Transforming McLeod Hall - School of Nursing - University of Virginia

on how to manage challenging situations such as high-risk births
or allergic reactions to dyes and medications. Through our research
at the center, we hope to see what causes certain issues and then
change how we teach and practice based on what we’ve learned. It’s
another way that we can serve the greater good.”
Changes Under Way
Thanks to the generous contributions of School of Nursing alumni,
faculty, and friends, the first phase of the McLeod renovation is
already under way. To complete the project, an additional $7.3
million in private support is still needed.
The initial phase of the McLeod renovation focuses on a
complete overhaul of floors one, four, and five. The first milestone
in the renovation will be the reopening of the first floor this fall.
Floor one houses the Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry—one of
only a few centers in the country dedicated to the preservation and
study of the history of nursing and health care. Within its extensive
collection, the Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry includes
resources on health crises of the past, such as flu pandemics,
that may reveal new insights for future public health threats. The
move to the first floor will provide more room for vital collections
and better space for researchers to work. McLeod’s first floor will
retain its existing auditorium, along with technologically enhanced
classrooms. Nearby, a new coffee bar and café will foster informal
gatherings among faculty, students, and interprofessional colleagues
from next door in medicine and the sciences.
The fourth floor of McLeod will house the Center for the Study
of Complementary and Alternative Therapies. This center evaluates
and shares information about nontraditional complementary and
alternative health care practices and products for managing pain and
pain-related symptoms, a rapidly growing area of interest. Also on
this floor, faculty collaborating within the Rural Health Care Research
Center will conduct and share studies focused on the health care
needs of impoverished individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, and
the elderly living in rural areas. This research is a particular strength
at UVA, partially because of its location in a largely rural area with
extensive health needs. The fourth floor will also provide space for the
nursing oncology research team. This group looks at a variety of issues
related to cancer care, including the effectiveness of hospice care.
Floor five will house the Center for Nursing Research, which
facilitates the development of research activities across the School
of Nursing; and the Health Care Product Evaluation Center, which
provides impartial, systematic, and in-depth evaluation of medical
devices and products in development. Also on the fifth floor, the
Southeastern Rural Mental Health Research Center will pursue its
mission of improving the availability and quality of mental health
care for rural minority persons, the elderly, seriously mentally ill
adults, and women and children.
Both the fourth and fifth floors will include offices for faculty
and staff. The fifth floor will also include rooms equipped with video
technology and other computing capabilities that facilitate efficient
and cost-effective collaboration with researchers at other institutions.
From the
Front Lines
Assistant nursing professor
Cathy Campbell knows the
importance of great working
space. She also feels strongly
about having her mentor and
colleagues working close by. Cathy Campbell expects the McLeod
renovation to accelerate research
Campbell is a researcher
progress.
with the Rural Health Care
Research Center. Since
coming to UVA, she has benefited from the mentorship of Patricia
“Pat” Hollen, the Malvina Yuille Boyd Professor of Oncology
Nursing. With Hollen’s assistance, Campbell has successfully
acquired internal UVA research funding and external funding from
the American Cancer Society and the NIH National Cancer
Institute for her research.
Why is completing the renovation of
McLeod Hall important to you?
My current research focuses on end-of-life decision making
among rural and ethnically diverse patients in hospice care.
Outcomes from our studies could significantly improve care and
reduce suffering for many individuals with cancer and other
diseases who are approaching the end of their lives. But, because
of our lack of space, it can sometimes be hard to get to the
research. For example, my research assistant has no dedicated
workspace. Today, she started work in a conference room at the
end of hallway. Someone then needed the conference room, so I
let her use my office. Every morning, that’s how my day starts:
thinking about where to put my research assistant and not about
how to advance our research.
The current lack of space slows down productivity. It’s difficult to
get the physical resources you need—or even to find the people
you want to talk to because they’re located in so many different
places, and always moving around. E-mails and phone calls are
not enough. We need space to sit down and review drafts and
discuss ideas with our colleagues.
My mentor, Dr. Hollen, is across the street at the Claude Moore
Nursing Education Building. Another colleague is working upstairs,
and another is working out of the Cancer Center. When the
renovation is complete, we will have all of our resources together
in one place—including our administrative support. It will make it
easier for us to collaborate with each other and with researchers
from other institutions. We will have sufficient office space and a
central conference room where we can get together and talk
about new projects or the status of ongoing projects.
www.nursing.virginia.edu Virginia Legacy 9 •