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PERMIT #177CHAPEL HILL, NC 27599-1110

Our biggest event – Tar Heal Exploration Day – involved more than 200 students, UNC faculty, staff and alumni. This event was held for the second time in January, and it aimed to teach more than 140 Girl Scouts about the nursing profession and inspire them to consider the career. ANS members created eight stations – Panel of Nurses, Healthy Hearts, Nutrition, Smoking and Drug Awareness, First Aid, “Stan the Man,” Water in the Body and Hand-washing/Epidemiology.

The scouts rotated through the stations and received patches from the North Carolina Center for Nursing for their participation. Next year, we hope to involve the Boy Scouts!

Although Tar Heal Explorations is our largest endeavor, it was not our first, and was certainly not our only, community service activity for the year. We began the year with a health fair called “La

Fiesta de La Salud,” at El Centro Hispano in Durham, N.C. There, ANS members provided health screenings for many Hispanic members of our community. Students performed blood pressure, cholesterol, lipids and blood glucose screenings.

Our most continuous community service project is centered around the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill. Many of the families living in the house have children who are patients at North Carolina Children’s Hospital. Throughout the year, ANS members from different academic tracks and class years served meals to these families, spending time and bonding with them.

We were also instrumental in one of the Ronald McDonald House’s biggest events of the year – the Luminary Fundraiser. Several students spent an afternoon creating luminary packages that could be sold to raise money for the organization. Despite the severe drought conditions this year, the luminary event resulted in nearly $70,000 in donations! We also went “green” to help the organization. For the past year, ANS has collected soda can tabs. We placed collection jugs around the School of Nursing and accumulated more than three gallons of can tabs. The House recycles these tabs and uses the money to help pay the fees for families who cannot afford to pay for their stay at the facility.

As an organization, ANS was involved with many other smaller projects during the year. A clothing drive last fall helped provide items for children in the Child and Adolescent

Psychiatric Unit at UNC Hospitals. This spring, we participated in a pajama drive with the proceeds going to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh. We collected vitamins and over-the-counter medications for students to take on the spring break trip to Honduras.

ANS members also volunteered for a variety of community outreach events, including health fairs, Walk for the Cure, a child abuse benefit 5K, the Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) – read more about this organization on page 4 – and donating platelets and blood.

All of these activities and collections are voluntary, but without fail, the response from ANS members, other students, faculty and staff is more than ample. Through this generosity the School of Nursing is able to provide much needed help to the community outside Carrington Hall.

Our biggest event – Tar Heal Exploration Day – involved more than 200 students, UNC faculty, staff and alumni. This event was held for the second time in January, and it aimed to teach more than 140 Girl Scouts about the nursing profession and inspire them to consider the career. ANS members created eight stations – Panel of Nurses, Healthy Hearts, Nutrition, Smoking and Drug Awareness, First Aid, “Stan the Man,” Water in the Body and Hand-washing/Epidemiology.

The scouts rotated through the stations and received patches from the North Carolina Center for Nursing for their participation. Next year, we hope to involve the Boy Scouts!

Although Tar Heal Explorations is our largest endeavor, it was not our first, and was certainly not our only, community service activity for the year. We began the year with a health fair called “La

Fiesta de La Salud,” at El Centro Hispano in Durham, N.C. There, ANS members provided health screenings for many Hispanic members of our community. Students performed blood pressure, cholesterol, lipids and blood glucose screenings.

Our most continuous community service project is centered around the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill. Many of the families living in the house have children who are patients at North Carolina Children’s Hospital. Throughout the year, ANS members from different academic tracks and class years served meals to these families, spending time and bonding with them.

We were also instrumental in one of the Ronald McDonald House’s biggest events of the year – the Luminary Fundraiser. Several students spent an afternoon creating luminary packages that could be sold to raise money for the organization. Despite the severe drought conditions this year, the luminary event resulted in nearly $70,000 in donations! We also went “green” to help the organization. For the past year, ANS has collected soda can tabs. We placed collection jugs around the School of Nursing and accumulated more than three gallons of can tabs. The House recycles these tabs and uses the money to help pay the fees for families who cannot afford to pay for their stay at the facility.

As an organization, ANS was involved with many other smaller projects during the year. A clothing drive last fall helped provide items for children in the Child and Adolescent

Psychiatric Unit at UNC Hospitals. This spring, we participated in a pajama drive with the proceeds going to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh. We collected vitamins and over-the-counter medications for students to take on the spring break trip to Honduras.

ANS members also volunteered for a variety of community outreach events, including health fairs, Walk for the Cure, a child abuse benefit 5K, the Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) – read more about this organization on page 4 – and donating platelets and blood.

All of these activities and collections are voluntary, but without fail, the response from ANS members, other students, faculty and staff is more than ample. Through this generosity the School of Nursing is able to provide much needed help to the community outside Carrington Hall.

At the time, Will worked in the UNC Hospitals emergency department (ED), so he called to let them know the child was coming. He led the mother and the boy to the ED by car because they did not know where it was. This incident was frightening and stressful, but I am glad that Will and I were able to pull together to possibly save this little boy’s life.

Although this case is extreme, it represents the optimal level of care all SHAC patients receive. They might have to wait for a few hours to be seen, but the care they will receive will be unlike the care they will receive anywhere else. Where else can you go and be seen by a nurse, a public health worker, a social worker, a doctor, a physical therapist and a pharmacist all in the same night?

Being involved with SHAC also taught me to interact with members of other disciplines. The clinic runs solely off respectful collaboration between all the student volunteers. If one position is unfilled in a night, the whole clinic gets thrown off track. This experience showed me that health care does not work optimally unless all of the puzzle pieces are in place. None of us can do it alone, and I know all my SHAC colleagues remembered that as they entered their respective disciplines.

Working in SHAC boosted my confidence in my nursing skills as well as my ability to work with others to provide optimal health care. Partnering with medical students in the lab opened my eyes to what they go through during medical school, in comparison to what nursing students go through. It also made me realize that, despite our educational backgrounds or areas of practice, health affairs students have a lot to learn from one another.

Each Wednesday evening, student volunteers from several different health disciplines, including nursing, medicine, public health and social work, joined at the Carrboro Community Health Center to run the SHAC medical clinic. The clinic opened its doors in 1967 during the national civil rights movement. Since then, student volunteers at SHAC have delivered free health care to the uninsured or underinsured populations of Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Durham.

Being part of SHAC deeply enriched my experience as a nursing student. Learning skills in class is necessary, but getting the chance to practice those skills with real patients is a unique experience. As nursing students, we did this during our clinical rotations, but at SHAC, we were able to work more independently.

Not only did SHAC prepare me for nursing in the real world, but it also gave me the opportunity to interface with patients from ethnically and culturally-diverse backgrounds. Since we provided free and confidential care at SHAC, we drew patients from all walks of life, from the poor college student to the uninsured Spanish-speaking immigrant.

One experience in 2007 with a Hispanic mother made me realize how valuable a service SHAC is for many people in this area. At the end of one of our Saturday “Well Child Clinics,” this mother frantically ran into the clinic, carrying her son, who was lethargic and crying. He could not have been more than 8-years-old. We were closing the clinic for the evening. Another nursing student at the time, Will Morrow, BSN ’08, and I took the boy’s temperature, suspecting that he had a fever. His fever registered 105.8 F.

I knew we had a problem, remembering from my pediatrics course that a fever greater than 103 F in a child is very dangerous. I recorded the child’s temperature. We knew this was an emergency, and Will told the mother, in Spanish, that the boy needed to go to the hospital.

At the time, Will worked in the UNC Hospitals emergency department (ED), so he called to let them know the child was coming. He led the mother and the boy to the ED by car because they did not know where it was. This incident was frightening and stressful, but I am glad that Will and I were able to pull together to possibly save this little boy’s life.

Although this case is extreme, it represents the optimal level of care all SHAC patients receive. They might have to wait for a few hours to be seen, but the care they will receive will be unlike the care they will receive anywhere else. Where else can you go and be seen by a nurse, a public health worker, a social worker, a doctor, a physical therapist and a pharmacist all in the same night?

Being involved with SHAC also taught me to interact with members of other disciplines. The clinic runs solely off respectful collaboration between all the student volunteers. If one position is unfilled in a night, the whole clinic gets thrown off track. This experience showed me that health care does not work optimally unless all of the puzzle pieces are in place. None of us can do it alone, and I know all my SHAC colleagues remembered that as they entered their respective disciplines.

Working in SHAC boosted my confidence in my nursing skills as well as my ability to work with others to provide optimal health care. Partnering with medical students in the lab opened my eyes to what they go through during medical school, in comparison to what nursing students go through. It also made me realize that, despite our educational backgrounds or areas of practice, health affairs students have a lot to learn from one another.

Each Wednesday evening, student volunteers from several different health disciplines, including nursing, medicine, public health and social work, joined at the Carrboro Community Health Center to run the SHAC medical clinic. The clinic opened its doors in 1967 during the national civil rights movement. Since then, student volunteers at SHAC have delivered free health care to the uninsured or underinsured populations of Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Durham.

Being part of SHAC deeply enriched my experience as a nursing student. Learning skills in class is necessary, but getting the chance to practice those skills with real patients is a unique experience. As nursing students, we did this during our clinical rotations, but at SHAC, we were able to work more independently.

