Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) faculty and students travel the community and world to change lives and spread the news about nursing and health.

A Trip to the Island

Accelerated students Hilary Hassink, Cathleen Hannah, Jessica Hughes, Emily Mallon, Christa Stultz, Jessica Vaughan, and Alexandra Watson, graduate student Diann Rocha, and Lori Edwards, DrPH, RN, APRN, BC, traveled to St. Croix to conduct public health nursing interventions reaching more than 500 people. Also known as Team S.M.I.L.E. (Students Serving in St. Croix, Make Interventions a Learning Experience), the group conducted a health fair at a local farmer’s market, screened patients for hypertension, diabetes, and scoliosis, provided chronic disease case management to a senior living community, attended a pinning ceremony at the University of the Virgin Islands, and more. “Don’t come to St. Croix for public health if you think it will be a vacation,” said one of the students and bloggers. “Come if you want to be exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally at the end of the day. Come if you want to feel stressed out and heartbroken about what you see and desire to change it…It is our task as public health nurses to capture these dreams and carry them into action. We make them reality.”

Out in the Community

Through an Urban Health Institute grant, graduate student Emma Stillman worked with Henderson-Hopkins Health and Wellness Program Director Keri Frisch to promote physical activity at the Henderson-Hopkins School. Students were given a pedometer to track their steps throughout the day and to highlight the importance of exercise. Data collected from the pedometers was then used to facilitate the students’ math lessons.

On April 26, more than 50 students from the Geriatric Interest Group and the Daniels Initiative—a joint project between the Johns Hopkins Schools of Nursing and Medicine and the Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy—volunteered at the second annual Baltimore city intergenerational health fair, IConnect. The students assisted with health screenings including osteoporosis, physical function, and vision screening, and they talked to attendees about medication, nutrition, cardiovascular and heart disease, and diabetes mellitus.

Scholarship and Award Recipients

PhD students Martha Abshire and Melissa Kurtz were awarded a TL1 training grant from the JH Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. The grant will help cover each student’s stipends and program costs while providing training in team science and career development. Abshire is researching left-ventricular assistive device-related stress, and Kurtz is researching neonatal health outcomes and spirituality/religious involvement.

As a JH Provost’s Undergraduate Research Award recipient, accelerated student Abby Dowling will receive funding to conduct her research project “Caribbean Men’s Study.” She will work with faculty mentor Jackie Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN, and share her results at an upcoming poster presentation.

Leadership Appointments

Deborah Finnell, DNS, PMHNP-BC, CARN-AP, FAAN, was appointed JHSON Director of the Master’s Program, and Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, ANP, Director of the PhD Program. Kathleen White, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, will direct the newly-created Master’s Entry into Nursing program (expected to begin in fall 2015).

Andrea Parsons Schram, DNP, CRNP, was elected to serve as 2014-2015 President of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Maryland. She was previously the Baltimore District Director, and she has been active in regional and national nurse practitioner organizations. Parsons Schram was also selected to serve with Shawna Mudd, DNP, CPNP-AC, PNP-BC and Cynthia Foronda, PhD, RN, CNE, as leadership scholars in the 2014 National League for Nursing LEAD cohort. They will examine organizational systems, leadership processes, strategy, teamwork, and more. In addition, Mudd is now “President-Elect” of the Maryland Chesapeake Chapter of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.

Center for Global Nursing manager Kevin Ousman, RN, BSN, MSN, was chosen to help launch the Global Nurse Executive Leadership Institute—a new educational track that expands the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar Program.

Tener Goodwin Veenema, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, was elected to serve on the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows (RWJF ENF) Alumni Board. As a member, she will be a liaison for the foundation and help plan strategic initiatives for the Alumni Association. She will also co-chair the Annual RWJF ENF Alumni meeting to be held next February.

Conferences and Presentations

• Ellen Ray, DNP, CNM, RN, Brigit VanGraafeiland, DNP, CRNP, Clinical Instructors Jo Walrath, PhD, MS, RN, and Susan Immelt, PhD, RN, PhD student Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, and Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb’s, PhD, RN, ANP, FAAN, poster presentation “Evaluation of a Service-Learning Course for Pres-Licensure Nursing Students to Provide Leadership Development in Quality and Patient Safety” won first place in the Academic/General category at the National Quality and Safety Education for Nurses conference. Ray and VanGraafeiland also presented “An Online Capstone Course Promoting Leadership in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement.”
• In celebration of National Nurses Week, Joan Kub, PhD, MA, PHCNS, BC, and Carolyn Cumpsty Fowler, PhD, MPH, hosted an all-day workshop on public health nursing history, evaluation, and communication. On May 2, Kub presented “New Tools for Accurately Planning for the Future of Your Health Ministry: Community Assessment and Formative Evaluation” at the Holy Cross Hospital Faith/Community Nurse Program. As a representative for the Association of Community Health Nursing Educators, Kub also attended the National Nurses Week Stakeholder meeting with U.S. Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius and Mary Wakefield from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
• At the Scaling Up Best Practices in Community-based Health Professional Education conference, Pam Jeffries, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, participated on a panel discussing “Community-based HPE Pedagogy: Framing Foundational Issues Through Debate.”
• Nancy Hodgson, PhD, RN, gave the keynote lecture “A Journey of Dignity and Purpose: End of Life Care for People with Dementia” at the Inaugural Karen A. Armacost Annual Lecture on Geriatric Care. She also presented “Comfort Care in Advanced Stage Dementia: A Palliative Approach” at the 2014 Annual Alzheimer’s Association Conference.
• At the 24th Annual Medical Surgical Nursing Conference, Tener Goodwin Veenema, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, presented “Disaster Readiness for Hospital Based Nurses: Preparing for Uncertain Times.”