Duquesne University School of

NURSINGVol. 6 (2021) Magazine

LEADERSHIP RECOGNIZED 2 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 3 LETTER FROM THE DEAN

“The character of the nurse is as important as the knowledge she possesses.” –Carolyn Jarvis

Life has changed dramatically since the start of the coronavirus Duquesne University School of pandemic. The world as we knew it shifted in unexpected ways and

introduced us to a new reality as an educational institution, as a NURSINGVol. 6 (2021) Magazine community and as individuals. During this time, I have witnessed the leadership and bravery of the nursing community as they rose to meet TABLE OF CONTENTS the challenges of a global pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for strong nurse 5 A TIME TO LEAD leaders. In our sixth issue of the Duquesne University School of Nursing Magazine, we celebrate the resilience and strength demonstrated this past year by our 10 DOUBLING DOWN administrators, faculty, staff, students and alumni alike. When classes came to a halt in March 13 THINK GLOBALLY 2020, faculty first diligently worked to transition their courses to virtual learning. Then they stepped up to create a flexible and safe learning experience for students returning to campus in 16 I AM A NURSE the fall. Leadership is an integral part of our curriculum, and I applaud our faculty for serving as such exemplary examples of leaders in action. 19 FACULTY NEWS We have had many challenges to navigate, and every step of the way we have come together - NATURAL REMEDIES: as a school to find solutions. We have also been ethical leaders during this time, educating DUQUESNE PROFESSOR AT FOREFRONT OF BREAST MILK the public, correcting misinformation, advocating for personal protective equipment (PPE), MANIPULATION RESEARCH addressing vaccine hesitancy, and participating in COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE to vulnerable populations, especially those in group homes and older adults. We have been GRANT WILL HELP EXPAND collegial, supportive and innovative. SEXUAL ASSAULT NURSE One innovation of which I am most proud is our biomedical engineering and nursing dual EXAMINER PROGRAM degree program, which recently graduated its first student. The first program of its kind in the 23 STUDENT NEWS country, this forward-thinking program allows graduates to gain a clinical perspective while learning to develop technologies that solve real health care problems. 26 ALUMNI NEWS Faculty scholarship is supported at all levels in order to establish a strong educational foundation in both undergraduate and graduate programs. We proudly highlight Drs. Kelley 29 RANKINGS, RECOGNITIONS Baumgartel and Alison Colbert, whose research and scholarship contribute toward improving AND ACHIEVEMENTS the human condition. Baumgartel’s research on breast milk variability seeks to identify 32 NOTES FROM THE FRONT LINES whether those variables contribute to neonatal outcomes, and Colbert recently received a $499,391 Department of Justice grant to establish a Campus Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Network Program. Dean: Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN Our commitment to nursing education is also seen throughout these pages in the achievements and contributions of our faculty, students and alumni, in the launch of three Editor and Assistant Dean, new graduate programs, and in being selected as an NLN Centers of Excellence™ by the Recruitment and Enrollment Management: Cherith Simmer, MS, RN National League for Nursing. We choose to conclude with alumni accounts from the front lines. The world has witnessed Editor and Director of Marketing: nurses’ compassion as they comforted the sick and dying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Michelle Boehm, MS We each have our own story to tell. Throughout the year, Duquesne nurses have shared their Duquesne University School of Nursing experiences with us and we in turn share them with you. 600 Forbes Avenue I am pleased to present this issue to you. Thank you for your support of Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA 15282 School of Nursing. 412.396.6550 duq.edu/nursing Sincerely,

Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN Dean and Professor 4 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 5

A TIME TO LEAD

NURSES ARE TRAINED TO TAKE CHARGE. NOW EVERYONE KNOWS WHY.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for nurses and altered the health care landscape in ways that were previously unimaginable. Throughout this crisis, nurses have found themselves in unprecedented positions, grappling with high-stakes decisions and adapting to new care situations and operational policies. Despite overwhelming conditions, they have continued their essential work of caring for the sick, advocating for those in need, and demonstrating respect and dignity for all persons for whom they provide care. The pandemic has been devastating, but it has also been a moment for nurses. Extensive media coverage chronicles nurses’ heroic work on behalf of patients under adverse, pressure-filled conditions and at great personal risk as they work long hours and without proper equipment or protective gear. As stories abound of nurses stepping up to confront one of the worst public health crises in history, the public learned something that many take for granted – nurses are, by nature and education, leaders.

AN ESSENTIAL CORE COMPETENCY FOR EVERY NURSE Today’s health care systems are interdependent environments where nurses, physicians, support staff, and patients and their families each provide input. All must collaborate to find the THE PUBLIC LEARNED SOMETHING best solutions and ensure the best patient outcomes. The onus THAT MANY TAKE FOR GRANTED to assume a leadership role is even greater outside of acute care environments, where nurses work autonomously with patients – NURSES ARE, BY NATURE AND and families in community or home settings. A home health nurse EDUCATION, LEADERS. working closely with a person who has Alzheimer’s may be more likely to notice and notify family members about an issue than a nurse working in a hospital. Nurses, as the primary caregivers with the most direct patient contact, have enormous influence and an obligation to help guide the patient care team. In fact, nursing has been ranked the most trusted profession by Gallup polls for 19 consecutive years. Studies reveal that when nurses lead, positive patient outcomes follow. For example, in the study “Clinical Leadership Development and Education for Nurses: Prospects and Opportunities,” which was published in the Journal of Nursing Management (2015), the authors conducted a thorough review of 20 previously published studies. Researchers linked 19 patient outcome variables to leadership by nurses including patient mortality, patient safety outcomes, adverse events, complications and patient health care use. The authors also found links between nursing leadership and lower patient mortality rates, as well as reduced medication errors, lowered use of restraints and fewer hospital-acquired infections. The study’s authors concluded that developing and supporting transformational nursing leadership is an important organizational strategy for improving patient outcomes. 6 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 7

LEARN. ADAPT. GROW. REPEAT. to develop leadership skills and insights. Along “It starts at the top, with deans and faculty modeling The commitment to a lifetime of learning and with memberships in the Duquesne chapter of the behaviors and a culture that encourages students to act leading on behalf of patients begins with a nurse’s National Student Nurses’ Association and other in the same way,” Deem adds. undergraduate education. campus professional and social organizations, student Given the demands nurses encounter in practice representatives sit on numerous administrative LEADERSHIP IN THE AGE OF COVID and the need for strong and effective leadership, the committees, ensuring them a voice in decisions that The COVID-19 pandemic descended with little Duquesne University School of Nursing created a affect them. The experience also helps participants warning and forced educational institutions to the curriculum that provides opportunities for students become comfortable with group dynamics and edges of creativity to enable continuity of instruction. to develop the knowledge and nursing skills they processes like collaborative decision-making that “Resiliency and the ability to adapt are key attributes need while also growing in areas of professionalism, require them to advocate for a position. for any leader,” says Dr. Torrie Snyder, clinical communication, collaboration and leadership. assistant professor and chair of the undergraduate “We talk with new students about three types of nursing program. “This past year taught all of us a great education they will receive – theoretical, professional deal about these characteristics and the importance of and clinical” says Dr. Kate DeLuca, associate dean for THE COMMITMENT TO A LIFETIME OF demonstrating them for our students and staff. Nurses student affairs. “But there is more to the professional LEARNING AND LEADING ON BEHALF must always be flexible, and I think that is much development element of their education than just OF PATIENTS BEGINS WITH A NURSE’S clearer now.” interview techniques. It is about shaping them into To accommodate the shift to remote learning, UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION. the kind of nurse they want to be. Many students had Rosanna Henry, instructor and assistant dean for an experience that inspired them to choose a career clinical skills and simulation education, had to create in nursing, such as a family member or a nurse who ways to replicate the hands-on environment of a made an impact on their lives. We ask them to write A FOCUS ON NURSING ETHICS state-of-the-art demonstration lab and then transfer down the qualities a good nurse has – like empathy or Ethical leadership is also part of the competency it to students’ dorm rooms, apartments and homes. leadership – and then we discuss how to develop those equation. Henry worked with Joseph Seidel, assistant dean for qualities in them, too.” “There are classes that deal specifically with ethical instructional and clinical technology, to provide the The School of Nursing curriculum weaves leadership considerations in the profession, but ethics is woven software, hardware and connectivity students needed topics into coursework and clinical rotations to help into much of the coursework,” DeLuca says. “It is not for online instruction. To supplement the curriculum, students master these competencies. Active learning just about big ethical questions. Common, everyday they developed demonstration videos for procedures opportunities also enable them to apply their skills actions are also ethical considerations – like washing like intubating a patient, and then engineered and gain real-world experience. One example is your hands to protect your patient.” equipment to enable students to practice skills. For the clinical immersion experience connected to the Dr. Michael Deem, assistant professor with a joint example, Henry found that connecting plastic tubing Clinical Leadership in Professional Nursing course. appointment in the School of Nursing and the Center to a soda bottle approximated an airway passage Nursing students enrolled in the course complete a for Global Health Ethics, defines ethical leadership well enough to enable students to practice proper 21-week clinical experience at a University of as behaviors that follow accepted standards and suctioning techniques. Pittsburgh Medical Center facility, where they demonstrate character and virtue, but also convey “Our faculty had just days to develop and master perform a variety of procedures for acute care patients respect for others. For example, an effective nurse new teaching techniques and technology, and then and carry out other assignments under the supervision demonstrates cultural competence that allows prepare students to learn in a completely different of a registered nurse. Students interact with patients movement beyond one’s frame of reference to view way,” Snyder says. “Students did not miss important and their families, and participate in unit-specific a situation from a patient’s perspective. instruction by not being in the labs because they and leadership, quality and safety activities. Students “Students must learn not only to follow rules their instructors worked together to ensure that the learn to recognize warning signs like deviations from and protocols, but also to act in their patients’ best alternate approach succeeded.” acceptable patient health care status or standards, and interests, and to do it with respect for patients and then discuss the situation with unit staff and perform families,” Deem says. “If a parent refuses to vaccinate LEADERSHIP AT ALL LEVELS interventions. Along with building hard and soft their child, the response is not something students Snyder believes that nurses at all levels need nursing skills, participants network with professionals can practice on a mannequin. We need to teach strong leadership skills. “As nurse educators, it is to gain a clearer understanding of the workplace, so them how to respond to vaccine hesitancy within important to embrace leadership in our institutional they are better prepared following graduation. the ideal of promoting the child’s health and to do it practices, values and beliefs,” she shares. “Students We have the potential to educate future generations of A nursing education includes numerous compassionately, without falling back on their own are influenced not only by what we say but how transformative nurse leaders who can serve as strong opportunities for students to work with faculty biases. we behave as instructors, advisors and even as patient advocates and make decisions on how to and peers both inside and outside the classroom colleagues. It is important that we lead by example. improve the delivery of care and patient outcomes.”

