Occupational Therapy, Enactus Students Support Senior Ride Nashville

Senior Ride Nashville volunteer driver Vicki helps and gives a ride to Celia from FiftyForward in Madison to her home not far away in Nashville, Tennessee, May 30, 2018.

Though Senior Ride Nashville (SRN), a local nonprofit dedicated to providing affordable and assisted transportation to older adults in the Nashville community, has only two and a half full time staff members, the team becomes much larger when considering the Belmont students who have become actively engaged in the organization’s mission. Launched just six months ago in late 2017, SRN has provided more than 800 trips for nearly 90 riders throughout the West Nashville and Madison communities. Looking forward, the team plans to be county-wide by 2020.

Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Dr. Debra Gibbs has been Continue reading

Physical Therapy Students Build Wheelchair Ramp for Nashville Resident

PT students stand on a recently constructed ramp

Project marks 19th consecutive year of students constructing wheelchair ramps

Belmont University Physical Therapy Class of 2019 recently built a wheelchair ramp for a Nashville woman who was previously unable to safely leave her home to go out into the community. This makes the 19th consecutive year that physical therapy students have built wheelchair ramps in coordination with United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee to enable community access for Nashville residents.

Since 2000, more than 600 physical therapy students have participated in ramp builds while learning about federal and local disability access regulations and the construction skills required for ramp building.

PT and OT Students Teach Local Children about Nature

Occupational and physical therapy students recently worked with naturalists from the Tennessee State Parks to create a day of fun and learning for children with disabilities and their families at Long Hunter State Park.

The students developed and implemented a variety of activities with nature themes including arts and crafts, building bat boxes, a scavenger hunt and a nature walk. They went on to utilize their pediatric therapy skills to adapt the activities to the unique abilities and needs of each participant, enabling each child to have fun while learning about nature.

Shankel’s Interview Published on NursePractitionerSchools.Com

Assistant Professor of Nursing & Interim FNP Coordinator Dr. Erin Shankel was recently interviewed for a story that was published on nursepractitionerschools.com. The article, “Tennessee NPs: The Fight for Full Practice Authority,” highlights the differences in practice authority between Tennessee and other states. Five nursing professors from across the state, including Shankel, are featured throughout the piece.

Shankel shares her support for full APRN practice authority, citing not her own opinion, but existing evidence that supports the stance. “Despite claims from opponents, research shows that NPs provide care that is not only safe, but patient-centered, relational, and holistic, not to mention often preferred by the patient,” she said. Shankel closes with specific steps professionals can take to further this cause including advocating for legislative transparency and supporting the Tennessee Nurses Association.

Mission to Cambodia: Leadership Training Day

by Mackenzie Hodgson, Nursing Team

We started off the day with a devotional given by Megan which helped remind us of our original goals of coming to Cambodia. We then split off into two groups, the NP’s, a few undergrads and a few pharmacy students went to a village to set up a clinic. The others of us went to Hope Hospital to do leadership and management training with the nurses there.
After doing CPR training with the nurses over the past two days, they were much more comfortable and eager to learn from us today.

Most Cambodians are non-confrontational which can sometimes lead to errors in medical practice. Our goal of today was to teach the nurses how to Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Hospital Day

By Haley Sullivan, Nursing Team

Today was similar to yesterday in structure as half of our group worked through well child visits and the other half worked alongside Cambodian health care professionals, educating them on the topic of CPR. My group traveled to the Center of Hope SIhanouk Hospital, where we helped educate physicians and nurses through the American Heart Association stanndards. Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Home Away from Home

Abby Vanwestrienen, Nursing Team

This morning we headed to church at Phnom Penh Church of Christ. A 9:00 am Tuk Tuk ride (our favorite mode of transportation), was just what I needed to start the day off content. Walking into Church, I was overjoyed to see so many faces, and felt connected to each one since we all shared the same purpose of being there to learn and gloryifying God.

As we sat down, we were handed headphones that would allow us to listen to a translator during the service. Something I noticed during worship was Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Angkor Wat Temples

A day spent at the Angkor away Temples of Siem Reap is a day not easily forgotten. At least not for me, the resident social worker tag-a-long on the Cambodia maymester trip. The day started with an early morning ‘tuk-tuk’ ride to the temples, the cool breeze of dawn waking us up as we steadily see the shift in our surroundings from urban to rural. As the area became more lush, so our excitement grew. Fighting the quiet crowds, we crossed a floating bridge to one of the most awe-inspiring structures many of us had ever seen: the ancient Angkor temples. Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: first day in Siem Reap

  By Laura Seale, Nursing Team

We have now completed 6 successful clinic days. We’ve sweated a lot and consumed more bottles of water than I ever thought was possible. But none of this compares to the help that we have given Cambodians. It’s been hard work, but extremely rewarding. Today is our first full day in Siem Reap and it has been filled with Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Kbal Koh Clinic


By, Haley Sullivan, Nursing Team

A verse from our Cambodian medical mission 26 day devotional states: “But Lord, Gideon asked, “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you and we will strike down all the Midianites together.”

