The Fabulous 50 nurses were chosen from throughout the Tucson area by their peers for their role modeling and mentoring of others, concern for humanity and their contributions to the Tucson community and the profession of nursing.

The 24th annual event is the city's capstone celebration to National Nursing Week and is sponsored by the Tucson Nurses Week Foundation. The Fabulous 50 nurses were chosen from throughout the Tucson area by their peers for their role modeling and mentoring of others, concern for humanity and their contributions to the Tucson community and the profession of nursing.

UA College of Nursing ‘Fabulous 50’ Nurses:

Sharon Hom, PhD, MS, RN, Clinical Assistant Professor

“Southern Arizona has so many outstanding nurses who sincerely deserve recognition for their selfless service to our communities. To be recognized among them is such an honor and humbling, especially when many gave so much to take care of our residents throughout this pandemic. This award is particularly meaningful as we celebrate Nurses Week and the many roles that nurses serve throughout our community. I feel inspired learning of the service and accomplishments of my fellow honorees and it reminds me that we can all uniquely contribute and make a difference in the wellbeing of others.”

Nancy E McGuckin, MPH, MBA, MSN, RN, Lecturer

“One of my favorite quotes is from Clara Barton who helped establish the American Red Cross. She stated, ‘You must never so much think as whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it.’ The actions of registered nurses and nursing students in 2020 and now 2021 have shown exemplary strength and commitment in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the dangers to those nurses who selflessly cared for the people afflicted – even to sacrificing their own lives. Brave, unwavering nurses – in the face of great odds – met the need! I am honored to be a part of such a brave group of people – those who belong to the profession of nursing.”

“Drs. Crist and Loescher were selected for this year’s awards because of their status as role models for leadership and professionalism, their active involvement in supporting the professional development of students, their focus on the advancement of the nursing profession and their inspiring vision of nursing." 

Drs. Crist and Loescher were selected for this year’s awards because of their status as role models for leadership and professionalism, their active involvement in supporting the professional development of students, their focus on the advancement of the nursing profession and their inspiring vision of nursing.

“I was extremely honored to be selected for the WIN Regional Geriatric Nursing Education Award,” Dr. Crist said. “I thank my mentors and colleagues from whom I’ve learned so much, from our critical mass of gerontological nursing educators who are in our Wildcat Interdisciplinary Geroscience Group, to the many PhD, DNP, and entry-level students who have studied and co-collaborated/co-published aging topics, e.g.: diversity, from Mexican American grandparenting with diabetes (Munoz, PhD) to long-term care workers’ implicit bias toward LBGT older adults (May, PhD); transitional care, e.g., family caregivers as part of the acute care team (Bristol, PhD), to delirium care (Spears, DNP), and 27 other student researchers and collaborators. I challenge my CON colleagues to improve education, research, and practice skills through local and international networking resources such as the UA Center on Aging, and the National Hartford Center on Gerontological Nursing Research, to, as in the words of WIN’s Gero-Special Interest Group: “build a cadre of gerontological nurses to advance the mission of WIN in the context of improving care of the older adult.”

Read more about Dr. Crist’s research here.

“This award is a great honor and is especially meaningful at this time in my career,” Dr. Loescher said. “Mentorship takes time and careful thought, but it’s one of the most rewarding parts of my job! I appreciate the nomination from my fellow faculty and students.”

Read more about Dr. Loescher’s research here.

PhD1 Students WIN 

Brayton Amidon
Emerald Bell
Steven Calver
Aubree Carlson
Zhanette Coffee
Carlie Felion
Deanne Hastings
Melissa Hollis
Danielle Morgan

PhD2 Students WIN 

Christine Hodgson
Z Li
Sally Martens
Christine Platt

PhD3 (+) WIN 

Stacy Al-Saleh
Jamie Besel
Claire Bethel
Rhea DeCoteau
Hanne Dolan
Coco Grant
Carrie Langley
Chloe Littzen
Emily Moore
Kim Strauch
Alyssa Weiss
Christy Wyles

Dual PhD/DNP WIN 

Victoria Towers

Research and Information Exchange (R&IE) Posters:

Provider Focused LGBTQIA+ Education: A Quality Improvement Effort: Amir Wael Raad

Improving Tobacco Cessation at a Federally Qualified Health Center: Samantha Wirth, Martha Rukavena, Iesha Floyd

Transitions from Jail for Adults with Mental Illness: Carrie Langley

Reducing No-Shows: Analyzing Reminder Systems and Patient Preferences: Diana Valencia

