Colorado Nurse - February 2022

8 • Colorado Nurse | February 2022
The Official Publication of the Colorado Nurses Foundation in partnership with the Colorado Nurses Association
Updates Colorado Nurses Association
Nursing Continuing Professional
Development Program
Connie Pardee, PhD, RN
Sayonara 2021 and Welcome 2022
As we approach the end of
almost two years living with
a pandemic, I want to take a
few moments to offer thanks
and gratitude for all nursing
and healthcare colleagues. My
heart is with you even if my
body is not. You have all given
one hundred and ten percent
and continue to provide
outstanding professional quality
care even though you are Connie Pardee
exhausted. I applaud you and
hope you are able to provide some self-care to ease your
stress in these challenging times. Here’s to a healthy less
stressful 2022.
AMAZING
REMARKABLE
AWESOME
American Renal Associates
Our Staff Make the Difference!
Opportunities for dialysis nurses in the
Denver Metro Area in Colorado.
Please apply at americanrenal.com.
RN: CAM1' NURSE
GENEVA GLEN CAMP in INDIAN HILLS, Colorado, will hire two
RN’s for the 2022 Summer season: May 27 th –August 6 th . GENEVA
GLEN has an excellent reputation and rich heritage. ACA accredited.
Compensation includes $7,750 salary, travel allowance up to $350,
insurance, room and board, beautiful, modern health center facility,
participation in camp life including horseback riding, swimming,
hiking – ideal Colorado climate, healthful working environment
(Indian Hills is near Red Rocks). RN graduates welcome!
Contact: Reid McKnight,
P.O.Box 248, Indian Hills, CO 80454, (303) 697-4621 x 14
Email: reid@genevaglen.org. Apply online at: www.genevaglen.org/nurse
NursingALD.com can point you
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Changes in Colorado Nurses Association
(CNA) Accredited Approver Unit
Please join me in welcoming Nan Morgan BSN,
MS (Nursing Leadership & Education), RN, who will
assume the Accredited Approver Program Director
role on January 1, 2022. Connie Pardee PhD, RN,
who has served in the role for almost five years, will
be retiring. Nan brings extensive nursing education
experience to the role, including Nursing Clinical
Scholar, Clinical Nurse Education at Swedish Hospital
for a decade and as a Quality specialist. She loves
networking with nurses and is a long-time active
member of Colorado Nurses Association, serving
a third term as Secretary of the Association. She
was honored with a Nightingale award in 2011
for starting the No One Dies Alone Program at
Swedish Medical Center. She is the proud mother
of a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, one of two
children and five grandchildren. In her spare time,
she enjoys family, travel, fabric crafts and reading
non-fiction. Nan will assume all responsibilities of
the role on January 1, 2022 and can be reached at
programdirector@coloradonurses.org or via phone
303-905-9906. Please welcome her and call her with
any nursing continuing professional development
needs.
Thank you Connie Pardee, PhD, RN
Colorado Nurses Association Board of Directors,
members and staff offer our sincerest gratitude
for Dr. Pardee’s leadership over the past five
plus years. Connie, as we know and appreciate
her, came to the role of program director of CNA
accredited approver unit at a time when we had to
rebuild our strong history and tradition of quality
services. Dr. Pardee did that and more. Pardee
led the reaccreditation process by the American
Nurses Credentialing Center and re-established
CNA’s role in assuring quality continuing education
and ongoing nursing professional development for
educational providers through-out Colorado and
regionally. Thank you is not enough and yet, we
are so grateful for her wisdom, good humor and
competencies when we needed them most. We all
look forward to working with Nan Morgan in this
role in the new year!
NOW HIRING
CNAs, LPNs, and a DON
for our nursing home
RN Night positions available at our
Critical Access Hospital
$1,000 Sign on Bonus.
Applications can be submitted on our
website at www.schealth.org
Nursing opportunities in
hospital and clinic settings,
surgery, rehab, long term
care, homecare, hospice
and dialysis.
To view our openings and apply please
visit our website at www.ubh.org
435.722.6188 | Roosevelt, Utah
Childhood Shaped
His Perspective
Dana Brandorff
Director of Marketing and Communication,
University of Colorado College of Nursing
Whether it’s learning to
drive, graduating high school,
or moving out, there’s a
lot of freedom that comes
with young adulthood.
For Christopher Battelli, a
2021 graduate University
of Colorado College of
Nursing, the transition from
child to young adult meant
the ability to make his own
medical decisions. “For Christopher Battelli
my entire childhood, I was
unvaccinated and part of the ‘exempt’ crowd.” Against
his mother’s wishes, he chose to get vaccinated when
he was 18. “I did a lot of soul searching and research
and decided the science was too overwhelming not to
get vaccinated. My mother was not happy.
Battelli says his parents, especially his mother,
have always been skeptical of vaccines and
distrustful of the health care system. “I can’t fault
them as their distrust was rooted in personal
experience and a fear that any health issue could
destroy their life savings. ”Lack of insurance, fear
of the cost of health care, and not being listened
to by providers when they did have appointments,
compounded the negative impression they had
of the system. “I grew up in a very generous
household. My mother believes strongly in helping
others and taking care of them and that it’s the right
thing to do. She is fiercely independent and did not
trust health care or vaccinations.”
When Battelli’s sister was young, she was
diagnosed with Lyme disease. “Early on my mother
even suggested Lyme disease to the providers, which
was ignored.” But after months of misdiagnoses,
tests, and bills, the diagnosis came back. Recalling
the incident, Battelli says, “Being disregarded and
not heard is extremely frustrating and causes feelings
of being marginalized.”
Another encounter that shaped his family’s
perceptions was when his father died during his
senior year at Colorado State University. “I absolutely
think our system failed him. It was baffling to see the
number of times he went in and out of the hospital
with untreated mental health issues.” According
to Battelli, the nursing staff made it less painful.
“I can remember the nurses’ names. I don’t recall
a single doctor.” That was the seminal event that
changed his outlook and pushed him into a nursing
career through the University of Colorado College of
Nursing Accelerated pathway (UCAN).
After graduating from CSU with a degree in
Anthropology, he worked in public health consulting
for a few years. “My undergraduate degree helped
me look through a different lens. I use it every
day,” says Battelli. His childhood, life experiences,
and education have shaped how he views people,
patients, and situations. It helps him understand that
we may have different values and don’t always have
to agree. “Arguing with people who disagree with
you, belittling them, and not understanding where
they come from is not effective,” says Battelli. He
suggests listening and trying to understand how they
have come to their viewpoints. “Things aren’t always
black and white. But there’s been this polarization
when it comes to COVID and vaccinations.”
For Battelli, the difference of opinion has become
a lesson in acceptance and a roadmap for how he
might handle similar situations in the future. He and
his sister were even able to convince their mother
into getting the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19
vaccine by appealing to her travel bug. “She was
resistant, but her strong desire to travel outweighed
her reticence to get the vaccine,” says Battelli.
Sometimes knowing your patient, empathizing with
them, and providing them with data are the best
ways to handle differences of opinions. Intending to
grow his skills and technical expertise, Battelli has
his eyes on working at a progressive care unit of a
hospital post-graduation.