{"id":5686,"date":"2021-03-18T13:26:02","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T17:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/uncategorized\/from-assistant-to-expert-redefining-nursing\/"},"modified":"2021-03-31T11:58:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T15:58:31","slug":"from-assistant-to-expert-redefining-nursing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/spring-2021\/from-assistant-to-expert-redefining-nursing\/","title":{"rendered":"From Assistant to Expert: Redefining Nursing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From Assistant to Expert: Redefining Nursing<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

For 75 years, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Nursing has been at the forefront of a changing profession.<\/p>\n\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n

Experiential learning and clinical rotations are an important part of the curriculum for 溏心vlog免费B站’s student nurses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Michael Blanding<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For as long as she could remember, Diane Healey Dexter \u201950 wanted to be a nurse. \u201cI was always so pleased if any of my playmates had a splinter,\u201d she chuckles, remembering her South County childhood. \u201cThey used to run away because they knew I\u2019d want to practice on them.\u201d When Dexter was searching for a registered nursing program after high school, however, all the hospital programs had a minimum age requirement of 18, and she was only 17. She decided to take a chance on a brand-new program at the 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Barbara
Applications for admission to the college have increased during the pandemic. Dean Barbara Wolfe is proud to see a new generation stepping up to pursue \u201ca career built out of helping others and bettering society.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 1945, baccalaureate nursing programs were a novelty. Most nurses were educated at hospitals, focused on teaching routine tasks with a variable curriculum. Not until after World War II did the National Nursing Council call for more rigorous accredited university-based programs. At 溏心vlog免费B站, that charge was led by Louisa White, the school\u2019s first dean. \u201cLouisa had the vision and the tenacity to say, \u2018It\u2019s time that nursing is a profession that is educated like a profession,\u2019\u201d says Barbara Wolfe, current dean of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Nursing. \u201cWomen weren\u2019t necessarily pursuing higher education opportunities\u2014never mind a whole new career opportunity in a university setting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dexter joined a group of eight students moving into Davis Hall for a five-year program of instruction and practical training in pediatrics, communicable diseases, diabetes, and other disciplines at area hospitals. \u201cWe had Quonset huts for recreational areas and you had to be in your room by 8:30,\u201d she remembers. Despite such humble beginnings, she graduated in January 1950, part of a new generation of nurses confident to take on any challenge. After starting out in a hospital, Dexter spent much of her career working for Washington County, Rhode Island, assessing children born with developmental or cardiac problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDecades ago, nursing was more of a support role to physicians. Now it is truly recognized as an independent profession.\u201d
\u2014Barbara Wolfe, Dean, 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Nursing<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past 75 years, nurses have risen far beyond the image of women in white caps and aprons changing hospital bedpans. They are now a diverse group with places in every aspect of the health-care arena\u2014as administrators, research scientists, and bedside and primary-care clinicians. \u201cDecades ago, nursing was more of a support role to physicians,\u201d says Wolfe. \u201cNow it is truly recognized as an independent profession.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As doctors have become increasingly specialized, nurses have become the glue holding our medical system together\u2014the only people with a holistic view of the patients they serve. Nothing has demonstrated this fact more than the coronavirus pandemic, which has thrust nurses onto the front lines, keeping patients alive even as they put themselves at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this age of COVID, as 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Nursing marks its 75th anniversary, its alumni reflect on their decades-long journey, even as they face their greatest challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Diane Healey Dexter \u201950 was a member of the 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Nursing\u2019s first graduating class.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1960s and 1970s: Out of the Shadows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Paula