Research among American Indians Utilizing a Unique Vulnerability Theory Approach: Rhea DeCoteau, Tracy Crane, Lois Loescher

Nutrition-Focused Practice Improvement: Influencing the Nutrition Behavior of Mexican Women: Karissa E. Cain

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve felt helpless as I witnessed devastation occur throughout our nation and disproportionately affect my people on the Navajo Nation,” Dr. Godfrey said.  “When I received notice that GIMC needed help with COVID-19 relief efforts and was asking for nurses specifically, every part of who I am as a nurse and a Navajo woman wanted to help the frontline workers who had been working non-stop for almost a year. Since I didn’t have experience in organizing an immersion experience like this, I reached out immediately to some incredible faculty members to see how, and if, this could be operationalized. From there, the effort and collaboration from all levels within UA CON, Central Arizona AHEC, UAHS, and GIMC was simply amazing.”

Approval from the College of Nursing and UArizona Health Sciences was received on the February 5 and by the 8th, faculty and students were on their way to New Mexico to begin their one-week project.

Learning objectives for the project were geared around encouraging leadership and engagement as the students supported COVID-19 vaccination efforts at GIMC. Students practiced gathering a comprehensive or focused history, performed physical examinations, and developed a problem list for acute and chronic stable health conditions related to COVID-19.

Additionally, they developed a comprehensive plan for health maintenance through immersive and tailored understanding of the health issues and concerns during the COVID 19 pandemic for indigenous communities in New Mexico and the southwest. Ultimately, students had the opportunity to present patient cases to preceptors, faculty or peers; and provided peer review to fellow students on history-taking, reporting of physical exam findings, and the resulting clinical decision-making process during case reviews.

The service learning project is unique because, as Dr. Godfrey points out, it provides a chance to learn and grow both to the service providers and those they are serving. “If anything, I’ve learned more from the community partners on service learning immersions rather than me serving them,” Dr. Godfrey says. “True service learning is a synergistic process that is symbiotic and enriches all parties involved. It unites people in a common purpose and elevates the learning experience from awareness to knowledge. Being able to work with GIMC in their relief efforts was a transformational experience for me. The resilience, strength, and compassion of the people at GIMC and the community members have made an indelible mark on how I will move forward as a nurse, educator, and person.”

The Clinical Immersion Experience was a success by many measures. GIMC received much-needed people power in managing response endeavors and students developed essential cultural competencies that led them to incorporate theories and methods that affect practice in underserved populations. Both GIMC and Drs. Godfrey and Kiser are excited to continue the collaboration and funding is in place for more immersions at GIMC.

“These students developed a strong cultural understanding at the end of the experience,” says DNP Program Director Allen Prettyman, PhD, FNP-BC, FAANP, FNAP. “They all demonstrated that they will be future Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) leaders. In addition the trip was supported by the UArizona Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) and Central Arizona AHEC (CAAHEC) using a collaborative model that supported educational excellence.”

We recently caught up with several of the students who participated in the project to hear more about their experiences.

Anne Fong:

What drew you to participate in this service-learning project?

I wanted to be a part of a small yet critical group of DNP students who could provide support to an overwhelmed care system. I wanted to learn more about the Navajo culture, the Indian Health Service, and the tribal community.

Tell us about the experience.
The experience was eye-opening. I enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoyed interacting with my professors and peers. I enjoyed learning how to say ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ in Navajo, and I enjoyed providing services to the people of the community. It is hard to pick a favorite part, but if I had to, I would pick listening to the patient’s stories and learning about their struggles and their triumphs. The most challenging part was the weather because it was cold the entire time.

What was your biggest takeaway from the experience?

Although Gallup Medical Center is an older, smaller, hospital with limited staff and resources, their cohesiveness and interprofessional collaboration exceed those of any large hospital with expensive equipment and thousands of staff. The way their system is set up is fluid and runs so smoothly that it can handle any trauma that comes their way.  

Lindsay DeWolfe:

What drew you to participate in this service-learning project?

There is no better way to learn about another culture than being immersed in it. It is gratifying for me to learn and work with communities that are so different than my own. Experiences like this make it easier to connect with the myriad of patients I will meet in my future practice. I will understand them better and provide culturally competent care, which is important to me. 

What was your biggest takeaway from the experience?

Meeting many people of the Navajo Nation was the best part of the experience. Each was different in their own way, and each had their own unique life experience that they often shared with me. Many had sad stories, such as losing many family members to the pandemic. I supported them as best I could by empathizing with them and encouraging them that they were making a difference for their people by them getting vaccinated. I also was able to help uplift them with a simple expression of “Yá’át’ééh", which means "hello" in Navajo. This led to some elders teaching me how to say "hello grandmother, grandfather, and granddaughter". The Navajo language is starting to get lost in the modernization of the younger generations, and I hope that the simple greeting helped encourage the continuation of the language somehow.

