Introducing Connie Delaney - School of Nursing - University of ...

spring 2006
features
2 Meet Dean Connie Delaney
Informatics, humanizing health care,
and her global view
12 Research
• Fat as...an academic disease?
• Fall prevention in older women
• Pioneering adolescent health
18 A Summit of Sages
What they saw, what they said
20 Hurricane Katrina:
When the world changed,
SoN made a difference
22 Native American Bridge Program
MS to PhD…by way of Oklahoma
and Minnesota
23 Back to the Future
Nurse educators and policymakers
from three former Soviet republics
reshape nursing in Central Asia
editor’s note
Dear readers:
departments
1 From the Dean
4 School News
New research center, SoN
opens first clinic, and more
24 Honor and Awards
26 Grants
28 Publications
30 Center News
36 Alumni News
Days of Exploration:
April, in the Twin Cities
38 In Memoriam
40 School of Nursing Alumni Society
42 School of Nursing Foundation
How we present ourselves reveals who we think we are, and as the
school evolves in directions congruent with those of the University and the Academic Health
Center, we are, accordingly, changing the way we look to ourselves and the outside world.
The core of our new identity is the ambitious idea that this school makes a real
difference in health care. We are about leadership with high purpose, propelled by bold
intellectual exploration, compassionate engagement and excellence.
As you read this issue, let the maroon and gold colors remind you that our school
is part of this great University of Minnesota, which aspires to be one of the world’s three
greatest public research universities.
Let the intertwined layers recall our research, education and service missions. Let
them remind you of the many dimensions of the holistic profession of nursing, and our
school’s inter-professional relationships and involvement with the communities and
people we serve. Notice that this complexity is ordered around a central core—the power
of nursing to integrate health care.
Our graphics angle energetically upward, evoking a dynamic cross—a symbol that
even as early as the ancient Egyptian ankh symbolized life and protection. A two-directional
arrow suggests creativity, adventures of the mind, and reciprocal relationships—teaching
and learning. Our graphics are strong and bold, but the respect and compassion that are
the soul of nursing are reflected in rounded shapes.
Ideals? Yes. But they reflect concrete decisions about how we plan to live up to those ideals
in our evolving environment. To learn about those decisions, read the message on page 1 from
our new dean, Connie Delaney, whom we proudly salute with this issue of Minnesota Nursing!
Dean, School of Nursing
Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI
Editor and Communications Director
Mary Pattock
Assistant Editor
Aneisha Tucker
Contributing Writers
Amy Barrett, Linda Bearinger, Connie White
Delaney, Sandra Edwardson, Ann Garwick,
Gayle Hallin, Mame Osteen, Mary Pattock,
Aneisha Tucker, Jean Wyman
Photographers
Stormi Greener, Barbara LaValleur,
Mary Pattock, Tim Rummelhoff
Graphic Design
Rima Bueno Design
Minnesota Nursing is published by the
University of Minnesota School of Nursing for
alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the school.
Send correspondence to Minnesota Nursing at:
Communications Director
University of Minnesota School of Nursing
5-160 Weaver-Densford Hall
308 Harvard Street S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Telephone us at:
(612) 624-0939
Visit us on our Web site at:
www.nursing.umn.edu
The School of Nursing seeks to admit and
educate a diverse student body, both in
order to enrich the students’ educational
experience and to prepare them to meet the
health needs of a diverse society.
The University of Minnesota is committed to the
policy that all persons shall have equal access to
its programs, facilities, and employment without
regard to race, color, creed, religion, national
origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public
assistance, veteran status or sexual orientation.
This publication/material can be made available
in alternative formats for people with disabilities.
The University’s mission, carried out on
multiple campuses and throughout the state,
is threefold: research and discovery, teaching
and learning, and outreach and public service.
C Printed on recycled paper. Contains a
minimum of 10% post-consumer recycled fiber.
©2006 by the Regents of the University of
Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Mary Pattock
Editor