Paula Viau \u201969, is a former College of Nursing dean and associate professor emerita.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When Paula Viau \u201969 was looking for a nursing program in 1965, her high school guidance counselor gave her some advice: \u201cIf you want to be a nurse, you need to go to college.\u201d At that time, 溏心vlog免费B站 was one of only two baccalaureate programs in the state. \u201cGoing there was the best decision I ever made,\u201d says Viau. \u201cWhen I graduated, everyone immediately found clinical employment.\u201d She began working at the state health department, before going on to become a 溏心vlog免费B站 professor and associate dean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the late 1960s, the school had grown to more than 30 students, but was still a tight-knit group. \u201cWe all supported each other,\u201d remembers Elaine Riley \u201968. \u201cWhenever you had difficulties, somebody was always there to help you through it.\u201d Under Dean Barbara Tate, 溏心vlog免费B站 was on the cutting edge of nursing practice, expanding beyond the hospital setting to increasingly venture into community care. Riley was captivated by the experience of entering patients\u2019 homes to provide care in that intimate setting. \u201cIn home care, you see the whole thing\u2014how they interact with their families, and their home environment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elaine
Elaine Riley \u201968 is the founder and owner of HomeCare Advantage, one of R.I.\u2019s largest home nursing companies.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Riley formed her own company to provide skilled and non-skilled home care to children and elderly patients\u2014it grew into HomeCare Advantage, one of Rhode Island\u2019s largest home nursing companies, with more than 200 employees. In 2011, she established a scholarship at 溏心vlog免费B站 for nursing students interested in community care, to pay for their last year of instruction. \u201cYou really need a well-educated nurse to do home care,\u201d says Riley, who is semi-retired, running her company with her daughter. \u201cIt\u2019s not like in a hospital where you can go and ask somebody if you don\u2019t know something. Your nursing skills must be top-notch, and 溏心vlog免费B站 provides that quality education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the mid-1970s, the \u201cwriting was on the wall\u201d about the importance of a college nursing degree, says Dayle Joseph, who began teaching at 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1973, and was dean of the school from 1995 to 2012. \u201cEveryone was saying you had to go the baccalaureate route.\u201d By that time, 溏心vlog免费B站 had started a master\u2019s program, and moved into its permanent home in White Hall, where it created state-of-the-art simulation labs that offered practice opportunities in hospitals, homes, and psychiatric units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dayle
Dayle Joseph is a former College of Nursing dean.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the time, recalls Kristen Swanson \u201975, career opportunities for young women were still limited. \u201cYou could be a nurse, a teacher, or an administrative assistant,\u201d she says. She recalls an incredibly rigorous program\u2014especially a dreaded anatomy class with Professor Robert DeWolf. \u201cHe had a commanding presence that left no room for weakness,\u201d she says. \u201cBut in the end, what he taught us carried me for the rest of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those days, Swanson says, nurses were subservient to physicians. \u201cThere was a lot of deference given to medicine,\u201d she says. Since most doctors were men and nearly all nurses were women, she says, \u201csexism was a very strong experience.\u201d But slowly, times were changing. Determined to grow in her profession, she earned her master\u2019s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 and her Ph.D. at the University of Colorado in 1983, using both quantitative and qualitative methods to study the experience of miscarriage.<\/p>\n\n\n

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At the time, the health-care system often disregarded the emotional repercussions of miscarriage for women. In trying to understand how women wished to be responded to when they experienced early pregnancy loss, Swanson developed what is now known as the five-step Swanson Theory of Caring, consisting of five ways of relating to another human being\u2014knowing, being with, doing for, enabling, and maintaining belief\u2014that is still held up as the gold standard for care. \u201cWhat gives me the greatest comfort is to know the work I did on miscarriage and caring has influenced practice and actually improved outcomes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kristen
Kristen Swanson \u201975, dean of the College of Nursing at Seattle University, developed the five-step Swanson Theory of Caring.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Later, when Swanson miscarried herself, she experienced firsthand what it was like to be on the other side of the science. \u201cIt\u2019s a validation I never would have asked for, but after that, I didn\u2019t need anyone to tell me I did good science\u2014I could feel it in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the first generation of nurse-scientists, Swanson\u2019s struggles were typical of nurses coming out of the shadow of medicine. \u201cWe were at the crossroads of whether we were really a discipline unto itself,\u201d she says. \u201cWas nursing truly science, or was it just some psychosocial softness?\u201d Now, of course, the answer to that question is clear, says Swanson, a professor and dean of the College of Nursing at Seattle University, and chair of the Board of Trustees of Swedish Health Services. \u201cI see so many good opportunities to expand clinical knowledge through qualitative work, quality improvement projects, and randomized controlled trials,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides sexism, the profession has also struggled with racism. A second-generation Cape Verdean from Cape Cod, Josepha Campinha-Bacote \u201974 came to 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1970, and thrived under the example of Dean Tate and Professor Sylvia Blount, whom she found incredibly caring and knowledgeable. \u201cI was inspired by that blend of humility and competence,\u201d Campinha-Bacote says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Josie