Not only did SHAC prepare me for nursing in the real world, but it also gave me the opportunity to interface with patients from ethnically and culturally-diverse backgrounds. Since we provided free and confidential care at SHAC, we drew patients from all walks of life, from the poor college student to the uninsured Spanish-speaking immigrant.

One experience in 2007 with a Hispanic mother made me realize how valuable a service SHAC is for many people in this area. At the end of one of our Saturday “Well Child Clinics,” this mother frantically ran into the clinic, carrying her son, who was lethargic and crying. He could not have been more than 8-years-old. We were closing the clinic for the evening. Another nursing student at the time, Will Morrow, BSN ’08, and I took the boy’s temperature, suspecting that he had a fever. His fever registered 105.8 F.

I knew we had a problem, remembering from my pediatrics course that a fever greater than 103 F in a child is very dangerous. I recorded the child’s temperature. We knew this was an emergency, and Will told the mother, in Spanish, that the boy needed to go to the hospital.

Last fall, during Family Day, my parents, my second-grade son and I toured Carrington Hall, met “Stan the Man,” the patient simulator at the School of Nursing (SON), and visited the bookstore. My then 7-year-old son was excited to see child-size scrubs, and as I bought him a set, we talked about both wearing our scrubs for trick-or-treating. He was very interested in wearing my stethoscope for a little while, and I thought it was really sweet that he wanted to dress up as a nurse, just like Mom.

Later, I heard him tell his teacher that he would be a doctor for Halloween and that everyone would know because he would wear a stethoscope. I explained that both doctors and nurses wear stethoscopes, but I’m not sure I did it in a calm, rational way! Over the next few days, I told stories about the men in my classes and clinical rotations, and I finally told him that I was

sad that he didn’t want to be a nurse for Halloween. He told me, matter-of-factly, that he didn’t know that he could be one. That’s when I knew that education about the nursing profession must start with young children.

I’m happy to report that on Halloween evening, my son cheerfully told people he was a nurse, offered to listen to peoples’ hearts and pretended to give them shots. I was a proud mom!

This story inspired me to do two things: run for state office in the North Carolina Association of Nursing Students (NCANS) and write a project called “I Can Be a Nurse!” I am proud to say that this year while serving as secretary for the SON’s ANS chapter, I was elected to the NCANS Board of Directors and am currently serving as the director of the Breakthrough in Nursing program which focuses specifically on recruitment and retention of nursing students.

Transferring to the SON from Durham Technical Community College and experiencing the culture shock of a very different student body made me more cognizant of issues of disparity and equality. I want to work to make sure that the interests of nursing students from all over North Carolina are being represented at the state level. Bringing more people into nursing and reducing attrition from the profession are two ways to handle the foreseeable nursing shortage.

“I Can Be a Nurse!” is my plan for growing the potential nurse workforce before students reach the collegiate level. The program, which is distributed statewide, is designed to give nursing students the ideas and motivation to go into schools, scout troops and after-school programs to do health promotion and

professional advocacy. The goal is to send a message that most youths don’t get – nursing is a profession that is open to anyone. It has great benefits and plenty of flexibility. Nurses can work with people or with computers. They can work in the operating room, the emergency room or an office. Nurses have autonomy and don’t just take orders from physicians. Becoming a nurse requires a lot of hard work and studying, so young people should start thinking about taking science classes if they might be interested in the profession.

I included many ideas of the SON’s ANS annual outreach program, Tar Heal Explorations. For the past two years, SON students have hosted 100 or more Girl Scouts on a Saturday and have taught them about hand-washing, nutrition, cardiovascular health, the dangers of smoking and the different levels of practice for nurses.

The national Breakthrough to Nursing director also provided many ideas when she spoke at the national ANS conference. She discussed going to her son’s school with gowns and masks to make going to the hospital less scary for kids. She took stethoscopes for everybody to listen to their hearts, and she carried needleless syringes filled with colored liquid to practice measurements.

Already, many students have told me that they have used the ideas in “I Can Be a Nurse!” while designing their community health interventions. One student even taught me a song that she used to get younger kids excited about nursing. Even though my program is still new, I’ve already achieved my main goal – helping nursing students across the state move out of their comfort zone to get a child to think, “I Can Be a Nurse!”

Last fall, during Family Day, my parents, my second-grade son and I toured Carrington Hall, met “Stan the Man,” the patient simulator at the School of Nursing (SON), and visited the bookstore. My then 7-year-old son was excited to see child-size scrubs, and as I bought him a set, we talked about both wearing our scrubs for trick-or-treating. He was very interested in wearing my stethoscope for a little while, and I thought it was really sweet that he wanted to dress up as a nurse, just like Mom.

Later, I heard him tell his teacher that he would be a doctor for Halloween and that everyone would know because he would wear a stethoscope. I explained that both doctors and nurses wear stethoscopes, but I’m not sure I did it in a calm, rational way! Over the next few days, I told stories about the men in my classes and clinical rotations, and I finally told him that I was

sad that he didn’t want to be a nurse for Halloween. He told me, matter-of-factly, that he didn’t know that he could be one. That’s when I knew that education about the nursing profession must start with young children.

I’m happy to report that on Halloween evening, my son cheerfully told people he was a nurse, offered to listen to peoples’ hearts and pretended to give them shots. I was a proud mom!

This story inspired me to do two things: run for state office in the North Carolina Association of Nursing Students (NCANS) and write a project called “I Can Be a Nurse!” I am proud to say that this year while serving as secretary for the SON’s ANS chapter, I was elected to the NCANS Board of Directors and am currently serving as the director of the Breakthrough in Nursing program which focuses specifically on recruitment and retention of nursing students.

Transferring to the SON from Durham Technical Community College and experiencing the culture shock of a very different student body made me more cognizant of issues of disparity and equality. I want to work to make sure that the interests of nursing students from all over North Carolina are being represented at the state level. Bringing more people into nursing and reducing attrition from the profession are two ways to handle the foreseeable nursing shortage.

“I Can Be a Nurse!” is my plan for growing the potential nurse workforce before students reach the collegiate level. The program, which is distributed statewide, is designed to give nursing students the ideas and motivation to go into schools, scout troops and after-school programs to do health promotion and

professional advocacy. The goal is to send a message that most youths don’t get – nursing is a profession that is open to anyone. It has great benefits and plenty of flexibility. Nurses can work with people or with computers. They can work in the operating room, the emergency room or an office. Nurses have autonomy and don’t just take orders from physicians. Becoming a nurse requires a lot of hard work and studying, so young people should start thinking about taking science classes if they might be interested in the profession.

I included many ideas of the SON’s ANS annual outreach program, Tar Heal Explorations. For the past two years, SON students have hosted 100 or more Girl Scouts on a Saturday and have taught them about hand-washing, nutrition, cardiovascular health, the dangers of smoking and the different levels of practice for nurses.

The national Breakthrough to Nursing director also provided many ideas when she spoke at the national ANS conference. She discussed going to her son’s school with gowns and masks to make going to the hospital less scary for kids. She took stethoscopes for everybody to listen to their hearts, and she carried needleless syringes filled with colored liquid to practice measurements.

Already, many students have told me that they have used the ideas in “I Can Be a Nurse!” while designing their community health interventions. One student even taught me a song that she used to get younger kids excited about nursing. Even though my program is still new, I’ve already achieved my main goal – helping nursing students across the state move out of their comfort zone to get a child to think, “I Can Be a Nurse!”

and now we average between 13 and 16 patients each Sunday. The clinic is so popular that, unfortunately, we must turn away patients some Sundays because we don’t yet have enough physicians and nurse volunteers to care for the growing numbers.

We have treated patients with newly diagnosed conditions, such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, and hypertension, as well as patients with chronic medical conditions. Occasionally, we have also referred patients to other programs and clinics. Our success has been exciting. It is also somewhat daunting as we seek to increase the number of our health care volunteers and look for an alternate location so we can open the clinic more than one day a week.

Looking at our story, many would see no difference between Mariam Clinic and other free health clinics. The uniqueness of Mariam Clinic, however, lies in the diversity both of its volunteers and its patients. Prior to Mariam Clinic’s existence, there were no free health clinics that offered culturally-competent care for people of Arab, Asian and African ethnic backgrounds. The volunteers at the Mariam Clinic are more equipped to offer culturally-competent care since many of them are from diverse cultural backgrounds themselves.

For example, Mariam Clinic currently has American, African-American, African, Pakistani, Pakistani-American, Egyptian, Indian, Indian-American, Bosnian and Afghan volunteers, and the list goes on. The ethnic diversity is juxtaposed with a similar diversity of religious traditions, including Islam, Christianity and Judaism. We have an extremely varied corps of volunteers.

The cultural diversity extends to the range of languages that the volunteers can interpret – French, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, Bengali and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.

The patients, of course, are similarly diverse. We have treated an especially high number of Arab patients, many of whom speak no or little English. Some of these patients have told the clinic volunteers that they avoided seeking healthcare because of their language barriers and a lack of understanding of their cultural needs from other local healthcare providers. If it were not for the Mariam Clinic, they would still be without a healthcare provider.

One patient in particular – an Arab man – embodies, in my mind, all the reasons why Mariam Clinic exists. We met him at a health fair in April 2007 before our clinic opened. He was a recent immigrant with no health insurance, very little income and no access to health care. He was thrilled to hear about our clinic plans and happily took advantage of the health services at the fair that day. When we opened our doors, he was one of our first patients. With affordable health care being so elusive, I am glad we were able to help him.

