Belmont DNP student James Winegart (right) participates in a role-playing exercise designed to help students communicate effectively with legislators.

Five doctoral nursing students recently participated in the Tennessee Action Coalition’s Legislative Boot Camp held in Nashville.  As part of their Health Policy course, taught by Dr. Carrie Harvey, Associate Professor of Nursing, the students joined 80 other nurses and nursing students in learning how to successfully communicate with state legislators. The students had interactive learning opportunities, toured capitol hill, and received training on the Full Practice Authority bill being introduced to the Tennessee Legislature this year.

Participating students included Robin Hopp, Tracy Wilson, James Winegart, Catherine Evans and Christine Hardesty.

Belmont’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) was recently granted full accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education’s (CCNE) Board of Commissioners. The University began its Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) to DNP program in the fall of 2012 with 5 students. In the fall of 2013, the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) to DNP program was launched. In the fall of 2014, the programs together totaled 28 enrolled students.

With the first graduating class in May 2014, Belmont has seen great success with both DNP tracks. 75 percent of these graduates were invited to present their scholarly project, a required portion of their degree track, at a national meeting of nurse practitioners.

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Belmont University School of Nursing was well represented in a new slate of officers elected recently by the Tennessee Nurses Association (TNA) at their annual assembly.  Dr. Sandy Murabito, Assistant Professor of Nursing, was selected as the President-elect for organization’s governing body.  In addition, Tracy Wilson, Instructor of Nursing, was elected to the nominating committee and senior nursing major Daniel Maison was elected president of the Middle Tennessee Association of Student Nurses.

“This is wonderful recognition for nursing at Belmont,” said Dr. Cathy Taylor, Dean of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing.  “I have no doubt Ms. Wilson and Mr. Maison will excel in their new roles, and Dr. Murabito will provide the strong leadership the TNA presidency demands. She is an experienced advocate and will prove to be a worthy champion for Tennessee nurses.”

“This year’s meeting ushered in a new strategic direction for the Association,” claimed TNA President Frances Sills. “Each of these members bring experience and passion for the nursing profession and I am confident they will guide this organization to new levels of excellence.”

Dr. Murabito will serve as President-elect until next year’s assembly in October and then serve as President for 2015-2016.

At the recent annual meeting of the Tennessee Nurses Association held in October in Murfreesboro, Drs. Donna Copenhaver and Sandy Murabito, both assistant professors in the School of Nursing, presented their work on nursing leadership and management simulation for undergraduate students.

They shared their experiences teaching critical thinking practices for delegation, prioritization and patient safety decisions, utilizing the newly released Standards of Best Practice in Simulation published by the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation (INACSL).

School of Nursing instructor Sara Camp gave a peer reviewed presentation of her work on end of life simulations for undergraduate nursing students at the National League for Nursing Technology Conference held in Nashville in October. She will also present aspects of this work at the Tennessee Simulation Alliance Conference in November.

“Helping students learn to provide holistic care at the end of life is a priority in nursing education. Opportunities for students to learn deeply about this may not present themselves in routine clinical rotations. Simulation creates a powerful opportunity for this learning to take place. Our students have received tremendous benefit from the end-of-life simulations and I’m so pleased that Ms. Camp is disseminating this work.” said Associate Dean of Nursing, Martha Buckner.

With an emphasis on experiential learning, Belmont’s School of Nursing provides students with the opportunity to participate in human simulation labs. For Nursing Instructor Sara Camp’s Adult Health II students, this meant taking part in an End of Life lab that simulated the death of a patient, with a volunteer acting as a grieving family member.

When the participating students arrived, they were aware of their patient, Lisa’s, prognosis. Equipped with her report, they were tasked with guiding Lisa and her family member through her final stages of life. As Lisa’s heart rate and pulse slowed, the volunteer family member’s questions sped up. Similar to what would occur in a hospital setting, students were responsible for providing care and comfort for the patient, while assisting the family during a particularly challenging time.

