontlines
20
Going Global
Resources for International Learning
and Service
Departments
4 Worth Noting
9 From the Boardroom
12 Alumni in Action
24 Events in Review
26 Class Notes and News
Back Cover Calendar
Letter From a Reader ...
“I was so pleased to see your article
about school nursing. Those of us
living in Virginia Beach are fortunate
to have an RN in every school... I often
feel like I am in a small town and I am
the ultimate “health resource.” The job
is challenging, autnomous, fulfilling,
and very lively. If your school system
does not have a registered nurse in
every school, I would ask, why not?”
Ellen Shaid Deppe, RN (BSN 1975)
J.B. Dey Elementary School
Virginia Beach, VA

WORTH NOTING
Million Dollar Grant to Enhance Simulated Learning
In January, Linda Peffley-Firer joined the School
of Nursing as the assistant director of the Clinical
Simulation Learning Center.
The expansion of the
Clinical Simulation
Learning Center is part
of the overall growth of
the nursing school.
The Mary Morton
Parsons Foundation
has awarded a $1 million
challenge grant to the School of Nursing
toward the expansion and renovation of
the Clinical Simulation Learning Center
(CSLC). The school was required to
raise $1 million to match the grant and
has almost done so (as this magazine
goes to print).
The expansion of the center is part of
the overall growth of the nursing school.
Construction of the brand-new Claude
Moore Nursing Education Building is
expected to be completed in summer
2008, and will be followed by extensive
renovations of the existing McLeod
Hall, which is where the CSLC will be
located.
According to Assistant Professor Reba
Moyer Childress, director of the CSLC,
the plan is to increase space for the
facility to occupy the entire third floor
of McLeod Hall, a 34 percent increase
in square footage. The newly configured
center will consist of procedural and
intensive care simulation labs, a second
physical assessment laboratory, a new
operating room, virtual reality suite, and
simulation testing and research unit.
Childress, a national leader in simulation
education, is one of eight nursing
education researchers in a nationwide
simulation study sponsored by the National
League for Nursing and Laerdal
Corporation. Last year the School of
Nursing hosted the first-ever statewide
simulation user’s group conference drawing
nearly 100 participants.
Dean Jeanette Lancaster sees simulation
as “…an absolutely ideal way to
teach students clinical decision making,
problem solving, priority setting
and skill development before they ever
take care of a patient. Simulation gives
learners confidence when they master
complex skills and nursing interventions
in the security of the laboratory. Taking
care of those first patients can be done
with greater competence and assurance
that the student truly knows what he or
she is doing.”
The grant is among the larger awards
made by the Mary Morton Parsons
Foundation, based in Richmond, Virginia.
The foundation primarily supports
capital projects in the areas of arts and
culture, civic and community needs,
education, historical preservation, and
social services and welfare.
Simulated learning is
a vital part of nursing
education today.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

WORTH NOTING
Another First for U.Va. Nursing
With the vote of
approval from the State
Council of Higher Education
(SCHEV) in January 2007, U.Va.
became the first school in Virginia to
offer a new doctoral program, the Doctor
of Nursing Practice (DNP). The DNP
is designed to address the need for more
highly educated nurses practicing in
the nation’s increasingly complex health
care system. Nurses who want to pursue
doctoral education will choose between
a PhD (which is research focused) and
a DNP (the highest level of specialty
practice); both degrees prepare nurses for
positions as nursing faculty.
According to Dean Jeanette Lancaster,
the first students are expected
in fall 2007 and evidence illustrates a
high demand. “In the past year, since it
became known that U.Va. was planning
to offer the DNP program, more than
1,000 inquiries have been received from
potential students.”
The new DNP degree, which is
growing nationwide, is a response to the
combination of increasing complexity
in the health care system, expansion of
scientific knowledge, and growing concerns
about patient safety and patient
outcomes. It will educate nurses for the
highest level of nursing practice with
the knowledge and skills to address the
problems facing the health care system
and to effect change in health care delivery
and health policy.
Dr. Doris Glick, director of the DNP
and the master’s programs, expressed her
support, “The need for well-educated
nursing leaders in healthcare practice
and education has never been more
acute.” One compelling force behind
the creation of this program is the worsening
nursing faculty shortage that is
contributing to a shortage of practicing
nurses.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
As a practice doctorate, the DNP is
similar to several other degrees in health
disciplines such as psychology (PsyD),
pharmacy (PharmD), physical therapy
(DPT), social work (DSW), and medicine
(MD).
Several national health care organizations
have called for a nursing practice
doctorate to improve the country’s
healthcare system. In a 2005 report, the
National Academy of Sciences urged the
development of a clinical doctoral degree
in nursing similar to the MD and PharmD
in medicine and pharmacy. In 1999
the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued
a comprehensive report on medical errors
estimated to cause between 44,000
and 98,000 American deaths each year.
Knowledgeable nurses often serve as a
“firewall” between patients and medical
errors. The American Association of Colleges
of Nursing (AACN), the national
“voice” of America’s nursing education,
adopted a position statement in 2004
recommending that nurses practicing at
the highest level should receive doctoral
level preparation.
U.Va.’s new DNP program, based
upon the AACN’s curriculum guidelines,
is limited to students with a master’s
degree in a nursing specialty area from
an accredited college or university. It can
be completed in two years of full-time or
three years of part-time study. Advanced
practice nurses are typically prepared in
master’s degree programs, some of which
carry a credit load equivalent to doctoral
degrees in the other health professions.
The DNP curriculum will build on
the master’s programs by also educating
in evidence-based practice, quality
improvement, and systems thinking,
among other key areas.
For more details about the program,
visit the school’s new website at www.
nursing.virginia.edu/programs.
Preserving the History of NSWB
In April, student leaders representing Nursing
Students Without Borders (NSWB) met with the
staff of the Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry
(CNHI) to officially transfer NSWB’s historical
documents to the center. NSWB is a national
organization that was founded by U.Va. nursing
students in 1999 to “empower under-served
communities through health education, the
creation of networks to access health care
resources, and the distribution of material
donations—while expanding the perspective of
the nursing student.”
Since its founding, NSWB members from
U.Va. have made a difference in El Salvador,
South Africa, Russia, and in migrant camps
outside Charlottesville. Over the years, chapters
were formed at two other nursing schools—
Virginia Commonwealth University and Perdue
University.
Kelly Wood (BSN 2007), former vice president
of development, commented, “With the
help of the history center, the development
and background of NSWB will be accessible
to anyone wishing to learn more about the
organization. By organizing and cataloguing
the documents, the CNHI will enable us to help
other schools establish chapters and promote
the invaluable experience that NSWB provides
to nursing students.”
To learn more about NSWB or the Center for
Nursing Historical Inquiry, visit the school’s new
website at www.nursing.virginia.edu.
A photo from 2000, preparing for one of the first
trips the NSWB chapter made to El Salvador.