Josepha Campinha-Bacote \u201974 is the founder of Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates; she developed a model for how health-care professionals can develop cultural competency.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Campinha-Bacote struggled with questions of identity in her nursing career. As the granddaughter of immigrants from the islands of Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), off the coast of Africa, she felt apart from African-American culture. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know I was black at the time,\u201d she says. Early in her life, however, she experienced the tragic consequences of cultural incompetence in the medical profession when her 78-year-old grandfather was prescribed a medication for cardiovascular issues. The medication came with the side effect of slowing the heart rate, and patients are not supposed to take it if their heart rate falls below a certain level. Raised on Cabo Verde without clocks, however, her grandfather was never told how to accurately time his pulse, and he died from complications taking the medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her personal loss illustrated a larger issue in health care: the failure of health-care professionals to understand the important difference between a language translator and a cultural interpreter. As a master\u2019s student, Campinha-Bacote began developing a model for how health- care professionals can develop cultural competency, which she envisions as an ongoing process, starting with the humility she learned from her mentors at 溏心vlog免费B站, transformed through cultural desire, awareness, knowledge, and skill. She coined the term \u201ccultural competemility,\u201d a portmanteau of \u201ccompetence\u201d and \u201chumility,\u201d to describe her own model of transcultural care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the late 1960s 溏心vlog免费B站 was on the cutting edge of nursing practice, expanding beyond the hospital setting to increasingly venture into community care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since developing her model in the early 1990s, she has written numerous books, and through her company, Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates, has given more than 1,000 presentations to medical institutions, health-care organizations, and corporations such as Proctor & Gamble. Recently she has moved into more explicitly anti-racist work in order to challenge the assumptions that nurses apply to their patients. \u201cPeople say the first step is cultural awareness, but at this point I think we are all aware that racial issues exist. It\u2019s more about, \u2018What actions are we taking?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1980s and 1990s: Into Their Own<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 1980s were a time of dramatic change in the health-care system. Cost pressures led hospitals to shift from a reliance on high-salaried doctors to lower-paid nurses for health-care services. That, in turn, created a higher demand, leading to a nationwide nursing shortage that gave nurses new bargaining power to push for higher wages and more independence. Gone were the caps and aprons\u2014and in came the pantsuits\u2014as nurses increasingly took a place as administrators. \u201cNurses are the people who really know their patients,\u201d says Joseph, \u201cand increasingly our voices were being heard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Daniel
Daniel Wasneechak ’89, M.S. ’93, a former Navy Nurse Corps officer, oversees global quality for International SOS, which provides health care to military personnel living outside the U.S.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

溏心vlog免费B站 responded with new degree programs for nurse administrators and nurse practitioners, who take on many of the functions of medical doctors in diagnosing patients, prescribing treatments, and referring patients to specialists. \u201cNurse practitioners are well-educated and highly skilled,\u201d says Joseph. \u201cMore importantly, patients have increased access to health care, as nurse practitioners have added significant numbers of health-care providers and have a proven record of successfully caring for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of those trends first started emerging in the military, says Daniel Wasneechak \u201989, M.S. \u201993, a New York native who first entered the profession as commissioned Nurse Corps Officer when he was an ensign in the Navy in 1976. \u201cI absolutely loved the human touch, and the satisfaction of seeing the little things you could do to make someone\u2019s life better,\u201d says Wasneechak, who worked in an ICU and a cardiac surgical unit. While on active duty, he watched as nurses ran clinics on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe profession was evolving at the time, where nurses were no longer the handmaidens of the physicians,\u201d Wasneechak says. As new wellness research emerged to connect physical and mental health, \u201cwe were really talking about how you could treat the whole patient, not just passing bedpans and changing bandages.