8 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 9

“We are fortunate to have a strong administrative At a time when prices were doubling or tripling overnight, the Moreover, the IT team surveyed students and faculty to identify team that talks through ideas before we make STEPPING UP donation represented a financial sacrifice for Duquesne, but Henry and technology needs, then coordinated efforts with the University to get her peers did not hesitate. “People needed our help, and it was simply items such as laptops and webcams into the hands of students and decisions – hearing and debating the pros and Duquesne University School of Nursing (SON) celebrates leadership at all levels, and we are proud to highlight two individuals who the right thing to do,” she says. “To be true to our mission, we serve our faculty who needed them. For students and staff with unreliable internet cons,” DeLuca says. “We engage in that level of went above and beyond to serve our students, our campus and community as well as our students.” access, SON provided mobile hotspots that supplied the bandwidth to professional discourse and then, even if we disagree, the local community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their quiet participate in video-based classes and labs. Where necessary, they set we make a decision and move on. The final measure acts of everyday leadership inspire us, and we thank them for their A CATALYST FOR INNOVATION up virtual private networks (VPNs) to enable users to connect securely is what is best for the student.” commitment. As COVID-19 continued to spread throughout the spring and to SON’s network. In addition to developing Zoom, video and print “The pandemic has been both a blessing and a early summer, it was apparent that in-person learning at Duquesne training content, Seidel and his team also created a dedicated SON curse,” Snyder notes. “We have been forced to step HELPING BECAUSE WE CAN would need to be adapted for the fall 2020 semester, including in the HELP desk to manage unique online testing concerns. The call for help went out, and Rosanna Henry and the outside of the box and rethink the ways we do things Learning and Simulation Center, where nearly 600 undergraduate School of Nursing responded. nursing students receive hands-on clinical training each year. – starting with how we educate our students – and Henry, who oversees all aspects of the lab, along with a small team ask whether we can and should change certain When someone in need asks for help, you respond first and worry 11,880 TOTAL EXAMS WERE DELIVERED AND of faculty and staff, quickly got to work. “Once Duquesne announced later about inventory. PROCTORED REMOTELY DURING THE FALL things. In the long term, I think some changes plans to adopt a HyFlex educational strategy, my team had to move That was the reaction of Rosanna Henry, instructor and assistant 2020 SEMESTER. we have made will improve and promote positive fast in order to ensure proper social distancing without sacrificing dean for clinical skills and simulation education, when the region’s outcomes in nursing education.” student learning,” shares Henry. medical community issued a call for assistance in March 2020. Henry’s team soon realized one of their greatest challenges would Teaching during the pandemic also made certain At the time, health care providers everywhere faced critical be moving an estimated 260 Fundamentals of Nursing and Health basic concepts much more relatable. shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and PIVOTING ON THE FLY Assessment students through the lab safely without impeding the One of the more complex challenges the team faced was “We always taught the importance of hygiene and other basic medical supplies as COVID-19 patient counts soared and needs of other lab courses and simulations. “It was challenging, but accommodating the large volume of testing that a nursing curriculum protecting yourself in the workplace, but students manufacturers struggled to meet burgeoning demand. Despite the lack we made it work,” she says. “Because regardless of whether we are demands. “The School of Nursing has 1,316 students, and clinical nursing by nature have that sense of invincibility,” Snyder of adequate PPE and other equipment, nurses, physicians and other teaching online, in person or a combination of both, our goal to provide education requires a significant amount of theory and skills testing,” front-line health care workers continued to serve patients and protect says. “Now when we teach infection control and high-quality lab and simulation instruction remains consistent. We explains Dean Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow. For example, both course and our communities at great personal risk. the importance of PPE, students are paying closer knew we had to get creative and implement new strategies quickly and certification testing like the HESI and NCLEX exams require real-time When the call for help came, Henry, who also serves as director of attention because the reasons are much clearer. We effectively in order to support faculty and students,” she says. Henry proctoring to verify that students observe testing protocols. the School of Nursing’s Learning and Simulation Center, was quick to credits the nursing dean, technology team, and her clinical skills and The task was made even more complex by sudden and unpredictable are also seeing greater acceptance of innovations like respond. “We knew everything was in short supply and that PPE was simulation team, which includes Bernadette Clark, Susan Williams and shutdowns occurring everywhere as countries grappled with the virus. telehealth that make health care more accessible.” hard to find at any price,” Henry recalls. “We also knew that our nurses Gail Hric, as well as dedicated faculty and staff for making SON so “We put in a lot of hours locating resources for online testing and Snyder points to another positive outcome of the and other front-line workers caring for patients were especially at risk.” successful during this period. monitoring,” Seidel recalls. “The first remote proctoring vendor we pandemic – greater appreciation for the nursing Duquesne had suspended in-person classes with no timetable for selected closed without warning. Their headquarters and operation, profession. resuming in-person instruction, which meant supplies were going located in India, were suspended when the Indian government shut unused. “Meanwhile,” shares Henry, “care providers were running out of REMOTE POSSIBILITIES The way the world views nurses is forever When COVID-19 forced Duquesne University to move all classes down due to COVID-19. Everything was fine on Friday and then the equipment needed to keep them safe. We did not hesitate.” Henry and changed. “Until this happened, I think some saw online, Joseph Seidel, assistant dean for instructional and clinical following Monday, we received an email notifying us of the shutdown. Bernadette Clark, the center’s coordinator, began to pull PPE and other nurses primarily as order-takers,” Snyder says. technology, along with the SON’s Information Technology (IT) team So we pivoted again and switched to ExamSoft’s ExamMonitor service supplies from SON’s stockpiles. worked around the clock to ensure every nursing student, faculty for proctoring the course exams online and ProctorU for HESI exams. “Media coverage of health care workers during the The Duquesne Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Sciences, and member and administrator had what they needed to be successful. We’re quite good now at pivoting,” Seidel jokes. “Normally, the IT pandemic has been very positive, and has helped Natural and Environmental Sciences banded together to supply more When Duquesne announced in mid-March that it would close department would spend an entire year testing and implementing paint a much clearer and accurate picture of what than 100 cases of gloves (nearly 150,000 pairs), 80 N-95 face masks, its campus and transition classes to remote/online delivery due to services like these, but we had to make the switch within a week.” we really do on behalf of our patients.” 25 boxes of disposable gowns, shoe covers and hair/beard covers, the COVID-19 health crisis, more than 800 nursing undergraduate Glasgow says Seidel’s and the IT department’s leadership was key and several boxes of goggles, sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizers and students had to be moved to online instruction virtually overnight. to SON’s successful response to the pandemic. “Joe worked very long biohazard bags. Despite the obvious challenges, SON operations, instruction and hours, tirelessly responding to faculty and students’ countless emails The donation was a treasure student support continued without pause thanks in part to the efforts and phone calls for technical support related to testing issues and trove for the region’s health of Seidel, along with members of the IT team, which includes Josh other technical concerns. His commitment was endless,” says Glasgow. care community. Duquesne sent Calvetti, Lindsay Bowman and Kelly Fox. “I can think of no other individual than Joe who pivoted as quickly – or the supplies to the Healthcare Luckily, SON had history on its side. “Online learning is ingrained as often – and provided this level of support during the pandemic.” Coalition of Southwestern in the School of Nursing’s culture. With more than two decades of Seidel is quick to point out that he was not working alone. “This was Pennsylvania (HCSWPA), which embracing online learning through our graduate programs, we had a true team effort,” he says. “I’m very proud of the way everyone – from is part of the Pennsylvania some solid foundational technology in place,” explains Seidel. “It wasn’t students to faculty to administrators – has handled the transition. We Department of Health and easy, but we were able to move the undergraduate nursing students pulled together to do what we had to in order to support our students Allegheny County Health online, and prepped the faculty and staff to work from home.” during a difficult time. Department. Working through In a matter of just a few weeks, the IT team shifted the entire nursing “Moreover, our IT staff continues to work long hours taking tech support HCSWPA meant supplies went program to online virtual learning that included technical support for calls and answering emails from early morning to late in the evening. to the providers who needed 124 online courses and more than 5,000 student-proctored exams, as Their dedication is why this worked and will continue to work.” them most, regardless of their well as virtual labs and online dissertation defenses. size or ability to pay. 10 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 11