WORTH NOTING
A Legacy Beyond Measure
Barbie Dunn and Barbara Brodie in 1998
when they celebrated the tenth anniversary
of the Brodie Scholars.
Past and Current
Committee Members
Barbee Bancroft
Barbara Brodie
Patricia (Pat) Cloonan
Linda Richter Davies
Pauline (Polly) Dessertine
Barbara (Barbie) Dunn
Denise Geolot
Annette Gibbs
Linda Compton Hodges
Arlene Keeling
Kathleen (Kathy) Kennedy
John Kirchgessner
Susan Landin
Yu-Shen Lin
Sarah (Sally) Nicholson
JoAnne Peach
Rita Pickler
Sylvia Rinker
Patricia (Pat) Woodard
Paula Zeanah
Rarely do teachers have
an opportunity to appreciate just
how much of an impact their
work has on students. Barbara Brodie is
one lucky exception—during her thirtyplus
year tenure at the School of Nursing
she inspired many former students,
particularly one group of alumni who
have worked together for almost twenty
years to support causes in her name and
causes that she believes in. Many have
gone on to support other projects that
they believe will help nursing students
and faculty, and have served on the
Advisory Board, the Alumni Council,
medical center committees, or contributed
in other ways.
Led by Barbara Dunn (MSN
1974), in 1988 a group of fifteen
U.Va. alumnae established the Barbara
Brodie Scholars Endowment to support
doctoral students’ research in the
humanities and tuition and living costs
for nurse practitioner students at U.Va.
The endowment was one of the first
established at the University to honor
a female faculty member. This diverse
group of graduates—who quickly
bonded as good friends—met annually
to plan fundraising strategies that
included personal contributions, direct
mail, annual conferences, and silent
auctions. Along the way, they had plenty
of fun. When they disbanded the Brodie
Scholars Committee in 2001 the group
had raised more than $200,000 for the
endowment, which is now valued at
$478,000. To date, 16 doctoral students
and 15 nurse practitioner students have
benefited from their generosity. Many of
the recipients later joined the committee
and became long-term supporters of the
endowment themselves.
With their fundraising for the
Brodie Scholars endowment complete,
the group turned their attention to the
Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry
(CNHI), which Brodie founded. They
began to call themselves the FOBs
(Friends of Barb); officially, the Friends
of the CNHI. When their mentor and
friend retired in 2002, many of these
graduates joined with family, colleagues,
and friends to establish the Barbara
Brodie Fellowship in Nursing History.
These friends still meet annually in
Charlottesville for business, followed by
food, wine, and fun. Their latest effort
is to endow the Agnes Dillon Randolph
Lecture for the history center. Brodie
reflects, “I’m particularly impressed with
the spirit of this group, their joy in coming
back every year to the University and
being involved in a project, and the fun
they have together.”
Perhaps the seeds of this long-standing
commitment can best explained by
this heartfelt quote from a letter written
by a former student when the Brodie
The endowment was one of the first established
at the University to honor a female faculty member.
Scholars endowment was established.
Ellen Rudy Clore, who passed away in
1995, wrote to Dr. Brodie, “You have
always been there—sharing our joys and
accomplishments and helping us deal
with our frustrations and learn from
our failures… If I can share even a little
of what you have taught me with my
own students and colleagues, then I will
indeed feel blessed and successful.”
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

WORTH NOTING
Achieving Competency Today
In 2003 the Achieving Competency Today (ACT) Initiative was
developed by Partnerships for Quality Education to teach nursing students and
resident physicians new competencies for improving the healthcare they deliver.
The ACT program, delivered via the internet, allowed hospitals across the U.S. to
develop a cadre of nurses and residents committed to quality improvement.
Last November, a small group at U.Va. obtained Robert Wood Johnson funding
to take over and enhance the ACT project by creating a new web-based structure
for the teaching of competencies based on the Essentials of Doctoral Education for
Advanced Nursing Practice, developed by the American Association of Colleges
of Nursing (AACN) and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
(ACGME). The U.Va. group includes John Voss, MD, who will provide the medical
content, Bonnie Jerome-D’Emilia, assistant professor of nursing, who will provide
the nursing content, and John Jackson and Vladimir Goodkovsky from the School
of Medicine, who will provide the technological support.
The end result will be a website where educators can find learning tools and
activities to teach the skills required to meet the competencies. For example, if an
instructor wants her students to learn about population-based healthcare she can
log-in and find a module with active learning exercises for the students to do in their
own clinical settings.
Jerome-D’Emilia explained that, “by developing this for nurses and residents
we are encouraging interdisciplinary learning and working, and also finding areas
of medicine and nursing in which there are common threads and common activities—stressing
our similarities in foundational knowledge, although we may apply
this knowledge differently in our professional activities.”
Rural Health Care Research Center Annual Conference
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
“Improving Services, Access, and Treatment for Rural
Minority Families: Challenges and Opportunities”
Presenters: Dr. Bernice Marcopulos, associate professor of psychiatry and
neurobehavioral sciences and the director of the Neuropsychology Lab at
Western State Hospital, and Dr. Jennifer Manly, associate professor of neuropsychology
at Columbia University Medical Center. Opening remarks by
Dr. William Harvey, U.Va. vice president of diversity.
For more information, contact Cassandra E. Christmas, (434) 243-0021 or
cec5m@virginia.edu. Web: www.nursing.virginia.edu/research/rhcrc/.
Support for the conference is provided by the School of Nursing Class
of 1968 Lectureship Fund.
Grant News
Two major NIH grants were received in the
last quarter of 2006.
Pat Hollen, Malvina Yuille Boyd Professor
of Nursing, was awarded $444,879 for
a “Decision Aid for Cancer Surviving
Adolescents.” The objective of her study is
to further test a tool for adolescent cancersurvivors
to help them make difficult
decisions about engaging in risky behaviors.
Kim Innes was awarded $303,000 for
“Yoga and Cardiovascular Risk in Older
Women.” The primary aim of this exploratory
study is to determine if the change in a
specific measure of insulin sensitivity over
time is greater in the experimental versus
the control group.
Launch of a New Website
In March the School of Nursing launched a
redesigned and improved website.
With many thousands of visitors to the
School of Nursing website annually, the site
represents a considerable opportunity to
reflect the excellence of the school’s programs
and people. The goal of the redesign was to
make it easier for virtual visitors to navigate,
find specific information, and learn about
the School of Nursing.
Visit the new site soon and let us know
what you think!
www.nursing.virginia.edu
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

WORTH NOTING
Faculty Achievements
Jeanette Lancaster, Sadie Heath
Cabaniss Professor of Nursing and dean,
has been invited to serve on a statewide
Healthcare Workforce Task Force.
The aim of the task force, working
with the State Council of Higher Education
(SCHEV), is to increase the number
of nurses and nursing faculty within Virginia
through a new program that utilizes
state resources to fund
a nursing faculty loan
forgiveness program. For
the next two fiscal years,
the Commonwealth has
designated $750,000
annually to provide
loans to full-time graduate
nursing students
who are accepted to or
enrolled in a doctoral
nursing program in the
Dean Jeanette
Lancaster
Commonwealth of
Virginia. This program
will also assist Virginia
nursing schools to recruit
and retain new nursing faculty and
enable them to increase enrollments. All
nursing schools in the Commonwealth
will benefit from this program, as upon
graduation, recipients of these loans must
assume faculty positions at any nursing
school in the state that prepares registered
nurses.
Details of the faculty loan forgiveness
program are on the School of Nursing’s
new website at www.nursing.virginia.
edu/admissions and click on Tuition and
Financial Aid.
Assistant Professor Vickie Southall
received the 2006 Community Builder
Award in September for her efforts to
better Louisa County. Southall was
recognized for her numerous volunteer
activities and nursing career.
The Southern
Nursing Research
Society
presented its
2007 Distinguished
Nurse
Researcher
Award to
Richard H.
Steeves, the
Richard Steeves
Madeline
Higginbotham
Sly Professor of Nursing. The award
recognizes not only Steeves’ outstanding
scholarly contributions to nursing knowledge
and a sustained publishing record,
but also his support and mentoring of
other researchers and scholars.
Steeves has specialized in the study of
cancer, bereavement, suffering, and, most
recently, intimate partner homicide.
For the third year in a row, the Governor
declared the first week of December
2006 to be HIV/AIDS Awareness Week
throughout the Commonwealth. This
statewide push for AIDS awareness and
education began at the School of Nursing.
In 2003, Reba Moyer Childress
and her students launched a campuswide
campaign that led to a request for
President Casteen to declare November
HIV/AIDS Awareness Month at U.Va.;
three years ago he lobbied the Governor
to expand the campaign to a statewide
level.
Assistant Professor
Audrey Snyder was
named a Fellow of the
American Academy
of Nurse Practitioners
(FAANP) in
2006. The program
was established by
the academy in 2000
to recognize nurse
practitioner leaders Audrey Snyder
who have made outstanding
contributions to health care
through nurse practitioner clinical practice,
research, education or policy and to
provide a forum through which to extend
and enhance such efforts. A limited number
of fellows are selected each year.
Suzi Burns, professor of nursing, learned
that her book, AACN Protocols for
Practice: Care of Mechanically Ventilated
Patients, was selected as a 2006 American
Journal of Nursing Book of the Year. The
American Journal of Nursing also selected
Foundations of Nursing in the Community:
Community-Oriented Practice edited by
Jeanette Lancaster and Marcia Stanhope
for a 2006 Book of the Year Award.
Burns was one of many nurses featured in the Health System’s marketing campaign to celebrate earning
Magnet recognition.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