On a personal level, I find my volunteer work at Mariam Clinic more rewarding than my work as a nursing assistant in the hospital because I am providing care for people who have no other option for health services. The volunteer work is also very humbling, and I find myself constantly reflecting on what I take for granted in my own life. I look forward to my future career in nursing, increasing those feelings of humility and love of service to low-income and underserved persons both internationally and nationally.

A group of women of different religious and ethnic backgrounds established the organization “Mariam Clinic” in 2005 in response to a need for a free health clinic, serving uninsured, low-income adults in the Raleigh-Durham area. Although there were a few free or low-cost health clinics in the area, they were not adequately meeting the needs of the growing Asian, Arab and African communities in the Triangle.

After two years of planning, the Mariam Clinic officially opened in October 2007, much earlier than originally planned due to the gracious donation of the use of a local physician’s office space on Sundays. I started volunteering at the clinic as a nursing assistant and have seen the number of patients grow quickly. From October 2007 to December 2007, we saw a handful of patients each Sunday. But since the beginning of 2008 the number of patients has increased,

and now we average between 13 and 16 patients each Sunday. The clinic is so popular that, unfortunately, we must turn away patients some Sundays because we don’t yet have enough physicians and nurse volunteers to care for the growing numbers.

We have treated patients with newly diagnosed conditions, such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, and hypertension, as well as patients with chronic medical conditions. Occasionally, we have also referred patients to other programs and clinics. Our success has been exciting. It is also somewhat daunting as we seek to increase the number of our health care volunteers and look for an alternate location so we can open the clinic more than one day a week.

Looking at our story, many would see no difference between Mariam Clinic and other free health clinics. The uniqueness of Mariam Clinic, however, lies in the diversity both of its volunteers and its patients. Prior to Mariam Clinic’s existence, there were no free health clinics that offered culturally-competent care for people of Arab, Asian and African ethnic backgrounds. The volunteers at the Mariam Clinic are more equipped to offer culturally-competent care since many of them are from diverse cultural backgrounds themselves.

For example, Mariam Clinic currently has American, African-American, African, Pakistani, Pakistani-American, Egyptian, Indian, Indian-American, Bosnian and Afghan volunteers, and the list goes on. The ethnic diversity is juxtaposed with a similar diversity of religious traditions, including Islam, Christianity and Judaism. We have an extremely varied corps of volunteers.

The cultural diversity extends to the range of languages that the volunteers can interpret – French, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, Bengali and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.

The patients, of course, are similarly diverse. We have treated an especially high number of Arab patients, many of whom speak no or little English. Some of these patients have told the clinic volunteers that they avoided seeking healthcare because of their language barriers and a lack of understanding of their cultural needs from other local healthcare providers. If it were not for the Mariam Clinic, they would still be without a healthcare provider.

One patient in particular – an Arab man – embodies, in my mind, all the reasons why Mariam Clinic exists. We met him at a health fair in April 2007 before our clinic opened. He was a recent immigrant with no health insurance, very little income and no access to health care. He was thrilled to hear about our clinic plans and happily took advantage of the health services at the fair that day. When we opened our doors, he was one of our first patients. With affordable health care being so elusive, I am glad we were able to help him.

On a personal level, I find my volunteer work at Mariam Clinic more rewarding than my work as a nursing assistant in the hospital because I am providing care for people who have no other option for health services. The volunteer work is also very humbling, and I find myself constantly reflecting on what I take for granted in my own life. I look forward to my future career in nursing, increasing those feelings of humility and love of service to low-income and underserved persons both internationally and nationally.

A group of women of different religious and ethnic backgrounds established the organization “Mariam Clinic” in 2005 in response to a need for a free health clinic, serving uninsured, low-income adults in the Raleigh-Durham area. Although there were a few free or low-cost health clinics in the area, they were not adequately meeting the needs of the growing Asian, Arab and African communities in the Triangle.

After two years of planning, the Mariam Clinic officially opened in October 2007, much earlier than originally planned due to the gracious donation of the use of a local physician’s office space on Sundays. I started volunteering at the clinic as a nursing assistant and have seen the number of patients grow quickly. From October 2007 to December 2007, we saw a handful of patients each Sunday. But since the beginning of 2008 the number of patients has increased,

One of the reasons we chose to pursue our doctoral degrees at the School of Nursing (SON) was the many opportunities available to work with renowned, funded researchers on a wide variety of projects. Merle Mishel, Kenan Professor of Nursing and director of the doctoral and post-doctoral programs, and Barbara Germino, professor and Beerstecher-Blackwell Chair of Thanatology, designed and lead our study.

For many months, we’ve been nurse interveners for Young Breast Cancer Survivors: Managing Uncertainty Day to Day. This intervention, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, helps breast cancer survivors under age 50 develop the cognitive behavioral skills they need to manage the concerns that come with treatment side effects or with thinking about a recurrence. All participants are two to five years out from diagnosis and received treatment in a North Carolina facility.

Not only are we learning valuable research skills and providing valid data for a study that could potentially help thousands of people, we are also giving participants an opportunity to vent their fears and frustrations. It’s easy to hear the relief in participants’ voices when they’ve been able to vocalize their concerns and get help in processing them.

Women who participate in the study are placed randomly in the intervention group or the control group. Women in the intervention group get written materials and a CD to help them manage their stressful thoughts and any long-term side effects of treatment. It’s our job, as nurse interveners, to follow up with them each week with a phone call, using a script, to help them practice a new uncertainty management skill. For example, women will discuss ways they distract themselves from stress triggers, such as engaging in social or physical activity, or we will role play conversations if they’ve had trouble talking with family or friends about their cancer experience.

So far, the findings show that women benefit from this intervention. They also tell us that their new skills are useful as they encounter uncertainty in their daily lives. It also helps us, as doctoral students, because we see that even though everyone’s experience with cancer is unique and individual, women face many of the same problems as they deal with the aftermath of diagnosis and treatment.

While this study is designed specifically to help young cancer survivors cope with life’s stressors and it is rewarding for us as nurses to offer an intervention that people value, it has also been an incredible training ground for us. We have been fully integrated into the research program through weekly meetings with the multidisciplinary research teams, and we participate in discussions about the daily operations of performing interventional research, such as recruitment, data collection and opportunities to improve the ongoing intervention. Being part of these gatherings reinforces the core research courses we’ve taken during our doctoral program.

It’s gratifying to participate in research that we know helps women live a less stressful life where they can concentrate on activities and priorities that are most important to them.

Opportunities like this at the SON not only touch the lives of study participants, they also lay the groundwork for creating the next generation of nurse research leaders and their endeavors.

One of the reasons we chose to pursue our doctoral degrees at the School of Nursing (SON) was the many opportunities available to work with renowned, funded researchers on a wide variety of projects. Merle Mishel, Kenan Professor of Nursing and director of the doctoral and post-doctoral programs, and Barbara Germino, professor and Beerstecher-Blackwell Chair of Thanatology, designed and lead our study.

For many months, we’ve been nurse interveners for Young Breast Cancer Survivors: Managing Uncertainty Day to Day. This intervention, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, helps breast cancer survivors under age 50 develop the cognitive behavioral skills they need to manage the concerns that come with treatment side effects or with thinking about a recurrence. All participants are two to five years out from diagnosis and received treatment in a North Carolina facility.

Not only are we learning valuable research skills and providing valid data for a study that could potentially help thousands of people, we are also giving participants an opportunity to vent their fears and frustrations. It’s easy to hear the relief in participants’ voices when they’ve been able to vocalize their concerns and get help in processing them.

Women who participate in the study are placed randomly in the intervention group or the control group. Women in the intervention group get written materials and a CD to help them manage their stressful thoughts and any long-term side effects of treatment. It’s our job, as nurse interveners, to follow up with them each week with a phone call, using a script, to help them practice a new uncertainty management skill. For example, women will discuss ways they distract themselves from stress triggers, such as engaging in social or physical activity, or we will role play conversations if they’ve had trouble talking with family or friends about their cancer experience.

So far, the findings show that women benefit from this intervention. They also tell us that their new skills are useful as they encounter uncertainty in their daily lives. It also helps us, as doctoral students, because we see that even though everyone’s experience with cancer is unique and individual, women face many of the same problems as they deal with the aftermath of diagnosis and treatment.

While this study is designed specifically to help young cancer survivors cope with life’s stressors and it is rewarding for us as nurses to offer an intervention that people value, it has also been an incredible training ground for us. We have been fully integrated into the research program through weekly meetings with the multidisciplinary research teams, and we participate in discussions about the daily operations of performing interventional research, such as recruitment, data collection and opportunities to improve the ongoing intervention. Being part of these gatherings reinforces the core research courses we’ve taken during our doctoral program.

It’s gratifying to participate in research that we know helps women live a less stressful life where they can concentrate on activities and priorities that are most important to them.

Opportunities like this at the SON not only touch the lives of study participants, they also lay the groundwork for creating the next generation of nurse research leaders and their endeavors.

My days at the School are full, and most of the time, I leave for home fully ready to relax. But Thursday nights are different. When I leave the School, I walk away with anticipation about what the remainder of the evening has in store. These are the nights I volunteer as a family nurse practitioner at the Robert Nixon Clinics for the Homeless in Chapel Hill.