Innovation is not a new concept in nursing. IDENTIFYING NEEDS AND SOLUTIONS Duquesne University’s School of Nursing has a long Student engineers in the program gain hands-on history of innovation in nursing education. It was the experience in fundamentals including programming, first in Pennsylvania to grant the Bachelor of Science in thermodynamics and electronics, along with in- Nursing degree (1937) and the first in the nation to offer patient care at Pittsburgh area health care facilities. As an online PhD program in nursing (1997). part of the program, students partner with health care Duquesne’s latest innovation combines a BSN with a and technology organizations for a capstone project bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering. Launched that articulates an unmet patient care need and then in 2016, the dual-degree program combines two proposes a solution. “The capstone is a sophisticated equally rigorous curriculums and teaches students to engineering project that is defined by the student’s apply a unique perspective to both disciplines, says clinical experience,” Viator says. “They are not just Associate Professor Alison Colbert, who served as the thinking about a need. They have identified that need program’s coordinator at the School of Nursing. in their nursing rotations so it is very real, and that “Students learn two very different ways of makes this project especially valuable.” thinking,” Colbert says. “The engineering side is Kim Stafford, HS’19, N’19, the program’s first lab- and science-oriented, and then they move into graduate, exemplifies the the accelerated nursing program where thinking and problem-solving focus problem-solving revolve around patient care. They the program nurtures. learn to work with a foot in both worlds.” In one of her courses, The five-year program brings together two rapidly Stafford used CAD/CAM expanding fields by integrating the clinical knowledge software and 3D printing of nursing with the technological aspects of biomedical technology to develop a engineering. Students must be accepted to Duquesne’s tracheostomy model with biomedical engineering program and then declare their more realistic physiological dual major by the conclusion of their sophomore year. characteristics for use in They begin the nursing curriculum during their third training nursing students. year and then concentrate on nursing courses in years Stafford’s capstone four and five. project was a partnership At the end of the program, they will have hands- with fellow biomedical on biomedical engineering experience and direct engineering students and DOUBLING DOWN patient care, the education required for licensure as a a University of Pittsburgh registered nurse, and a BME capstone project for which researcher. The group Kim Stafford, Duquesne’s first Biomedical Engineering/ they will collaborate with health care providers to explored the feasibility of DUQUESNE’S PIONEERING BME/BSN IS THE FIRST KNOWN DUAL BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING- School of Nursing dual degree developing a device that NURSING DEGREE PROGRAM IN THE COUNTRY. THIS INNOVATIVE PROGRAM TAPS INTO THE propose a solution to an unmet need in patient care. program graduate. It is a highly specialized program, designed to electronically detects and NATURAL PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS OF NURSES AND MAXIMIZES THEIR POTENTIAL TO attract an equally unique breed of student, says John quantifies neuropathy – damage to the peripheral TRANSFORM MEDICAL QUESTIONS INTO TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS. Viator, professor and chair of Duquesne’s Biomedical nervous system that can lead to numbness or weakness. Engineering Program. “You need to be extraordinarily “The device I proposed is a sleeve that clinicians smart, as well as multitalented and high achieving,” place against a patient’s skin to detect inflammation As baby boomers age, technology advances “Students learn two very different Viator says, “not only to be accepted to this program, and measure changes in microvasculature to indicate and the nursing shortage continues, the need for but also to succeed in it. Both curriculum paths are neuropathy,” Stafford says. “Our testing showed that, nurses to be able to play an active role in medical ways of thinking. The engineering challenging.” in theory, we could detect and quantify inflammation.” device inventions and innovations is at an all-time side is very lab- and science-oriented, Viator, who joined Duquesne in 2013 specifically to The opportunity to come at health care problems high. Nurses use a range of medical devices on a develop the biomedical engineering program, credits from an engineering perspective also attracted Ian daily basis, both simple and complex, in support and then they move into the Nursing Dean Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow as the driving Ferris, now in his fourth year in the program. “I love of diagnosis, treatment and care. They spend more accelerated nursing program where force behind the BME/BSN program. “This program is the engineering side – the math, electronics, working time with patients than any other health care her brainchild,” he says. “She approached me soon after with computers and on bio signals and systems” he provider, and this puts them in a unique position thinking and problem-solving revolve I arrived on campus, and I was immediately intrigued says. “As I start my nursing courses, move into clinical to recognize ways to enhance patient care and around patient care. They learn to by her idea and the opportunity it presented. She took rotations and gain nursing experience, I am sure my safety and to be at the forefront of patient care the lead and was instrumental in gaining approval.” focus will change.” device innovations. work with a foot in both worlds.” 12 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 13

Ferris sees his interests intersecting in areas like “I am keeping an open mind about my career once I orthotics or prosthetics, but he is keeping an open graduate,” Ferris says. “In addition to coursework, we THINK GLOBALLY: mind as he begins his nursing immersion. “I want participate in a lot of activities that help build contacts DUQUESNE STUDENTS TAKE TO COSTA RICA to work hands-on with patients in an area such as in both areas so we can see how the degrees cross prosthetics,” he explains. “But I can also use my in the real world. And even if I gravitate toward the FOR A WEEK OF ON-THE-GROUND LESSONS nursing knowledge to better understand how medical engineering side, I am still a registered nurse.” devices work, then explore ways to make them more “My job search was pretty stress free,” Stafford ergonomic or efficient.” says. “Having this degree tells an employer that even The swift and sudden emergence of COVID-19 has changed if I do not yet have specific experience, I am highly a lot about these past 15 months, from graduation celebrations MAXIMUM CAREER FLEXIBILITY teachable and adaptable. In addition to seeing the to nearly all of fall orientation. But on the edge of the lockdown One of the obvious paybacks of the rigorous program technology and devices used in this field, I am gaining that would ground planes and grind plans to a halt, one lucky is the career opportunities it offers graduates like product insight. I feel like this will provide a valuable group of students and faculty were able to slip in just one more Stafford, who works as a circulator nurse in the foundation for when I return to the engineering side. trip – and it was one they will never forget. neurosurgery department at Allegheny General This path and degree will continue to give me control Last March, students from Duquesne’s nursing and pharmacy Hospital in Pittsburgh. “My day starts by getting over my career path.” schools set out for a week-long spring breakaway trip to Costa the room set up for the first surgery, gathering “The BME/BSN program is attracting smart, Rica to expand their skills, do their part to help, and learn more medications, equipment and any implants they may energetic people who want to make a difference about the culture, each other and themselves. need. Then I ensure the patient has been checked in and are committed to solving complex health care and properly positioned,” she says. problems,” Colbert agrees. “This degree allows them to BIT OF TURBULENCE “I do not scrub in for surgery. Instead, I document take any number of paths to achieve their goals.” The world was already rapidly changing before the virus activity, handle details for the surgeon, check with the hit – in a way which called for a bit of quick thinking on behalf anesthesiologist and update the patient’s family. What of professors Amber Kolesar and Dr. Yvonne Weideman of the I value so much about this role is that I get to see the nursing school and Drs. Jordan Covvey and Kevin Tidgewell of surgeries and what they require in terms of devices and the pharmacy school. equipment – the engineering side – and then from the The two schools had long taken separate spring breakaway nursing side I see the need for the surgery and how to trips, with pharmacy typically heading to Haiti and nursing to best care for a patient.” Nicaragua. Budding civil unrest in both areas led each group to Her experience is shaping her perspective, question those plans in 2019, but faculty knew how foundational which will guide her if her career takes her into and important the experience could be, so they soldiered on to the engineering field. “I felt that I needed clinical search out a safer location. experience as a foundation, so I have credibility as a “We have had students go to Japan and Italy and all over the clinician moving forward,” she says. “Working as a world on global health and education trips, but we wanted nurse enables me to gain experience with technology to offer a different experience,” Covvey says. “Japan and Italy and devices, work with manufacturers and gain are fantastic educational experiences, but we wanted our insight into the products and how they perform. Just students to engage with a local health care system in a more as important, I get to see what works, what does not meaningful way.” work and why. With the help of some quick grant work and a partnership “The surgical field is a fertile area for innovation. with International Volunteer HQ, the world’s largest volunteer Medical equipment and device manufacturers rely abroad organization, and Maximo Nivel, a leading educational heavily on user feedback, so the insight I am gaining travel and study abroad organization, Covvey and Tidgewell is invaluable.” identified Costa Rica as a unique location where students could learn about different health care approaches while working with AN IN-DEMAND SKILLSET, underserved populations. A CHANCE FOR LASTING IMPACT “Our team was able to see and learn a lot about health Employability and earning power are key reasons care and culture in Costa Rica,” shares Covvey. for considering a BME/BSN degree. “Our engineering In 2019, the School of Nursing was also seeking graduates always place very well, and this degree adds a new spring breakaway destination. “We a great deal of flexibility,” Viator points out. “If you wanted our students to experience nursing in have either a nursing degree or an engineering degree, another country and see firsthand the influences you will always be employed. But the real value is being of culture on health systems,” says Weideman. employed as a nurse engineer.” “Costa Rica checked all the boxes.” DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 15 14 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING

“THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN “OUR TEAM WAS ABLE TO AND GROW AS A STUDENT SEE AND LEARN A LOT ABOUT OR AS A HEALTH CARE HEALTH CARE AND CULTURE PROFESSIONAL IS TO JUST IN COSTA RICA.” DIVE IN AND DO IT.”