FROM THE BOARDROOM
The School of Nursing
Invites You To
Dine with ’Hoos – October 11, 2007
Join the fun and help us reach out to nursing alumni near you by hosting or
attending a ’Hoos Coming to Dinner party on October 11, 2007.
’Hoos Coming to Dinner
personalizes the shared U.Va.
nursing experience. Alumni
organize small dinner parties with
fellow graduates in their area,
coming together in a friendly
environment for good food,
conversation, and Wahoo
camaraderie.
The 2007
Catherine Strader
McGehee Lecture
Prescription for Success:
Nursing’s Preparation
for Leadership
Host registrations are due by
May 15 th . You can use the postcard included in the winter issue of the
Virginia Legacy, sign up online at www.nursing.virginia.edu/alumni/Hoos-
Dinner, or call (434) 924-0138. Read more about how the event works and
enjoy photos from the 2006 pilot program on that same website. If you can’t
host a party but you get a call inviting you to attend one, take a chance and
accept! It will be a fun evening.
If you’ve been looking for a way to connect with the school and meet
nursing alumni in your area, this is the event for you!
A p p ly f o r t h e A l u m n i S c h o l a r s h i p
The Nursing Alumni Association is pleased to fund a $3,000 scholarship to support
continued nursing education at any institution. All U.Va. nursing alumni who are enrolled
in a degree-granting program are eligible to apply. Annual deadline: June 1.
Funding for this scholarship is made possible by the generosity of alumni and
friends who make gifts to the Nursing Annual Fund.
You can download an application from the web at www.nursing.virginia.edu/
alumni and click on “Resources for Alumni.” Or call (434) 924-0138 to request an
application.
Presented by:
Rebecca W. Rimel, BSN 1973
President and Chief Executive
Officer, The Pew Charitable
Trusts
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Noon - McLeod Hall Auditorium
The event is free and open to the public.
Parking is available (for a fee) in the
hospital visitor’s garage. Call Emily at
(434) 924-0126 for more information.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

FROM THE BOARDROOM
Cast Your Vote! Alumni Officer Election
and Bylaws Adoption
The Nursing Alumni Association presents the following slate of candidates
for election to the Alumni Council. Alumni are asked to mail this ballot in
the envelope provided or vote in person during the annual business meeting
of the association on June 2, 2007.
By now you should have received by mail a copy of the proposed,
revised association bylaws. If you didn’t, call the Alumni & Development
Office at (434) 924-0138 or email nursing-alumni@virginia.edu to request a
copy. Please return your votes on both these important topics by June 1 and
let your voice be heard.
And remember, if you’d like to be considered for an Alumni Council
role now or in the future, contact Karen Ratzlaff at the phone number or
email address above.
m Marisa Kozlowski Paul—Vice President
BSN 1999
After graduation, Paul worked as a clinical research nurse on a pediatric
oncology floor while completing the Oncology Nurse Fellowship at the
National Institutes of Health. For six years she has utilized her nursing
background in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry specializing in pulmonology,
cardiology, and endocrinology. She currently works for EMD
Serono as a Key Account Manager in reproductive health.
m David V. Strider, Jr. – Awards Coordinator
BSN 1989, MSN 1991, ACNP 1998
A biology major at the College of William & Mary, Strider served on
the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad and worked as a laboratory
technician in the Blood Bank while earning a master’s degree in biology.
He completed his associate’s degree in nursing at Piedmont Virginia
Community College in 1983 and joined UVa’s Thoracic Cardiovascular
Acute Care Unit, followed by time in the Surgical ICU and in the
Thoracic Cardiovascular ICU where he worked as a clinical leadership
nurse and then as manager for ten years. In 2006 he transferred to the
Vascular Nurse Practitioner role.
m Lisa M. Kelley – Communications Coordinator
(Reelection to a second term)
BSN 1999
After working in bone marrow transplant and medical oncology at Yale-
New Haven Hospital and in GYN/Oncology at Massachusetts General
Hospital, Kelley received her MSN in 2002 from Boston College. Since
that time, she has worked for a private oncology practice (HOPE) as a
nurse practitioner in Charlottesville, Fishersville, and Culpeper, VA.
N e e d h e l p p ay i n g
f o r m e d i c a l
e x p e n s e s ?
U.Va. School of Nursing alumni are
encouraged to apply for assistance
from the Tabitha S. Grier Medical
Assistance Fund. There are no age
restrictions, but the funds must be
used for personal medical expenses
not covered by insurance, Medicare,
or Medicaid. For more information
on eligibility and the confidential
application process, visit the alumni
website, call (434) 924-0138, e-mail
nursing-alumni@virginia.edu, or write
to the Nursing Alumni Association,
University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800782,
Charlottesville, Virginia 22908-0782.
The annual deadline for applications is
August 1.
10
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

FROM THE BOARDROOM
Reunions 2007
Making New Memories with Old Friends
May 14–16
The Thomas Jefferson Society
Honoring the Classes of 1957 and all
current Thomas Jefferson Society members.
If you are interested in attending
only the nursing lunch, register for
Wednesday ($30) and you can also
attend seminars that day and a reception
at Carr’s Hill that evening.
June 1–3
Undergraduate Reunions
Honoring the Classes of 1962, 1967,
1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997 and
2002.
Special events are planned for nursing
alumni.
If you didn’t receive a registration packet
by mail, visit the website or contact Susan
Murphy at (434) 924-1589 or spmurphy@
virginia.edu.
www.virginiareunions.com
Your Resource for U.Va. Reunions 2007
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
11

ALUMNI IN ACTION
Sharing the Care of Patients and Kids
Lois Ann Alderfer MSN 1990, FNP 1991
Steve Alderfer MSN 1990, FNP 1997
Lois and Steve Alderfer
are accustomed to sharing. As
students at Eastern Mennonite
University (EMU) in Harrisonburg,
Virginia, where they met and married,
they discovered a shared Christian faith
and a passion for helping others that
they believed they could best fulfill by
becoming nurses.
After earning their baccalaureate
degrees, they chose U.Va. for graduate
study. Although their interests differed—
Steve’s was critical care and Lois’s medical-surgical
nursing—they found ways to
share the experience. “We took our core
courses together,” Lois recalls.
The couple settled in rural Nelson
County after graduation. Steve pursued
hospital work, first in Richmond, and
then at U.Va., while Lois returned to
the School of Nursing for her family
nurse practitioner (FNP) certificate. She
performed her practicum at Blue Ridge
Medical Center, a federally qualified
community health center located near
Lovingston in Nelson County. “I loved
it,” she says. “The doctors were great
teachers, the work was challenging, and
it was a wonderful family environment.
I didn’t want to leave.”
Fortunately, there was a position
available to her at graduation. As Lois
began full-time work, Steve returned
to U.Va. for his FNP certificate, after
staying home for a year with the couple’s
first child and teaching nursing at EMU.
He graduated and joined a private medical
practice in Waynesboro.
But the Alderfers no longer found
their situation satisfactory. Now parents
to three young children, they were working
full-time at locations far from their
kids’ schools and activities.
They approached the Blue Ridge
Medical Center to propose a job-sharing
arrangement. “Lois would reduce her
hours by 25 percent, and I would work
half-time,” Steve recalls. “We would balance
our hours so that one of us would
always be available to our family.”
The proposal was a boon to the
center managers, who quickly calculated
that they would receive the equivalent of
one-and-one-quarter FNPs through the
arrangement. The only health care provider
for miles in Nelson County, Blue
Ridge provides routine and emergency
family care and offers physical therapy,
mental health, acupuncture, X-ray,
medication assistance, and pharmacy
services. Its practitioners—five doctors
in addition to Steve and Lois—treat
approximately 8,000 patients annually,
including those who pay according to a
sliding scale or are insured by Medicare
or Medicaid. Because it accepts all medical
insurance, the center attracts a large
clientele from Charlottesville, Lynchburg,
and points beyond.
Job-sharing has worked well for the
Alderfers. Currently in their fifth year
under this arrangement, they are able
to pursue areas of medical interest: Lois
primarily provides OB/GYN, pediatric,
and acute care, and Steve sees patients
afflicted with chronic ailments in addition
to providing acute care. They serve
as preceptors for School of Nursing
nurse practitioner students assigned to
Blue Ridge Medical Center. They also
have been much more available to their
children—accompanying them on field
trips, coaching soccer, and studying
Taekwondo.
Not surprisingly, they have found
news ways to share this chapter in their
lives. “We regularly consult each other
for advice,” Steve says. “Few days go by
when we don’t say to each other, ‘You
know, I have this patient who…’”
12
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

