What features of your program are you especially passionate about?

As a local student, I was able to take on-campus (face-to-face) classes in conjunction with my online classes and obtain a minor in Cognitive Science.The knowledge I acquired with classes in artificial intelligence and machine learning along with the mentorship, from Drs. Mary Peterson and Clayton Morrison, within the Cognitive Science Graduate Interdisciplinary Program (GIDP) were invaluable. Furthermore, classes in informatics along with my minor classes broadened my knowledge base to the innovative application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in nursing to improved patient outcomes.

“As a neonatal nurse for several years, I have witnessed the suffering of neonates due to the current pain standards of care.  I truly believe we can do better to serve this vulnerable population​​​​​." ~ Katherine Dudding

Share your favorite memory from your time at the CON.

My advisor, Jane Carrington, formed a committee of scholars for her advisees, the Carrington’s Cats. My favorite memory has to be with the scavenger hunt that I did with the Carrington’s Cats my second year of RISE. The scavenger hunt took us from the College of Nursing to McKale Center, the Student Union and UAHS Library.I believe we had 19 clues to find specific objects and take a picture of the object with the team and tweet #RNsRISE and #Carringtoncats. This provided an opportunity to meet one another and promote team building while having a blast!

How do you intend to Build Better Futures?

My area of research seeks to increase effective neonate and nurse communication of pain. Here I blend passions with neonates, informatics, and advanced technologies. As a neonatal nurse for several years, I have witnessed the suffering of neonates due to the current pain standards of care.I truly believe we can do better to serve this vulnerable population. Through informatics and advanced technologies in artificial intelligence and machine learning, we can give a voice to neonates to increase effective neonate to nurse communication and ultimately improve outcomes.

If trends continue on their current trajectory, by 2050 there could be a severe shortage of long-term family caregivers available to provide for stroke survivors in the high-risk years of 55-plus. Stroke is the leading cause of preventable disability in the U.S., frequently requiring informal caregiving support. University of Arizona College of Nursing PhD candidate, Lorre Laws, who examines the oncoming crisis in her dissertation, calls the prognosis an approaching perfect storm. “In 2010, we had an average of 7 potential informal caregivers to every person over 80 who needed care,” she says. “In 2030 that’s going to be 4-to-1, and in 2050 it’s going to be 3-to-1. When we look at stroke, the risk is doubling each decade over 55, so we have a huge net risk population. The risk is increasing and the informal caregivers that will be available to support them after stroke is dramatically decreasing.”

“The elderly or disabled don't often have an advocate. We don't see them on our Instagram, Twitter or Facebook feeds, we're not hearing stories about them in the media, and yet persons over 65 are the biggest demographic we have right now in terms of aging." ~ Lorre Laws

How can we head a health crisis of this magnitude off at the pass? Laws’ answer is contained in her PhD dissertation, “Engagement of Primary Stakeholders to Tailor a Comprehensive Transitional Care Model for Persons Who Have Experienced a Stroke and Their Caregivers,” which examines ways to develop transitional, community-based care for persons affected by stroke. Transitional care – as opposed to discharge planning, which prepares the patient for the first stages of care after the hospital – starts at hospital discharge and runs through community reintegration. Typical transitional care extends through eight weeks of hospital discharge, connecting patients and caregivers with community resources and supports.

“This is not sufficient to meet the needs of a survivor and caregiver, as the consequences of stroke extend far beyond eight weeks,” says Laws. “My long-term research goal is to develop a stroke TC model that extends through the first year after initial onset, since many challenges are identified in that first critical post-stroke year.” The trouble is that the stroke population’s access to transitional care has been understudied because until recently the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) have treated stroke as an acute condition rather than as a chronic condition.

That’s changing thanks to a recent update of AHA/ASA guidelines for stroke rehabilitation.  The new guidelines urge that stroke be treated as a chronic condition, and that it be addressed using community-based models such as those advocated by Laws.  “The consequences of stroke,” she says “can have deleterious effects on a person, so wheeling a patient to the curb and giving them a couple of referrals has resulted in poor outcomes. Often, stroke survivors have depression and functional limitations, which results in considerable caregiver stress and burnout with this population.”