Stephanie Hallenbeck:

What drew you to participate in this service-learning project?

The project at GIMC initially grabbed my attention because I was very interested in working with the Navajo population. I had spent many night shifts with a colleague from Navajo Nation who told me a lot about her family -- her grandfather was a Navajo code talker. I've been fortunate enough to have many different international experiences, healthcare related and otherwise, but had very little exposure to any Native American cultures, so I felt that this experience would add an important dimension to my cultural knowledge and understanding.

What was your favorite part of this experience?

I sincerely enjoyed working with and getting to know the Navajo people - I would jump at the opportunity to return. My favorite part was talking with patients and learning about their lives. I also enjoyed the nightly discussions led by the faculty members on the trip - these conversations highlighted for me the unique approach that nurse practitioners bring to the healthcare profession and it made me feel proud to be a part of it.

What was your biggest takeaway from the experience?

This experience was an incredibly positive one even at a time of so much pain and suffering. I will never forget the tears of joy and gratitude that were shed by some as they received their vaccination. It is very impressive what Gallup Indian Medical Center is able to accomplish even with limited funding. Every department I interacted with was incredibly well-run - organized, efficient - and all of the staff were very friendly and welcoming. 

“The Barnes Scholarship supported me throughout my College of Nursing journey. This scholarship helped relieve me of my financial stress and therefore I was able to focus fully on my College of Nursing education and graduate Cum Laude. I cannot express how grateful and honored I am to receive this generous donation," ~ Grace Li  ‘20

Across the board, grateful scholars cite the financial support of the Undergraduate Nursing Scholarship as an integral part of their academic and professional successes. Student Kevin Olivares says, “This scholarship will benefit my academic and career goals by easing the overall financial burden of college with less reliance on school loans that would inflate my college debt. This will contribute to increased maneuverability in the workforce after I graduate by permitting me to focus on nursing fields that interest me instead of being slogged down by concerns of huge student debt. It will also let me absorb more of my study materials and enhance my overall learning experiences by allowing me to focus less on the financial logistics of college and more on my academics. This translates to more hours of studying and fine-tuning my nursing skillset.”

We caught up recently with a few recent graduates, who were happy to update us on their current activities and what the Barnes’ scholarship support has meant to them.

Remy Goc, ‘17

What are you up to these days?

I work as a bone marrow transplant RN at Colorado Blood Cancer Institute in Denver, Colorado and love my job and work!

What do you love most about nursing?

Getting to know my patients and developing relationships with them. I am proud to be a caregiver and a source of advice and support during a difficult time.

What are your future plans?

I would like to get ICU training hopefully in the near future, working the ICU unit for a couple years then would love to give travel nursing a try!

How did the Barnes Scholarship make an impact on you?

The Barnes Scholarship helped me out greatly. I remember when I received the news that I had won, I was beyond words and very happy and grateful. It was a huge help for both me and my family and my future honestly.

Eric Smith ‘16

What have you been up to since you graduated? Any updates you’d like to share

personally and professionally?

Since graduation, I have primarily worked as a RN in the ICU. I have also completed a Master’s Degree in Public Health and worked at the University of Arizona for a year before returning to bedside nursing in the ICU. I will also start the DNP-FNP program this August.

What did you love most about your time at the College of Nursing?

I liked the simulation lab and hands on learning.

What do you love most about nursing?

I love the sense of purpose it lends. The work is meaningful and fulfilling and allows the opportunity to continue learning and growing.

How did the Barnes Scholarship make an impact on you?

It allowed me to focus more on my schooling and preparing to be the best nurse possible.

Grace Li  ‘20

What have you been up to since you graduated? Any updates you’d like to share personally and professionally?

Studied to take the NCLEX-RN examination. I recently passed with 60 questions and obtained my license number!

What are your future plans?

I have accepted a job offer to Banner Thunderbird on a general progressive care unit (PCU) and will be starting July 20th! I plan on applying to the BSN-DNP program in the near future (fall 2021).

What do you love most about nursing?

Continuous learning and the ability to provide holistic care to patients and family members.

How did the Barnes Scholarship make an impact on you?

The Barnes Scholarship supported me throughout my College of Nursing journey. This scholarship helped relieve me of my financial stress and therefore I was able to focus fully on my College of Nursing education and graduate Cum Laude. I cannot express how grateful and honored I am to receive this generous donation.