Becoming a U.Va.
Nurse
The nursing profession
has certainly
changed with time,
and throughout the years
the U.Va. School of Nursing
has responded by innovating
and adapting its academic
programs to ensure that
graduates were and are
prepared for a complex
health care environment.
External forces like the
current nursing shortage
have required the school’s
faculty to use their creativity,
foresight, and time to design
and implement new programs.
Continued
The Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
13

Continued from previous page
Today there are many paths a prospective new nurse can
take to become part of the fabric of the U.Va. nursing tradition,
and even more paths a practicing nurse can take to
enhance her or his skills.
The following outlines the many academic degree or
certificate programs currently offered at the U.Va. School of
Nursing. For more information on any program offered at
U.Va. visit the school’s new and improved website at www.
nursing.virginia.edu or by phone at (434) 924-0141 or tollfree
at (888) 283-8703.
Undergraduate
There are three points of entry into the bachelor’s of science
in nursing (BSN) program. All of these options are highly
competitive; for example, in the 2007 admissions cycle
more than 325 applications were submitted for 56 available
spaces to students fresh from high school. The number and
quality of applications for all undergraduate programs has
been on the rise for several years.
Because there are several entry points into the undergraduate
program the class is essentially “built” over time.
Each May, approximately 110 to 120 new nurses walk the
Lawn.
• High school seniors can apply for the “traditional” BSN
program, entering as a first-year student and graduating
four years later. Fifty-six students are admitted in this
program.
• Students who are already enrolled at U.Va. (in a different
school) or at another college or university can apply
to transfer into the School of Nursing the second year or
now the third year. Twenty-five to 30 second-year transfers
are admitted and, in a brand-new program designed
to increase the number of new nurses who graduate,
sixteen third-year transfer students will be added to the
Class of 2010.
• Students who are already practicing registered nurses
(RNs) can return to school to earn a BSN degree, either
full-time or part-time. The length of the program varies
from one to three years. Portions of this program are offered
online to make it an accessible option for working
nurses. Twenty to 25 RN to BSN students are admitted
each year.
14
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

Graduate
The U.Va. School of Nursing has often led the effort to educate
nurses for changing or new roles in the profession. The
first bachelor’s of nursing education (BSN Ed) program in
the South was offered at U.Va. from 1928 to 1952. U.Va. was
among the first programs nationally to pilot nurse practitioner
programs. The first doctor of philosophy in nursing (PhD)
program in Virginia started here in 1982. U.Va. was one of
a few pilot programs to launch the Clinical Nurse Leader
(CNL) program for students with a college degree in another
field. Now we are the first school in Virginia to offer the doctorate
in nursing practice (DNP) degree, approved in January
2007 by the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia
(SCHEV).
In addition to these new efforts, existing programs have
also been adapted over time to make them more accessible
and convenient. From master’s degrees to post-master’s,
doctoral work, and even post-doc work in one of our research
centers, U.Va. continually strives to offer meaningful, academically
rigorous programs to each and every student.
P O S T- M A S T E R C E R T I F I C AT E P R O G R A M S
• Post-Master's Acute & Specialty Care CNS Program
• Post-Master's Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program
• Post-Master's Community & Public Health Leadership
Program
• Post-Master's Family Nurse Practitioner Program
• Post-Master's Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Program
• Post-Master's Health Systems Management Program
• Post-Master's Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program
• Post-Master's Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Nurse
Specialist Program
• Post-Master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse
Practitioner Program
• Post-Master's Wound, Ostomy, Continence (WOC)
Nursing Program
M S N P R O G R A M S C U R R E N T LY O F F E R E D
• The Clinical Nurse Leader master’s degree program for
non-nurses with a college degree is now in its second
year. The first class of nineteen students will graduate
in August 2007 after an intensive twenty-four month
program.
• Acute and Specialty Care Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
• Community and Public Health Leadership Program
• Community and Public Health Leadership Program
with combined Family, Geriatric, or Pediatric Nurse
Practitioner
• Family Nurse Practitioner Program
• Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Program
• Health Systems Management Track
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program
• Psychiatric-Mental Health Advanced Practice Program
• MSN/MBA Joint Degree Program, which requires
admission to both the MSN program in the School of
Nursing and the MBA program at the Darden Graduate
School of Business
At the doctoral level, there are now two degrees for advanced
practice nurses. As the American Association of Colleges of
Nursing (AACN) described it, “research- and practice-focused
doctoral programs in nursing share rigorous and demanding
expectations: a scholarly approach to the discipline and a commitment
to the advancement of the profession.” The emphasis
within each program is distinctly different, however.
• Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) is appropriate for
nurses most interested in pursuing a career as an academician
or researcher. Admission is granted to the Graduate
College of Arts & Sciences but all work is conducted in the
School of Nursing.
• The Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) is a new initiative
in nursing education and U.Va. is among the first schools to
offer this option. This program is most appropriate for advanced
practice clinicians
who want to obtain the
highest terminal degree
while maintaining a
focus on clinical practice.
Nationally, all existing
Doctor of Nursing (ND)
degree programs have
transitioned to the DNP.
Applications are now being
considered for U.Va.
admission in Fall 2007.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
15

Nursing is a profession
rooted in the sciences
of physiology, pharmacology,
and biology. It is also a
human art form—using empathy,
creativity, and relationships to
ensure the best of care. No one
argues that a delicate balance
exists between the science and the
art of care in nursing, nor about
the indivisibility of the two. Using
the written word to improve both
sets of skills can help caregivers
and their patients.
Narratives
in
Nursing
The importance of critical and reflective thought in health care
cannot be overstated, and these concepts manifest themselves in many
ways within the School of Nursing and the hospital walls.
“Exemplars” are written by students and professionals as part of
their portfolio, evidence of clinical proficiency. They are written about
specific patient encounters in which the nurses’ assessment, teaching or
intervention made a difference for a patient or family.
Veteran teacher Judy Sands, associate professor of nursing, explains
that, “The best exemplars will select themselves because they are the
clinical situations you think of again and again and because they
express important knowledge or your notion of the good in nursing
practice.”
After hearing that the essays about grief she wrote and shared on
National Public Radio (NPR) were helpful to others, Edie Devers decided
to use her work, and essays written by a former student, to help
students process their first experiences with difficult encounters like
the terminal or debilitating illnesses of their patients. She received an
Innovative Teaching Award this year to compile a portfolio of narratives
that can be used to stimulate dialogue when students gather after
a shift on the floor. Employing storytelling as a technique is expected
to help students develop more advanced communication techniques,
empathy, respect, and coping mechanisms.
In a class last semester, Assistant Professor Dorothy Tullman and
her guest lecturer Dr. Daniel Becker asked acute care nurse practitioner
and clinical nurse specialist students to write about a particularly moving
situation with a patient or family member—tragic or comic. They
wanted to show students that their stories serve to remind us of the
human connections we all share.
Even creative writing has a place in a
curriculum largely focused on science
and professionalism.
16
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