Weideman and Kolesar made the trip to evaluate the ahead of time how to say all the right words in Spanish. their ability to interact with people,” she explains. a whole. “That reflection time gave them a chance location and knew it would be a good fit. They quickly “It was fun work,” Kolesar says. “But they took it “We are all limited by our personal experiences, but to feel more comfortable and to get to know one teamed up with Covvey and Tidgewell and combined seriously.” when a student is challenged to communicate with another, which translates to a better experience when the 2020 nursing and pharmacy trips. The clinic days were a bit more intensive – but no someone who speaks a different language, it is an they are in a practice setting,” Weideman says. “If you “Combining our groups was a great opportunity less educational. Nursing and pharmacy students expansive experience. It helps to make them better are going to work in a collaborative environment, you for our students,” says Kolesar. “Interprofessional were paired off to work in teams, conducting basic communicators as health care providers.” have to trust those with whom you work. This helps collaboration in health care is fundamental to neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine build that trust, especially when you are working delivering high-quality care. For students to witness and musculoskeletal screenings or assessments TAKING OFF side-by-side in an unfamiliar environment.” how a different culture approaches health care as well for adults and children – all of whom lived in the A large part of the trip was dedicated to helping the as how a member of another health profession, such as neighborhood. Once they had evaluated a patient students become well-rounded individuals. Days were FLYING HIGH a pharmacist, does is truly invaluable.” together, the students would then relay their roughly divided in half, with mornings dedicated to Still, along the way, students were called to rely on The final group was composed of 16 students – eight assessment to a local physician, with all three serving in the community and afternoons and evenings more than one another. The entire experience was from each school – giving participants not only the collaborating on any appropriate interventions or reserved for soaking in the Costa Rican culture. designed to place them outside their comfort zone, opportunity to learn from their experience in a foreign future actions or recommendations. Students were given a tour of the University of Costa where they would have to learn to listen to – and trust country, but to learn from fellow students and faculty “It was really cool to see the students coming Rica’s nursing, chemistry and pharmacy buildings one – themselves. who may have also been unfamiliar. This was exactly together, despite not really knowing each other,” afternoon. On another, they practiced Spanish while “We could see them beginning to be comfortable the type of experience many students had hoped for, Covvey says. “We may all be trained in health care, perusing a local market. And yet other days saw them with being uncomfortable,” Tidgewell says. “Working including nursing student Julie Martin, BSN, RN, a but we are all trained in slightly different models enjoying many aspects of the country’s diverse natural with children really helps. They start to learn that it is 2020 graduate. – and that’s a good thing. When you have a whole beauty. “We really wanted to create a fully integrated OK to say the wrong word and to not understand, but “I have always enjoyed helping others. It was why I team working together – a nurse, a pharmacist and cultural experience,” Weideman says. “We wanted to communicate with hand signals and other gestures. wanted to become a nurse in the first place,” she says. a physician – you can really create cohesive care for them to have a good understanding of the culture and By the end of the week, you see them waving the “But I also wanted to experience another culture. I the patient. When we come together, it makes us all to see what people’s day-to-day lives were like. We interpreters aside and saying, ‘OK, I have got this.’” never had too much of that growing up, but in nursing, stronger.” also wanted them to have a solid look at the country Indeed, for many students, that empowerment you encounter so many people from different cultures, It was a precious lesson every member of a medical outside the barrios.” extended beyond the clinical setting. speaking other languages. It is very important to be team needed to learn, but it came with a twist: The Yet perhaps the most important time of the day, “Toward the end of the week, I felt like I could able to reach a level of understanding with those who whole process took place in Spanish, allowing even according to the faculty, were those unplanned spaces read a menu or comfortably use certain key words in are different from you.” more room for the team members’ personal growth. at the edges of the itinerary, which allowed students to conversation,” Martin says. “People were very kind. “It was really nerve-wracking speaking Spanish in truly process the experience. Nobody was offended or angry if you made a mistake, TOUCHING DOWN front of Spanish-speaking people,” Martin says. “But As members of two separate schools who may not so it made it easy to keep trying.” The group arrived with a full itinerary. During the sometimes you just have to dive in, even if you make a have otherwise met, that time also let the students According to Martin, that is the exact set of skills she week-long stay, two days were reserved for providing mistake. Because of course at some point, you are going bond over shared experiences. hopes to bring to a hospital after graduation. “Being basic health and wellness education to elementary to say the wrong thing, but you learn from that.” “I do not have any classes with pharmacy students,” in a hospital orientation, you just have to go out and school students, and another two days were dedicated Translators were also working with the group to Martin says. “You always see them in the library, but get your feet wet,” she says. “The only way to learn to volunteering at community-based pop-up clinics. ensure any potential miscommunications – especially you do not really have a reason to talk to them. But on and grow as a student or as a health care professional While working with the children, students were regarding medical information – were smoothed over. this trip, I got to make so many new friends.” is to just dive in and do it – that is the only way you are asked to create fun lesson plans on subjects like dental But by and large, the experience of facing a language Fostering those kinds of cross-departmental going to ever become a better person, to learn more hygiene and self-esteem, and they went all out on barrier was all part of the plan, Kolesar says. connections does not just enhance a student’s future about yourself and to grow.” the task, making posters, writing songs and planning “It just adds an additional layer to their humility and professional life but the health care profession as 16 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 17

very day on the news we see the enduring images of nurses providing critical care Eon the front lines. COVID-19 has thrust health care providers into the spotlight. We will not soon forget the faces of exhausted nurses in protective gear, with cheeks bruised from tight masks and eyes full of sorrow. We have witnessed their compassion as they comforted the sick and dying, connecting patients with family members via technology if possible, or stepping in to act as family if none could be present. But, we have also witnessed their joy when a patient survives, seeing them cheer enthusiastically, saluting the discharged patient like a war-time hero.

I AMBy Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow, PhD, A RN, ANEF, FAAN NURSE. As fate would have it, the World Health Organization had designated 2020* as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife,” marking the birth of Florence Nightingale, who established the principles of modern nursing and hospital sanitation, not knowing we would face a pandemic exactly 200 years later. As most people across the globe ran away from COVID-19, nurses bravely ran toward it. We have heard from numerous Duquesne nursing alumni who had answered the call for nurses to help fight the rapid spread of COVID-19. Among them was Diana Cook, RN, N’17. “I couldn’t sit at home when I saw the dire need for help continue to grow each day,” says Cook, who worked in a Manhattan hospital in one of the many COVID-19 ICUs. “I saw firsthand the exhausted staff and critically ill patients but also the incredible efforts of health care workers from all over the country who have come to work together during this pandemic. I am thankful for my education from Duquesne and the clinical experiences I have - ANONYMOUS acquired in my time as a nurse thus far that have allowed me to help during this pandemic.”

*In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Year of the Nurse and Midwife has been extended into 2021. 18 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 19 FACULTY NEWS

The International Council of Nurses estimates that more than 230,000 health care workers have contracted COVID-19, of whom more than 600 have died. And may soon be used to help some of the most at-need while the coronavirus pandemic amplified the role populations in Pittsburgh. of the nurse, members of our profession are working tirelessly every day in hospitals, long-term care and TRULY UNIQUE RESULTS neighborhood settings to care for individuals, families Baumgartel, who holds a PhD in nursing with a and communities. focus in health care genetics, is no stranger to the So what motivates nurses to wake up each morning and plight of preemies. She began her nursing career go to work, and in the time of COVID-19, at great risk working in a NICU in Pittsburgh, where she says she “I COULDN’T SIT AT to their own personal safety and that of their families? felt drawn to help care for some of the hospital’s most Nursing is a profession and a vocation. You enter the susceptible patients. nursing profession out of a deep sense of service – “I have always wanted to help the most vulnerable HOME WHEN I SAW wanting to heal the sick, abate suffering and preserve populations,” she says. “I hope my work can inform life. It is not glamorous or easy. In fact nursing is both and optimize the care received in the NICU.” intellectually challenging and physically demanding. On Clinical experiences were formative ones for THE DIRE NEED FOR many days, it is also mentally and spiritually exhausting. Baumgartel, who noticed that there was not only a But the rewards are plentiful; when you are a nurse, you lack of sufficient breast milk donations in a high-need HELP CONTINUE TO have a job with real purpose, positively impacting the unit, but that the breast milk they did receive looked lives of those you serve. KELLEY BAUMGARTEL, PHD, RN qualitatively different between mothers. Melissa Coulter, BSN, RN, N’15, an emergency ASSISTANT PROFESSOR “Milk is different,” Baumgartel says. “That is one GROW EACH DAY. ” department RN in Baltimore, Md., says, “I have been of the things we tell new mothers – that their milk is at the bedside of countless patients while we have tried made for their baby. And I mean that literally.” everything in our power to keep them alive. I have seen Just how literally that statement should be taken the fear in patients’ eyes, I have held their hands as they NATURAL REMEDIES: is at the center of Baumgartel’s groundbreaking realized they were dying, and I have been with patients research which parcels out, at a molecular level, the as they take their final breaths.” Coulter says she never DUQUESNE PROFESSOR AT varying metabolites and other bioactive components expected to be an emergency department RN during of breast milk. a pandemic, but she knows she is exactly where she is FOREFRONT OF BREAST So far, she and her team have uncovered more than supposed to be. 6,600 such compounds, tracking their appearance, Nurses make up nearly half of the world’s health care MILK MANIPULATION disappearance and sometimes reappearance in the workforce – there are approximately 20 million nurses same woman’s milk over time, and piecing together worldwide – and 90% of patients’ contact with health RESEARCH an ever more detailed portrait of the true symbiotic workers are with nurses. nature between the bodies of new mothers and their They have stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic BREASTFEEDING IS ONE OF THE MOST SPECIAL newborns. as we would expect, not only as the nurse providing care TIMES A NEW MOTHER CAN SPEND WITH HER 24/7 but also as the only human connection at times BABY, BUT AN EMERGING FIELD OF RESEARCH EARLY BUILDING BLOCKS and the conduit between the family and the patient. ON THE SUBJECT IS SHOWING THAT THE Nurses have always been with patients during life’s Indeed, everything from the gender of the baby most intimate moments – birth, suffering and death. PROCESS MAY BE EVEN MORE INTIMATE THAN to the time of day milk is made have been found to COVID-19 has magnified this experience as patients THOSE MOTHERS – OR ANYONE ELSE – COULD influence the breast milk matrix, which is confirmed in cannot have visitors, leaving them alone and frightened. HAVE IMAGINED. Baumgartel’s findings. It is the nurse who is there at this moment. It is the nurse The postpartum body may be reacting to a stunning Milk produced for boys, for example, contains more who will quietly speak to the patient, provide comfort, number of factors when producing milk, creating protein and fat than milk expressed by mothers with and allay pain and fear. Nurses have done this for 200 exquisitely tailored nutrition that not only helps girls, a finding further borne out by growth curves years, and it is no different today. healthy newborns stay strong but could prove pivotal of newborn males and females, Baumgartel says. The Year of the Nurse and Midwife just reminds us again in supporting one of the world’s most vulnerable Confirmatory research has found that the rise and fall of the critical role nurses play in health care and society. I populations: premature babies in a neonatal intensive of melatonin – a compound which helps promote sleep am extremely proud to be a nurse and to educate the next care unit (NICU). – and fat levels found in breast milk varies throughout generation of future nurses who will bravely care for the This pioneering research, conducted by Duquesne the day. Combined with melatonin, fat concentration sick. There is no greater privilege. School of Nursing Assistant Professor Kelley Baumgartel, helps to enforce infant sleep patterns over time. 20 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 21

