Tribute to a Nurse (and daughter) A Special Thanks Helping Inner-City Teens Eminent Scholars Visit Campus Training High-Risk Practitioners A Message from the "AIDS Czar"

 

hen Peter Van Norde retired from a successful law practice in New Jersey, he chose Atlanta as his home--a city he was already familiar with, having graduated from Georgia Tech in aero-engineering in 1943. He began going to Emory doctors, even took an Evening at Emory guitar class "just for fun," he says--adding with a laugh, "You've got to stay with it to be any good, and I'm not much good." An avid golfer, pilot, and long-time downhill skier ("I stay away from trees"), the 76-year-old Van Norde says he's too busy to be bored. In recent months, this active--and unselfish--individual took steps to create a trust at Emory that will fund the Linda Van Norde Benoski Scholarship, named for his daughter. Ms. Benoski, a nurse in New Jersey, works in a hospital recovery room and a home care program, in addition to raising three children. "She is a lovely, hard-working person," says her father. "This is a way to honor her." The scholarship will be awarded to students based on their financial need and dedication to a nursing career. Why did this New Jersey native choose to make his gift to Emory's School of Nursing? Quite simple, he says: "Because I trust my health to Emory." Creating the scholarship, he adds, would please his self-made parents, who immigrated alone as children. They worked hard, as has he. "Hard work is ingrained in me," he says. "Now, it feels good to help someone else. I'm fortunate to be able to do so." For information on the Linda Van Norde Benoski Scholarship, contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations by calling (404) 727-6917.

Peter Van Norde has funded a scholarship to honor his daughter, Linda, pictured here with her proud father on the day she graduated from nursing school.

ssisted by an educational grant from Solvay Pharmaceuticals, the School of Nursing said a special "thank you" to the 300 dedicated nurses who serve as clinical preceptors in the MSN program. All preceptors were invited to a free continuing education workshop, "Women's Health in the Mid Years," funded entirely by the Solvay grant. This is the first time the school sought funding for the workshop, which has become an annual tradition. "It is a small token of appreciation we can offer for the fine work that these nurses do," says Associate Professor Marianne Scharbo-DeHaan, RN, PhD. "It also gives us an opportunity to update our preceptors on the latest research." Dedra Evans, PharmD, RPh, professional services associate for women's health at Solvay, says the company is committed to women's health and to education in the health care community, especially among nurse practitioners and nurse midwives who often address patients' questions. "We at Solvay feel that it is essential to reach out to these professionals," says Evans. "They provide much of the education that patients receive. Enhancing their knowledge base only serves to improve communication with the patient." This year's workshop, held on Jan. 12, 1998, drew over 50 preceptors and much positive response, reports Scharbo-DeHaan. "Solvay's involvement helped us enhance the entire program for our dedicated preceptors," says Scharbo-DeHaan.

Solvay Pharmaceuticals representative Dedra Evans (l) and Associate Professor Marianne Scharbo-DeHaan.

hrough a new health station at John F. Kennedy Middle School in downtown Atlanta, Emory nurses are expanding their early intervention programs to target the special needs of early adolescents. The health station is a partnership among Emory, the middle school students, administrators, and teachers that is funded by a gift from the John Harland Foundation. It is modeled after the highly successful adolescent health station established by the School of Nursing at Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School. "Through our health stations, we can focus on identifying the early warning signals of depression, frustration, anger, or anxiety that can so easily go unnoticed," explains Associate Professor Madge Donnellan, RN, PhD. "Our goal is to help students before their problems become overwhelming. We want to guide them toward a healthier lifestyle." The middle school health station will customize early intervention services for students ages 12 to 15. Since Kennedy Middle School is a feeder school for Booker T. Washington High, the new health station will provide continuity of services between the two. "Although the high school health station model has been quite successful, clearly there is a need to reach these students in the early adolescent years of middle school," says Nursing Dean Dyanne D. Affonso. In the safe setting of the health station, students are encouraged to share their concerns about physical, emotional, or social problems and work with health station nurses to develop problem-solving strategies. The School of Nursing will use its relationship with the Harland Boys' and Girls' Clubs to encourage middle school students to conduct health promotion projects for their peers under the supervision of health station staff. Emory nurses hope to expand the program to other Atlanta public schools and to train nursing leaders who can establish similar facilities in other Atlanta and Georgia communities.

The John F. Kennedy Middle School health station is being modeled on the successful Booker T. Washington High School program. It will reach out to students in early adolescence through innovative programs such as mom-and-daughter get-togethers.

hree nationally prominent researchers are spending time at the School of Nursing this year as part of a visiting scholars program made possible through funds from the Independence Foundation. Based in Philadelphia, the foundation provides funds to several premier nursing schools in the country as part of its mission to address the nation's nursing shortage through improved educational funding. The three scholars will hold lectures and consult with faculty on research issues and on the development of a doctoral program. "Since 1989, the School of Nursing has been enriched by substantial and generous support from the Independence Foundation," says Dean Dyanne D. Affonso. "For years, we used these funds to support an endowed chair. This year, however, with the foundation's blessing, we took a different direction by bringing in distinguished nursing scholars, whose work enhances the academic environment at Emory for both faculty and students. For the school's current development, this is a wise stewardship of these funds. We are grateful to the foundation for its continued support of nursing at Emory." The 1998 Independence Foundation Visiting Scholars are:

Dr. Linda H Aiken Throughout her career, Dr. Aiken (Fall 1998) has addressed such issues as access to health services, health workforce policy, and hospital outcomes research. She is a frequent adviser to federal and state policy-makers, serving as a cluster consultant to President Clinton's Health Care Reform Task Force. Currently, she is a Trustee Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as professor of sociology and director of the Center for Health Services and Policy Research at Penn's School of Nursing. Previously, Aiken served as vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, a former president of the American Academy of Nursing, a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Physician Payment Review Commission, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Association of Health Services Research.