Clinical instructor Jeanne Erickson established a creative
writing contest for undergraduate nursing students five years ago
because of the creative and compelling entries she was reading in
clinical journals. Erickson was sorry to see those stories lost at the
end of a semester, and wanted to give students with an interest
in creative writing a platform to express themselves. The Nursing
Alumni Association has funded awards each year, and often the
winners have recorded their entries for broadcast on the local NPR
station.
Every voice can find itself; every story can be told. What follows
is an attempt to bring those voices and stories to a wider audience.
Enjoy these narratives in nursing, from the nurses themselves.
Listen -- by Becka Wieben, RN, ACNP 2007
My undergraduate education was centered on the Benedictine
tradition. We were taught early to listen to our
patients because this was the first of the Benedictine
rules: listen. As a relatively new critical care nurse,
it was hard for me to remember that my patients were
more than the machines that were attached to them. Mr.
R was an exception. He had recently received a new heart
and was headed down a long road of recovery.
Upon walking into his room for his initial assessment
of my shift, I could sense something was off. His
face was expressionless and his usual chattiness was
blunted. He was my only patient that night, so I pulled
a chair up next to his bed and asked him what was going
on. And I listened.
Trust. This was at the core of his frustrations.
He was happy and grateful for his new heart, but was
scared. Would he be able to trust it? How did he know
it would work? What if it stopped? He no longer had
the heavy, mechanical sound of his Ventricular Assist
Device (VAD) pounding away in his chest. A constant reminder
that, no matter what his native heart would do,
this VAD would keep on beating and keep him alive. It
was his lifeline, and now it was gone.
As I held his hand and listened to his frustrations,
I remembered my stethoscope hanging around my neck. A
simple tool that allows us to hear the inner workings
of the body. Could it perhaps allow him some peace? I
handed it to him and taught him where he could best
hear his new heart. And he listened.
A smile came to his face and tears came to his eyes
and mine. I left my stethoscope with him that night so
he could hear his new lifeline. So he could listen to
his new heart.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
Snapshot
by Neli Ramirez, RN, BSN 2006
Ariel is 99 years old. She sleeps
most of the time…just like an
infant. Today I helped her walk
from the chair to her bed. By
the time she reached the bed
her breathing was as heavy as
if she had climbed a mountain.
There was some little sound
also: like the hum from a sad
song. She was shaking. This
made me think of the things I
could do which I take for granted
everyday.
Ariel was safely in bed now.
I asked if she wanted a blanket
and she said she would. I stroked
her back and wished her a restful
nap. In no time, she was
asleep.
17

Clinical Exemplar – by Hannah Flemming, BSN 2007
He had a broken femur, bite marks, a black eye with retina damage, and bruises
all over his body. All summer I had been working with difficult cases but when
this two-year-old came in, my heart broke. He had not fallen or been in a car
accident. This was my first SCAN baby; suspected case of abuse or neglect.
He was an admission during the middle of a busy shift. He was scared of every
new face, which made his assessment and treatment very difficult. His caregivers,
his grandmother and grandfather, were very tired and emotionally drained when
they finally were allowed in their room.
My preceptor let me take charge of this assignment. I did all the admission
paperwork, realizing the family just wanted some rest. Unfortunately, he was
scheduled for surgery in an hour. I proceeded to treat him for pain control and
began teaching his family.
He did not want anyone to touch or move him and would cry with pain if
either happened. I was very worried that he was not
going to handle the surgery or new faces well.
After reassuring his family and standing in the room while the surgeon went over
consent forms, I realized the family appreciated my presence. Even as a student,
they put their trust in my judgment and had faith everything would work out.
Before the surgery, I escorted the patient down while answering and addressing
the last minute concerns of the family. As I showed them the waiting room,
I decided to stay in the hall with the baby until they came to move him into the
operating room. I constantly talked to him and right before they took him away,
he smiled at me and laughed. That was the first time he had any positive response
besides crying with anyone. I knew this was a major breakthrough for his treatment
and recovery.
The surgery went well and his family was very surprised with his cast because
they had a different picture in their mind. They continued to be receptive to
teaching but were more responsive if I was in the room. Their biggest concern was
pain control for him, which ended up being well managed.
I never knew that a therapeutic presence
could have such an impact on a patient’s outcome
until the grandmother was crying on my shoulder saying she never
knew a fifteen-year-old could do so much damage to a two-year-old. She trusted
my presence after seeing the two-year-old trust me and I feel this was due to the
fact that I took the time to simply be there.
Laughter as Medicine
– by Carol Lynn Maxwell-Thompson,
FNP, CCRN, Assistant Professor
Humor has to be a part of nursing and
nursing school. We have to laugh.
While teaching in a nursing school
I will not mention, two nursing students
who were my students in medical-surgical
clinical had gone on
to another clinical on a unit with
stroke patients, and with an instructor
who was known to be intimidating.
They were getting a gentleman out of
bed who had had a stroke. When he
started to stand, his feet started to
slip. They did the correct thing and
lowered him to the ground. Just about
that time they heard their nursing
instructor coming down the hall
outside their door. One student said
to the other, “What do we do?” The
other student confidently said, “Push
him under the bed!” With the gentleman
out of view the students pulled
up the sheets as their instructor
walked in. “Where is your patient?”
she asked. “X-Ray,” the student nurse
replied, compounding their transgression
with a lie.
Around midnight that night I received
a call from two very remorseful
nursing students. After reporting
this to the director of the program,
we approached the gentleman and his
family and expressed our apologies
for a nursing intervention that was
not quite according to the books!
The family and the gentleman asked
that the students not be disciplined.
They said he had been very depressed
and the episode had made him laugh.
He was grateful for their kindnesses
despite their momentary lack of
judgment.
The moral of the story is
-– while we do not recommend
doing any of the above -- not
all interventions are out of
the book. Good things can come
out of not-so-perfect nursing
care.
18
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

Clinician’s Guide to
Breast Examination
– by an anonymous student
Entry in the 2007 Creative Writing Contest
Forget about warming your hands and
creating a safe environment.
This procedure is never warm or safe.
Consider what you hope to accomplish.
Do you believe early detection saves lives?
If not, have you learned to lie with statistics?
If your answer to both of these is no, skip
to the next screening test.
Ask yourself the same questions.
Keep even pressure on the fingerpads.
Don’t linger in any one spot.
Fingers are quicker to betray
than malignancies.
If you follow an imaginary grid,
move smoothly to the next square.
If you circle, continue circling.
After completing your excursion,
return to the location you have marked
with a mental X.
Expect the tension in the room
to be palpable.
Control your features.
If the patient is watching you,
she will catch the slightest facial tic.
If her eyes are shut, she’ll hear it.
Don’t attempt casual conversation.
An unintended pause midsyllable
will shred the frayed remnant
of confidence. Breathe evenly.
If you hold your breath,
she will hold hers.
All mention of tattoos, size, asymmetries or
innocuous lesions is taboo.
To break this taboo
is to desecrate the home altar.
Expect to encounter something
out of the ordinary.
There is no ordinary.
You are exploring shifting terrain
without a map.
There is no map.
Don’t ask if she has noticed a change
in her breasts. This is private knowledge.
Do not expect her to collude
in her own undoing.
Know that utterances of the word lump,
mass, referral, biopsy, probably-nothing--
even watch--
will drive her from the Eden
of the carefree well forever.
Breezy delivery will not mitigate the sentence.
The release of tension occasioned
by your pronouncement of the phrase
no evidence of malignancy at this time
will be dispelled immediately
upon scheduling the next exam.
Be sure to do this
before she leaves your office.
Time Travel
By Edie Devers, PhD, RN, APRN, BC, Assistant Professor
Every fall at our university, the new class of nursing students enters the
undergraduate nursing program. The students are young and eager, and
in four years, they will walk down the lawn and accept their diplomas,
becoming part of the university’s rich academic history. Looking at them
now though, I can’t help but wonder how
their personal histories will affect their
upcoming interactions with patients.
When I had been in nursing school for about a year, my personal
history collided with my assigned patient’s care. I was in my medical-surgical
clinical rotation, not the favorite of those of us who are predisposed
to community and mental health nursing. I had been assigned to be the
medication nurse for the morning. That meant that I would prepare the
medications for the patients of my fellow students. This was a breeze.
I knew these meds inside and out. I knew what I was doing, and I was
sure of myself until it came to Mrs. Haines. She had been hospitalized
for some complications related to her cancer. She was getting something
for pain. It was to be an injection. I confidently pulled the liquid into the
syringe, and with my instructor following at an appropriate distance, we
headed for her room.
My instructor waited outside the door as I entered the darkened room.
Mrs. Haines’s voice wafted through the dim light saying, “Oh good,
you’ve brought my pain shot.” I knew from my training that reduced
stimuli can be comforting, so I reached to turn on just enough light to see
what I was doing. I noticed that her hair was gray and had a little shine
to it, just like my mother’s. Then she sat up, and her gown fell off her
shoulder a little bit, and I had a sudden flashback. My mother had cancer,
and my mother had been in the hospital with a flimsy gown that allowed
you to see her pale shoulder, making her look way too vulnerable. There
is something about a hospital gown that just does that. They really should
look more like football jerseys or have coats of arms emblazoned across
the fronts, something to make our patients look more empowered. Instead,
I gazed upon this scene of human frailty. This was no longer about
Mrs. Haines and her pain, but about my mother’s, and really more about
my own. I had quickly gone from competent, confident nursing student
to a young person confronted by her mother’s illness.
In psychiatry we understand this phenomenon exquisitely, and go to
great lengths to make sure we are not reacting personally to situations
with our patients. But at that time, in spite of my confidence, I needed
the seasoned and sensitive intervention of my instructor. She could see
that I had frozen, and she interrupted in such a way that I came
to my senses, only to fall apart after I
had taken care of my patient. It was a hardlearned
lesson in understanding the concept of transferring my issues to
this stranger in need.
These days I deal predominately with the torments of the mind and
spirit. I have learned to deal with everything from patients targeting me
for their barrage of insults and profanity, to being woven into their complicated
delusions. But it’s not these types of interactions that really get
me. It’s the quiet hand gesture, the sparkle in an eye, or the tone of voice
that can suddenly stop me in my tracks. And even though I know how to
deal with it, it doesn’t mitigate the poignancy. Like a time machine, these
intimate incidents have the power to transform a suffering stranger into
someone who was cherished in another time, in another life.
19

