GW Nursing Magazine Summer 2018

Student Voices
Perspectives on the Health
Policy and Media Engagement
Graduate Certificate
The first cohort of GW Nursing’s
new graduate certificate on policy shared
their takeaways from the program with
Associate Professor Mary Jean Schumann,
executive director of the Center for
Health Policy and Media Engagement.
“The faculty have been incredible.
Not only are they experts, they
really know how to interpret what
is happening out there. They make
policy come alive. They make
policy real.
“I already am using it. In my
school… we are talking about
making curriculum changes and
how we embed policy for students
from day one, whether it is while
talking about social determinants
of health, the opioid crisis or infant
mortality rate… At the board of
nursing level, we are talking about
how to help the APRN group
achieve their goals.”
— PATRICIA A. SHARPNACK, DNP, RN,
CNE, NEA-BC, ANEF
Dean and Strawbridge Professor
The Breen School of Nursing Ursuline College
Current President, Ohio Board of Nursing
“The caliber of the professors
speaks volumes. This has given me
a greater appreciation for political
strategy. Sometimes it is better to
go for incremental change rather
than trying to get the ‘whole loaf
of bread’ at once. I can better
determine who to influence and
how to apply this knowledge to
state work to advance our issues,
and even apply it nationally and
internationally. You just need to do
it. Yes, the program has rigor. But
what you get out of it is worth far
more than you are putting in.”
— LINDA YOUNG, MS, RN, FRE
Nursing Program Specialist,
South Dakota Board of Nursing
Program Director, South Dakota Center
for Nursing Workforce
“For anyone interested in policy
and media, this is the ideal
program — it gives you all of the
skills and tools to have an impact
on policy issues. [I’m] new to the
Louisiana State Board and have
served as president of the state
nurses’ association. It was a great
opportunity to learn about policy
and media.
“[I’m] already using the knowledge
to reach out, identify stakeholders
and engage them in having
Louisiana become a compact
state. I anticipate teaching a policy
course to our doctoral students.”
Congratulations!
GW Nursing Financial Analyst
SRIJANA SILWAL and her husband
completed the 2017 Marine Corps
marathon last October. More than 30,000
runners in Washington, D.C., participated
in the race, which generates millions
of dollars for causes such as health and
research, military family support and
wounded warriors.
—JACQUELINE J. HILL, PHD, RN
Associate Dean, College of Nursing
and Allied Health Southern University
and A&M College
Editor’s Note
In the fall 2017 issue of GW Nursing (page 23),
Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing Ellen
Farrell was incorrectly listed as “Lynn” Farrell.
We regret this error.
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