\u201d Enrolling at 溏心vlog免费B站 to advance his career, he was able to share his experiences in the military and learn about advancements in the civilian world. \u201c溏心vlog免费B站 allowed me to develop my own curriculum,\u201d he says. \u201cI already had many of the skillsets, but I needed more experience in leadership and administration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued on to earn a master\u2019s degree in nursing at 溏心vlog免费B站, followed by a master\u2019s in health care administration at Baylor University. After working in a series of administrative positions, Wasneechak now oversees global quality with International SOS, the TRICARE Overseas Program, a government contractor providing health care to military personnel, their families, and retirees serving outside the United States. \u201cI have regional quality managers who are nurses, and being able to talk the talk with them allows me to get buy-in much more quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Inger
Inger Magrethe Holter, M.S. ’87, Ph.D. ’93, was the first nurse with a Ph.D. to serve as a hospital administrator in Norway.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the \u201980s, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Nursing also launched a Ph.D. program and expanded its own research under the leadership of Hesook \u201cSuzie\u201d Kim, who was dean from 1983 to 1988. A researcher in the areas of nursing theory and collaborative decision-making, Kim encouraged faculty to increase their own research programs. These scholarly efforts were further enhanced by Dean Jean Miller, drawing on her experience as an associate dean for research at the University of Utah, where she served prior to her arrival at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this time, the school expanded its reach internationally, as well. Inger Magrethe Holter, M.S. \u201987, Ph.D. \u201993, was working as a nurse in Norway when Tate visited the country as a Fulbright scholar. Norway didn\u2019t then have any nursing master\u2019s programs, and Tate encouraged her to come to 溏心vlog免费B站 to earn her advanced degree. Holter came to Kingston for two years to earn her master\u2019s, and returned again a few years later to earn her Ph.D., as well. She focused her efforts on \u201caction research,\u201d a new method involving collaboration between academics and practitioners to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Holter wrote an influential paper on the topic in 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning to Norway, she taught as a professor at the University of Oslo, and became chief nurse at the university-affiliated hospital, the first nurse with a Ph.D. to serve as a hospital administrator in Norway. The collaboration between 溏心vlog免费B站 and Norway continued as Kim became a visiting professor at the University of Oslo, sharing research data and increasing cross-cultural exchange between the two campuses. When Holter became dean at Buskerud University College in Drammen, Norway, she asked Kim to come help her launch a master\u2019s program. \u201cShe did so much to build up nursing master\u2019s and Ph.D. programs in Norway,\u201d Holter says. \u201c溏心vlog免费B站 has been so important for Norway in establishing the higher education we have today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nursing continued to struggle with issues of diversity in a profession that was traditionally young, female, and white. By 1990, only 11 percent of nurses were people of color, compared to some 30 percent of the population\u2014the result of a long history of segregation and discrimination in health care. It wasn\u2019t easy for those looking to reverse those trends, says Laitan Silifat Mustapha \u201997, a Providence native born of first-generation Nigerian parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNurses have a lot of say in the care of their patients, because we\u2019re with them for a much longer time.\u201d
\u2014Laitan Silifat Mustapha<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Laitan Silifat Mustapha \u201997 is vice president of nursing for Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNursing school was very difficult for me,\u201d says Mustapha, who was recruited to 溏心vlog免费B站 through Talent Development, a program for high school students from underserved populations. While the program provided an advisor and tutoring to get into college, once at 溏心vlog免费B站, she felt adrift among the nursing school\u2019s largely white student body and faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have any professor who understood where I was coming from and could relate to me,\u201d says Mustapha, who had to repeat classes, and was in danger of failing. \u201cI think white people don\u2019t understand that, since they are so used to seeing people who look like them.\u201d She persevered, however, and when she started working at Rhode Island Hospital after graduation, an African-American nurse on her floor took her under her wing and helped her succeed. \u201cShe was a great mentor\u2014she told me specifically she did not want me to fail.