Clinical Exemplar
Mark Preston Adams, RN, BSN 2005, Clinician IV, U.Va. Hospital
Many critical care nurses admit that part of what attracts them to the ICU practice setting is the
intense personal reward that they get by positively affecting the progress of a critically ill patient’s
condition. Conversely, many will tell you that they are not ‘cut out’ for jobs in rehabilitation or in
a nursing home. Nonetheless, we sometimes encounter patients who require extended stays in the
CCU due to complex and debilitating conditions. “Terry” was one of those patients who provided a
unique challenge to our unit in terms of coordination and extended delivery of care.
Terry was a 19 year old man with a history of idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that was
first diagnosed when he was 15 years old. He had had a dual chamber pacemaker with defibrillator
placed prophylactically in 2001, as patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are prone to
dysrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Due to worsening heart failure, Terry had a left ventricular
assist device (LVAD) placed in April 2003. Never robust, Terry was close to the weight restriction
for having an LVAD placed. Runs of ventricular tachycardia, chronic pain issues, and poor exercise
tolerance complicated his post-operative course in TCV-PO and CCU. Thirty-eight days after he
received the LVAD, Terry went back to the operating room to receive a heart. His post-operative
course was complicated by renal failure requiring dialysis and ventilator dependency.
20
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

Terry returned to the CCU on June 3 with weight loss due to malnutrition,
severe deconditioning and profound weakness; he could only
move two fingers on his right hand and only move his neck slightly. He
had developed a large pressure ulcer over his coccyx and was at risk for
further breakdown over his bony prominences. To further complicate
his condition, Terry was quite depressed and withdrawn; he barely had
the energy to slightly nod or shake his head. Terry eventually required
a tracheostomy for prolonged mechanical ventilation and a PICC line
for vasopressors and antibiotics.
I noted from the outset that Terry would need the very best care
possible to overcome the numerous challenges he faced in recovery.
However, he continued to deteriorate as his initial care was fragmented
with delays and cancellations of procedures and therapies. …
Realizing he needed a strong advocate and someone to coordinate
the myriad interventions he required, I convened a meeting of members
of the multidisciplinary team on June 24. Representatives from
occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, the wound
care specialist and our unit pharmacy specialist—who came on very
short notice when I called them—met around a work table in CCU to
formulate a comprehensive plan of care. I outlined my concerns for
Terry and detailed the “air traffic control” complexities of his therapies.
I transcribed all of the ideas for Terry’s plan and then created an hourly
chronology of his day to weave in all the elements of care. We negotiated
the timing of his care and compromised on normal ways of doing
things; the physical therapist actually agreed to provide two sessions a
day to try to restore Terry’s shriveled muscles.
… From our planning meeting, I called nurses who had taken special
interest in Terry and asked them if they would commit to the formation
of a “primary team” for Terry; the nurses were overwhelmingly
enthusiastic. Armed with a detailed plan and a core group of providers,
several clinicians stated their feelings that Terry still had only a small
chance of surviving his multiple medical challenges.
I realized that Terry had to be a part of and agree to the intensive
plan of care, so I typed up the plan and sat by his bed, describing the
things we thought were needed to help him heal. He looked skeptical
as I described the timing of his Ritalin for maximum interaction with
physical therapy, the move to dose delivery of his tube feeding to improve
his nutritional status (he had refused a PEG earlier), twice-a-day
physical therapy, and an “enforced siesta” in the afternoon. Nonetheless,
he agreed to the plan and even managed a wan smile when I told
him that he had a whole team rooting for him.
After obtaining ‘sign off ’ from Terry and all the team members, it
occurred to me that I should present this plan to his attending physician!
As I had a very good rapport with Dr. Bergin, I was not overly
concerned that he or the Transplant Team would object to this comprehensive
planning effort. Nonetheless, I emailed the plan to all of them
and received back in short order their resounding approval for Terry’s
care plan. I had, for all intents and purposes, established myself as the
care coordinator for Terry’s stay in the CCU.
…Terry had many challenges in his stay in the CCU, too many to
detail in this exemplar. I have taken care of long-term patients before;
however, the level of advocacy and coordination of care with so many
practitioners was unique in my tenure. While I have always actively
participated in morning multidisciplinary rounds, my input carried
greater ‘weight’ as I was in frequent contact with team members and
took care to brief new interns and residents on Terry’s history as they
rotated into the CCU. At one point in morning rounds, the attending
looked at me and said “What plan do you have for us today?” I detailed
my assessment of Terry’s needs and a plan for the day; at that point, the
attending looked at the team and stated, “Do what he said.” This level
of collegiality was gratifying; better yet, it demonstrated the vital impact
nurses had on Terry’s care. On more than one occasion, Dr. Bergin and
other physicians commented on how the concerted team of nurses and
therapists pulled Terry “back from the edge.”
…Throughout the time Terry was in the CCU, I coordinated his care
as a skilled clinician and served as a resource to other staff. I applied
research and best practices learned from my work with the Long-term
Ventilated Patient work group, and consulted with experts in other
disciplines to augment my knowledge. When I was not providing him
direct care, I provided instruction and counsel to other nurses and
staff. I acted as a coach, advocate, and teacher, working to improve both
Terry’s health and the skillfulness of those caring for him.
Terry, who was so close to dying, progressed to acute care and
walked out—albeit shakily—of the hospital a few months later. He continues
to visit with CCU staff on his periodic clinic visits and trips for
heart biopsy. I must admit that each time I see him, I get a rush of pride
of our joint accomplishments and gratitude for the dedicated clinicians
who rallied around this young man to give him a chance at life and to
return to college to pursue his chosen career…of becoming a mortician.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
21

PHILANTHROPY
Going Global
Resources for International Learning and Service
As a student in the School of Nursing,
Kristin Garrett (BSN 2006) had a passion for helping
the world’s people afflicted with diseases of poverty. After
Gayle and Ted Garrett watched their daughter and her classmates
struggle to finance overseas travel and study by collecting
old textbooks and selling them on eBay, they decided to help.
“In addition to handling challenging
academic programs, these students were
forced to raise the money to support
their international experiences,” recalls
Gayle Garrett, a retired nurse who lives
with her husband, a retired surgeon,
in St. Louis. “Ted and I knew it would
be extremely difficult for them to meet
their goals.”
On a trip to Charlottesville, the Garretts
met Dean Jeanette Lancaster, who
acknowledged the challenges that motivated
students like Kristin face when
seeking opportunities to study and work
overseas. She told the couple that every
U.Va. nursing student is required to gain
practical community health experience,
either here or abroad. Through its international
initiatives, the school is committed
to supporting not only students
who seek to acquire this experience
overseas, but also nursing faculty from
other countries seeking teaching, study,
or research opportunities at U.Va.
The School of Nursing initiative is
part of an emphasis on global awareness
set forth in Virginia 2020, U.Va.’s plan
to ensure its excellence in four broad
areas, including international activities.
“Jeanette has a global view of the
issue, which we found inspiring,” Gayle
Ted, Kristin, and
Gayle Garrett.
22
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