Considering that two thirds of caregivers – more than half of whom are 60 and older – spend more than 40 hours per week in their role, it’s clear that the current system is unsustainable from either a community or a healthcare standpoint. “We have older people who oftentimes have one or more chronic health conditions themselves taking care of older people,” says Laws. “No matter how we look at it, we have a problem in the community.”

“We do really well in the U.S. at discharge planning,” she says, citing a Commonwealth Fund study, which examined developed countries’ statistics on discharge planning and care coordination. “In hospitals, we great at getting people ready to go and aligning them with the short-term services that they need. But in care coordination, which is one aspect of transitional care, we tied for last place.” The good news is that thanks to current research into transitional care from the AHA/ASA and the Commonwealth Fund, the healthcare community as a whole may be on the verge of defining a broader, more encompassing model than discharge planning.

That’s important because the alternative could have catastrophic results. Laws, who comes from a long line of community servants, sees research like hers as giving the older stroke population a voice. “I’ve always advocated for the underdog,” she says. “So when I look at vulnerable populations in general, the elderly come to mind. The elderly or disabled don’t often have an advocate. We don’t see them on our Instagram, Twitter or Facebook feeds, we’re not hearing stories about them in the media, and yet persons over 65 are the biggest demographic we have right now in terms of aging.”

Laws earned her Master of Science in Nursing for Entry to the Profession (MEPN) from the UA College of Nursing in 2012 before entering the PhD program. She is also a faculty member of the UA School of Sociology, uniquely positioning her for a multidisciplinary approach to her research. Thanks to forward-thinking inquiries like hers, the perfect storm of 2050 could be supplanted by a comprehensive transitional care program that begins to fill the care gap sooner rather than later – when it may be too late.

For Theresa Allison, DNP, FNP-C, co-coordinator of The University of Arizona College of Nursing’s Comprehensive Health Assessment Project (CHAP), performing in-home assessments for some of Tucson’s most vulnerable is all about the human touch. For her patients, most of whom are 65 and older, a health assessment can be a stressful experience. “Their biggest fear is that we’re going to take away their access, so they’re a little on edge. I take that edge off by telling them, ‘This isn’t about whether you qualify for this benefit or that benefit. It’s about making sure you get the care you need.’ You can literally feel the tension vanish.”

The University of Arizona College of Nursing has a robust history of community involvement, including its Community Cancer Connections program for cancer survivors and their caregivers and its association with the Mobile Health Program for rural and low-income urban areas.  But one of its most enduring partnerships CHAP, which began in 2012 as a consulting agreement with the UA Health Plans (UAHP) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Currently, the project involves faculty nurse practitioners (NPs) who perform in-home Comprehensive Health Assessments needed by the UAHP for its dual-eligible Medicare/Medicaid members.

For the UAHP members who take part in an assessment each year – two-thirds of whom are 65 and older – that means receiving a personal and compassionate assessment of their health from cutting-edge faculty NPs. This includes NP faculty who are trained in the use of integrative nursing modalities. The comprehensive assessments are evidence-based and examine members’ risks for falls, depression and anxiety, to name a few. The practical benefits for the College include assuring that NP faculty keep their skills sharp and obtain the practice hours needed to retain certification while allowing NP students to gain hands-on experience with comprehensive assessments. Additionally, the NPs are amassing data – including fall risks, cardiovascular/stroke history – that is useful for future research.

“When we started in 2012, it was a small project,” says Audrey Russell-Kibble, DNP, FNP-C, FAANP, the project’s coordinator. “We might have accomplished a few hundred assessments the first year, but since then we regularly meet our goal of 1,000 per year. Currently, the project has nine NP faculty, including two adjunct NP faculty, and a scheduling support person and a student worker who are bilingual in English and Spanish.” The data collected from the visits is entered into an electronic form and coded for researchers.

Data gathered from the assessments is used by CMS and UAHP to determine the need for urgent home health care assistance and to educate plan members on other services that are available, including eye exams, dental services, transportation to care and over the counter medications. But the human side of the equation is a big part of the project, too. A typical assessment in a doctor’s office might take 30 minutes, but the CHAP team schedules a full hour for an in-home visit. The extra time allows for a much more comprehensive visit than usual, but it also allows the NPs to establish a meaningful relationship with the member.

