Spring 2012

Photo by Lauren Owens Frances Raines knows the secret to successful aging. “Keep busy,” says the 97-year-old resident at Bethany Health & Rehabilitation nursing home, flashing a knowing smile that momentarily erases the wrinkles on her face. With a bright red crochet hook and yards of sky… Read More

Susan Hellervik. Photo by Daniel Dubois. Minutes from now, the newly conscious patient will flail softly in her bed and try to pull out her breathing tube. A nurse will be there to stay her hand. Right now, though, she’s slipping toward death. As she was being… Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has developed a pilot Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) Intensivist Fellowship program unlike any other in the country.  The program is jointly run through the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and the Department of Anesthesiology – Division of Critical Care Medicine. “Much like physicians prepare for… Read More

Trish Trangenstein. Photo by Daniel Dubois. What does the term “nursing informatics” mean? Nursing informatics is a specialty recognized by the American Nurses’ Association.  Nursing informatics transforms electronic information into knowledge and eventually knowledge into wisdom needed to improve outcomes.  Nursing outcomes can only be improved… Read More

40s Bettie Ann White Cleino, BSN ‘44, MSN, PhD, was inducted into the Alabama Nursing Hall of Fame on Oct. 13, 2011. She believes her nursing career was set in motion by the advanced education she received at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.  In her acceptance speech, Cleino quoted Lulu… Read More

Photo by Joe Howell “Is this a house of corrections or a house of comfort?” asked the attending physician, a native of Britain, noting that American nurses have such strange practices, tethering their patients. Those comments, delivered to a group on medical practice rounds that included a… Read More

According to the Administration on Aging, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services: The population 65 years or older numbered 39.6 million in 2009, the latest year for which data is available. They represented 12.9 percent of the U.S. population, about one in every eight Americans. Older… Read More

Photo by Joe Howell Todd Monroe is on a quest to figure out if and how people with Alzheimer’s disease feel pain. Thanks to a grant from the John Hartford Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing’s Monroe, PhD, RN, is studying women with… Read More

Photo by iStockphoto.com Fall-Hamilton Elementary School was honored at a reception last fall hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in Washington, D.C. The event was part of the Healthier U.S. School Challenge Program, an initiative of the United States Department of Agriculture that… Read More

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing has started offering a post-master’s certificate in Urogynecology – a growing subspecialty among women’s health nurse practitioners.  This education focuses on pelvic floor dysfunction which can cause physical problems and affect quality of life. “This is a wide open field as our population ages.  These… Read More

Nursing education needs some sweeping changes, according to Patricia Benner, PhD, RN, who spoke as part of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Centennial Lecture Series at Langford Auditorium last fall. Benner, professor emerita in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California,… Read More

This January, Elizabeth G. Rudolph, JD (VU ‘89), MSN (VUSN ‘85), RN, shared her insights about how nurses can merge their health care expertise with the legal world with VUSN students and community members.  Rudolph is founder and president of Jurex Center for Legal Nurse Consulting, which… Read More

The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Nurse-Midwifery Practice has been recognized for its excellence in care by the 2010 American College of Nurse-Midwives Benchmarking Project. Specifically, VUSN was named best practice in the nation for its highest rate of postpartum visit attendance and its lowest rate of induction.  They also… Read More

Vanderbilt University Medical Center holds the world record for the most vaccinations given in eight hours, according to Guinness World Records. There were 12,850 flu shots given during the October 2011 record attempt, dubbed Flulapalooza. During a special announcement in December, Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, vice chancellor… Read More

Photo by Daniel Dubois Significantly more young people are becoming registered nurses, reversing a 10-year decline in the number of nurses entering the profession and easing some concerns about a looming nursing shortage in the United States, according to a study released in the December 2011 issue… Read More

Welcome to the Spring issue of Vanderbilt Nurse magazine. We have been able to accomplish many things at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing together, but when it comes down to it, my job is simple.  It’s about doing anything and everything to ensure the ever-increasing value of a Vanderbilt University… Read More

Nursing school alumni, including several Quinqs, joined the annual Reunion Celebration… Read More