\u201d Later, she moved to Maryland, where she not only regularly saw nurses of color, but saw them in high-level positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1990, only 11 percent of nurses were people of color, compared to some 30 percent of the population\u2014the result of a long history of segregation and discrimination in health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mustapha earned a master\u2019s at Benedictine University and is currently studying for her Ph.D. at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Now, she is vice president of nursing for Unity Health Care, a nonprofit network of community health centers in Washington, D.C., that serves a high-risk population. \u201cYou have to understand not only their physical limitations, but their social needs and mental health needs as well,\u201d Mustapha says. Much of that responsibility falls on nurses, who, more than doctors, follow patients intimately throughout their care. \u201cNurses have a lot of say in the care of their patients, because we\u2019re with them for a much longer time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As health insurance has expanded medical access to a broader population, including more minorities, Mustapha adds that it\u2019s even more important that nursing schools recruit faculty and students who reflect the diversity of the population. While some progress has been made on diversifying nursing ranks, currently only 19 percent of nurses are people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 溏心vlog免费B站, Wolfe says increasing diversity is a major objective in the nursing school\u2019s current strategic plan. In 2010, the college launched its Pathways to Nursing program, which provides tutoring and social support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In her four years as dean, Wolfe has also worked to diversify the faculty, increasing the number of full-time faculty members of color from one to four (out of a total of 36) over that time. \u201cWe\u2019re actively recruiting, and starting to make incremental progress,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Pathways to Nursing Program was launched in 2010 to recruit, support, retain, and graduate educationally, economically and socially disadvantaged students. Pathways students gathered at the annual Pathways Living Leadership reception in December 2018. Program administrator Professor Mary Cloud in back on left; Associate Dean Mary Leveille in back, second from left; Dean Barbara Wolfe in back, second from right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2000s and 2010s: In the Spotlight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Mary
Mary-Ellen Doherty, Ph.D. \u201900, has researched and written two books on the experience of nurses serving in and returning from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The turn of the century saw another nursing shortage, as baby boomers began to retire, and the health-care system relied on nurses more than ever. As knowledge and technology have improved, care has increasingly moved out of hospitals and into primary-care and community settings, where nurses are apt to be the patient\u2019s main conduit to health. \u201cHospitals are not where most people receive care anymore,\u201d says Wolfe. \u201cWe need to make sure we have clinicians who are truly able to meet the need for appropriate care in those non-hospital settings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, the types of degrees nursing schools offer have exploded. 溏心vlog免费B站 created a range of specializations in its graduate program, including family, gerontology, and psychiatric mental health nursing. The school has also continued to make its mark in research. In the late 1980s, Professor Margaret McGrath started studying a cohort of babies with low birth weight; more than 20 years later, in 2011, her successor, Professor Mary Sullivan, tied premature birth to a range of health and social struggles in adulthood\u2014as well as pointing to factors to minimize those issues. In 2016, 溏心vlog免费B站 professors Judith Mercer and Deb Erickson-Owens were able to show that delaying clamping of the umbilical cords of newborns by even five minutes dramatically improved outcomes, setting a new standard for obstetric practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As knowledge and technology have improved, care has increasingly moved out of hospitals and into primary-care
and community settings, where nurses are apt to be the patient\u2019s main conduit to health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary-Ellen Doherty, Ph.D. \u201900, came to 溏心vlog免费B站 as a graduate student after a successful career as a nurse-midwife. Using theories of collaborative decision-making pioneered by Suzie Kim, she examined how nurse-midwives and clients can best formulate a birth plan. Amid that research in the early 2000s, she interviewed women who had recently lost their spouses in the 9\/11 terrorist attacks, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and focused her later research on exploring their stories using qualitative methods. \u201cYou are asking people to open up their hearts and minds and souls, to really tell you what their struggles are,\u201d Doherty says, \u201cwhat it\u2019s really like to go through a pregnancy, labor, and birth without your person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