PHILANTHROPY
Jessica Southard at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.
to Doris Greiner, an associate professor
of nursing and director of the School of
Nursing’s international initiative. During
one recent week, she responded to
funding requests from students planning
to study, work, and travel in Chile,
Africa, and Paraguay. “The type of
support the Garretts gave us is vital,” she
says, “and we try to make it go as far as
possible. When I told a student that we
could give her $500, her eyes widened.
‘That’s half the cost of my plane ticket,’
she said. ‘That would be wonderful!’”
Additional financial support for international
scholarships is provided annually
by the Nursing Alumni Association,
using proceeds from the Nursing
Annual Fund.
She told the couple
that every U.Va. nursing
student is required to gain
practical community health
experience, either here
or abroad.
Garrett says. “I think we stumbled upon
her pet project.”
The Garretts pledged $100,000 to
establish the School of Nursing Endowment
for International Initiatives. Last
year the first two awards were made
from the endowment.
Margaret Schiller (BSN 2007) spent
last fall at the University of Ballarat in
Victoria, Australia, through a nursing
school exchange program. “Spending a
semester there enabled me to immerse
myself in Australian culture and to learn
about its history and health care system,”
Schiller says. “It was an amazing experience
that would have been beyond my
reach without this support.”
Last summer Jessica Southard (BSN
2007) participated with three other
U.Va. students in “Asia as the Global Future,”
a program sponsored by Universitas
21, a network of 20 leading research
universities in eleven countries that explored
China’s growing influence around
the globe. Southard spent four weeks
in Hong Kong and Beijing. “While the
academic aspect of the program was
new and challenging, I did learn a lot,
especially from the other students, who
represented fifteen countries,” she says.
Even modest assistance makes a big
difference to these students, according
Jessica Southard with her
Universitas 21 mentor, a student
at the University of Hong Kong.
Margaret Schiller at Uluru/Ayers Rock in Central Australia.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
23

EVENTS IN REVIEW
1
2
3
School of Nursing benefactors joined Dean Lancaster for a holiday tea at
Keswick Hall. Shown here (top) Frankie Fulton Bruce, Bob Hurley, Alice
Auciello; (bottom) Gregory Mize, Beth and Matt Quatrara. (December 2, 2006)
Each year the Nursing Alumni Association sponsors events throughout the school
year for the “Alumni in Residence,” otherwise known as students. At
one of those events this year, RN to BSN students enjoyed lunch at Pavilion II where
they met recent and “almost” graduates of their program to learn from their
experiences. Shown here: Carol Jamerson, BSN 2007 (right) with Sara Powell-
Aldridge (center) and Jennifer Holofchak (left). (January 30, 2007)
Students and faculty spent a day at the Virginia General Assembly
for Nurses Day, organized by the Virginia Nurses’ Association. This annual
event informs participants about the legislative process, and ideas on how to influence
legislation and particular bills of interest to nurses. It’s also an opportunity
to network with colleagues. Shown here: Lindsey Jones (BSN 2007), president of
the Virginia Nursing Student Association, Brandi Collins (student at Patrick Henry
Community College who is first vice president), Glenda Imam (BSN 2007), and
Gigi Dann (BSN 2007), at the Bell Tower in Richmond. (February 7, 2007)
1
4
5
The third annual Make A Wish Charity Dinner, hosted by the
U.Va. School of Nursing and chaired by Jenna Centini (BSN 2007) and Candice
MacCutcheon (BSN 2007), was held at the Boar’s Head Inn with 185 guests in
attendance. This year was the most successful year yet, raising $30,000 from
the silent auction, ticket sales, and donations. Pictued here (L to R): Candice
MacCutcheon, Jenna Centini, and The Make-a-Wish Family; Anne, Lucy, Gary, and
Jack, wish recipient (front). (February 10, 2007)
Looking for a way to reach out to the community, second-year nursing students
organized an intergenerational prom at the Morningside Assisted
Living Facility in Charlottesville. Members of the Class of 2009 led by co-presidents
Kristen Floersheimer and Serena Knick hosted 30 students and 60 residents of the
nursing home for an evening of dancing, food, and music. Pictured here, dancing
with Morningside residents, are Ashley Owens and Serena Knick. (February 10,
2007)
1
6
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine held a press conference
at the School of Nursing to announce state support for nursing education,
including raises for faculty, scholarships for graduate students, and a loan forgiveness
program for doctoral students. His visit began with a visit to the Clinical
Simulation Learning Center. (February 28, 2007)
2
24
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

3
4
5
5
5
6
6
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
25

CLASS NOTES AND NEWS
1950s
’58 BSN, ’86 MSN Anne
Hughes Bishop of Lynchburg,
VA, is one of 24 nationally and
internationally recognized nurse
scholars invited to participate in a
conference entitled “Nursing and
Health Care Ethics: A Legacy and
A Vision,” to take place in Omaha,
Nebraska in April 2007.
1970s
’73 BSN Martha Raile Alligood
of Chocowinity, NC, has been
elected to the governing board of
the Southern Nursing Research
Society. Martha is a professor and
director of the doctoral program
in the East Carolina University
School of Nursing.
1980s
’81 MSN Carol Herd Blankenship
of Johnson City, TN, was honored
with a Life Achievement Award for
having demonstrated excellence
and outstanding contributions
to nursing and to the Tennessee
Nurses Association. The award
was presented at the 2006 Annual
Convention of the Tennessee
Nurses Association in October.
’84 PNP Elizabeth O’Dell
Gephart of Decatur, IL, has joined
the faculty of Millikin University
School of Nursing as an instructor
and continues to work part-time
as a pediatric nurse practitioner
specializing in children with developmental
disabilities. She and her
husband have a four-year old son.
’88 BSN Lisa Hoel Rafael of San
Francisco, CA, has recently started
her own graphic design business.
’89 BSN, ’92 MSN David
Valentine Strider, Jr. of Charlottesville,
VA, was recognized on
October 24 for the UVa Health
System Community Service Award
for “Extraordinary Dedication and
Excellence in Volunteerism and
Health-Related Outreach.”
26
’89 BSN Cecelia Shepherd
Glennon of San Francisco, CA,
is working as a research nurse at
UCSF Neonatal Center for Clinical
Research.
1990s
’95 BSN, ’00 MSN Samantha
McDonald Franz of Fredericksburg,
VA, and her husband
welcomed their second daughter,
Sarah Bentley, on December 1,
2006. Samantha currently works
as a family nurse practitioner and
her husband practices otolaryngology
in Fredericksburg.
’95 BSN Victoria Tiase of New
York, NY, earned a master’s degree
specializing in nursing informatics
from Columbia University. She
has been promoted to the position
of manager of information services
in the office of the CIO at New
York Presbyterian Hospital.
’97 BSN Richard Martin
Carpenter of Charlottesville,
VA, was chosen as Distinguished
Nurse Manager for 2006. Rick is
the manager of the MICU at the
University of Virginia Hospital in
Charlottesville, VA.
’99 BSN, ’03 FNP Elizabeth
Clemmer Cobb of Crozet, VA,
and her husband welcomed their
first child, Stuart Thomas, on
August 3, 2006. Elizabeth currently
works as a nurse practitioner
with Carilion Family Medicine in
Staunton, VA.
CONTACT US
WRITE A LETTER / SEND A NOTE / SHARE YOUR NEWS
On the Web: www.nursing.virginia.edu/alumni/
By e-mail: nursing-alumni@virginia.edu
By fax: (434) 982-3699
By mail: In the enclosed envelope or send to School of Nursing Alumni & Development Office
P.O. Box 800782 • Charlottesville, VA 22908-0782
You can also update your address online at www.hoosonline.com
’99 BSN Melissa Barbour Motley
of Gretna, VA, and her husband
welcomed a daughter, Kaitlyn
Reid, on March 25, 2005. Melissa
currently works part-time as a
staff nurse on an acute care unit
at Virginia Baptist Hospital in
Lynchburg, VA.
‘99 BSN Marisa Kay Kozlowski
of Ashburn, VA, married Trevor
Paul on November 25, 2006 in
Reston, Virginia. Marisa is a Key
Account Manager for EMD Serono
in their reproductive health
division. Fellow alums serving
as bridesmaids included Denise
Kozlowski (MSN ‘95) and Lisa
Kelley (BSN ‘99). Other classmates
from the BSN class of ‘99
in attendance included Jodi Kilen
Duffy, Katie Peterson Furrow,
Kristi Kimpel, Melissa Barbour
Motley, and Jennifer Hamilton
Schaub.
2000s
’04 PhD Barbara A. Moran of
Dunn Loring, VA, was featured
in an article in The Washington
Times called “New Leader Cites
Need for Nurses,” printed January
8, 2007. Barbara was elected
president of the board of directors
of the Association of Women’s
Health, Obstetric and Neonatal
Nurses. She is also an assistant
professor of obstetrics at the
Catholic University of America
and works one day a week as a
certified nurse midwife at Anderson
Andersen & Maanavi Ltd., in
Annandale, VA.
IN MEMORIAM
’31 Diploma Dorothy (Dot) Havens
Hargrave of Virginia died on
October 30, 2006.
’36 Diploma Mildred Caldwell
McGilberry of Salem, VA, died on
December 14, 2006.
’51 Diploma Jean Lynn Brown of
Goshen, VA, died December 25,
2006.
’53 Diploma Rhoda Lee Felty
Lockett Davis of Blackburg, VA,
died December 7, 2006.
’57 ND Sallie A. Hughes of Charlotte,
NC, died August 21, 2006.
’59 BSN Anne Hudson Bays of
Richmond, VA, died on
December 28, 2006.
’91 BSN Patricia Francis of Orange,
VA, died on January 2, 2007.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007