Linda H. Aiken, RN, PhD

Dr. Marie J. Cowan Dr. Cowan (Spring 1998) is dean and professor at the University of California (Los Angeles) School of Nursing. Widely respected as a top researcher in cardiovascular nursing, she has published extensively on research obtained from nearly 40 grants. A consultant for nursing schools across the country, Cowan is also a sought-after speaker and serves as a reviewer for Western Journal of Nursing Research, Circulation, American Journal of Cardiology, Archives of Internal Medicine, and Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.

Marie J. Cowan, RN, PhD

Dr. Carol C. Korenbrot Dr. Korenbrot (Spring 1998) is an expert in maternal and child health issues and health policy issues such as Medicaid. Her recent research has focused on birth outcomes among Hawaiian women and the impact of traditional and cultural health practices. She is an adjunct associate professor at the University of California (San Francisco), for both the Institute of Health Policy Studies and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences. An invited lecturer to numerous national conferences, Korenbrot most recently spoke at the 1997 National Institutes of Health conference on "Research on Women's Health for the 21st Century." Among her many professional and community activities, she is an adviser to the National Evaluation of the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Projects for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, serves on the editorial board for Maternal and Child Health Journal, and is a reviewer for Annals of Epidemiology and Journal of Adolescent Health. She also consults for the Western Center on Law and Poverty, focusing on Medicaid restrictions placed on legal immigrants.

Carol C. Korenbrot, PhD

he School of Nursing's new perinatal nurse practitioner clinical specialty was funded by a $700,000 grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services. It is one of only five such programs in the country. In general, perinatal nurse practioners are trained to care for high-risk pregnant women. They can do complete histories, physicals, workups, ultrasounds, and lab tests, and can also assist in developing care plans, making rounds, writing orders, and conducting surgery. The specialty track began at Denver's Regis University about five years ago when a shortage of medical residents encouraged the university to look for alternative professionals. Assistant Professor Judy Schmidt, RN, EdD, coordinator of Emory's program, said Georgia's high infant mortality rate (ranked 48th in 1994) made it a good candidate for this program. "In contrast to some of the other programs, our high-risk population is not just in [major cities] but also out in rural areas," said Schmidt. There's a shortage of nurse practitioners in those areas because most graduates stay in the cities in which they've trained. So Schmidt gave her program a distance learning component. "We needed to give people an opportunity to participate even if they don't live close enough to attend college here," she said. "The people currently serving these women understand the problems in their own areas. They know the perinatologists, OBs, and social workers." These distance-learning students will perform clinical practice rotations near their homes, watch lectures on video or via the telemedicine site, interact with professors and classmates on the Internet, and come to campus only once or twice a semester. Candidates for the program are nurses who have one to two years' experience working with high-risk pregnancies. Schmidt has seen considerable interest in the specialty from nurses all over the state. "This is the first time we've been able to offer the staff nurse who likes working with high-risk women a graduate-level nurse practitioner role," she said. "Formerly, nurses working in a high-risk unit who wanted to go to graduate school had to change their focus to women's health or become midwives, who generally accept more normal deliveries. This track gives these nurses something to look forward to in their own specialty." For more information on this program, contact Judy Schmidt at (404) 727-6911 or at jschm03@nurse.emory.edu.

Judy Schmidt, RN, EdD

capacity audience filled the large lecture hall to hear Sandra Thurman, director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, deliver the nursing school's second annual David Jowers Lecture on AIDS and Infectious Disease. "We're at a critical juncture in the fight against this deadly virus," said Thurman, the "AIDS czar" in the Clinton administration. "With hope on the horizon, many Americans and also policy-makers yearn to believe the worst is behind us, yet the sobering truth is that the AIDS epidemic is far from over. With no vaccine and no cure in sight, we are actually far closer, I think, to the end of the beginning than to the beginning of the end." Former director of advocacy programs with the Task Force for Child Survival and Development at The Carter Center and former director of AID Atlanta, Thurman was appointed by President Clinton in April 1997. In her remarks, Thurman spoke of the importance of nurses on the front lines of the battle against AIDS. In three areas--patient caregiving, education, and advocacy--nurses can provide the leadership the country needs, she said. Educating others about AIDS and HIV infection, she said, is the single most important thing individuals can do to help out. "There's this incredible assumption that people know about this disease," she said, "and the fact of the matter is they don't. We're in this amazing situation now where people are afraid to ask about it because they think they ought to know." Apart from education, Thurman said nurses' traditional role in care provision is vital in dealing with AIDS, from early intervention to the last stages of the disease. "Some of the most brilliant and profound moments I have ever been privileged to witness," she said, "have been among nurses, patients, and their loved ones in the last moments of life." The Jowers lectureship was named in memory of David Jowers, an Atlanta public relations executive and travel writer who died of AIDS in October 1991. It was initiated by those closest to him--his parents, Edna and Marvin Jowers of Clayton, and his long-time companion, Tom Rusert--in order "to do something to assist nurses in learning more about caring for people with AIDS," according to his mother.

Sandra Thurman, "AIDS Czar" for the Clinton White House, delivered the 1998 Jowers Lecture at the School of Nursing.