Today, we took on our third clinical day in a row in the village of Kbal Koh. For some, it seemed as through the long, busy days in the Cambodian heat Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Day 10

by Grace Chrisco, Nursing Team

Hello!  I can’t believe we have finished our 5th day of clinic and our 10th day in Cambodia. By now we are all very comfortable with one another and it truly feels like we are not just a team but a family, too. Whenever we sit down for a meal our chit chat and laughter fills the room. At times, it doesn’t quite feel like we are halfway around the world. 

This morning a few of us got up to workout by the pool while others slept in and rested to prepare for another day of clinic. By 0730 we all met in the hotel cafe for breakfast. As per usual, breakfast consisted of rice, a staple to all Cambodian meals. The hotel did their best to accommodate our American palates by providing scrambled eggs, french fries, donuts and delicious fresh fruit. After refueling, we got into vans and set off for Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Tomnopdach Village

Emma Price, Pharmacy Student

Good Morning or Evening depending on which side of the world you are reading this post from. This post is about 5/21/18.

Some of the team started their morning with a pool side work out. The other half of the team took that extra time to sleep. We ate breakfast at our beautiful hotel before leaving for clinic. You can tell the hotel is trying to accommodate for us Americans because there are french fries at breakfast and scrambled eggs instead of their regular fried eggs. But don’t worry there is still the traditional rice and fish for breakfast.

Everyone knew today’s clinic was going to be a little different because Continue reading

Mission Cambodia: Sunday in Poipet

 By: Cayley Norton, Nursing Team

Wow, I can’t believe we’ve been in Cambodia for a week! So much has happened these last seven days from visiting markets, learning of Cambodian history, traveling and most importantly our clinics. Today is Sunday and a day of rest. We are very thankful for this day.

It was a blessing to be able to sleep in today. We got to experience church the Cambodian way! It is really neat to see how other cultures serve our awesome God. He created this magnificent world and it’s just so inspiring to celebrate it with all of his children. Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: First day of clinic & travel to Poipet

A glimpse into the treatment rooms

By Allison Courtney, Nurse Practitioner student

Thursday May 17, 2018

First official day of clinics! After three full days of taking in the new sights, sounds, and unique culture of the Cambodian people we set out this morning for our first clinic hosted at Freedom’s Promise Sewing Center. During breakfast there was a sense of anticipation and curiosity unsure of what we would be doing today but excited to see the day unfold. We circled up with students, faculty, and translators prayed for the day and moved out in faith. 

As a team we saw the provision of God in so many ways both big and small. From covered waiting and treatment areas to powerful cross cultural prayer experiences God had clearly prepared a way for us and showed up in the details.  Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Clinic Day #3

by Jacqueline Murphy, Nursing Team

Chomreabsuor! (Hello!)

We had a bright and early morning today that started off with each off us packing up our luggage to head out to a new hotel, brand new, at that. The hotel we will be traveling to is only 10 days old. As you can imagine, the entire team was very excited about this new adventure. Before we would go there, we set off to our third clinic here in Poipet. This is our third in a row and we were tired but so very excited to spend another day serving as the hands and feet of God. 

When we arrived at the Bridge of Hope, we experienced another powerful Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Bridge of Hope Center

Megan Heath, pharmacy team.

Today we started off our day with breakfast at the Destiny Cafe. It was very welcoming and homey with pancakes and syrup along with omelets and fruit. After breakfast we traveled to the Bridge of Hope Center and were greeted by lots of little kids in the middle of a school lesson. Then we went into the clinic site and met with Perlito. He gave us an amazing devotional that was helpful and inspirational to start our day off and centered around breaking through any downfalls or doubts. We also had a great time worshiping through songs lead by his two daughters. After devotional, we began to set up and organize our clinic for the day. We had a lot more space and tables to work with than at the last clinic site so everyone was thankful for that!

Things at the clinic already started off better and smoother than the day before I think, everyone was getting more used to their individual roles, but were still integrating as a team to get work completed. Throughout the day kids would Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Day Three

by Kendall Schoenekase, Graduate Nursing Student

The morning began bright and early today as we set off for the 6 hour drive to Battambang
at 6:30am. In addition to our Cambodia team, our Freedom’s Promise translators, who will be with us during out clinics in Poipet, joined us on the buses. This was a wonderful experience, as the translators began teaching us about the Cambodian culture, the villages, their home towns, etc. from their perspectives. We listened to Cambodian music, tried Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: Second Day in Phnom Penh

By Hannah Stirnaman, Nurse Practitioner Student

Today was our second full day in Phnom Penh and the last day for us to soak in the atmosphere before traveling to Battambang.