In the few hours I have in this free clinic, I work as a primary care provider with a staff of other volunteers, including a registered nurse, medical assistant, pharmacist and a pharmacy student. I collaborate with a wonderful physician who is the clinic’s medical director, Sandy Clark, M.D. She is also an adjunct instructor in family medicine for the School of Medicine. Between all of us, we meet all of the primary care needs our patients have.

Overall, about 25 volunteers provide free health care, consultation, medicine and information to approximately 800 homeless people every year. Other providers, mainly physicians, rotate through the clinic, as well, so there is always someone available to help the individuals who come in seeking care. However, the clinic is in desperate need of more nurses to volunteer.

On an average night, I’m supposed to see around eight patients, but the needs are always greater than I anticipate. Without fail, by the end of the evening, I’ve treated 11 or 12 people, and it is my fervent hope that I’ve made a difference in their lives. They come to our clinic with no health insurance and no money. But they do bring with them acute and chronic health care needs, ranging from upper respiratory infections and muscle strains to mental health issues, diabetes and serious heart conditions.

My most recent Thursday at the clinic was marked by a particularly harrowing experience. One individual walked through our doors, complaining of chest pain. We diagnosed a cardiac emergency and

transferred the patient to the hospital as quickly as possible. These situations don’t often arise, but I’m glad we were there to potentially stave off a life-threatening event.

The rest of my evening was routine – I saw patients with rashes, congestion, allergies, insect bites and gastrointestinal reflux. I dressed a couple of wounds and counseled another patient on the importance of using his crutches. A few patients had diabetes and high blood pressure. Two had pain. Fortunately, we had all the medications I needed in stock so there was no need to refer anyone to an outside pharmacy.

I referred a few patients to Sandy for two free visits at her clinical site because she does more comprehensive evaluations at her practice during the day. Hopefully, these individuals will return to receive care from her.

Working with this clinic is a true joy for me. Not only do I get to practice my nursing skills, but I have the opportunity to treat a patient population that would otherwise be forced to go without health care treatment. Taking the time to volunteer and help this population is a natural extension of my work at the School – I am merely living out the compassion and high level of care I teach my students to provide.

It was this thought that ran through my mind the other night when a patient looked at me, smiled and said, “I see that you like your job.” I felt truly happy when I honestly replied, “Yes, I do.”

My days at the School are full, and most of the time, I leave for home fully ready to relax. But Thursday nights are different. When I leave the School, I walk away with anticipation about what the remainder of the evening has in store. These are the nights I volunteer as a family nurse practitioner at the Robert Nixon Clinics for the Homeless in Chapel Hill.

In the few hours I have in this free clinic, I work as a primary care provider with a staff of other volunteers, including a registered nurse, medical assistant, pharmacist and a pharmacy student. I collaborate with a wonderful physician who is the clinic’s medical director, Sandy Clark, M.D. She is also an adjunct instructor in family medicine for the School of Medicine. Between all of us, we meet all of the primary care needs our patients have.

Overall, about 25 volunteers provide free health care, consultation, medicine and information to approximately 800 homeless people every year. Other providers, mainly physicians, rotate through the clinic, as well, so there is always someone available to help the individuals who come in seeking care. However, the clinic is in desperate need of more nurses to volunteer.

On an average night, I’m supposed to see around eight patients, but the needs are always greater than I anticipate. Without fail, by the end of the evening, I’ve treated 11 or 12 people, and it is my fervent hope that I’ve made a difference in their lives. They come to our clinic with no health insurance and no money. But they do bring with them acute and chronic health care needs, ranging from upper respiratory infections and muscle strains to mental health issues, diabetes and serious heart conditions.

My most recent Thursday at the clinic was marked by a particularly harrowing experience. One individual walked through our doors, complaining of chest pain. We diagnosed a cardiac emergency and

transferred the patient to the hospital as quickly as possible. These situations don’t often arise, but I’m glad we were there to potentially stave off a life-threatening event.

The rest of my evening was routine – I saw patients with rashes, congestion, allergies, insect bites and gastrointestinal reflux. I dressed a couple of wounds and counseled another patient on the importance of using his crutches. A few patients had diabetes and high blood pressure. Two had pain. Fortunately, we had all the medications I needed in stock so there was no need to refer anyone to an outside pharmacy.

I referred a few patients to Sandy for two free visits at her clinical site because she does more comprehensive evaluations at her practice during the day. Hopefully, these individuals will return to receive care from her.

Working with this clinic is a true joy for me. Not only do I get to practice my nursing skills, but I have the opportunity to treat a patient population that would otherwise be forced to go without health care treatment. Taking the time to volunteer and help this population is a natural extension of my work at the School – I am merely living out the compassion and high level of care I teach my students to provide.

It was this thought that ran through my mind the other night when a patient looked at me, smiled and said, “I see that you like your job.” I felt truly happy when I honestly replied, “Yes, I do.”

This was not our only health-related visit, however. Later in the week, in Hendersonville, we visited with Walk Wise Drive Smart program, a multi-party partnership among the Center for Aging and Health, the Healthy Aging Research Network, and UNC’s Center for Aging and Health that promotes safe walking for older adults. As a geriatric nurse and a researcher on aging, this was right up my alley! I was impressed that a power-walking route was marked by yellow apples and arrows spray painted on the sidewalks and that uneven areas and cracks in the sidewalks were marked with eye-catching orange paint.

We even had the opportunity to meet with students in Greensboro who are part of the Early College Academies of Education, Engineering and Health Sciences. I was surprised at how specific these students were about their future career goals. Some were interested in nursing, especially midwifery and neonatology, and I talked with one girl over lunch. She knew she wanted to be a nurse, but had no clue what her specialty would be. I reassured her that she had plenty of time to make that decision and that keeping her mind open now was far more important than having a concrete plan.

It was easy during the trip to feel as though we were in a microcosm, separated from our jobs and able to absorb experiences without any influence from outside factors. That’s what made our trip to the Balsam Mountain Inn so surreal.

The Tar Heel Bus Tour is a whirlwind five-day trek that introduces new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty to the state and its people. I and Pam Jenkins, the School of Nursing’s Continuing Education director, joined other new university faculty members for what I can only describe as a jam-packed, exhausting – but very educational – experience.

We made our first stop in Rocky Mount at Crossworks Inc., a breast cancer awareness and prevention program. The program, led by the owner of a beauty salon, uses lay educators, most of whom are hair stylists, to encourage women to engage in breast cancer detection behaviors. I was truly moved to hear survivors tell their stories of diagnosis and treatment.

After taking a wrong turn and finding ourselves further up the mountain than expected, our bus driver tried desperately to negotiate a three-point turn between a thicket and a 100-year-old tree. This was also the day that former Sen. John Edwards endorsed presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. Never would I have imagined that a newspaper reporter could have tracked down my fellow tourist, Ferrel Guillory, director of Carolina’s Program on Public Life in the Center for the Study of the American South, for a quote. But it happened. The persistence of technology is amazing.

Woven into our trips to beautiful places, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, and ecological venues, including the Deep River Dam in Carbonton, were stops in places that are unique to North Carolina culture.

A morning visit to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base left me completely overwhelmed. The sight of an F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft was stunning, driving home the reality that we are a country at war. I took the opportunity to climb into the cockpit and was shocked to see how old the controls and seats looked. The colonel accompanying us told me the plane was, in fact, commissioned in 1988. I don’t know why I was so shocked to see an in-commission plane looking so “out-of-date.” After all, the United States sent astronauts to the moon without digital equipment in the 1960s!

We topped off our trip with a visit to the Victory Junction Gang Camp for medically and physically-disabled children. NASCAR’s Kyle and Patty Petty opened the camp in honor of their son Adam who was killed in a 2000 race car crash. Children at Victory Junction can play in state-of-the-art equipment, including a wheelchair accessible pool, a sauna and a race car simulator. It’s an understatement to say this stop was heartwarming.

Although I was thoroughly exhausted when we returned to Chapel Hill, I’m so glad I went on the Bus Tour. Beginning and ending our trip on such positive notes and experiencing the beauty and charm of North Carolina at places in between was truly a wonderful introduction to being a UNC faculty member. It made me appreciate the diversity of our students and inspired me to consider how best to serve North Carolina’s older adults and families.

This was not our only health-related visit, however. Later in the week, in Hendersonville, we visited with Walk Wise Drive Smart program, a multi-party partnership among the Center for Aging and Health, the Healthy Aging Research Network, and UNC’s Center for Aging and Health that promotes safe walking for older adults. As a geriatric nurse and a researcher on aging, this was right up my alley! I was impressed that a power-walking route was marked by yellow apples and arrows spray painted on the sidewalks and that uneven areas and cracks in the sidewalks were marked with eye-catching orange paint.

We even had the opportunity to meet with students in Greensboro who are part of the Early College Academies of Education, Engineering and Health Sciences. I was surprised at how specific these students were about their future career goals. Some were interested in nursing, especially midwifery and neonatology, and I talked with one girl over lunch. She knew she wanted to be a nurse, but had no clue what her specialty would be. I reassured her that she had plenty of time to make that decision and that keeping her mind open now was far more important than having a concrete plan.

It was easy during the trip to feel as though we were in a microcosm, separated from our jobs and able to absorb experiences without any influence from outside factors. That’s what made our trip to the Balsam Mountain Inn so surreal.