Such details could prove particularly helpful at differences can be filtered through milk manipulation inflammatory cascades in the body that could severely hospitals or breast milk banks, where breast milk can methods, the results could be lifesaving. exacerbate the problems caused by NEC, making milk be tailored to meet infant needs, similar to Mom’s Of the thousands of biomarkers Baumgartel’s team with high levels of IL6 a potential risk. own milk. has uncovered, the one that perhaps best illustrates the Baumgartel’s research can help expand upon the “Right now, a nurse goes into the freezer and takes intricacies of milk manipulation is interleukin 6 (IL6), already prolific benefits of breast milk in the NICU, out the first bag pumped by Mom, and so forth,” a naturally occurring and protective compound with allowing physicians and nurses to parcel out and Baumgartel says. “But if that milk was pumped a number of properties that could help – or hurt – a prescribe the best natural cures for a baby in need. yesterday at 6 a.m., and it is being administered today premature infant’s health. One of the properties of “Preterm infants do not have an immune system, at 2 p.m., does that practice impact sleep and growth?” interleukin 6 makes it a particularly useful compound so the milk they get is like the bridge,” Baumgartel This optimized approach is called milk manipulation in promoting a healthy blood-clotting cascade, says. “We call it feeding, but in the NICU, milk really – but keeping sleep schedules on track is only one Baumgartel explains, which would make milk is medicine.” of its advantages. Fully realized, the idea could expressing more IL6 more protective among preterm offer some of the most powerful medicinal benefits infants who face one of the NICU’s more notorious LOOKING FORWARD of modern-day neonatal care, with NICU patients conditions: intraventricular hemorrhage. It is possible such medicine can be harvested before standing the most to gain. Yet the same milk sample may prove a wrong choice a baby is even born. for babies suffering from necrotizing enterocolitis For her next round of research, Baumgartel will be MILK AS MEDICINE (NEC), the most common – and deadly – condition focusing on antepartum milk – breast milk produced It is not just outside conditions that dictate the among preemies. At the heart of the disease is in the last few weeks of pregnancy – putting her right composition of breast milk. Much of it comes down inflammation of the intestines, which can quickly back on the cutting edge as head of the world’s first- to Mom’s genes as well – and when those genetic lead to death. Yet, interleukin 6 is also known to cause ever study on the subject. Early work has already uncovered more than 60,000 potential metabolites, and Baumgartel hopes to focus her study on determining whether any of these metabolite biomarkers could be as helpful as those found in more mature (postpartum) milk samples. There may also be room to discover not just what breast milk composition can do for babies, but how it could help the women who gave birth to them. In breastfeeding allows us Baumgartel’s previous research, she has already found to collect new samples one possible example: the presence of the metabolite at each milk expression creatinine in a mother’s milk. session.” The kidney byproduct likely has no function for a For research in the field to continue, it is crucial newborn, but could be a crucial marker of a mother’s for breast milk banks to continue collecting a kidney health. The discovery of similar metabolites diverse range of samples. This is why, when she is could help doctors build risk profiles for new mothers, not pioneering research on the subject, Baumgartel depending on what shows up in their breast milk focuses on her work at the Human Milk Science samples – which offer their own benefits in terms Institute & Biobank, where she serves as president, of forecasting health. “When you are looking for helping promote donation drives and fighting patterns, breast milk is easier than blood samples to ensure a more racially diverse population is to trend,” Baumgartel says. “It is difficult to obtain represented in all samples and studies. longitudinal blood samples; however, the nature of “Nursing science has evolved to include molecular approaches to understanding disease and health. Lactation science and breastfeeding is all about evolution,” Baumgartel says. “It is based on the idea “PRETERM INFANTS DO NOT HAVE AN that a woman can make milk that a baby needs, IMMUNE SYSTEM, SO THE MILK THEY which is personalized to meet the baby’s needs.” And determining how to match those to an infant’s needs GET IS LIKE THE BRIDGE. WE CALL IT with the right kind of milk may be the natural next FEEDING, BUT IN THE NICU, MILK REALLY evolutionary step. IS MEDICINE.” 22 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 23 STUDENT NEWS

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE GRANT NURSING STUDENTS HELP CREATE A WILL HELP EXPAND SEXUAL ASSAULT HEALTHIER COMMUNITY, ONE VACCINE AT A TIME NURSE EXAMINER PROGRAM

A $499,391 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will help the School of Nursing broaden its Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program to include a Campus SANE Network Program. The DOJ Office of Justice Programs, through its Office for Victims of Crime, has awarded more than $3.8 million in total to Duquesne and seven other U.S. universities to establish or expand SANE programs that offer medical forensic care, advocacy and other victim services to sexual assault survivors on college campuses. The funding has been awarded to Associate Nursing Professor Dr. Alison Colbert to establish a Campus SANE Network Program, which aims to develop and implement a model to enhance sexual assault health care on small to medium-sized university campuses, with an emphasis on those in rural areas. “We know that sexual assault on university campuses remains an issue. And the effect on survivors lasts well beyond the college years. We also know Alison Colbert, PhD, that there are issues specific to the campus environment that warrant tailored PHCNS-BC, FAAN services, and this is even more true in rural areas” says Colbert, whose research and clinical practice focus on health promotion among marginalized and vulnerable populations. “The campus-based sexual assault nurse examiner would be responsible for ensuring that all students have access to a complete sexual assault exam via a local partner and that the students are connected to those partners in a compassionate and trauma-informed way.” The School of Nursing, known for its innovative spirit, launched the first graduate online MSN in forensic nursing in 2002, preparing nurses to respond to and effectively help victims of crime. “This new DOJ grant will allow us to STUDENTS AND FACULTY JOIN FORCES TO HELP continue our efforts to ensure that all victims of sexual assault have access to high-quality, patient-centered care VACCINATE THEIR COMMUNITY and to prevent sexual violence in Pennsylvania and across the country,” Colbert says. As part of their Population Health course, nursing students and faculty are joining the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic by helping to distribute COVID-19 vaccines at both county health department sites and local community clinics. The experience is beneficial to both students and the community. Not only are students able to advance the health of their community, they are able to practice nursing and public health skills in a community setting. According to Associate Professor Alison Colbert, students and faculty alike saw the opportunity to participate as a gift. “The hours spent at a vaccination site are filled with hope and a sense of community working together toward a common goal, and that is so rewarding after this last year,” she explains. “Every single student I have talked to about their experience says it was one educational program, a mini-simulation specific to of the most rewarding things they have ever done.” COVID-19 vaccinations was conducted beforehand to Although nursing students learn medication ensure confident, safe administration of the vaccine. administration, including the intramuscular technique Nursing students and faculty will continue to Dean Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow speaks at the Department of Justice grant announcement. used to provide the COVID-19 vaccine early in their administer vaccines throughout the semester. 24 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 25 STUDENT NEWS