“We have the opportunity for one-on-one, hands-on time with these members...That way, we're letting our local elderly people know, 'You're still important. You still matter.'" ~ Theresa E. Allison

“We have the opportunity for one-on-one, hands-on time with these members,” says Theresa Allison. “It’s essential to establish a rapport, because if you don’t, then when you go through the questionnaire, the answers are, ‘Nope, nope, nope.’ I make sure to let them know we’re not there to determine need or take away benefits. We’re there to make sure the plan is doing everything it can for them. That way, we’re letting our local elderly people know, ‘You’re still important. You still matter.’”

Echoing that sentiment, Russell-Kibble says, “As nurse practitioners, we’re known for teaching our patients. We try to leave each plan member with a little pearl. For example, how to use their inhaler or how to ask their provider for a specific thing. We don’t prescribe medications, we’re not diagnosing, we’re just gathering information and writing and comprehensive assessment with recommendations for their primary care provider (PCP). The comprehensive health assessment is provided to UAHP and the member’s PCP.”

It’s a win-win situation for plan members, faculty and student NPs. Members receive a top-notch comprehensive health assessment, faculty NPs are able to maintain their practice hours and students receive valuable one-on-one training in an in-home setting. Overall, everyone involved received a valuable benefit, whether it’s a learning experience for the member, the faculty NP or student.

TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Arizona College of Nursing is one of only 31 U.S. schools of nursing selected to receive a prestigious grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to increase the number of nurses holding PhDs.

The selected schools comprise the fifth cohort of grantees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholars program, which will provide financial support, mentoring and leadership development to nurses who commit to earn their PhDs in three years. The UA College of Nursing selected two nursing students to receive this scholarship. To support their studies, the program provides scholars with a $75,000 scholarship and the leadership, research and other skills they need to take their nursing careers to the highest levels.

The 2018 UA College of Nursing honorees are Emily Moore, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC, and Jamie Besel, MN, RN.

Besel plans to study the role and application of technology as it relates to self-management and quality of life in underserved rural populations. Moore plans to examine surgical outcomes and how morbidity and mortality differ when looking at distance of residence from the primary surgical center in the pediatric population.

In its landmark nursing report, the Institute of Medicine recommended that our nation double the number of nurses with doctorates. Although  enrollment in doctorate of nursing practice programs has increased exponentially, PhD enrollment has seen less growth. The Future of Nursing Scholars program was designed to increase PhD-prepared nurses. Doing so will ensure that more nurses are conducting vital research and also will help address the nurse faculty shortage.

The Future of Nursing Scholars program is a multi-funder initiative. In addition to RWJF, Johnson & Johnson, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Sharp HealthCare and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center are supporting the Future of Nursing Scholars grants to schools of nursing this year.

“The UA College of Nursing and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are strongly committed to the success of our two current and two new RWJF nursing scholars,” said Lois Loesher, PhD, RN, FAAN, director, UA College of Nursing PhD Program. “These scholars must complete our rigorous PhD program in three years to accelerate their entry into the workforce, with the goal of hastening transformational change in nursing and health care. We thank the RWJF for providing numerous resources and consistent support for these new nursing leaders and their faculty mentors.”

“When this program concludes, we will have graduated more than 200 PhD-prepared nurses. RWJF is thrilled to see the program succeed so well, and we are very thankful for the other funders who have joined us in support of this work,” said Susan Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, co-director of the program and RWJF’s senior adviser for nursing. 

Incoming University of Arizona College of Nursing PhD student Elizabeth Johnson, BSN, MS, is the latest CON student to receive a prestigious University Fellows award. Offered to the UA’s top incoming graduate students through a collaborative selection process, the University Fellows Award is a multiyear fellowship that provides in the first year a $32,000 fellowship, base graduation tuition in the fall and spring semesters, and healthcare coverage through the University of Arizona Student Health Insurance Plan; in the second year, Fellows are awarded funds for attending conferences or professional development activities. In addition to the financial benefits, University Fellows receive specialized leadership, professional development, mentoring, and interdisciplinary training.