The Tar Heel Bus Tour is a whirlwind five-day trek that introduces new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty to the state and its people. I and Pam Jenkins, the School of Nursing’s Continuing Education director, joined other new university faculty members for what I can only describe as a jam-packed, exhausting – but very educational – experience.

We made our first stop in Rocky Mount at Crossworks Inc., a breast cancer awareness and prevention program. The program, led by the owner of a beauty salon, uses lay educators, most of whom are hair stylists, to encourage women to engage in breast cancer detection behaviors. I was truly moved to hear survivors tell their stories of diagnosis and treatment.

After taking a wrong turn and finding ourselves further up the mountain than expected, our bus driver tried desperately to negotiate a three-point turn between a thicket and a 100-year-old tree. This was also the day that former Sen. John Edwards endorsed presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. Never would I have imagined that a newspaper reporter could have tracked down my fellow tourist, Ferrel Guillory, director of Carolina’s Program on Public Life in the Center for the Study of the American South, for a quote. But it happened. The persistence of technology is amazing.

Woven into our trips to beautiful places, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, and ecological venues, including the Deep River Dam in Carbonton, were stops in places that are unique to North Carolina culture.

A morning visit to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base left me completely overwhelmed. The sight of an F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft was stunning, driving home the reality that we are a country at war. I took the opportunity to climb into the cockpit and was shocked to see how old the controls and seats looked. The colonel accompanying us told me the plane was, in fact, commissioned in 1988. I don’t know why I was so shocked to see an in-commission plane looking so “out-of-date.” After all, the United States sent astronauts to the moon without digital equipment in the 1960s!

We topped off our trip with a visit to the Victory Junction Gang Camp for medically and physically-disabled children. NASCAR’s Kyle and Patty Petty opened the camp in honor of their son Adam who was killed in a 2000 race car crash. Children at Victory Junction can play in state-of-the-art equipment, including a wheelchair accessible pool, a sauna and a race car simulator. It’s an understatement to say this stop was heartwarming.

Although I was thoroughly exhausted when we returned to Chapel Hill, I’m so glad I went on the Bus Tour. Beginning and ending our trip on such positive notes and experiencing the beauty and charm of North Carolina at places in between was truly a wonderful introduction to being a UNC faculty member. It made me appreciate the diversity of our students and inspired me to consider how best to serve North Carolina’s older adults and families.

The experiences these women had of residing, studying and working together have bound them to each other in unique ways. Many have lived and practiced in areas all over the world, yet they still talk about the impact of their time at Carolina. This special group of women celebrated their reunion with shared memories and much laughter.

The experiences these women had of residing, studying and working together have bound them to each other in unique ways. Many have lived and practiced in areas all over the world, yet they still talk about the impact of their time at Carolina. This special group of women celebrated their reunion with shared memories and much laughter.

virtualIn the coming months the School of Nursing Alumni

Association will unveil a new online community. It will make it easier to locate and communicate with classmates and

find opportunities for continuing education, mentoring and other alumni events. We hope this will be a way to

keep school resources handy for our alumni who can only “visit” us virtually, as well as those nearby. In the

meantime, keep up with the latest SON news by visiting our blog http://carolinanursingnews.com, and check us out on Facebook by joining the UNC School of Nursing

Alumni Association group. To search for and join the SON’s Alumni Facebook page, visit www.facebook.com.

The Alumni Association continued making outreach a priority by sponsoring opportunities for continuing education in regions around the state and a get together for alumni in the Washington, D.C., area. Here in Chapel Hill the organization chose four scholarship recipients and met to nominate new members.

virtualIn the coming months the School of Nursing Alumni

Association will unveil a new online community. It will make it easier to locate and communicate with classmates and

find opportunities for continuing education, mentoring and other alumni events. We hope this will be a way to

keep school resources handy for our alumni who can only “visit” us virtually, as well as those nearby. In the

meantime, keep up with the latest SON news by visiting our blog http://carolinanursingnews.com, and check us out on Facebook by joining the UNC School of Nursing

Alumni Association group. To search for and join the SON’s Alumni Facebook page, visit www.facebook.com.

The Alumni Association continued making outreach a priority by sponsoring opportunities for continuing education in regions around the state and a get together for alumni in the Washington, D.C., area. Here in Chapel Hill the organization chose four scholarship recipients and met to nominate new members.

Almost everything in life is stressful – the good things and the bad. Coping with these feelings can be difficult, especially when an illness or pain is involved. But controlling stressors is not something most people do well.

That’s where Jon Seskevich, BSN ’87, comes in. For almost two decades, Seskevich has worked with patients, their families and their health care providers to teach stress and pain management. On any given day, he can see gun shot victims, sickle cell anemia patients or patients who cannot read. He listens to what is going on in their lives and offers techniques to minimize the impact events have on them.

“Stress isn’t about problems, it’s about change. Patients can more easily accept that they have change in their lives,” he said. “When people are struggling with an unwanted and unexpected illness, they often hear ‘relax,’ but no one ever tells them how. I teach people how to do it.”

Seskevich began his career as a nurse’s aide in 1975. The next year, he became a licensed practical nurse and started

studying yoga, meditation and spirituality with Ram Dass, the nationally-renown meditation expert, spiritual teacher and writer. He came to North Carolina in 1982 and joined the staff of the oncology unit at Durham Regional Hospital. He later worked on the chronic pain and psychosomatic unit at Duke University Medical Center where he finally began to implement his skills as a stress management consultant.

And the results, he said, have been overwhelmingly positive. Since he started his current job at Duke in 1990, he has seen more than 25,000 patients, averaging between eight and 13 visits a day. At first, he only treated patients in the oncology, cardiac, gastroenterology, pulmonary and renal units. But as the popularity of his services grew, and as nurses familiar with his work transferred to other units and requested that he visit their patients, hospital nursing administration made him available to all patients. Initially, 100 percent of his referrals came from nurses, but today, 50 percent come from doctors – a testament to how widely word of his skills has spread.His teaching is successful, he said, because he shows patients how to exercise some

control over their stress and pain. The effects also spill over onto the nursing staff.

“One of my supervisors told me that even if I were just making the patients feel better, it would be wonderful,” he said. “But by making them feel better, I’m also helping the nurses do their jobs.”

The key to helping patients feel better is to follow a three-step plan: soft-belly breathing where breaths are slow and deep, relaxing and allowing a chair or bed to support

the body and repeating relaxation words. Relaxation words can either be spiritual or not. Some patients choose phrases related to their faith, and others choose positive affirmations, such as “I can do this” or “I love my mom.” The goal, he said, is to help people let go of the stressful thoughts and feelings and learn how to manage them when they arise.

“I feel lucky and blessed to have a job like this,” he said. “It is a pure experience for the sole benefit of the patient.”

Most recently, he contributed a chapter on stress management in a book written by faculty and researchers in the Duke psychology department. The book is intended to help doctors, nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants work with patients who have complicated problems.

Seskevich hasn’t limited his stress and pain management knowledge to the hospital, however. This past November, he led a session during the SON’s Alumni Appreciation Day Continuing Education event called, “Jewels of Stress Management for Nurses and Their Patients.” Many alumni who attended responded well to his presentation, and some saw a need for his services in their own work environment.

“When I was in nursing school, stress management theory seemed just that – theory,” said Denise Darden, BSN ’77, president of the SON Foundation Board. “But after Jon’s session, I

understand that stress management can be used in personal and professional environments. I think my hospital could benefit from his expertise.”

Additionally, Seskevich gave a presentation entitled “The Heart of Stress Management” at the 2008 International Association of Human Caring Conference held in Chapel Hill.

Seskevich has also made an effort to reach health care providers and other interested

individuals out in the community. In 1986, he founded the Flying Monkey Foundation, an organization that sponsored more than 60 mind-body-spirit educational workshops and seminars in North Carolina. These programs targeted nurses, doctors and health care professionals to teach them to deliver compassionate care to patients and their families.

Although Flying Monkey is no longer in operation, Seskevich still plans and coordinates stress management meetings from time to time. One of his recent workshops offered continuing education units to nurses who attended. More than 200 people came to the lecture, and 75 people attended the full-day workshop.

His hard work and dedication to patient comfort and well being has not gone unrecognized. In 1997, he received the Alumnus of the Year award from the SON, and in 2006, he was named to the Great 100 in North Carolina Nursing list.

Even in his personal pastimes Seskevich helps people relax. For years, he said, people have commented on how soothing his voice his, so he created a spoken word, 37-minute CD, called Sleep, that is intended to help people achieve much-needed rest. In addition, pharmaceutical companies disseminated copies of his CD, Stress Management, to approximately 10,000 people with cancer.

Almost everything in life is stressful – the good things and the bad. Coping with these feelings can be difficult, especially when an illness or pain is involved. But controlling stressors is not something most people do well.

That’s where Jon Seskevich, BSN ’87, comes in. For almost two decades, Seskevich has worked with patients, their families and their health care providers to teach stress and pain management. On any given day, he can see gun shot victims, sickle cell anemia patients or patients who cannot read. He listens to what is going on in their lives and offers techniques to minimize the impact events have on them.

“Stress isn’t about problems, it’s about change. Patients can more easily accept that they have change in their lives,” he said. “When people are struggling with an unwanted and unexpected illness, they often hear ‘relax,’ but no one ever tells them how. I teach people how to do it.”