“The new pathways were inspired by the evolution of complex healthcare systems, emergence of innovative nursing roles for influencing health and wellbeing, and the escalating need for nurse educators," ~ Cheryl Lacasse, PhD, RN, AOCNS, RN-MSN Program Coordinator

The RN-MS graduate will be prepared to provide leadership in a variety of practice environments and to influence the delivery of complex healthcare to patients across the trajectory of illness to achieve optimal health outcomes. 

UArizona Nursing’s Master of Science in Nursing program is designed to strengthen care of individuals, families, and communities and leadership abilities while expanding expertise in complex systems across a wide spectrum of health care environments.

“The nursing education pathway will prepare graduates to educate the next generation of nurses and provide quality professional development in healthcare practice settings,” Dr. Lacasse elaborated.  This pathway is designed to provide knowledge and skills development and experiences in leadership in nursing education. 

“The global nursing leadership pathway will prepare graduates to influence health and wellbeing of diverse populations across the global community,” Dr. Lacasse said. This pathway is designed to provide students with perspectives in global health and knowledge and skills to lead global health initiatives that affect the quality of health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

The 30-credit-hour Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program can be completed in 13 months and the 41-credit-hour Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) can be completed in 24 months. Applications are open year-round; the Clinical Systems Leadership pathway admits students in fall, spring, and summer semesters and the Nursing Education and Global Nursing Leadership pathways admit students in the fall and spring semesters.

Apply online

Dean Sorensen was the second dean of the college and helped guide the college in its earliest years. From 1958 until her passing, Dr. Sorensen was deeply involved in the College’s milestones and successes, wearing professional hats that included Professor (1958-1967 and 1987-1988), Dean (1967-1986) and Dean and Professor Emerita (1988-2021). Read more about her life and career here.

“So often are we caught up in what we can improve, that we forget the many things we do well. The DAISY and SUNFlower awards allow the UArizona community to highlight and celebrate what we do right and make the ordinary, extraordinary," ~Timian Godfrey, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, Clinical Assistant Professor

UArizona Nursing partnered with the DAISY Foundation beginning in 2020 and concurrently established its own SUNFlower Awards.  While the DAISY Award is specific to nurses, the college recognized that the faculty’s work could not be done without the College’s dedicated staff. The SUNFlower award seeks to recognize staff members who act as a role model or mentor and demonstrate enthusiasm for creating a successful learning environment, while also demonstrating respect for others.

The awards were strategized by Drs. Timian Godfrey and Lauren Shurson.  Post COVID-19 workloads have increased in conjunction with resource strain but even prior to the pandemic the College was aware of the growing literature that calls for a deliberate cultivation of a healthy work environment and the benefits of meaningful recognition.

“Meaningful recognition reminds us that what we do daily, often perceived as ordinary, is actually quite extraordinary,” Dr. Godfrey says. “So often are we caught up in what we can improve, that we forget the many things we do well. The DAISY and SUNFlower awards allow the UArizona community to highlight and celebrate what we do right and make the ordinary, extraordinary.”

Research shows that meaningful recognition has been shown to be a powerful way to help that process. Drs. Godfrey and Shurson developed a proposal showing the strong clinical evidence base for the benefits of meaningful recognition, exploring the option of translating the positive effects from the clinical realm into our workplace. From there, key faculty and staff members (Cindy Rishel, Cheri Lacasse, Mary O’Connell, Andrea Fisher, Leslie Dupont, Peg Kearney, and Nikki Pikaard) were identified to create the GRACE meaningful recognition program comprising of the DAISY and SUNFlower awards at UArizona Nursing. Members included college leadership, alumni relations, junior faculty, faculty from differing programs (BSN, MSN, DNP, PhD), and staff leadership.

Feedback from last year’s awards – which recognized four outstanding faculty members and one stellar staff member -- has been enthusiastic, which speaks to the program that DAISY has built and the story that the SUNFlower Award is joining. As for the future, Dr. Shurson says, “We hope to extend the impact of meaningful recognition and the DAISY Award to students as the program continues to strengthen. It is important to note throughout the process, close guidance and mentorship is offered by The DAISY Foundation to make sure the program is successful.” So far, 25 nominations have been received for the May Award ceremony.

