Author
Alumni to donate $25,000 if 250 people donate to VUSN on Giving Day April 4
March 27, 2019
Two Vanderbilt University School of Nursing alumni, Tom Christenbery, PhD’04, MSN’87, and Benjamin Smallheer, PhD’11, MSN’04, have pledged $25,000 to the school if 250 individuals make gifts to VUSN on Vanderbilt’s Giving Day, Thursday, April 4. The challenge gift is part of Vanderbilt’s Giving Day, the annual 24-hour period in which all Vanderbilt alumni, students,…
VUSN MSN Alumna, Anna-Gene O’Neal, CEO of ALIVE Hospice announces growing options for palliative care
March 26, 2019
VUSN Alumna and ALIVE Hospice CEO, Anna-Gene O’Neal (BSN’88;MBA/MSN’92) announced growing options into palliative medicine. Alive Hospice is embedding in cancer clinics, from Clarksville to Chattanooga, in a partnership with Tennessee Oncology. “Palliative care takes these principles that were understood and developed in the hospice realm, but really it’s for anyone along a disease trajectory,”…
VUSN’s Mariann Piano named to International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame
March 26, 2019
Mariann R. Piano, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAHA, the Nancy and Hilliard Travis Professor of Nursing and Senior Associate Dean for Research at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, has been selected for induction into the Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be held July 27 during the…
School of Nursing named to Top 10 in “U.S. News & World Report” rankings
March 20, 2019
In the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings of graduate nursing programs released today, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing has risen to the No. 5 rank for its Doctor of Nursing Practice program and to No. 8 for its Master of Science in Nursing program. Those positions are the highest rankings VUSN has received…
Robot-guided video game gets older adults out of comfort zone, learning and working together
March 19, 2019
Two senior living residents sat facing a large screen, controlling a video game with wrist devices. Every so often, a squat little robot near them would remind them of the object of the game: Get your avatar’s books into the right bin, and earn extra points by helping the other player. The game isn’t about robots or books. It’s about getting seniors in the early stages of dementia out of their rooms, moving their bodies and, most important, working together. Isolation is a contributor to dementia’s progression, and this robot-guided video game may be an effective, low-cost solution for caregivers. Vanderbilt University’s Nilanjan Sarkar, a mechanical engineering professor, Linda Beuscher, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing, and their team recently finished testing the game in two nursing homes. More
Relationship-building part of alumnus’ new role at Indiana clinic
March 13, 2019
Heath Kohlmeier, MSN’18, received his first hug from a patient Tuesday, a small testament to the relationships he hopes to build with patients in his new role as a nurse practitioner at Tulip Tree Family Health Care. “One of my patients told me that I reminded her of her son. We just had a good interaction in the room there,” Kohlmeier, an FNP, said. “She asked if she could give me a hug at the end. It was a small victory within me, I feel like that’s one of those signs you’ve reached out to that patient, that you’ve built that connection and can start going from there.”