supportive attitude is what put her on the path to worked as a nurse and her sister is going to school for want to see,” she said. “It is a huge work in progress many of her leadership positions, including at the occupational therapy. It was only natural for Ford to for everyone. I wanted to make President Gormley school’s NAACP chapter, where she is serving her pick up the family business. aware of the Black students on campus – not just the second year as president. Yet another aspect of her background has driven world’s Black community, but the Black community at Shortly after arriving at Duquesne, Ford noticed her almost as much as her time at Duquesne: Ford’s Duquesne – and he was really receptive.” participation in some of the school’s diversity presence as a Black woman on campus. Since her organizations was in decline. She approached freshman year, she has been involved in a laundry list the NAACP chapter president and found out her of clubs and organizations related to increasing the “IT TAKES AN ASSERTIVE NURSE TO EXPLAIN predecessor was struggling with the level of work visibility – and indeed presence – of diversity students WHAT A PATIENT NEEDS.” required and needed more support. at Duquesne. Ford quickly offered to help. “Not thinking I would That lineup included an inclusion pre-orientation ever want to be president,” says Ford. “I just wanted program – part of Duquesne’s Office of Diversity and BE THE CHANGE the organization to do well.” Inclusion – that Ford enrolled in her freshman year. It Having such tough conversations with high- Ford quickly set about enlisting friends, and by provided an opportunity to move to campus early, in powered individuals has also helped Ford outside the end of her sophomore year, NAACP’s numbers order to meet and get to know other students before of school. Ford currently works as a patient care had risen. Ford was then handpicked to take over as the start of the school year. The experience, Ford said, technician (PCT) at the University of Maryland Upper president, a tradition she hopes to continue this year by helped her avoid feeling isolated as a diversity student Chesapeake Medical Center’s intensive care unit and choosing one of the younger students she mentors to and move into the broader orientation phase at school the intermediate care unit. take the reins after she graduates. with friends already in tow. “Many of our patients are COVID-19 positive, DUQUESNE NURSING STUDENT READY TO The increasing exposure to­ – and comfort with­ – “That program was one of the main reasons I stayed which has been both eye-opening and exhausting,” LEAD THROUGH THE UNKNOWN. the limelight that came with her presidency helped at Duquesne,” she shares. “I made lifelong friends shares Ford. “However, I am so glad to have this SOMETIMES BEING A TRUE LEADER MEANS prepare Ford for her next venture: to serve as vice – the kind you can use as your backbone to lean on experience. Through my PCT job, I have seen that ADMITTING YOU DO NOT KNOW IT ALL. AND MYA president and to help create unity among Black Greek during your time at school.” Having benefitted so a nurse communicates often with the physician FORD IS NOT AFRAID TO EMBRACE THE UNKNOWN. Council members in the greater Pittsburgh area and on much from the program, Ford said she wanted to pay about a patient’s condition,” she says. “It takes an Duquesne’s campus. it forward. She became a student ambassador for the assertive nurse to explain what a patient needs.” With everything going on in the world today, the The organization looks to bring together Black office her sophomore year, helping new students get a Ford says that it is also important to listen and be 21-year-old senior is not entirely sure what her next fraternities and sororities, not just from Duquesne head start. receptive to feedback. That is especially essential when steps will be; however, there is one thing Ford has but across the greater Pittsburgh area, and to increase “As a freshman, I felt like I had a leg up because I representing a minority in a hospital environment, never doubted: herself. students’ exposure to the clubs and the potential knew and could talk to older people on campus,” she she says. “It is a huge transition period,” she says. “Especially for what they are capable of achieving. “This gives says. “Now, people approach me the same way. They “One reason I wanted to be a nurse is because now with the pandemic. Everything is changing all the Black Greeks the opportunity to work together, to will say, ‘I remember you from pre-orientation!’ And there needs to be more Black nurses,” she said. time. You just have to learn to adapt.” get our work in front of more people, to increase I love being a familiar face on campus for someone and “There is not a lot of representation, which is It is that kind of quiet confidence the senior has interest and to do bigger things,” Ford says. “It lets being in a position to help them.” especially important when you need people to be built up over her years at Duquesne, ascending to us show our face more on campus and gives us more Her visibility on campus would perhaps peak a comfortable and to honestly voice their concerns leadership roles in the school’s chapter of National representation, which is our main goal.” few years later when Ford won the title of Miss Black about what they are going through.” However, to Association for the Advancement of Colored People The importance of making sure responsibilities Duquesne 2019, then went on to place second in the be so open, Ford first had to learn how to be honest (NAACP), Black Greek Council, and Office of Diversity are shared – and strengths are combined – is not school’s Miss Duquesne Pageant. The role is essentially herself – a lesson, she says, she received through her and Inclusion organizations, as well as serving as Miss just a lesson Ford says she will use within school a liaison position between the Ebony Women for Social experiences at Duquesne. Black Duquesne 2019. And no matter where those organizations, but one she will carry with her for Change club, which sponsored the original competition, “When I first got into these leadership positions, I experiences take Ford after graduation, it is bound life. “With any leadership position, you have to and the student body at large. Combined with her other felt like I had to do everything myself,” she says. “I did to be far. have a team,” she explains. “When you give people leadership positions, it afforded Ford with opportunities not want people to think I was incapable, but when I the opportunity to contribute to the plan, they feel to speak not just to, but on behalf of, diversity students. started asking for help, I found strength in it. LEADING BY EXAMPLE included. They contribute their best selves, and you This included discussions with University President Ken “This is why I like nursing,” she says. “You see people Not everyone is a born leader, and Ford claims to be can get more ideas and make the whole thing better.” Gormley on how to reach out to Duquesne’s diversity at their most vulnerable. Many do not like showing an example. students in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the that side of themselves, but it is a blessing to help them “I never was a very outgoing person,” she says. “I READY TO SUCCEED widespread protests that followed. feel comfortable, to help them open up, to help them would get involved, but I would never put myself at You could say that caregiving is in Ford’s blood: Her “The climate that we are in right now with racial feel better. It is very rewarding.” the forefront of things. I was more of a helper.” That father was a pharmaceutical sales manager, her mother justice is really important for the change that we 26 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 27 ALUMNI NEWS

DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY NURSING ALUMNA LEIGHANN SIDONE TAKES COMMAND IN THE FRONT-LINE BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19

center serving Montgomery County in Maryland. TAKING THE LEAD easy. They reached out frequently to maintain contact At the same time, she was completing her Doctor of Fear and uncertainty were constants in the early and helped me set up a program that was doable for Nursing Practice (DNP) project and manuscript for weeks as the number of cases spiraled. Leading by someone with a full-time job. Duquesne’s online DNP program. example was a key to building the staff’s confidence “Even more important, my instructors know what Like communities everywhere, COVID-19 and the teamwork needed to confront the virus. it is like to juggle a job and school, and were very descended on Montgomery County quickly and with “We were intentional about which unit and staff supportive,” she adds. “They realized what I was doing unanticipated ferocity, forcing hospital administrators would care for our first influx of patients considering at the same time and how much that work mattered. and caregivers to quickly prepare and respond to the environmental capabilities, such as negative pressure, and They went out of their way to help me complete my influx of patients and the attendant health risks the the clinical needs of the patients,” she says. “However, coursework particularly in the throes of a pandemic.” virus posed to health care workers. there were many unknowns and the day it opened and “We were in the process of moving patients into our the staff took their first patients, you could see their new building when we got our first two COVID-19 fear. But the leaders in that unit made a very important cases,” she recalls. “The team orchestrating the decision in that moment, to step up and take care of the MENTORING IS IMPORTANT IN NURSING patient move was the same team leading our pandemic first COVID-19 patients alongside their staff. When the AND AT DUQUESNE, AND SIDONE response just as things were erupting.” staff saw that, they realized they could do it, too.” EXEMPLIFIES THAT. Suburban’s performance testifies to the dedication Sidone’s leadership and the hospital’s dedication to of its clinical and operations support staff and to the the community were recognized by the Montgomery leadership administrators like Sidone, who oversaw County Council, which named her one of the county’s the response. In the space of just six weeks, the Healthcare Heroes, honoring citizens who went above Sidone’s leadership and commitment to the nursing hospital created and opened five dedicated nursing and beyond during the pandemic. profession shone through and was noted by Clinical units to accommodate the influx of COVID-19 patients, “Sidone truly is a hero of heroes, our nurses,” the Assistant Nursing Professor Mary Kay Loughran. “As and served more than 80 patients at the pandemic’s commissioners’ citation reads. “We owe them a debt of a DNP student in my class, LeighAnn would regularly peak. Sidone says the adversity they faced brought out gratitude for risking their lives in order to save ours.” share perspectives with the cohort that embodied the very best in the hospital’s staff, especially in the “I learned much about supporting all of our staff, leadership,” says Loughran. “Her real-life experiences nurses working on the front lines. both clinical and non-clincial, and helping them build – from being a CNO to obtaining magnet status for her ALUMNI PROFILE “The months since those first cases included many the resiliency this requires,” she says. “Rounding organization to designing and opening a new 108-bed LEIGHANN SIDONE, DNP, RN, CENP moments that were heartbreaking because we lost the units and talking with staff gave me insight and addition – made the content being discussed come patients, and because of the stress and fear they and reflection into my own fears and coping abilities.” to life. She is a strong leader. She was admired by her our staff were constantly under,” she says. “But it cohort and is admired and loved by her colleagues at also was inspirational in so many ways. Our people RESILIENCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT Suburban Hospital.” The phrase “having a lot on your plate” takes on responded heroically. We developed and then executed Sidone’s ability to finish her DNP Practice project in Sidone also leads by example, and points out that a special brand of irony for LeighAnn Sidone, vice our disaster preparedness plan flawlessly. We worked the midst of this crisis speaks volumes about her drive she gained her insights on nursing and on leadership president and chief nursing officer (CNO) at Suburban with our colleagues across Johns Hopkins Medicine to and focus. She also credits the flexibility of Duquesne’s by touching every rung on the career ladder. She Hospital in Bethesda, Md., part of the Johns Hopkins create and implement new protocols and to maintain online DNP program with enabling her to complete her began as a nursing assistant at Suburban Hospital Health System Corporation. the required levels of PPE needed. Our nurses stepped degree. while earning her BSN degree at Indiana University of Early last spring, Sidone was immersed in numerous up to learn new skills and serve patients despite the “I am a Pittsburgher at heart and my parents still live Pennsylvania. She worked for two years at Allegheny hospital projects that included obtaining magnet uncertainty and personal risks. All of us were in it there, so I wanted to look at schools there,” she says. General Hospital in Pittsburgh after graduation. During certification from the American Nurses Credentialing together and focused on our patients. Our staff’s Duquesne’s long history in online nursing education her 25 years with Suburban Hospital, she served as Center (ANCC) and building a new 108-bed patient bravery was inspiring.” and the distance learning option helped seal her a nurse on the oncology floor before stepping up to tower at the regional community hospital and trauma decision. “Duquesne made enrollment and onboarding the manager role then director’s position, while also 28 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 29 AND obtaining a master’s degree from Loyola University “The students loved it,” says Loughran. “She tied RANKINGS, RECOGNITIONS ACHIEVEMENTS New Orleans. She then moved into the associate chief in her DNP education to show how it supported her nursing officer and director of professional practice abilities to do the work that was required. Mentoring role, where she had oversight into the development is important in nursing and at Duquesne, and Sidone EXPANSION OF GRADUATE PROGRAMS and implementation of programs to establish nursing exemplifies that.” quality standards and nursing governance required for “I’ve had the very rare good fortune to move along magnet status from the ANCC. Sidone moved into the this path with the same organization, and have the chief nursing officer/vice president of nursing role four chance to work as a nursing assistant, a floor nurse, years ago and is also currently assuming the interim director and then executive,” Sidone says. “To lead DUQUESNE SELECTED president role. effectively, I need to know as much as I can about the Recently, Sidone volunteered to do a presentation on roles I oversee, what the jobs feel like and what our AS NLN 2020 her leadership role and experiences during COVID-19 nurses go through. That understanding is important CENTER OF EXCELLENCE for Duquesne University’s DNP Practicum II students. when I have people to support and lead.” IN NURSING EDUCATION

