Dean’s Message – Summer 2020
Dear alumni, colleagues and supporters,
As I write, we are several months into the COVID-19 pandemic. It has brought profound changes to all our lives. At Vanderbilt School of Nursing, the pandemic resulted in the conversion of all spring and summer classes to online, faculty and staff working from home, the closure of our buildings, temporary ceasing of in-person clinical education and much more. But we at VUSN are fortunate. So many people around the globe have suffered and died from the novel coronavirus, despite the efforts of dedicated health care professionals doing their best under challenging situations. Some of those professionals are our own VUSN alumni, students and faculty. We are proud of all of them, and of all our community members contributing to COVID-19 efforts.
In mid-June, Vanderbilt University announced a detailed and thoughtful plan to return to on-campus classes in August. The decision was made after consultation with local, state and national public health officials, as well as experts from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the School of Nursing. It will be good to return and welcome students, faculty and staff back to campus. That return comes with new changes and challenges, however. All over campus, buildings and in-person classes will look and operate differently than in the past. You can find specifics on Vanderbilt’s plan in the news section of the VUSN website.
In addition to welcoming our own students, the School of Nursing has been tapped to help support the safe return of undergraduates. The article starting on p. 8 outlines the role of our Vanderbilt Nurse Faculty Practices in providing testing and contact tracing for the Vanderbilt community. It also highlights how those Nurse Faculty Practices adapted to provide consistent, safe patient care in the midst of the pandemic’s lockdown.
Although COVID-19 is very much on our minds, we at the School of Nursing have a variety of interesting stories to share. Our cover article recognizes the men of VUSN and the richness they bring to our school and profession. It also outlines the school’s conscious activity to make men feel supported and welcome, as well as its history of encouraging men in nursing. This Vanderbilt Nurse also introduces you to two remarkable Vanderbilt men: one an alumnus helping the underserved in a city with a poverty rate of more than 15 percent and the other a nurse scientist dedicated to reducing heart-related deaths among new mothers.
Other articles feature VUSN’s impressive Alumni Award honorees, an alumni couple helping nursing students make a difference in the world, and two students who said, “There’s got to be a better way”—and then developed one.
I hope reading this issue encourages you as much as it does me. These stories remind me that the mission and work of the School of Nursing happen through its people. Regardless of the issues that COVID-19—or any other challenge—brings, Vanderbilt nurses will consistently meet them in ways that help patients, communities and the nursing profession. Please stay safe.
Best regards,
Linda D. Norman, DSN, RN, FAAN
Dean Valere Potter Menefee Professor of Nursing
