primary care nurses, nursing care beyond the ... - School of Nursing

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leadershipFamily traditionAlumNus follows aunt’s footsteps toSchool of Nursing, military serviceWhen Kathleen Srsic-Stoehr was astudent at the School of Nursing, shetook care of a 4-year-old leukemia patientduring one of herrotations.The child died,and even decades later,the impact of his lossstays with her. But so,too, does the memoryof how her instructortook her to the hospitalcafeteria and helpedher talk through her grief.“That element of nursing—caringand compassion—that’s what the facultydemonstrated with us,” she says.Throughout her 30-year career as anArmy nurse, Srsic-Stoehr (BSN ’72) livedthe ethics she acquired at the Universityof Pittsburgh. It was at Pitt that the selfdescribedintrovert learned to becomean agent for change, a characteristic thatstayed with her during her career, leadingthe push toward best practices in nursingcare. Srsic-Stoehr was a class Keeper ofthe Light and, during her last two yearsat Pitt, served as president of the studentnursing council where she took an activerole in such initiatives as increasingstudent representation on various facultyand curriculum committees. As targetedlearners of a new curriculum, studentsvoiced opportunities for improvementto strengthen their clinical learning.The council also called for an end tothe practice of wearing nursing caps, apractice that did not pass the traditionhallmark at the time. Though it may seemlike a relatively tame issue now, it wasrevolutionary then.In the midst of Srsic-Stoehr’sfreshman year, the school changed itscurriculum. That move, plus the overallanti-establishment atmosphere of theVietnam era, “was really symbolic for us,”she recalls. It taught the students “howwe could be advocates for change withpatients and nursing excellence.”While stationed at Walter ReedArmy Medical Center in Washington,D.C., Srsic-Stoehr noticed a highincidence of postoperative pneumoniaand other complications related to aninconsistent approach to preoperativeteaching and assisting patients postoperativelywith deep breathing, coughing, anduse of “blow bottles.”Her department head learned ofher interest and enabled Srsic-Stoehr towork with a nurse researcher who wasconducting a study about preoperativeteaching and postoperative outcomes.As a new graduate nurse, she activelycombined clinical practice and researchto include a coauthored journal articleabout the results of the study. She laterpursued a focus on patient education inher graduate work and went on to developWalter Reed’s hospital-wide preoperativeteaching program based on the work fromthe research study.“I always had outstanding mentorsand was selected for positions where therewas opportunity to make changes. TheArmy Nurse Corps provided experiencesthat built upon Pitt’s foundation in leadershipfor change,” she says.The decision to enroll in the Schoolof Nursing was, in many ways, an easyone. Srsic-Stoehr’s great-aunt, VictoriaViola May (MLIT ’54, BSNEd ’50),was an alumnus and also had served inthe Army as a first lieutenantstationed at Walter Reed.After World War II, Maybecame the director of St. FrancisMedical Center School of Nursing,but she steered her great-niece to heradvanced degree alma mater.When Srsic-Stoehr enrolled atPitt, she resided with “Aunt Vee” inPittsburgh’s Highland Park neighborhood,and May was a supportive advocatefor Srsic-Stoehr in her academicnursing pursuits.As a nursing educator, May workedin nursing education most of her entirecareer, and similarly, Srsic-Stoehrfollowed in those footsteps with particularfocus on nursing professional developmentand patient education. She thenmoved into various nursing administrativepositions to include chief nursingofficer of Brooke Army Medical Centerand the Great Plains Regional MedicalCommand. When she retired from theArmy, Srsic-Stoehr worked first as a nurseexecutive at a rural hospital in centralVirginia before accepting a position atthe Washington Hospital Center inWashington, D.C., as director ofnursing excellence.The title and role has evolved; Srsic-Stoehr now is senior director for nursingevidence-based practice and quality. Assuch, she works with clinical specialistsand clinical nurse specialists, educators,nursing staff, and interdisciplinary teams,helping them to apply evidence-basedpractices, develop clinical guidelines, andimpact patient outcomes through patientsafety and quality performance improvements.As facilitator and coach for thenursing practice and research sharedgovernance council, she has come fullswing from her shared decision-makingdays at Pitt and her early interests inlinking research and clinical practice.“Our instructors at Pitt taughtus to be change agents in patient careand nursing practice,” she says. “Now,evidence-based practice is how we makethat change.”18 university of Pittsburgh
STUDENT leadersmike nuzzoThe Spirit ofNursing!Sophomore nursing studentMike Nuzzo decided at anearly age he wanted to makea difference.Nuzzo started as a businessmajor but switched to nursing,where he felt he could do more tohelp others. “Nursing has so manyopportunities and avenues to pursue, Iknew I would never be bored and thatI would be able to help people,” he says.The schedule of a nursing student can begrinding—with long hours spent studying andcompleting assignments as well as studying forexams. In addition to the rigorous full-time studyrequired for the undergraduate nursing program, Nuzzo spends up to 25 hours aweek in his role as one of the two Pitt Panther mascots, Roc, a role he will keepuntil graduation. The two mascots share responsibility for attending all homeand away football games, as well as men’s and women’s home basketball games, tocheer on the teams and help to lift the spirits of the crowd.It can be a grinding schedule but, fortunately, Nuzzo is skilled in settingpriorities, an important quality for any nurse. And it is a job he really enjoys. Infact, Nuzzo seems almost to have been born to this role—his parents both werePitt cheerleaders, and his mother, Theresa Nuzzo, has coached the Pitt cheerleadersand dance team for the past 27 years.“When I’m Roc, I can forget what is going on in my life and focus onmaking people happy and laugh. I always try to be as upbeat and energetic aspossible,” says Nuzzo. “Being able to make little children laugh and seeing thejoy on their faces when they get to slap Roc’s paw makes all the hard work andsacrifice worthwhile.”The mascot is required to attend numerous charity and community eventssuch as Light-up Night, the Great Race, and the walk for autism, as well as othersporting events. It’s a demanding schedule, but Nuzzo says it’s worth it. “At theLouisville football game, I was able to make an autistic man laugh,” he says.“I’ll never forget the pure joy in his expression when he shook Roc’s paw.”Being a mascot is rewarding, but Nuzzo doesn’t plan to make it a career.After graduation he hopes to work in an ICU setting and then return to graduateschool to become a nurse anesthetist. “Being the mascot is an honor I take veryseriously,” he says. “I hope the next person to put on the Pitt Panther costumeand portray Roc feels the same way my predecessors and I have.”There are many ways to make a difference. Nursing is one way. Puttingon a costume to make people laugh is another.Pitt Nurse spring 2009 19
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Page 27 and 28: Honor Roll of Donors 2007-08Dr. Kat
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Page 43 and 44: Retired FacultyNewsConstance S. McC
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