Seskevich began his career as a nurse’s aide in 1975. The next year, he became a licensed practical nurse and started

studying yoga, meditation and spirituality with Ram Dass, the nationally-renown meditation expert, spiritual teacher and writer. He came to North Carolina in 1982 and joined the staff of the oncology unit at Durham Regional Hospital. He later worked on the chronic pain and psychosomatic unit at Duke University Medical Center where he finally began to implement his skills as a stress management consultant.

And the results, he said, have been overwhelmingly positive. Since he started his current job at Duke in 1990, he has seen more than 25,000 patients, averaging between eight and 13 visits a day. At first, he only treated patients in the oncology, cardiac, gastroenterology, pulmonary and renal units. But as the popularity of his services grew, and as nurses familiar with his work transferred to other units and requested that he visit their patients, hospital nursing administration made him available to all patients. Initially, 100 percent of his referrals came from nurses, but today, 50 percent come from doctors – a testament to how widely word of his skills has spread.His teaching is successful, he said, because he shows patients how to exercise some

control over their stress and pain. The effects also spill over onto the nursing staff.

“One of my supervisors told me that even if I were just making the patients feel better, it would be wonderful,” he said. “But by making them feel better, I’m also helping the nurses do their jobs.”

The key to helping patients feel better is to follow a three-step plan: soft-belly breathing where breaths are slow and deep, relaxing and allowing a chair or bed to support

the body and repeating relaxation words. Relaxation words can either be spiritual or not. Some patients choose phrases related to their faith, and others choose positive affirmations, such as “I can do this” or “I love my mom.” The goal, he said, is to help people let go of the stressful thoughts and feelings and learn how to manage them when they arise.

“I feel lucky and blessed to have a job like this,” he said. “It is a pure experience for the sole benefit of the patient.”

Most recently, he contributed a chapter on stress management in a book written by faculty and researchers in the Duke psychology department. The book is intended to help doctors, nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants work with patients who have complicated problems.

Seskevich hasn’t limited his stress and pain management knowledge to the hospital, however. This past November, he led a session during the SON’s Alumni Appreciation Day Continuing Education event called, “Jewels of Stress Management for Nurses and Their Patients.” Many alumni who attended responded well to his presentation, and some saw a need for his services in their own work environment.

“When I was in nursing school, stress management theory seemed just that – theory,” said Denise Darden, BSN ’77, president of the SON Foundation Board. “But after Jon’s session, I

understand that stress management can be used in personal and professional environments. I think my hospital could benefit from his expertise.”

Additionally, Seskevich gave a presentation entitled “The Heart of Stress Management” at the 2008 International Association of Human Caring Conference held in Chapel Hill.

Seskevich has also made an effort to reach health care providers and other interested

individuals out in the community. In 1986, he founded the Flying Monkey Foundation, an organization that sponsored more than 60 mind-body-spirit educational workshops and seminars in North Carolina. These programs targeted nurses, doctors and health care professionals to teach them to deliver compassionate care to patients and their families.

Although Flying Monkey is no longer in operation, Seskevich still plans and coordinates stress management meetings from time to time. One of his recent workshops offered continuing education units to nurses who attended. More than 200 people came to the lecture, and 75 people attended the full-day workshop.

His hard work and dedication to patient comfort and well being has not gone unrecognized. In 1997, he received the Alumnus of the Year award from the SON, and in 2006, he was named to the Great 100 in North Carolina Nursing list.

Even in his personal pastimes Seskevich helps people relax. For years, he said, people have commented on how soothing his voice his, so he created a spoken word, 37-minute CD, called Sleep, that is intended to help people achieve much-needed rest. In addition, pharmaceutical companies disseminated copies of his CD, Stress Management, to approximately 10,000 people with cancer.

School of Nursing faculty, staff and student representative serving on the committee are:

Peggy Leatt from the School of Public Health, Anthony Meyer from the School of Medicine, and Brent Wissick from the College of Arts and Sciences are also serving.

For more information or to nominate a candidate, please contact:

Bob_Blouin@unc.eduDebbie_Stevenson@unc.edu

Over the next year the School of Nursing (SON) will celebrate the legacy and leadership of Dean Linda Cronenwett as it searches for a new dean to step into the role. Cronenwett, who will have served as the School’s dean for 10 years as of June 30, 2009, is stepping back then into the faculty ranks as professor. She will continue to lead Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN), the national Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded initiative to integrate quality and safety education for nurses into undergraduate and graduate curricula nationwide.

During Dean Cronenwett’s tenure, the School has made significant strides toward meeting the nursing shortage by expanding undergraduate enrollment, doubled its research and teaching space with the construction of a new building, provided for needed student support by adding scholarships and awards, and increased its commitment to multiculturalism and diversity. These are but a few of the milestones the School has achieved in this decade. As we honor Dean Cronenwett in the months to come before she leaves office, we will be talking more about her legacy and leadership.

Provost Bernadette Gray-Little appointed the search committee in April 2008. Chaired by UNC School of Pharmacy Dean Bob Blouin, the committee first met in May 2008 and is placing recruitment announcements in major national publications. Committee members will actively solicit nominations from an extensive network of professional contacts in order to identify the next leader of the School.

The committee will begin interviewing candidates by early 2009 and hopes to make recommendations to the Provost for her consideration next spring.

Remember those days when you were a student nurse at Carolina? The field was wide open and you were short on experience but long on enthusiasm? Today’s students feel the same way. While job opportunities are plentiful, decisions are intimidating and learning from alumni can be an incredible resource for students as they find their own career paths.

The SON Alumni Association provides opportunities for student and alumni interaction on a personal basis, but this is harder to do for students interested in professional concentrations beyond what is available in the local area. So, we began a virtual mentoring program, pairing interested students with alumni in various geographic regions or areas of practice. This initiative allows current students to talk to alumni via e-mail and learn firsthand about what they do and life in their communities.

SON student, Lauren Cheek, will graduate in December and spoke several times with two alumni as she prepared for a summer work experience and plans for the future. Ivy Jones, BSN ’04, and Patricia Jenkins, BSN ’04, helped Cheek make some important decisions and offered lots of support.

“Corresponding with Trish and Ivy was helpful for me, as I sought information about working in either Charlottesville or Dallas,” Cheek said. “Speaking with them gave me a unique student’s point-of-view. This is something that you cannot get from looking at the institutions online or visiting yourself. They gave me the inside scoop.”

Cheek, a native of Graham, N.C., spent her summer externship in the medical intensive care unit at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and now has some very clear future plans. Her experience with the mentoring program not only provided her with valuable information, but it also gave her a great feeling of connection to other SON graduates.

“Both Trish and Ivy were very welcoming over e-mail! They answered my numerous questions, were very prompt in replying to my questions, and made me feel comfortable,” she said. “I felt as if I could easily meet them for lunch after a couple of e-mails.”

The process is rewarding for participating alumni, as well.

School of Nursing faculty, staff and student representative serving on the committee are:

Peggy Leatt from the School of Public Health, Anthony Meyer from the School of Medicine, and Brent Wissick from the College of Arts and Sciences are also serving.

For more information or to nominate a candidate, please contact:

Bob_Blouin@unc.eduDebbie_Stevenson@unc.edu

Over the next year the School of Nursing (SON) will celebrate the legacy and leadership of Dean Linda Cronenwett as it searches for a new dean to step into the role. Cronenwett, who will have served as the School’s dean for 10 years as of June 30, 2009, is stepping back then into the faculty ranks as professor. She will continue to lead Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN), the national Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded initiative to integrate quality and safety education for nurses into undergraduate and graduate curricula nationwide.

During Dean Cronenwett’s tenure, the School has made significant strides toward meeting the nursing shortage by expanding undergraduate enrollment, doubled its research and teaching space with the construction of a new building, provided for needed student support by adding scholarships and awards, and increased its commitment to multiculturalism and diversity. These are but a few of the milestones the School has achieved in this decade. As we honor Dean Cronenwett in the months to come before she leaves office, we will be talking more about her legacy and leadership.

Provost Bernadette Gray-Little appointed the search committee in April 2008. Chaired by UNC School of Pharmacy Dean Bob Blouin, the committee first met in May 2008 and is placing recruitment announcements in major national publications. Committee members will actively solicit nominations from an extensive network of professional contacts in order to identify the next leader of the School.

The committee will begin interviewing candidates by early 2009 and hopes to make recommendations to the Provost for her consideration next spring.

Remember those days when you were a student nurse at Carolina? The field was wide open and you were short on experience but long on enthusiasm? Today’s students feel the same way. While job opportunities are plentiful, decisions are intimidating and learning from alumni can be an incredible resource for students as they find their own career paths.

The SON Alumni Association provides opportunities for student and alumni interaction on a personal basis, but this is harder to do for students interested in professional concentrations beyond what is available in the local area. So, we began a virtual mentoring program, pairing interested students with alumni in various geographic regions or areas of practice. This initiative allows current students to talk to alumni via e-mail and learn firsthand about what they do and life in their communities.

SON student, Lauren Cheek, will graduate in December and spoke several times with two alumni as she prepared for a summer work experience and plans for the future. Ivy Jones, BSN ’04, and Patricia Jenkins, BSN ’04, helped Cheek make some important decisions and offered lots of support.

