2000 SoN network, f-w - School of Nursing - University of Minnesota

From the Dean
AWell-Kept Secret
By Sandra Edwardson
They tell the story about the Minnesotan who
loved his wife so much that he almost told her.
We Minnesotans are a taciturn lot. But several
people have been telling me recently that this reticence
has to stop when it comes to the school!
Nothing made that more apparent than a recent visit
from the Hartford Foundation to review our capacities
in geriatric nursing.
Dean Sandra
Edwardson
Ten years ago there were only two or three faculty
members in the school who had a real commitment to gerontology.
But two developments changed all that. First was the
establishment of Long Term Care Professorship brought about
by the contributions of friends and alumni with every dollar
matched by the Permanent University Fund.
Professor Emerita Muriel Ryden was the first to hold that professorship.
She combined her passion for care of the elderly with
her research and leadership skills to form the nub of the gerontology
programs. Then came the opportunity to become an
Exploratory Center for Long Term Care with funding from the
National Center for Nursing Research. Under the leadership of
former Coral Meidl Siehl Chair Sue Donaldson, the center
attracted more and more faculty so that today its successor, the
Center for Nursing Research of Elders, boasts 22 members.
Along the way, the master’s curriculum for gerontological
nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists was launched
leading to more than 70 advanced practice nursing graduates.
At the doctoral level, 20 graduates and 10 current students have
completed or are pursuing aging-related dissertations.
In addition to their teaching and research responsibilities, several
faculty members are also engaged in clinical practice
one-half to one day per week. This practice helps them keep
their clinical skills finely honed, provides learning opportunities
for students and puts them in touch with the real-world problems
of geriatric patients and their care givers.
We have reported before about the types of research that our
faculty members and students have produced. They have investigated
falls; caregiver stress; nursing care delivery systems in
nursing homes; quality of life; quality of care; management of
symptoms such as urinary and fecal incontinence, depression,
pain and aggressiveness. All of these topics are of immense
importance to the elderly and those who care for them. Not only
is it appropriate that nurses study these issues, but some of them
would probably not be studied at all were it not for nurses.
By creating two centers for research excellence last year,* we
hope to capitalize on our strengths and provide a milieu in
which our faculty and students can continue to flourish. By providing
feedback to one another, the centers are helping research
teams sharpen their research proposals and manuscripts. By
teaming up with one another and community partners, they are
stretching their capacity and stimulating their creativity. By
sharing their knowledge and wisdom, they are serving as role
models to one another and to our students. By reaching out to
colleagues in practice, they are helping to improve health care
for the state and nation.
The word is out that the University of Minnesota School of
Nursing is where it’s at for gerontological nursing! It is no longer
a well-kept secret.
(* The second is the Center for Child and Family Health Promotion
Research. You’ll hear more about that in the future.)
Joanne Disch Named
New Director of Katharine J. Densford Center
Joanne Disch, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. has been named the first
person to fill the Katherine R and C. Walton Lillehei Chair
in Nursing Leadership by Dean Sandra Edwardson. She will
also serve as the first permanent Director of the Katharine J.
Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership.
Disch will hold the rank of non-tenured professor within the
School of Nursing.
Dean Sandra Edwardson said, “Joanne has a broad perspective
in nursing and an incredible number of contacts, nationally and
internationally.” Disch had been acting as Interim Consulting
Director of the Densford Center since March. During that time,
she consolidated the work begun by the founding director,
Mary Jo Kreitzer, and struck out in some new directions.
The search committee noted that Disch is highly respected in
the nursing profession locally, nationally and internationally and
combines sound conceptual skills with high energy and a practical
flair.
22 Network
Educated at the Universities of Wisconsin (B.S.),
Alabama (M.S.N.) and Michigan (Ph.D.), Disch’s
clinical background is in cardiovascular critical care
and she is a past president of the American Association
of Critical Care Nurses. Following clinical positions
as a staff nurse, head nurse, clinical director and
faculty member, Disch became the Senior Associate
Joanne Disch
Director/Director of Nursing at the University of
Minnesota Hospital and Clinic in 1991.
When University Hospital merged with Fairview Health Services,
she became Vice President for Patient-Family Services at Fairview-
University Medical Center, a position she held until 1999. Since then
she has served as regional coordinator for the Colleagues in Caring
Project and a consultant with Larson, Allen, Weishair and Company
in addition to her role with the Densford Center. Her dissertation
research focused on the economics of nursing services for medical
and surgical patients. She has continued to write and speak on issues
related to the organization and delivery of nursing services. •