Minnesota Nursing magazine (Fall/Winter 2011) - School of Nursing ...

alumni news
Janet
Dutcher
School of Nursing’s DNP program
helps alumna to transform ideas
into innovative programs
by darlene gorrill
Janet Dutcher, DNP ‘09, RN, NNP-BC, has spent much of her nursing
career working with the tiniest and most vulnerable of patients –
babies who are born too early. She entered the Doctor of Nursing
Practice (DNP) program at the University’s School of Nursing with a
commitment to improve care for neonates and their families.
She more than made good on that commitment: She succeeded
in turning her DNP project into a new program for her organization,
the Avera Health Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As a result,
when family members initially learn the devastating news that
their baby may die or face life-limiting conditions, they receive the
support of an interdisciplinary team who helps guide them through
the challenging days ahead.
In recognition of her work, Dutcher received the inaugural Rising
Star Award from the School of Nursing Alumni Society in April 2011.
She also has coauthored an article for the Journal of Perinatal and
Neonatal Nursing on the development of palliative care program,
known as Embrace.
Her DNP experience not only helped turn her idea into an
innovative program to bring care to families, it prepared her for
promotion to nurse manager of the health center’s Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
“It really gave me the tools and confidence just to take my
thinking to a whole new level,” says Dutcher. “
The program offers a wide variety of courses that are not found in
general nursing. It gave me the skills to be able to move forward
with the project.”
Dutcher knew that developing a standard program to bring
palliative care required hospital-wide change. As one of her first
steps, she met and joined forces with the physician in charge of
adult palliative care. They also involved representatives from other
disciplines to support families. “My University courses helped me
Janet Dutcher at School of Nursing Research Day last spring after receiving the
Rising Star Award.
think through program development and the value of involving key
stakeholders early,” she says.
The hospital launched a pilot in 2009, a precursor of its current
program that now provides both adult and children’s palliative care.
The core palliative care team, which includes a nurse practitioner,
physician, chaplain, geneticist, and social worker, works with family
to develop a birth plan and stays with the family before and after
birth. Other hospitals in the Avera system have indicated an interest
in using the program as a model for their own efforts.
For Dutcher, satisfaction comes from knowing the important
impact of these efforts on families during a painful and stressful
time in their lives. “You share the most sacred time in their lives,”
she says. “You are enriched so deeply by the time you spend with
them.”
Dutcher also enhances the larger nursing community through
her volunteer efforts. She helping the University of South Dakota
develop an online program in palliative care and serving on the
Governor’s Task Force on Infant Mortality.
Bolstered by her DNP education, she looks forward to making
greater contributions. “The DNP helps you to learn how to take
evidence-based practice and nursing excellence to the bedside.”
Learn more about the School of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice
(DNP) program at www.nursing.umn.edu/DNP.
tim rummelhoff
38 minnesota nursing | nursing.umn.edu/magazine