“Corresponding with Trish and Ivy was helpful for me, as I sought information about working in either Charlottesville or Dallas,” Cheek said. “Speaking with them gave me a unique student’s point-of-view. This is something that you cannot get from looking at the institutions online or visiting yourself. They gave me the inside scoop.”

Cheek, a native of Graham, N.C., spent her summer externship in the medical intensive care unit at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and now has some very clear future plans. Her experience with the mentoring program not only provided her with valuable information, but it also gave her a great feeling of connection to other SON graduates.

“Both Trish and Ivy were very welcoming over e-mail! They answered my numerous questions, were very prompt in replying to my questions, and made me feel comfortable,” she said. “I felt as if I could easily meet them for lunch after a couple of e-mails.”

The process is rewarding for participating alumni, as well.

For decades, the generation born after World War II has identified itself as the Baby Boomers. But, as they age, the health care industry has given them a new moniker – the Silver Tsunami. And this fall, the issues important to them are coming to the School of Nursing (SON).

Under the leadership of Umphlet Distinguished Professor in Aging Mary H. Palmer, the SON is at the forefront of gerontological research and care in North Carolina and internationally. The School is also collaborating with other area universities to optimize care for the aging population.

This September, it is the SON’s turn to host the Duke-Carolina Geriatric Visiting Scholar. From Sept. 17-19, invited speaker, Jean Wyman, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, professor, Cora Meidl Siehl Endowed Chair in Nursing Research and professor of community health and family practice at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, will discuss her areas of research – incontinence, falls and mobility – with the faculty, students and public.

Wyman will present the Carol Hogue Lecture which honors the distinguished UNC-Duke professor. Her public lecture will be at 3 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the Carolina Club in Chapel Hill, N.C. She will also participate in a retreat with Duke and Carolina faculty and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) case managers from Sept. 18-19, discussing potential collaborations that will advance geriatric research, education and practice. The visiting professorship, in its fifth year, is funded by BCBSNC.

The Hogue Lecture will also be the cornerstone of the second annual National Gerontological Nurses Week held at the SON. Assistant professor Mary Lynn Piven is planning the schedule. Full details will be available soon.

“Ten thousand Americans turn 62 every day, so we are creating a synergy of effort from new people to prepare the nursing workforce for this ‘Silver Tsunami,’” Palmer said. “We are generating the enthusiasm to work toward ways that will help meet the health challenges in this population.”

The SON is also advancing the cause of geriatric education and research in academic ways. According to Marilyn Oermann, professor and chair of the Adult and Geriatric Health Division, the School is developing a geriatric nurse practitioner track as part of the adult nurse practitioner program.

Geriatric education will also hit the virtual world soon as the School works to establish a virtual center in geriatric clinical simulation. The center will directly target registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants. These online courses would offer contact hours in various subjects, such as heart failure, sepsis, incontinence and pressure ulcers.

Look for other Save the Date notices and news from the SON, publicizing times and locations for the various gerontological nursing events occurring this fall.

Do you look back and fondly remember your time at the School of Nursing (SON)? Would you like to leave a positive mark on the institution or recognize a loved one or friend who has impacted the School in some way? Maybe creating a named fund has been in the back of your mind, but you’re sure you could never afford to do it.

SON graduate and vice president of sales and marketing at Roche, Barbara Senich, BSN ’79, recently asked herself these questions when deciding how she wanted to create a named fund. She determined that you don’t have to be a Rockefeller to set up an endowment that will benefit the School, its faculty and its students for decades to come.

To let others interested in establishing an endowment know how simple it could be, Senich wrote a “How-To” document that details the types of funds and what each one requires. She includes the specifics about how much money is needed to start a fund and how it can be designed.

“We have the perception that one must be wealthy to create an endowed fund,” Senich said. “We wrote the document to dispel that myth! You don’t have to be a Rockefeller to establish an endowment. It may take less than you think.”

It’s possible to create two types of funds at the School – an expendable fund or an endowment fund. An endowment fund is an enduring investment that will support something meaningful for current and future faculty and students.

You could designate your fund to support any number of areas – heart disease, women’s health, mental health, gerontology or Carrington Hall. The choice is yours! The School will keep you apprised of your fund’s yearly progress, and you will be invited to donor recognition events. You’ll

meet the recipients of the scholarship you created, and you’ll be included in the School’s various communications (magazine, Web site, Blog, etc.)

And despite what you think, you don’t have to create a fund on your own – couples, families, groups of friends and classmates have all established funds over the years. It’s a great way to honor parents who don’t need more material things or to remember a deceased classmate. No matter your desire, an endowed fund can fulfill your plan.

For decades, the generation born after World War II has identified itself as the Baby Boomers. But, as they age, the health care industry has given them a new moniker – the Silver Tsunami. And this fall, the issues important to them are coming to the School of Nursing (SON).

Under the leadership of Umphlet Distinguished Professor in Aging Mary H. Palmer, the SON is at the forefront of gerontological research and care in North Carolina and internationally. The School is also collaborating with other area universities to optimize care for the aging population.

This September, it is the SON’s turn to host the Duke-Carolina Geriatric Visiting Scholar. From Sept. 17-19, invited speaker, Jean Wyman, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, professor, Cora Meidl Siehl Endowed Chair in Nursing Research and professor of community health and family practice at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, will discuss her areas of research – incontinence, falls and mobility – with the faculty, students and public.

Wyman will present the Carol Hogue Lecture which honors the distinguished UNC-Duke professor. Her public lecture will be at 3 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the Carolina Club in Chapel Hill, N.C. She will also participate in a retreat with Duke and Carolina faculty and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) case managers from Sept. 18-19, discussing potential collaborations that will advance geriatric research, education and practice. The visiting professorship, in its fifth year, is funded by BCBSNC.

The Hogue Lecture will also be the cornerstone of the second annual National Gerontological Nurses Week held at the SON. Assistant professor Mary Lynn Piven is planning the schedule. Full details will be available soon.

“Ten thousand Americans turn 62 every day, so we are creating a synergy of effort from new people to prepare the nursing workforce for this ‘Silver Tsunami,’” Palmer said. “We are generating the enthusiasm to work toward ways that will help meet the health challenges in this population.”

The SON is also advancing the cause of geriatric education and research in academic ways. According to Marilyn Oermann, professor and chair of the Adult and Geriatric Health Division, the School is developing a geriatric nurse practitioner track as part of the adult nurse practitioner program.

Geriatric education will also hit the virtual world soon as the School works to establish a virtual center in geriatric clinical simulation. The center will directly target registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants. These online courses would offer contact hours in various subjects, such as heart failure, sepsis, incontinence and pressure ulcers.

Look for other Save the Date notices and news from the SON, publicizing times and locations for the various gerontological nursing events occurring this fall.

Do you look back and fondly remember your time at the School of Nursing (SON)? Would you like to leave a positive mark on the institution or recognize a loved one or friend who has impacted the School in some way? Maybe creating a named fund has been in the back of your mind, but you’re sure you could never afford to do it.

SON graduate and vice president of sales and marketing at Roche, Barbara Senich, BSN ’79, recently asked herself these questions when deciding how she wanted to create a named fund. She determined that you don’t have to be a Rockefeller to set up an endowment that will benefit the School, its faculty and its students for decades to come.

To let others interested in establishing an endowment know how simple it could be, Senich wrote a “How-To” document that details the types of funds and what each one requires. She includes the specifics about how much money is needed to start a fund and how it can be designed.

“We have the perception that one must be wealthy to create an endowed fund,” Senich said. “We wrote the document to dispel that myth! You don’t have to be a Rockefeller to establish an endowment. It may take less than you think.”

It’s possible to create two types of funds at the School – an expendable fund or an endowment fund. An endowment fund is an enduring investment that will support something meaningful for current and future faculty and students.

You could designate your fund to support any number of areas – heart disease, women’s health, mental health, gerontology or Carrington Hall. The choice is yours! The School will keep you apprised of your fund’s yearly progress, and you will be invited to donor recognition events. You’ll

meet the recipients of the scholarship you created, and you’ll be included in the School’s various communications (magazine, Web site, Blog, etc.)

And despite what you think, you don’t have to create a fund on your own – couples, families, groups of friends and classmates have all established funds over the years. It’s a great way to honor parents who don’t need more material things or to remember a deceased classmate. No matter your desire, an endowed fund can fulfill your plan.

The SON welcomed five new clinical instructors: Abigail Coffin, Nakia Best, Betty Nance, Michelle White and Elizabeth Wells.

The SON also welcome a new assistant professor, Coretta Jenerette, and two clinical assistant professors, Meg Zomorodi and Dinah Welch.

Megan Parpart was promoted to clinical assistant professor.

Laura McQueen was promoted to clinical associate professor.

Wanda Wazenegger was promoted to clinical assistant professor.

Jennie Wagner was promoted to clinical assistant professor.

Syvil Burke, BSN ’79, was appointed first assistant dean for admission and student affairs for Duke University School of Nursing. Burke has been a longtime nurse at Duke Hospital, serving as nurse manager and associate operating officer for the transplant and dialysis service lines.

Roulhac Johnson, BSN ‘00, her husband Greg and son James Jay, welcomed baby Sarah Catherine into their family on May 14. Sarah Catherine weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. at birth and was 20 inches long.