Nursing Faculty and staff may be nominated by colleagues, peers, patients, families, or alumni.  The award recipients are chosen by a selection committee at University of Arizona College of Nursing. The DAISY Award will be presented twice per year. Each Honoree receives a certificate, a DAISY Award pin and a sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

Nominations are open year round and are easy to submit. “You just need to put the name of the person you’re nominating and a brief story,” Dr. Shurson says.  “We wanted this to be something that was easy to do in the moment after you witness such an event in the passing of an ordinary day. Not only will you be able to make someone else’s day, but the many people have said that writing the nomination story is personally beneficial. It makes more aware of the bigger story that we are all a part of at UArizona Nursing.”

 Award recipients will be announced at the College Award Ceremonies on May 6th and December 10th.  The Award Committee will consider nominations received prior to the 1st week of November for the December Award Ceremony and nominations received prior to the 1st week of April for the May Award Ceremony. Access the DAISY Award nomination form here and the SUNFlower Award nomination form here. 

“We are very proud that the efforts of our hard-working faculty are reflected in the Blue Ridge rankings. Our faculty have been extremely productive, and their innovative research will lead to advances in science and improved health and healthcare." ~ Judith S. Gordon, PhD, Associate Dean for Research

“We are very proud that the efforts of our hard-working faculty are reflected in the Blue Ridge rankings,” said Judith S. Gordon, PhD, Associate Dean for Research in the UA College of Nursing. “Our faculty have been extremely productive, and their innovative research will lead to advances in science and improved health and healthcare.”

The BRIMR rankings underestimate the amount of research being conducted by UA College of Nursing faculty, Dr. Gordon said, adding the rankings include only NIH funding to faculty members listed as principal investigators within the College. The rankings do not reflect faculty’s roles on grants funded to other colleges or universities or other types of extramural funding, such as the Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Defense, NASA or private foundations. 

The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research is a nonprofit organization that ranks U.S. medical schools by NIH grant awards each year. The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs and new treatments helping people live longer, healthier lives, and building the research foundation that drives discovery.

The Blue Ridge Rankings track yearly NIH funding awards from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The rankings are determined by the whole value of awards to a principal investigator’s institution and do not include research and development contracts.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this award named after one of the pioneers in psycho-oncology. It is especially an honor because I knew Jimmie Holland. She was always willing to talk about research and supportive care for cancer survivors and their caregivers.  She was truly an inspirational leader in psycho-oncology," ~ Terry A. Badger, PhD, RN

“I am humbled and honored to receive this award named after one of the pioneers in psycho-oncology,” said Dr. Badger, Eleanor Bauwens Endowed Chair at the UArizona College of Nursing and chair of the Community and Systems Health Science Division. “It is especially an honor because I knew Jimmie Holland. She was always willing to talk about research and supportive care for cancer survivors and their caregivers.  She was truly an inspirational leader in psycho-oncology.”  

Dr. Badger, who is a Cancer Prevention and Control Program research member at the UArizona Cancer Center, is internationally recognized for her substantive research focusing on depression, symptom management and quality of life among cancer survivors and their families. She is a pioneer and leader in the field of psychosocial oncology research among cancer survivors and caregivers, and in reducing health disparities among Hispanic women with breast cancer and their caregivers.
 

"This is an incredible honor, and Terry is most deserving of such a prestigious award," said Joann Sweasy, PhD, the Nancy C. and Craig M. Berge Endowed Chair and UArizona Cancer Center director. "She is a true leader in supportive care, research and training for cancer survivors and their caregivers. All of her colleagues at the Cancer Center are appreciative and proud of the lasting impact she has made in advancing supportive care for our patients.”

For three decades, Dr. Badger has tested psychosocial support interventions with the goal of improving the lives of the growing legions of cancer survivors and their informal caregivers. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, her research focuses on the management of psychological distress and treatment-related symptoms among survivors of solid tumor cancers and their informal caregivers.

She is the principal investigator and founder of the Symptoms, Health, Innovations, Equity (SHINE) research group, which seeks to improve symptom management and quality of life for cancer survivors and their caregivers. Her current research tests optimal personalized sequencing of interventions and determines if addressing depressive symptoms allows cancer survivors and caregivers to cognitively reframe beliefs regarding the efficacy of their actions towards symptom management.  

Dr. Badger has published more than 125 papers in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, including landmark papers on the topic of interdependence of survivor and caregiver outcomes. She has developed an inter-individual model of distress, which provides sound theoretical grounding for psychosocial interventions between two individuals.

Since 2000, she has mentored nearly 50 PhD and doctor of nursing practice students as part of her commitment to nursing education and preparing the next generation of researchers and practitioners.

Dr. Badger, who is a past president and fellow of the APOS, was presented with the Jimmie Holland Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2021 APOS Virtual Conference on March 12. The award comes with a $1,000 honorarium, which she donated back to the APOS.