Faculty, Student, and Staff News

Acute and Chronic Care:

Anne Belcher, PhD, RN, AOCN, ANEF, FAAN, presented “The Spiritual Aspects of Clinical Trials: Helping Patients Find Meaning in Their Cancer Experience” at the Oncology Nursing Society’s Congress in Washington, DC.
Chakra Budhathoki, PhD, Patricia Davidson, PhD, MEd, FAAN, Cynthia Foronda, PhD, RN, and Roseann Velez, DNP, CRNP, FNP-BC, are new members in the Department of Acute and Chronic Care.
Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb, PhD, RN, ANP, FAAN, was appointed Embedded Researcher for Patient Safety Operations at the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.
Deborah Finnell, DNS, PMHNP-BC, CARN-AP, FAAN, was appointed Associate Professor on the Practice Track.
Krysia Hudson, DNP, MSN, RN, BC, and Laura Taylor, PhD, RN, presented “Using Second Life to Improve Insulin Administration: Evaluating Simulation” at the Summer Institute for Nursing Informatics, University of Maryland School of Nursing, in July.
Pamela Jeffries, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, was awarded the 2013 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Excellence Award by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. She also presented “Changing the Way We Educate: Workforce Expectations and Changing Healthcare Systems” at the Association for Nursing Professional Development 2013 Convention in Dallas, Texas.
Shawna Mudd, DNP, CPNP-AC, PNP-BC, and JoAnne Silbert-Flagg, DNP, CPNP, IBCLC, received a $55,241 grant from the Johns Hopkins 2013 Gateway Science Initiative to fund the “flipped classroom”—a new format for out-of-class access to lectures and more in-class activities on clinical reasoning.
Awarded for their work in gerontological nursing, Julie Stanik-Hutt, PhD, ACNP/GNP-BC, CCNS, FAAN, received the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA) Excellence in Education Award and Nancy Hodgson, PhD, RN, received the GAPNA Excellence in Research Award.
Cynda Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN, was chosen to serve on the American Nurses Association (ANA) Advisory Committee to revise the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses.
Laura Taylor, PhD, RN, was elected to the Board of Directors for the International Transplant Nursing Society (ITNS). She will contribute to the board’s mission, guide ITNS policy and procedure adoption, and provide advice to members and leaders.

Community-Public Health

Jason Farley, PhD, MPH, CRNP, FAAN, was named President-Elect of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. After serving a two-year term, he will become President.
Joan Kub, PhD, APHN, BC, was inducted as President-Elect of the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators at its annual meeting.
Sarah (Jodi) Shaefer, PhD, RN, presented “Community-School Health Partners Make a Difference” with Elev8 Baltimore’s Nichole Johnson and the Baltimore Medical System’s Bryan Mroz, at the 2013 National School-Based Health Care Convention in Washington, DC.
At the St. Tammany Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) Elder Abuse Awareness Day seminar “Forget Me Not,” Dan Sheridan, PhD, RN, FAAN, instructed on identifying signs of physical and emotional abuse.
In September, Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, CRNP, presented “Seeking to Bend the Cost Curve by Applying Lessons Learned in Practice: The CAPABLE Project” at the University of Maryland School of Nursing Millicent Geare Edmunds Lecture.
Voted into another two-year term on the Board of Directors, Elizabeth Tanner, PhD, MS, RN, is serving as Secretary for the National Gerontological Nursing Association.
Tener Veenema, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, was appointed Associate Professor on the Practice Track, and Ellen Ray, DNP, CNM, RN, and Jeanne Alhusen, PhD, CRNP, RN, were appointed Assistant Professors on the Practice Track.

Staff

PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center Coordinator and the Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery (GANM) Moderator Rachel Breman was elected to serve a two-year term on the Board of Directors of Our Bodies Ourselves—a non-profit organization that provides evidence-based information on women’s reproductive health and sexuality.
Executive Director of Professional Programs David Newton and Instructional Design Manager Robert Kearns presented “Here a MOOC, There a MOOC, Everywhere a MOOC, MOOC” at the Eighth Annual National League for Nursing Technology Conference in October.
Instructional Technologist Nathan Poole presented materials from the School’s Online Nurse Preceptor Training Program at DevLearn 2013—an international professional conference for elearning practitioners.
The SON’s website won Gold in the W3 Awards education category for web creativity. W3 sets best practices in educational websites.

Student

In recognition of her innovation, exceptional performance in the classroom, and commitment to student learning, PhD student Jocelyn Anderson won the SON’s 2013 Graduate Teaching Award. She also received a $5,000 Tylenol Future Care Scholarship for her academic excellence, leadership, and community involvement.
PhD students Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, Katherine Heinze, Grace Ho, Kyounghae Kim, Kerry Peterson, Janna Stephens, Jessica Tillman, Jiayun Xu, and Eunhea You were selected to participate in the SON’s PhD Graduate Assistance Program. They will get hands-on experience researching or teaching with faculty who share similar scholarly interests.
DNP student Deborah Croy and MSN-FNP student Anina Terry received scholarships from Nurses Educational Funds, Inc. Croy received the Eleanor Lambertsen scholarship, and Terry, the Edith Pritchard scholarship.
PhD grad Rachel Klimmek’s paper “Adaptation of the Illness Trajectory Framework to Describe the Work of Transitional Cancer Survivorship,” published in Oncology Nursing Forum, won the SON’s 2013 Best Published Paper award.
MSN/MPH student Ayla Landry presented “A Model to Enhance Global Nursing Practice” at the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators conference in June.
PhD student Kerry Peterson received a $5,000 grant from the American Psychiatric Nurses Foundation to go toward her research on dating violence prevention on college campuses.

Group

Faculty members Patricia Davidson, PhD, MEd, RN, Elizabeth Sloand, PhD, RN, PNP-BC, FAAN, and Jason Farley, PhD, MPH, CRNP, FAAN, were inducted as Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) at the Academy’s 40th annual meeting in October.
Faculty members Nancy Glass, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, Marie Nolan, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, and Cynda Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN, were elected in June to serve on the 2013-2014 School of Nursing Academic Council. Glass and Rushton will serve their first three-year terms, and Nolan will serve her second.
At the National Association for School Nursing Conference in Orlando, faculty members Joan Kub, PhD, APHN, BC, and Elizabeth Sloand, PhD, RN, PNP-BC, FAAN, grad students Pawla Wenga and Lindsey Hunt, research honors student Emily Saneski, and Sara Groves, DrPH, presented “No Room for Bullying: A partnership between a School of Nursing and Elev8 to address bullying behavior in two public schools.”
Faculty members Marie Nolan, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, Hae-Ra Han, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Jeanne Alhusen, PhD, CRNP, RN, and PhD student Jiayun Xu presented at the International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing (INDEN) Biennial Conference in Prague. Nolan gave an overview of INDEN history, Han provided treasurer reports, and Alhusen led a doctoral student workshop on writing for grants and publication. Xu moderated a panel discussion.