Allison Reilly, BSN ’06, recently was accepted to the MS program at the University of California-San Francisco School of Nursing in the Gerontological Nurse Practitioner track. While in school, she will work at On Lok Senior Health Services, an organization that provides comprehensive care (both long term and acute) to elders living in the community.

Angeline Robertson, BSN ’93, completed her MSN with a concentration in neonatal nurse practitioner from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in May 2008. Robertson is currently a neonatal intensive care unit nurse at CMC-Northeast.

Tonya Rutherford Hemming, BSN ‘93, MSN ‘01, has taken a new position as assistant professor with Loyola University in Chicago, teaching in the adult and family nurse practitioner program.

Join us for building tours and demos, lunch on the Carrington lawn and other pre-game fun on Nov. 8, 2008, as we welcome all SON alumni back to campus! A small number of football tickets are also available to purchase as the Tar Heels take on Georgia Tech. The BSN Classes of ’63 and ’73 have special reunion activities planned.

Don’t miss the fun as we celebrate Homecoming at Carolina and Alumni Day at the SON!

Amy Bell, RNC, MSN, achieved her goal and became a Carolina nurse. Growing up in a Carolina family and taking part in the prestigious North Carolina Nurse Scholars program seemed to provide a clear career path for her. Today, she helps others achieve the same goal by giving back to the SON each year.

Bell received her BSN through the RN to BSN program and continued practicing as a nurse at Northeast Medical Center in Concord, N.C. With a husband, children and a career, she also made the decision to go back to earn her MSN, driving to Chapel Hill each week from her home in Landis.

She began a tradition that she has faithfully continued each year: giving back to the School of Nursing (SON). Bell learned the importance of giving back at a young age and said, “there is a time to be fed and a time to feed.” As a nursing student she feels she benefited greatly from the support of others and now takes her turn at providing for current students.

She has not missed a year in her giving, and that consistency helps ensure that funds are available for many worthwhile SON initiatives. Currently Bell serves patients in her community as Nurse Manager, Labor and Delivery and High-Risk OB, at Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast in Concord, but she also serves patients everywhere by providing support for future nurses.

Both undergraduate and graduate students, as they approached graduation, made the decision to give back to the SON as a token of appreciation and as a way to provide for future students. The undergraduate Class of 2008 boasted an amazing 40 percent participation in efforts to purchase electronic signage for the School. Members of the Graduate Students Association made a significant collective contribution, as well, and will look forward to a naming which will recognize the class and honor graduate faculty.

Norma Hawthorne, director of advancement, said student giving has a tremendous impact on the School. “When students give back to the School of Nursing it is meaningful. They are not yet out in the world of work, earning an income, yet they feel compelled to ensure that those who come after them have the same excellent learning experiences as they did.”

The SON welcomed five new clinical instructors: Abigail Coffin, Nakia Best, Betty Nance, Michelle White and Elizabeth Wells.

The SON also welcome a new assistant professor, Coretta Jenerette, and two clinical assistant professors, Meg Zomorodi and Dinah Welch.

Megan Parpart was promoted to clinical assistant professor.

Laura McQueen was promoted to clinical associate professor.

Wanda Wazenegger was promoted to clinical assistant professor.

Jennie Wagner was promoted to clinical assistant professor.

Syvil Burke, BSN ’79, was appointed first assistant dean for admission and student affairs for Duke University School of Nursing. Burke has been a longtime nurse at Duke Hospital, serving as nurse manager and associate operating officer for the transplant and dialysis service lines.

Roulhac Johnson, BSN ‘00, her husband Greg and son James Jay, welcomed baby Sarah Catherine into their family on May 14. Sarah Catherine weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. at birth and was 20 inches long.

Allison Reilly, BSN ’06, recently was accepted to the MS program at the University of California-San Francisco School of Nursing in the Gerontological Nurse Practitioner track. While in school, she will work at On Lok Senior Health Services, an organization that provides comprehensive care (both long term and acute) to elders living in the community.

Angeline Robertson, BSN ’93, completed her MSN with a concentration in neonatal nurse practitioner from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in May 2008. Robertson is currently a neonatal intensive care unit nurse at CMC-Northeast.

Tonya Rutherford Hemming, BSN ‘93, MSN ‘01, has taken a new position as assistant professor with Loyola University in Chicago, teaching in the adult and family nurse practitioner program.

Join us for building tours and demos, lunch on the Carrington lawn and other pre-game fun on Nov. 8, 2008, as we welcome all SON alumni back to campus! A small number of football tickets are also available to purchase as the Tar Heels take on Georgia Tech. The BSN Classes of ’63 and ’73 have special reunion activities planned.

Don’t miss the fun as we celebrate Homecoming at Carolina and Alumni Day at the SON!

Amy Bell, RNC, MSN, achieved her goal and became a Carolina nurse. Growing up in a Carolina family and taking part in the prestigious North Carolina Nurse Scholars program seemed to provide a clear career path for her. Today, she helps others achieve the same goal by giving back to the SON each year.

Bell received her BSN through the RN to BSN program and continued practicing as a nurse at Northeast Medical Center in Concord, N.C. With a husband, children and a career, she also made the decision to go back to earn her MSN, driving to Chapel Hill each week from her home in Landis.

She began a tradition that she has faithfully continued each year: giving back to the School of Nursing (SON). Bell learned the importance of giving back at a young age and said, “there is a time to be fed and a time to feed.” As a nursing student she feels she benefited greatly from the support of others and now takes her turn at providing for current students.

She has not missed a year in her giving, and that consistency helps ensure that funds are available for many worthwhile SON initiatives. Currently Bell serves patients in her community as Nurse Manager, Labor and Delivery and High-Risk OB, at Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast in Concord, but she also serves patients everywhere by providing support for future nurses.

Both undergraduate and graduate students, as they approached graduation, made the decision to give back to the SON as a token of appreciation and as a way to provide for future students. The undergraduate Class of 2008 boasted an amazing 40 percent participation in efforts to purchase electronic signage for the School. Members of the Graduate Students Association made a significant collective contribution, as well, and will look forward to a naming which will recognize the class and honor graduate faculty.

Norma Hawthorne, director of advancement, said student giving has a tremendous impact on the School. “When students give back to the School of Nursing it is meaningful. They are not yet out in the world of work, earning an income, yet they feel compelled to ensure that those who come after them have the same excellent learning experiences as they did.”

Rumay Alexander, clinical associate professor, director of multicultural affairs, served as an associate editor for a new book Nursing Leadership: A Concise Encyclopedia. She has also been appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of the National Student Nurses Association.

Assistant professor Debra Barksdale’s abstract, “Stress, John Henryism and Cortisol Responses in Black Women,” was selected as an Abstract of Excellence at the Southern Nursing Research Society.

Donna Helen Crisp, clinical assistant professor, received the Award for the Most Influential Leader from the Class of 2008 at graduation, recognizing her outstanding guidance, inspiration, and nursing excellence.

Linda Cronenwett, dean, was elected as a member of the North Carolina Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety (The Quality Center), Board of Directors.

Carol Durham, clinical associate professor and director of the clinical education and resource center, received the Western Carolina University School of Nursing Alumni of the Year Award.

Beverly Foster, director of undergraduate programs, received the Special Recognition for Exceptional Leadership Award from the Class of 2008 during graduation.

Theresa Raphael-Grimm, clinical associate professor, received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Class of 2008 at graduation in recognition of her outstanding teaching, merit and mentoring.

Norma Hawthorne, director of advancement, was elected chair of Nursing Advancement Professionals, part of a professional development network within the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Maureen Kelly, clinical assistant professor, received the Graduate Faculty Teaching Award.

Gail Mazzocco, clinical associate professor and statewide AHEC liaison, was recently elected as the treasurer for the North Carolina League for Nursing.

A paper by professor Marge S. Miles, “Process Evaluation in Intervention Research: The Nurse Parent Support Intervention with Rural African American Mothers of Pre-term Infants” was chosen as an Abstract of Excellence at the Southern Nursing Research Society.

Merle Mishel, Kenan Professor of Nursing and director of the doctoral and post-doctoral programs, was invited to deliver the keynote address at the 50th anniversary of the School of Nursing at the University of Arizona. She was also featured in a nurse theorist video series, entitled Portraits of Excellence.

Laura Nasir, clinical assistant professor, is a new co-chair of the the North Carolina Immunization Coalition, a statewide network that coordinates, advocates and promotes efforts to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with vaccine-preventable diseases.

Virginia Neelon, associate professor and director of the biobehavioral lab, received the School of Nursing’s Faculty Recognition Award.

Gwen Sherwood, associate dean for academic affairs, published her first book International Textbook of Reflective Practice with co-authors from England and Australia. Blackwell Science and Sigma Theta Tau International published the book.

Victoria Soltis-Jarrett, clinical associate professor and MSN coordinator of the psychiatric-mental health program, was elected to the Board of Directors for the International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses. She is the new director of the Adult and Geriatric Division. Her term will run from 2008-2010.

Julee Waldrop, clinical associate professor, received the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties 2008 Outstanding Faculty Practice Award.

Wanda Wazenegger, clinical assistant professor, was selected to receive the “Faculty of the Year” award by UNC Healthcare. The award recognizes Wazenegger’s “dedication and expertise in nursing.”

Meg Zomorodi, clinical assistant professor, won a Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by Graduate Teaching Assistants. She is also the recipient of the Future Faculty Fellow Award, and was elected secretary of the Raleigh Chapter of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association.

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