“To be named a University Fellow is to be associated with an interdisciplinary group of leaders and innovators, a fantastic touch point to have as a developing nurse scientist,” said Johnson. “The honor resonates in the ability to convert ideas and collaborations to enhanced nursing practice and community outreach.”

Before coming to the UA College of Nursing, Johnson received her BS in Nursing from Purdue University and her MS in Clinical Research Management from Arizona State University. She has held positions as a research nurse in pediatric endocrinology/metabolic disorders at Baylor College of Medicine and as a Clinical Trial Manager in adult oncology with the US Oncology Network. Throughout her nursing career working with research participants, their families and participating sites, Elizabeth participated in numerous task forces and appointments to support optimal trial conduct and elevate research integrity. Given this experience, her research interests include research participant protections within Electronic Health Records (EHRs) with a focus in prevention of participant withdrawals and injury. A newcomer to Tucson, Elizabeth eagerly awaits desert nature walks with her husband and son. 

“To be named a University Fellow is to be associated with an interdisciplinary group of leaders and innovators, a fantastic touch point to have as a developing nurse scientist." ~ Elizabeth Johnson

“We are delighted to welcome Elizabeth as our new University Fellow representing the College of Nursing,” said Lois Loescher, Director UA CON PhD Program. “The College of Nursing has a 100 percent success rate in nominating exceptional, newly-admitted PhD students who are as University Fellows. The University Fellows Program provides an amazing opportunity for new doctoral student to work with leaders in the CON and on main campus. The fellowship will provide additional training and experience for Elizabeth to become a well-informed, collaborative, and innovative leader on campus and beyond.”

Please join us in congratulating two members of the UA College of Nursing faculty and staff who were selected by the UA Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as the recipients of 2018 Maria Teresa Velez Outstanding Mentor Awards.

The Outstanding Mentor Awards were renamed in 2017 in honor of Maria Teresa Velez, associate dean of the Graduate College, who died in 2016. She worked to extend access to higher education for students who historically have been underserved. The Outstanding Mentoring Awards recognize individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to mentoring within the UA and are awarded to a faculty member, appointed professional staff member and classified staff member. The UA College of Nursing won in both faculty and appointed professional categories.

Maria Teresa Velez Outstanding Mentor Award – Faculty

Dr. Judith Gordon, Professor of Nursing, is being recognized for her mentorship as a faculty member as well as her involvement in Women in Academic Medicine, a group that aims to bring inclusivity and equity to women faculty in academic medicine at the UA.

A year after joining the group in 2011, Gordon became a member of its steering committee; in 2014, she became chair of that committee. During her time as chair, Gordon coordinated events and led an effort to revise the group's mission statement to foster mentorship, networking, career development and institutional advancement for female faculty, according to Archita Desai, one of Gordon's nominators and interim director of the UA's Thomas D. Boyer Liver Institute.

“I am truly honored to have been selected for this award,” says Dr. Gordon. “Maria Teresa Velez was an outstanding mentor and role model, and I aspire to follow the example she set. I am very grateful to the outstanding women faculty who nominated me for this award; it’s their recognition that means the most to me.”

“There are still students who are looking for that one person to believe in their ability to succeed." ~ Amanda Gluski

Maria Teresa Velez Outstanding Mentor Award – Appointed Professional

Amanda Gluski, Director of Student Engagement, leads initiatives to support College of Nursing students as they apply, matriculate and advance through the program, according to Dr. Sheila Gephart, Associate Professor of Nursing and Gluski's nominator.

She's known for being very responsive and thorough, and pursuing issues on behalf of students until they're resolved. Gluski is also known for helping faculty follow best education practices. Her work along these lines, Gephart wrote, "promotes an atmosphere of high-quality mentoring across the College of Nursing. Amanda's passion for the University and our students draws them into the Wildcat spirit and makes them feel like they belong here," Gephart added.

“This award means that there is still work to do.,” says Amanda. “There are still students who are looking for that one person to believe in their ability to succeed – colleagues looking for validation or challenges to grow – faculty committed to providing an exceptional student experience – and precious few resources to accomplish these goals.  Receiving this award motivates me to redouble my own efforts to build the capacity for rewarding mentoring relationships in both the College of Nursing, and the University of Arizona communities.”

Some elements of this story were provided by University Communications.