Purdue Nurse - Summer 2004 - School of Nursing - Purdue University

Edwards Named Alumna of the YearNancy Edwards, RN, PhD,has been named PurdueSchool of Nursing Alumniof the Year for 2003,for her leadership,scholarship, and service.Nancy Edwards’ passion is for gerontology.Her commitment to the field of nursingand nursing education, the advancement ofaging issues through her research, and hercommunity service to the aging populationhas made a great impact on the lives ofthousands of people.In her seven years as a faculty member atthe Purdue School of Nursing, Dr. Edwards has integrated herinterest in the elderly into her research, teaching, and service inthe community.She has produced collaborative projects both within theSchool of Nursing and among disciplines at Purdue.Her grants focus on improving the status of the elderly,specifically those with Alzheimer’s disease. Her work in collaborationwith the Purdue Veterinary School using an electronic dogas a companion for the elderly is bringing new options toimprove the quality of life for elders.Her active participation in the Purdue University LivingWell after 50 Coalition, the Purdue Press, and the Center forAging and the Life Course have contributed to collaborative andinterdisciplinary research and education on aging at Purdue.Director of New Master’s ProgramDr. Edwards, an Associate Professor of Nursing, has alsoserved as Director of the new Master of Science in Nursingprogram on the West Lafayette campus.She teaches Adult Nursing and Geriatric Nursing at theundergraduate level and Nursing Research and Clinical Applicationof Advanced Pharmacology at the graduate level. She iscurrently enrolled in the Adult Nurse Practitioner program.Dr. Edwards brings her passion for care of older adults tothe classroom, and has inspired many students to consider thecare of the elderly as their area of focus. She developed anelective course, Advanced Clinical and Leadership Skills:Elderly Care, for senior nursing students, and collaborated withtwo other faculty members on a program grant to develop aleadership clinical experience.Dr. Edwards is also active in the recruitment and retention ofDr. Nancy Edwards (second from right), the Nursing Alumni of the Year for 2003,has been leading the Young at Heart Senior Exercise Group for 16 years.graduate students. With her leadership, a diverse group of menand women are enrolled in the Adult Health Nurse Practitionermaster’s program. She has actively pursued support for thestudents, both financially and academically. She takes a personalinterest, organizing and directing study groups for particularlychallenging classes.Community Volunteer LeaderAs a community volunteer, Dr. Edwards has given countlesshours of service to senior citizens in multiple agencies andfacilities, ranging from mall-walkers to residents of FriendshipHouse. She founded the Young at Heart Senior Exercise Groupthat meets three times each week for aerobic exercises andfounded the Parkinson’s Support Group where she coordinateseducational and exercise programs. She also serves as a ParishNurse for Saint Lawrence Church.Dr. Edwards and her husband, Dennis, have three children:Jason, a junior at Purdue; Kinsey, who will be a freshman atPurdue, and Rachel, a senior at West Lafayette High School.Professionally, Dr. Edwards is an active member of SigmaTheta Tau International Nursing Honorary, the Midwest NursingResearch Society, the Academy of Medical Surgical Nursing, andthe Geriatric Society of America.Dr. Edwards’ undergraduate degrees in Nursing are fromPurdue (AD’78, BS’80), her Master’s in Nursing is from IndianaUniversity Purdue University at Indianapolis, and her Doctoratein Family Studies with an Interdisciplinary Gerontology minor isfrom Purdue (‘96).Prior to coming to Purdue, Dr. Edwards worked at St.Elizabeth Medical Center in Lafayette, where she was Directorof Education and Geriatrics.23