Fall 2021 Category
Primed for Change
December 1, 2021
For many people, hospitals are uncomfortable places where reminders of illness and injury are at every turn. But for Pamela R. Jeffries, PhD, FAAN, ANEF, FSSH, visits to a large hospital in Indianapolis as a teenager were fascinating, even inspiring, experiences. Among the earliest influences on her career path in nursing education and innovation was witnessing the hospital staff’s dedication to patient care.
Follow the Data
December 1, 2021
Walk into any modern hospital room and you’ll find as much precisely calibrated equipment as in the cockpit of a 787, machines capable of monitoring and recording just about every known biological function. It’s often nurses who utilize this ever-more sophisticated technology, drawing on real-time data to help treat patients and collaborate with the health care team in making diagnoses or charting a path for care.
Making an Impact
December 1, 2021
The pandemic affected all nursing professionals. Vanderbilt School of Nursing faculty pivoted to teach students in virtual settings, spearheaded clinical innovations such as expanded telehealth and nurse-on-call programs, studied pandemic responses and best practices, and provided leadership locally, regionally, nationally and globally. They also continued scholarly and research activities. The following pages represent select accomplishments by VUSN nurse scientists, educators and leaders in the academic and scientific arenas from the past year.
Signature Area: Responding to Recurring Health Issues
December 1, 2021
There are key differences between acute and chronic illnesses—one is associated with conditions that occur suddenly but eventually dissipate, while the other’s symptoms are long lasting and worsen over time. But together they make up one of the School of Nursing’s signature areas of research, with faculty united around the idea of improving the lives of patients through creative thinking and problem solving.
Have Vaccine, Will Travel
December 1, 2021
The knocking at the front door startled Melissa Williams* as she tried unsuccessfully to nap between jobs. Ever since the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 had taken Nashville into its grip, sleep had not come easily to the young single mother, who was worried about her children’s health as well as her own. So, when she opened the door to find representatives of Vanderbilt’s Mobile Vaccine Program on her porch, a feeling of relief washed over her.
Once a Nurse: Community of Nurses Continues in Retirement
November 30, 2021
At a retirement center nestled in the hills of Nashville, a cadre of Vanderbilt nurses have built a community within a community. No single career experience connects them—they’ve been war nurses, flight nurses, ER nurses and floor nurses, as well as teachers, researchers and administrators. Their relationships are woven through their vast web of experience, with their love of nursing at the hub. “Nurses always find each other,” says Charlotte Covington, BSN’69, MSN’89, associate professor of nursing, emerita.