Faculty Publications
Annan, Sandra L. (2006). Sexual
violence in rural areas: A review of the
literature. Family & Community Health,
29(3), 164-8.
Burns, Suzanne M. (2006). Ask the
experts: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Critical Care Nurse, 26, 65-66, 74.
Burns, Suzanne M. (2007).
Mechanical ventilation and weaning.
In R. and S. Hardin (Eds.), Critical care
nursing: Synergy for optimal outcomes.
Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Campbell, Cathy L. and Ash, C.R.
(2007). Keeping faith. Journal of
Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 9(1),
31-41.
Chulay M. and Burns, Suzanne M.
(2007). AACN essentials of progressive
care nursing. Textbook and pocket
handbook. New York: McGraw Hill.
Gordon, E.J., and Hamric, Ann B.
(2006). The courage to stand up: The
cultural politics of nurses’ access to
ethics consultation. Journal of Clinical
Ethics, 17(3), 231-254. [R]
Gray, Mikel and Campbell, F. (2006).
Urinary tract disorders. In B. Ferrell & N.
Coyle (Eds.), Textbook of palliative
nursing, (Second edition). Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Gray, Mikel and Sims T. (2006).
Prostate cancer: prevention and management
of localized disease. Nurse
Practitioner, 31(9),14-29.
Gray, Mikel (2006). Does the construction
material affect outcomes
in long-term catheterization? Journal
of Wound, Ostomy and Continence
Nursing, 33(2),116-20.
Hamric, Ann B. and Blackhall, L.J.
(2007). Nurse-physician perspectives
of the care of dying patients in intensive
care units: Collaboration, moral
distress, and ethical climate. Critical
Care Medicine, 35(2), 422-429.
Haugh, Kathryn H. and Reid,
Kathryn B. (2007). Management of
persons with heart failure, valvular
problems, or inflammatory heart
problems. In F.D. Monohan, Judith K.
Sands, M. Neighbors, J.F. Marek & C.G.
Green (Eds.), Phipps’ medical-surgical
nursing: Health and illness perspectives,
(Eighth edition). St. Louis: CV Mosby.
Keeling, Arlene
W. (2007). Nursing
and the privilege of
prescription: 1893-
2000. Ohio State
University Press.
Maxwell-Thompson, Carol L.
and Reid, Kathryn B. (2007).
Management of persons with hypertension
and disorders of the blood
vessels. In F.D. Monohan, Judith K.
Sands, M. Neighbors, J.F. Marek & C.G.
Green (Eds.), Phipps’ medical-surgical
nursing: Health and illness perspectives,
(Eighth edition). St. Louis: CV Mosby.
McClain, N., Laughon, Kathryn,
Steeves, Richard and Parker,
Barbara. (2007). Balancing the needs
of the scientist and the subject in
trauma research. Western Journal of
Nursing Research, 29(1), 121-128.
Lyder, Courtney and Newcomer, C.
(2006). Risk assessment and pressure
ulcer development. L’escarre, 32, 19-21.
Quintavalle P., Lyder, Courtney,
Mertz, P., Phillips-Jones, C. and Dyson,
M. (2006). Use of high resolution
diagnostic ultrasound to investigate
the pathogenesis of pressure ulcer
development. Advances in Skin and
Wound Care, 19, 498-505.
Reid, Kathryn B. (2006). Case study:
Bleeding disorders. In Valentina
Brashers, Clinical applications of pathophysiology:
Assessment, diagnostic
reasoning, and management, (Third
edition). St. Louis: CV Mosby.
Reid, Kathryn B. (2006). Case study:
Dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. In
Valentina Brashers, Clinical applications
of pathophysiology: Assessment, diagnostic
reasoning, and management,
(Third edition). St. Louis: CV Mosby.
Rose, Karen M. and Keeling,
Arlene W. (2006). Richmond
instructive visiting nurse’s association:
A glimpse into the care of
older adults:1900 to 1929. Journal of
Gerontological Nursing, Vol. 32, Number
12.
Vincent, H. K., Innes, Kim E. and
Vincent, K. R. (2007). Oxidative stress
and potential interventions to
reduce oxidative stress in overweight
and obesity. Diabetes, Obesity and
Metabolism, 1-27.
Williams, Ishan C. and Corbie-Smith,
G. (2006). Investigator beliefs and
reported success in recruiting minority
participants. Contemporary Clinical
Trials, 27, 580-586.
Yeager S., Shaw D., Casavant J. and
Burns, Suzanne M. (2006). An acute
care nurse practitioner model of care
for the neurosurgical patient. Critical
Care Nurse, 26, 57-64.
Zulkowski K. and Ratliff, Catherine
R. (2006). Perineal dermatitis or pressure
ulcer: How can you tell? Nursing,
36(12), 22-23.
Faculty names appear in boldface.
Virginia Legacy SPRING 2007
27

’Hoos Your Favorite Nurse?
Send them your thanks with a special message and honorary gift
to the Nursing Annual Fund for National Nurses Week 2007.
Donor Name ________________________________________
Honoree Name (memorial gifts welcome too)
___________________________________________________
Honoree Address
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your message (limit 20 words):
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Send your message and gift to the Nursing Annual Fund in the
enclosed envelope. Gifts received by April 27 ensure that we can
pass your thanks along during National Nurses Week, May 6-12.
Questions? Contact Susan Murphy in the School of Nursing at
(434) 924-1589 or email spmurphy@virginia.edu
Calendar of EVENTS
April
5 Admission Information Session
17 History Forum: “Entering the Full Circle: Field Nursing Among
the “Five Civilized Tribes,” 1917-1943”
21-29 Virginia Historic Garden Week
25 Catherine Strader McGehee Memorial Lecture (see page 9)
May
1 Classes End
2 Rural Health Care Research Center Conference (see page 7)
3-11 Exams
14-16 Thomas Jefferson Society Reunion: Classes of 1957 and earlier
19 Pinning and Hooding Ceremonies
20 Final Exercises
June
1-3 University Reunions for the Classes of 1962, ’67, 72, ’77, ’82,
’87, ’92, ’97, ‘02
3 ‘Hoos Coming to Dinner Committee Meeting
August
28 Classes Begin
September
15 Advisory Board & Alumni Council Meetings
15 Benefactors Event
18 History Forum: “Licks the Joints but Bites the Heart” of Children:
Rheumatic Fever”
October
6-9 Fall Reading Days
11 ‘Hoos Coming to Dinner
13 U.Va. Homecoming
16 History Forum: “History Matters: Reclaiming and Reframing
China’s Missionary Nursing Past”
26-28 U.Va. Family Weekend
November
1-4 Virginia Film Festival
3 ‘Hoos Coming to Dinner Committee Meeting
7 Zula Mae Baber Bice Memorial Lecture
7 Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry 15th Anniversary
Celebration
10 Nursing Leadership Forum
December
7 Classes End
10-18 Exams
For details on the Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry events, call (434) 924-0083.
For details on the Admission Information sessions, call (888) 283-8703.
For details on the Rural Health Care conference, call (434) 243-0021.
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