Our first stop of the day was to The Choeung Ek Genocidal Center to tour the killing fields. After reading books and watching films dedicated to this topic, it was overwhelming to see the fields in person. Although this was a somber topic, understanding more of the Cambodian history shed light on the resilience of these amazing people.

After touring the fields, the group spent time getting shoes made from a local shop here in Phnom Penh. Each shoe is made Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: First full day in Phnom Penh

By Shannon Stuart, Pharmacy Team

We have survived our first full day in Cambodia which was accompanied by 89 degrees and 77% humidity weather. It was scorching hot, but fortunately, everyone was able to do every event and the worse outcome today was some sunburn. We started out with some wonderful breakfast which included much of the same foods we eat in America and then a beautiful devotional to begin our day. Our first adventure was familiarization of the city. We walked for about 2 hours and were able to see many monuments.  We also designated a special meet up place if someone strayed away from the crowd on accident. I have attached some of the photos of the monuments for you to see them. There was an independence monument which signified independence from the French (a.k.a. meet up place). It has the lotus’s flower which carries a very strong meaning. To the Cambodian’s it means renewal which we saw throughout the whole walk. 

Another monument which is the one pictured with 2 Vietnamese soldiers and a Cambodia woman in front carrying an infant, demonstrates celebration from liberation from the Khmer Rouge. Khmer Rouge was the group of Cambodian’s who were communists and helped carry out the devastating Cambodian genocide. The monument would have been a great gift, but it signifies that the Vietnamese were happy for them, but they wanted the Cambodians to know Continue reading

Mission to Cambodia: The Journey to the other side of the world

By Kelsey Bivacca, Nurse Practitioner student

Today we arrived at the Nashville airport on May 12th at 5:30am, and took off to Detroit, then Detroit to Seoul, then Seoul to Phnom Penh. Currently I am sitting on the plane about to depart to on the longest leg of the trip to Seoul, and am feeling upbeat and excited for the new environment we’re about to be entering.

Mid flight one of the passengers needed medical attention and Continue reading

Dean Taylor Presented with University of Tennessee Health Science Center Community Nursing Award

Taylor receives the Community Nursing Award at a Gala held in MemphisDean of the College of Health Sciences and Nursing Dr. Cathy Taylor was recently honored with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s Dr. John W. Runyan, Jr. Community Nursing Award. Named for a Memphian and internationally recognized advocate for the role of nurses in community health care, the award celebrates a champion of the efforts of nurses in the community.

The award was presented at the second annual NightinGala celebration of nursing hosted by the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center on Friday, May 4. Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, PhD, RN, FAAN, U.S. Deputy Surgeon General, was the event’s featured speaker.

Continue reading

Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame Announces 2018 Inductees

The Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame announced the seven health care professionals selected as this year’s inductee class at a luncheon on Belmont University’s campus today. With a mission to honor men and women who have made significant and lasting contributions to the health and health care industries, the Hall of Fame was created in 2015 by Belmont University, the McWhorter Society and the Nashville Health Care Council, a founding partner. The seven honorees will be inducted at a ceremony in October. Continue reading

College of Health Sciences conducts Poverty Simulation for faculty and staff

Running around a crowded gym carrying paper money and wearing a nametag detailing the role they were given, nearly 100 Belmont College of Health Sciences and Nursing (CHSN) faculty and staff filled the Sports Science Center on Wednesday, April 25 to participate in the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS). Booths representing community agencies (social services, school, the bank, a pawn shop and more) lined the walls as participants assumed their roles. Some were experiencing homeless, others represented single parents and even more participated as families with many children — all simulating exactly what it is to live in poverty across America. Continue reading

Nursing & Pharmacy Students Volunteer at Project Cure

Students and faculty volunteer at Project Cure

A group of 22 pharmacy and nursing students and Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Jamie Adam recently volunteered with Project Cure. In less than three hours, the team unloaded five pallets and sorted, organized and boxed more than $12,000 in medical supplies.

Project Cure’s local volunteer coordinator commented that the group was remarkable and accomplished more than many other teams that have donated time there. She highlighted that the group’s knowledge of medical supplies was an asset.

Adam said, “This was a wonderful opportunity for nursing and pharmacy students to come together to make a tangible impact for patients in need across the world.”

The opportunity was made possible through the connection of Assistant Professor Nursing Jean Blank. She and her husband have been core volunteers with Project Cure for years.