War continued to influence her studies as Doherty began teaching at the University of Massachusetts\u2013Lowell, and she saw multiple students in the National Guard or ROTC programs deploy for their first nursing assignment in a war zone. Doherty began interviewing nurses upon their return about their experiences. Now a professor at Western Connecticut State University, she has authored two books with her twin sister, a retired Air Force colonel: Nurses In War: Voices from Iraq and Afghanistan<\/em> in 2012, and Nurses After War: The Reintegration Experience of Nurses Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan<\/em> in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An advanced nursing student gains practical experience at a pediatric clinic.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Not surprisingly, Doherty found many nurses struggling to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) upon their return. \u201cThey were able to manage over there, but then when they got home it hit them like a ton of bricks,\u201d Doherty says. However, she also found a significant number who were transformed in positive ways by the experience. Doherty is now expanding her research to look at the concept of post-traumatic growth in people who have survived traumatic experiences, such as war, abuse, or the loss of a loved one. \u201cThere can be some growth and greater appreciation of life\u2014you don\u2019t often read about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, the college opened a new Nursing Education Center, a $220 million 133,000-square-foot building in Providence with new classrooms, labs, and simulation rooms. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing building that has the same kind of equipment you would see in maternity, pediatric, or medical\/surgical units,\u201d says Viau. The building became headquarters for the college\u2019s graduate programs\u2014including a new Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, a terminal to prepare experts in specialized advanced nursing practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Nursing Education Center at South Street Landing in Providence is home to the college’s graduate programs and to new classrooms, labs, and simulation rooms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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溏心vlog免费B站 nursing students get hands-on practice in a simulation lab in the Nursing Education Center.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of the first recipients, Colin Burns ’14, D.N.P. ’19 originally planned to be a physician, but realized that he could have more opportunities for developing relationships with patients as a nurse practitioner. \u201cAs the future of medicine seems to be focusing on specialization, nurse practitioners are really stepping up to meet the moment to fulfill that primary care role,\u201d says Burns. In pursuing his undergraduate degree at 溏心vlog免费B站, Burns initially focused in pediatrics; but after a rotation in the geriatric ward at Butler Hospital in Providence, he chose the opposite end of the spectrum, specializing in geriatric psychiatry, instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Colin
Colin Burns \u201914, D.N.P. \u201919, is lead nurse practitioner at the Yale New Haven Health Westerly Hospital (R.I.) geriatric psychiatric unit.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI absolutely fell in love with the population,\u201d he says. \u201cThey have such great life histories and life lessons.\u201d To better work with the population, he stayed at 溏心vlog免费B站 to earn his D.N.P., before helping to open a new inpatient geriatric psychiatric unit at Yale New Haven Health Westerly Hospital as lead nurse practitioner. \u201cThe leadership skills I learned at 溏心vlog免费B站 really helped in being on the ground floor at the unit\u2019s opening,\u201d he says. \u201cIn setting up a practice environment, I was able to focus on how we can do things better and more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those practices have been put to the test this past year during the coronavirus pandemic, to which elderly patients have been particularly susceptible. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing so much of the older population affected by the social isolation,\u201d Burns says. \u201cIt\u2019s caused an increase in depression that has just been heartbreaking.\u201d Last March, his unit was at the forefront of requiring mandatory COVID testing for patients before admission\u2014now standard practice at many hospitals\u2014so patients could freely socialize with one another once they were admitted. \u201cKnock on wood, we haven\u2019t had any cases, and I think a lot of that has been due to proactive management,\u201d Burns says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the future of medicine seems to be focusing on specialization, nurse practitioners are really stepping up to meet the moment to fulfill that primary care role.\u201d