The School of Nursing is one of 17 nursing programs from across the United States to be DNP PROJECT: DEVELOPING A PATIENT EXPERIENCE SIMULATION PROGRAM FOCUSED ON named a 2020 NLN Center of Excellence™ by the BEDSIDE SHIFT REPORT AND HOURLY ROUNDING: IMPACT ON PATIENT AND STAFF OUTCOMES National League for Nursing (NLN). The designation honors programs – which The DNP project is a pivotal accomplishment for for RNs and patient care technicians. The program nurses that tackles real world problems based on their provided each participant the opportunity to step into span higher education, teaching hospitals and own clinical experience. LeighAnn Sidone’s goal as a patient’s bed to both see and feel what it is like to The School of Nursing (SON) has created and clinical sites – for high standards in educational she developed her DNP project was to identify factors experience care delivery from a patient’s perspective. approved three new online advanced role tracks: excellence and visionary leadership. Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner that contribute to patient falls in her hospital, where The program was developed in collaboration The Duquesne University School of Nursing she serves as vice with nursing unit (PMHNP), Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse is extremely proud to be named an NLN Center president of nursing leadership and front- Practitioner (AGACNP) and Executive Nurse of Excellence for a fourth time since 2004. and chief nursing line staff nurses to Leadership and Health Care Management (ENLHCM). officer. Falls pose a help contribute to The two nurse practitioner options compliment “The faculty, staff significant injury risk the key program Duquesne’s long-standing Family (Individual and students have for patients that can objectives as well as Across the Lifespan) Nurse Practitioner track. Both worked collaboratively extend their hospital identify factors on the PMHNP and the AGACNP MSN tracks received to increase academic stay. Hospitals also the nursing unit that incur significant contributed to patient approval from the Pennsylvania Board of Nursing in standards, achieve penalties in their falls. These nurses December 2019. The SON began accepting traditional national rankings, reimbursements were integral in the master’s students who began their online studies in develop creative from Medicare if creation of a patient August 2020. Post-master’s certificate students are pedagogies and these events occur experience simulation set to begin in August 2021. disseminate research frequently. program that focused In fall 2020, the Doctor of Nurse Practice Program findings while A thorough on bedside shift report also began enrolling students in the new ENLHCM literature review and hourly rounding simultaneously track, which offers four track options. This program found that as well as enhancing was created in collaboration between the School developing new relevant communication gaps staff empathy for academic programs and increasing enrollment,” between nurses at the patient needs. of Nursing and the Duquesne University Palumbo- says Nursing Dean Dr. Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow. time of shift change can contribute significantly Outcomes were measured both pre- and post- Donahue School of Business. It provides knowledge to patient falls. It was found that bedside shift report program and showed a decrease in call bell volume, of how finance, budgeting and human resources can “This designation is a testament to their and hourly rounding were practices that would improvement in individual staff empathy scores, improve patient outcomes. innovation and diligence.” improve patient experience and reduce falls and improvement in patient experience and a decrease in call bell volumes. patient falls. Sidone developed an hour-long simulation program 30 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 31 RANKINGS, RECOGNITIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

WELCOME NEW FACULTY AND STAFF FACULTY AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS GRANT AND FUNDING NEWS SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY A $499,391 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice was awarded NURSING ALUMNI ASSOCIATION to Dr. Alison Colbert for DUSON Campus SANE Network (see p. 22 Deborah Dillon, DNP, RN, ACNP-BC, This past year, more than ever, additional equipment was Dr. Rebecca Kronk was selected for the for more details). CCRN, CHFN-K needed to provide socially distanced learning in the School 14th Class of Fellows inducted into the Clinical Associate Professor and Dr. Alison Colbert received a $7,000 RWJF Alumni Activation of Nursing Learning and Simulation Center. Through the National League for Nursing Academy of Appointed Director of the Fund Grant for the Intersection of Disability and Healthcare During generosity of the Nursing Alumni Association, the School Nursing Education. Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse COVID-19. of Nursing was able to purchase two SimuMed Nursing Lab Practitioner Program The FISA Foundation awarded $60,000 to Dr. Alison Colbert for kits, which helped to meet COVID-19 guidelines. These kits offer a lifelike Equity Access: Educating and Empowering Healthcare Providers to simulation that provides nursing students with exceptional instructional Make Healthcare More Accessible. aids they can use to practice basic nursing care skills. Dr. Alison Colbert secured $20,000 in funding to award two $10,000 Jonas Scholar awards. ALUMNI RECOGNITION Kelly Fox, BA Dr. Khlood Salman was inducted into the Technology Specialist American Academy of Nursing’s 2020 Dr. Jessica Devido and colleagues received a $2,000 John G. Rangos, Second Degree BSN graduate Jourdan Van Weiren, RN at West Penn Class of Fellows. Sr. Prize for Health Inequalities, Professional Preparation, and the Hospital, along with BSN graduates Kara Unger, RN at the University of Pittsburgh Region: A Multidisciplinary, Community-Engaged Course Maryland Medical Center’s Cardiac Surgery Stepdown, and Lexy Orrioloa, to Prepare Generation Z for the Future. RN at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, received the Daisy Award Dr. Kate DeLuca received $173,000 in funding from HRSA for the for extraordinary patient care. Nurse Faculty Loan Program. Julie Valentine, PhD, RN, CNE, SANE-A, was inducted into the American A $249,000 National Institutes of Health grant was awarded to Academy of Nursing’s 2020 Class of Fellows. Dr. Torrie Snyder was selected to participate Dr. Mai-Ly Steers for A Social Media Personalized Normative in the 2020-2021 cohort of the American Karen Gittings, DNP, RN, CNE, CNEc, was named the School of Health Ergie Inocian, EdD, MSN, RN, CNOR Feedback Intervention for Heavy Drinking Students. Clinical Assistant Professor Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Elevating Sciences dean at Francis Marion University. Leaders in Academic Nursing Program. Dr. Yvonne Weideman and a colleague received a $4,500 Loogman Faculty Research Grant for Water and Daily Life in Olkokola with STUDENT RECOGNITION Photovoice. PhD candidate Khaliah Fisher-Grace was awarded second place at Dr. Denise Lucas received $4,000 from CVS Health Foundation for the Nursing Research and Innovation Day, a virtual event designed to FNP student scholarships. highlight nurses who have devised ways to improve patient care while Dr. Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow co-wrote Legal Dr. Melissa Kalarchian and a colleague received a total of $77,000 encouraging others within the profession to do the same. Fisher-Grace Ralph Klotzbaugh, PhD, RN, FNP-BC and Ethical Issues in Nursing Education: An (Phase I, II and III) from the National Institutes of Health Shape of is studying patients with Type 2 diabetes for diabetes distress. Assistant Professor Essential Guide. Health Challenge for Frolic, An Obesity Prevention Game for Girls. PhD candidate Sandy Cayo, DNP, FNP-BC, joined New Jersey Hospital Association as vice president of clinical performance and FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING transformation. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on PhD in Nursing Ethics candidate Felicia Liz Stokes, JD, MA, RN and Accreditation has recognized the Duquesne University School of PhD in Nursing candidate Christine Lepianka, MSN, RN, SANE each Dr. Ruth Irwin was appointed by the Nursing as an accredited provider of nursing continuing professional received a $10,000 Jonas Scholarship Award to support their research: Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing development. As the lead nurse planner, Dr. Rebecca Kronk, associate Lepianka is working in the area of chronic health, and Stokes in Elizabeth Skrovanek, PhD, RN Schools International, to a two-year term on dean for academic affairs, and her team will oversee a team of faculty psychiatric mental health. nurse planners to provide faculty trainings, conferences and various Instructor the Professional Nurse Credentials and specialty course offerings. Standards Committee.