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Belmont University’s School of Nursing hosted a pre-conference as part of the ninth annual National League for Nursing Technology conference in Nashville in October. Participants from around the nation filled one of Belmont’s simulation labs for a presentation on the School’s integration of an academic electronic health record across the curriculum.

Professors Sarah Tarr, Jean Blank and Dr. Jamie Adam engaged the sold-out audience in hands on learning including selection, use and integration of the technology.

“Electronic health records (EHRs) have the potential to mitigate error, streamline processes and improve communication across the spectrum of health care. Meaningful use of EHRs in chronic and acute care is a major priority in the U. S. health system today. Our faculty have been early adopters of this technology in the classroom, lab and clinical areas and our students and their future patients are the beneficiaries of this work,” said Associate Dean of Nursing Dr. Martha Buckner.

Assistant Professor of Nursing Dr. Erin Shankel has presented her work on tele-monitoring and app-based symptom management in pediatric asthma at two recent national conferences. She presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in June and at the national Doctor of Nursing Practice conference in October.

Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Carrie Harvey along with nursing graduate students Cassandra Gladkowski, Chelsey Medley, Heather Nelson and Angela Price published a manuscript in the September issue of Journal for Nurse Practitioners, the premier peer-reviewed journal for nurse practitioners. The manuscript was titled “Opioids versus physical therapy for management of chronic pain.” They presented an extensive review the literature and critique of the evidence.

Also, nursing faculty Dr. Jamie Adam and Dr. Leslie Folds published a manuscript in the October issue of that same journal titled “Depression, self-efficacy and adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes.” Their research explored various factors that affect diabetes adherence, finding that as depressive symptoms increase, self-efficacy behaviors decrease.

Dr. Brianna Witherspoon, adjunct faculty member in the School of Nursing, presented a scientific poster titled “ACNP Intensivists – Evaluating A Model of Care” at the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) National Magnet Conference in Dallas Texas last week. Witherspoon’s work described patient outcomes such as mortality rates and intensive care unit length of stay before and after acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs) joined the critical care team. Witherspoon teaches adult health clinical and lab in the undergraduate nursing program.

Belmont School of Nursing students and faculty were featured in a recent edition of the Freedom’s Promise newsletter for their work during this summer’s study abroad trip to Cambodia. The nursing program has long partnered with Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE in Cambodia but is now working more and more with Freedom’s Promise to help with their efforts.

Freedom’s Promise’s mission is to prevent human trafficking and child exploitation in Cambodia through individualized community development programs resulting in trafficking-free safe zones.  Through one of their programs, Belmont students interacted with villagers on a daily basis and taught them life-saving hand washing techniques. They also increased the quality of community health by providing education sessions focused on nutrition and disease prevention.

Dr. Susan Taplin, assistant professor of nursing and 2014 DNP graduate, leads the program’s efforts in Cambodia and has traveled there with students for more than 10 years.

“If you don’t take care of the illness first, you’re not going to get anywhere else. Teaching them something as simple as hand washing can increase their life expectancy and quality of life. You and I have always known to wash our hands, and we don’t know what it’s like to not have that education,” Talpin says.

Dr. Jamie Adam, assistant professor of nursing, presented her work on innovative teaching to the Healthcare Educators Networking Conference in Cambridge, United Kingdom, Sept. 2. Her presentation was titled “The flipped classroom approach: Evaluating student and faculty experiences.” The  conference provided a unique experience for attendees from various healthcare disciplines to participate in sessions related to educational innovation, clinical practice, interprofessional learning and simulation. Attendees included educators from nursing, OT, PT, allied health, psychology and others representing both inpatient and outpatient settings. Participants remained within their chosen theme for the day to enjoy continuity of discussion and debate among faculty from all over the world. Dr. Martha Buckner, associate dean of nursing, said, “Dr. Adam’s work with the flipped classroom allows her to engage students more actively, encouraging them to clarify and apply knowledge. I am so pleased she is receiving both national and international attention to her work.”