\u2014Colin Burns ’14, D.N.P. ’19<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic has strained the capacity of nurses all over the country. \u201cNurses have been stressed out, worried, and afraid,\u201d says Mustapha. \u201cWe\u2019ve really bonded together in this moment.\u201d To keep up morale of those under her care, she has increased site visits to ensure communication, and has implemented weekly meetings over Zoom to check in with managers. \u201cI have been able to empower them to make their own decisions in the best interest of themselves and their patients.\u201d That includes a more lenient absence policy for nurses who have needed to take breaks or work remotely, and allowing nurses to determine when it\u2019s safe, for example, to open a mobile tent for testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Rhode Island, nurses have been both on the front lines in the ICUs, and directing the highest levels of the state\u2019s response. \u201cYears ago, nurses weren\u2019t at the head table making decisions,\u201d says Joseph. Now, she says, 溏心vlog免费B站 graduates are regularly on television as the public face of the crisis response, including Cathy Duquette \u201983, M.S. \u201996, vice president and chief nursing officer at Lifespan, the state\u2019s largest medical organization, which manages Rhode Island Hospital and has set up a 600-bed field hospital for COVID patients in Providence. Joseph is, herself, a governor at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, where, in January, 溏心vlog免费B站 nursing alumna Maria Ducharme, M.S. \u201995, became president\u2014the first time in that hospital\u2019s 95-year history that it promoted a nurse to its highest leadership position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Seattle
Kristen Swanson \u201975 (center), dean and professor at Seattle University\u2019s College of Nursing, is also chair of the Swedish Health Systems Board of Trustees. Here, she is pictured with Father Stephen Sundborg, S.J., president of Seattle University (left), and R. Guy Hudson, M.D., CEO of Swedish Health Systems (right), at the launch of the Swedish@SeattleU COVID vaccination clinic.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Nursing, faculty and students have also been struggling with the new realities of the pandemic, embracing distance learning to teach students. \u201cThat becomes a difficult task when it\u2019s so important to have that one-on-one connection in clinical settings,\u201d says Viau. \u201cI\u2019m sure 10 years from now, faculty will look back and say this was the biggest challenge we\u2019ve ever undergone.\u201d The current situation has already impacted the curriculum, emphasizing the need for nursing students to be fluent in telehealth, which is apt to outlive coronavirus as an efficient tool for reaching patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One perhaps surprising result of the pandemic has been an increase in applications for admission to the College of Nursing, says Wolfe. At a time when nurses are literally risking their lives to treat a deadly infectious disease, she\u2019s been proud to see a new contingent of future nurses eager to do their part in furthering the health of Rhode Island and beyond. \u201cThese are people who are truly interested in a career built out of helping others and bettering society,\u201d Wolfe says. \u201cIt\u2019s reassuring, quite frankly, to know there are people out there who are willing to put themselves in those situations to help the less fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December, Time<\/em> magazine readers voted nurses and other frontline workers their \u201cPerson of the Year\u201d in a reader\u2019s poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before the pandemic, in January 2020, Americans rated nurses as the most trusted profession for the 18th year in a row, with 85 percent ranking their honesty and ethics \u201cvery high.\u201d In December, Time<\/em> magazine readers voted nurses and other frontline workers their \u201cPerson of the Year\u201d in a reader\u2019s poll. As the country recovers from the pandemic, nurses are bound to become only more prominent as the face of health-care delivery. It will remain up to schools like 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Nursing to continue preparing them for the next national challenge: adapting to the broad transformation\u2014and the day-to-day challenges\u2014of health care in the coming decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mustapha compares nurses emerging from the pandemic to a scene in an action movie where people walk out of an explosion, disheveled, perhaps, but defiant and alive. \u201cEveryone has the choice about whether to flee or fight,\u201d she says. \u201cThose of us who have stayed in this profession are going to come out of this stronger and more resilient, able to handle anything that comes our way.\u201d \u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos: Nora Lewis; 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Nursing; Courtesy Josepha Campinha Bacote; Colin Burns; Diane Healey Dexter; Mary-Ellen Doherty; Inger Magrethe Holter; Dayle Joseph; Patrick Luce; Laitan Silifat Mustapha; Kristen Swanson; ; Paula Viau; Daniel Wasneechak<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experiential learning and clinical rotations are an important part of the curriculum for 溏心vlog免费B站’s student nurses. By Michael Blanding For as long as she could remember, Diane Healey Dexter \u201950 wanted to be a nurse. \u201cI was always so pleased if any of my playmates had a splinter,\u201d she chuckles, remembering her South County childhood. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2021","architecture-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5686"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6241,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5686\/revisions\/6241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}