Marie Smith-East, PhD, DNP, PMHNP-BC, EMT-B Dr. Kelley Baumgartel was named a 2020 Clinical Assistant Professor and Pittsburgh Magazine 40 Under 40 honoree. Appointed Director of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program #62 #83 #38 #3 Best Graduate Schools – Best Nursing Schools – Best Online Master’s in Best Online Master’s in MSN Program Doctor of Nursing Practice Nursing Programs Nursing Education Dr. Donna White was accepted into the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Not featured above: Instructor Tasha Wheeler, MSN, RN, CCRN Faculties. U.S. News & World Report Ranked the #4 #5 #12 School of Nursing: Best Online Master’s in Best Online Family Nurse Practitioner Best Online Graduate Nursing Nursing Administration Master’s Program Programs for Veterans 32 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 33 STUDENT & ALUMNI NEWS

RISING TO THE EMMA CRANSTON, KATELYN BARLEY, MELISSA COULTER, CHALLENGE BSN, RN MSN, RN, CCRN, CNE BSN, RN, CEN 2018 BSN PROGRAM 2013 BSN PROGRAM 2015 BSN PROGRAM

NOTES FROM THE Registered Nurse II, Current DNP student Clinical Registered Nurse II, Adult Emergency Department, Emergency Support Pool Nurse, Emergency Department, University FRONT LINES The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore Convention Center of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD Field Hospital, Baltimore, MD Baltimore, MD

I have been working I am currently full-time It is an honor to be a THE YEAR OF THE NURSE AND MIDWIFE in the Adult Emergency nursing faculty here in nurse but an even bigger WAS TRULY A REMARKABLE YEAR FULL OF HIGHLIGHTS AND UNEXPECTED CHALLENGES. Department at The Johns Maryland, but during honor to be a nurse on Hopkins Hospital for about the COVID-19 pandemic, the front lines during a The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world a year and a half, but we the state called on all pandemic. the important role nurses play in health care – that have been dealing with past, present and even I am an Emergency COVID-19 rule-out patients since February. The past future nurses to consider helping out. I have had the Department RN in Baltimore. Maryland has had steady nurses are powerful not because they have no fear couple of months have been the most challenging and opportunity to work at the Baltimore Convention cases of COVID-19 since the first week of March, and but because they approach their work and care mentally exhausting I have ever experienced as a nurse Center Field Hospital – a joint venture through working in a large academic hospital on the west side for patients with the utmost care and compassion, but also the most rewarding. University of Maryland Medical Center and The Johns of Baltimore has led to significant challenges and high despite their fear. As an Emergency Department nurse, I am used to Hopkins Hospital. We are caring for patients who are volumes of acutely ill patients. The last month has been 2020 was one of the most challenging years in our the unexpected each day. However, the past couple all confirmed COVID-19 positive in a biocontained our hardest. I am unbelievably grateful for the team I lifetime. We each have our own story to tell, and of months have taught me not only to be prepared for area. work with every single day. They are knowledgeable throughout the year, our Duquesne nurses have all types of patients, but also new protocols and work This role is something I never expected but has been and compassionate, giving each patient a fighting flows set by management to help us fight this virus. My more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. chance. I have been at the bedside of countless patients shared their front-line experiences. hospital emails us every day about patient volumes and I work 13-hour shifts in full PPE (personal protective while we have tried everything in our power to keep We are proud of and inspired by the courage what they are doing to help combat this virus. They equipment) with short breaks to hydrate or use the them alive. I have seen the fear in a patient’s eyes, I and compassion of Duquesne nurses. We hope the also send us resources to help us study and relearn bathroom. I am not sure how long this pandemic have held their hands as they realized they were dying, following look back at just a few of their experiences skills we may not use every day. will last, but I do know front-line nurses are working and I have been with patients as they take their final will invoke the same feelings in you. With high patient volumes and a low number of tirelessly to provide care to patients who need it breath. While I never expected to be an Emergency available hospital beds, we are forced to keep patients the most. Department RN during a pandemic, I know I am in the Emergency Department longer while trying exactly where I am supposed to be. to manage a higher influx of incoming patients. Shared May 20, 2020 Ultimately, I am extremely grateful to work for such Update: a good hospital and for my co-workers during this The above quote and photo are from March 2020, challenging time. I am also grateful for my time at when the global pandemic had really just come to Duquesne and all the opportunities it gave me to fruition in the United States. Fast-forward these many months and we are still battling an invisible become a successful nurse! illness. To my fellow health care workers and friends – thank you for fighting so hard against this. Thank Shared June 2020 you for your courage, selflessness and perseverance. It is because of you all that I have been able to continue to show up, even on the hardest of days.

To read more from Duquesne nurses on the front lines, visit: duq.edu/covid-heroes 34 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING 35

DIANA COOK, MISSY MAZZULLO, LAURYN CLOUDEN, EVAN MULVIHILL, BSN, RN BSN, RN BSN, RN, CEN BSN, RN 2017 BSN PROGRAM 2015 BSN PROGRAM 2015 BSN PROGRAM 2019 BSN PROGRAM

Current FNP student Community Health Nurse Charge RN Registered Nurse, Assisting in New York City, NY Supervisor, Emergency Department, Jefferson Hospital, Howard County Health NYU Langone Health, Pittsburgh, PA I began my nursing Department, New York City, NY career locally in a neuro Columbia, MD We have seen so many Although no amount of ICU. From there I left to positive cases and in fact, I am a community become a travel nurse education, simulation or health nurse in my home we were one of the few in California. I returned clinical experience could state of Maryland. When units to initially get a home upon acceptance prepare any of us for a coronavirus infected positive case in Western into Duquesne’s crisis like this, I am proud Howard County, I was selected to co-lead a team Pennsylvania. My role as a nurse has not changed too FNP program and began a new position to rotate to be a Duquesne nursing alumna. Being in charge of of nurses and other local health department staff to much; however, we are learning each and every day a NYC Emergency Department in a time like this has throughout different ICUs. With my travel nurse and operate a COVID-19 phone bank. We started in a small about better protecting ourselves against this virus taught me many lessons I never thought I would need ICU experience, along with family support, I felt it was conference room, then quickly transitioned to remote with N95 masks, paper masks and now N100 masks, to learn – personally, professionally and emotionally. necessary to help when I heard Governor Cuomo’s call work so our staff could continue answering calls while which are shown to protect up to 97%. Shout-out to Duquesne for providing us with a solid for nurses to please come to NYC to fight COVID-19. I staying at home. In the beginning of November, my The hardest thing for us is dealing with positive foundation to fall back on during a time like this! could not sit at home when I saw the dire need for help co-lead and I transferred our responsibilities to a patients who are extremely sick, and require Special thanks to the absolutely amazing clinical continue to grow each day. newly hired nurse whose primary focus is the phone mechanical ventilation and proning in the bed. Our instructors Carol Merola and Anna Vioral for preparing Currently (April 2020), I am in Manhattan, on one bank. We trained her to take over but are ready to be intensivists are learning that with this virus, although us to handle whatever was thrown our way. I would of the many COVID ICUs. I am seeing firsthand the called upon again in this time of great uncertainty. it presents as a textbook acute respiratory distress not be where I am today without them! exhausted staff and rapid influx of critically ill patients, The staff utilizes laptops with telephonic capability syndrome case, patients are responding to ventilator but also the incredible efforts of health care workers (soft phones) and a newly developed database when settings that are not in found textbooks or algorithms, Shared April 22, 2020 from all over the country who have come to work receiving and entering call information. Callers are so we are making history with learning from our cases together during this pandemic. connected to other resources as needed, including how to better treat them. I am experiencing the support of an entire city. It is those for the uninsured, elderly, homeless or disabled. I am motivated every day to go into work knowing amazing that every day the police, fire department and This role demanded I keep up with rapidly evolving I am on the front lines, making a huge impact on CDC and state guidelines and collaborate with the citizens cheer from the streets and nearby buildings at people’s lives and seeing them get better. Being able health department’s various programs, including shift change. It is a very humbling experience and truly to call the family and give them positive news is so Emergency Preparedness, Communicable Disease and motivates me to keep going. rewarding. I am thankful for my education from Duquesne and Environmental Health. Since the beginning of March 2020, the phone bank has fielded over 4,200 calls the clinical experiences I have acquired in my early Update: from Maryland residents, clinicians and businesses. nursing career that have allowed me to help during this Since submitting his story, Mulvihill has transitioned Over 1,000 calls included assessment of symptoms. pandemic. to the cardiothoracic surgical ICU at Allegheny Patients are triaged to other resources or programs as General Hospital in Pittsburgh. While he generally appropriate. works with heart and thoracic post-op patients, his Shared May 6, 2020 My passion for community health began during my time unit also cares for COVID-19 patients in the medical at Duquesne University, which was fueled by a holistic ICU who have been placed on ECMO for lung or heart curriculum, engaging clinical experiences, and supportive support. professors and administrative staff. I am eternally grateful for my undergraduate education and am Shared April 16, 2020 humbled to serve my community as a Duquesne nurse.

Shared Nov. 30, 2020

To read more from Duquesne nurses on the front lines, visit: duq.edu/covid-heroes 36 DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING

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