Recent honors and awards at the School of Nursing
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing announced the following faculty promotions: Laurie Connors, DNP, FAANP, and Mary Ann Jessee, PhD, MSN’95, have been promoted from assistant professor to associate professor. Shannon Cole, DNP, MSN’94; Melissa Davis, DNP, MSN’03; Diane Folk, DNP; Tamika Hudson, DNP, MSN’12; Melanie Morris, PhD, MSN’86, BSN’83; Mary Lauren Pfeiffer, DNP, MSN’11; Heather Robbins, DNP, MSN’05; and Rose Vick, PhD, MSN’07, have been promoted from instructor to assistant professor.
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses has awarded an Impact Research Grant to Assistant Professor of Nursing Leanne Boehm, PhD’16, MSN’09, for a project aimed at improving ICU recovery in survivors of critical illness.
Survivors of critical illness may have cognitive, mental health and physical impairments that last for years after their hospitalization. Various programs have been implemented to help ICU survivors and address the cluster of impairments called post-intensive care syndrome PICS.
Boehm will examine the outcomes for patients who visit either an in-person post-ICU clinic or a virtual telemedicine PICS clinic following hospital discharge. She will conduct the research project at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s ICU Recovery Center.
AACN is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization; membership is composed of acute and critical care nurses. AACN Impact Research Grants fund projects that address gaps in clinical research at the organization or system level and translate the findings for bedside clinicians. The grants are designed to help ensure a vital source of clinically relevant research for creating evidence-based resources that influence high-acuity and critical care nursing practice.
The Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association Foundation recognized VUSN Post-doctoral Fellow Mariya Kovaleva, PhD, at its 2019 annual conference with its Center for Clinician Advancement: UnitedHealth Group Award. She received the award for her study of whether an online caregiver program, Tele-Savvy, is feasible and reduces caregiver burden among those caring for persons living with dementia during transitions from hospital to home.
Kovaleva has also received two additional research grants. The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses awarded her a grant to support her research into Tele-Savvy.
Sigma Theta Tau and the Association of periOperative Nurses awarded Kovaleva a grant to examine the experiences of perioperative nurses in working with persons with dementia and their caregivers and determine the burden of inpatient surgery on persons living with dementia and on their caregivers. The overall goal of the study is to determine how perioperative nursing can further support persons living with dementia and their caregivers.
Associate Professor Laurie Connors, DNP, FAANP, has received the 2019 International Society of Nurses in Genetics Founders’ Award. The award recognizes demonstrated excellence in genomic nursing education, service or research. It is given to members who have served the association and who are leaders in genetic/genomic nursing and health care.
Assistant Professors Mulubrhan Mogos, PhD, and Chorong Park, PhD, have been awarded Vanderbilt University Provost Research Studio awards. The awards support professional development for junior faculty by providing support for mentoring from experts outside of Vanderbilt. Mogos and Park can used the award funding to host visits from senior scholars from other universities or to visit their mentors at other institutions. The purpose of Provost Research Studio awards is to expand the Vanderbilt faculty’s professional networks while advancing their research and scholarships.
The awards are funded by Interim Chancellor and Provost Susan B. Wente.
Assistant Professor Leanne Boehm, PhD16, MSN’09, has received a Vanderbilt University Provost Discovery Grant in support of her research into interventions for post-intensive care syndrome problems.
Boehm’s project, Telehealth Enhanced Patient Oriented Recovery Trajectory after ICU: TelePORT, seeks to determine if telehealth recovery care is feasible and to test the hypothesis that telehealth ICU recovery care will be more effective than standard of care conditions in improving cognitive, mental health, physical and global function in patients following hospital discharge.
The telehealth ICU recovery care will be conducted at the Vanderbilt ICU Recovery Center, an ICU survivor clinic that uses an interdisciplinary team of critical care medicine, pharmacy, neuropsychology, rehabilitation and case management professionals to assess and manage post-intensive care syndrome.
Associate Professor Shelagh Mulvaney, PhD, has received a Pilot and Feasibility award from the Vanderbilt Center for Diabetes Translational Research. The two-year award will support her project, Feasibility of a Tailored Diabetes Self-Management Assessment and Support System. She will use it to design and pilot test components of a patient-generated data system for clinical use in pediatric diabetes. A key component of the work is a digital personalized self-management report that integrates data from blood glucose and insulin devices with information tailored to overcome psychosocial barriers to self-management.
Associate Professor Alvin Jeffery, PhD’17, has received a two-year K12 Institutional Career Development award from the Vanderbilt Learning Health System Scholars (LHSS) Program. LHSS is a faculty development program that draws scholars and mentors together in a team across disciplines. It focuses on patient-centered outcomes research, implementation/dissemination science, health policy and community health. Jeffery was selected for the award based on his strong research background and development of a novel predictive tool to aid clinicians in identifying clinical deterioration for early clinical interventions.
Assistant Professor Bethany Rhoten, PhD’13, MSN’09, and PhD student Amanda Davis were awarded the Sexual Tipping Point Mental Health Award from the Sexual Medicine Society of North America and the MAP Education and Research Foundation for their presentation regarding head and neck cancer survivors’ perceptions of self-reporting measures to assess sexuality. The award is awarded for researchers’ biomedical-psychosocial and cultural approach to understanding, diagnosing and treating sexual disorders.
Assistant Professor Deonni Stolldorf, PhD, has been named vice chair of the AcademyHealth Interdisciplinary Research Group on Nursing Issues interest group. The IRGNI promotes and supports the development of health services research that focuses on nursing practice, workforce and delivery of care.
AcademyHealth is one of the largest interdisciplinary professional organizations for health researchers, policy analysts and health care practitioners.
“A Multi-modal Workshop to Teach Frailty-focused Communication,” a poster created by Assistant Professor Sally Miller, PhD, and Assistant Professor Cathy Maxwell, PhD’12, won a blue ribbon at Vanderbilt University’s Gotterer Health Professions Education Research Day. The poster presented results from a workshop conducted by Miller and Maxwell that was funded by a grant from the Vanderbilt University Center for Effective Health Communication.
“Mentoring New Graduate Nurse Practitioners,” an article by neonatal faculty member Colleen Reilly Moss, MSN’01, BS’00, was selected as a 2019 Manuscript of Exceptional Merit by Neonatal Network: The Journal of Neonatal Nursing.
Student Honors
The Metro Detroit Midwives of Color awarded a professional development grant to student Vernicia Winford. Winford is a dual Nurse-midwifery/Family Nurse Practitioner student currently in her last year of studies. Metro Detroit Midwives of Color provides a professional and social network that increases access to resources that enhance the care of women in urban communities.
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner student Naomi Chan, BS’17, has been accepted into the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Minority Fellowship Program at the American Nursing Association. The fellowship is designed to support full-time nursing students focusing on mental health and/or substance abuse disorders, prevention or treatment. The fellows commit to working in mental health and/or substance abuse nursing for a minimum of two years post-graduation.
SAMHSA is the division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services dedicated to behavioral health efforts in public health. Its Minority Fellowship Program is a grant initiative that awards funding to organizations to support the development of behavioral health practitioners. It aims to increase the presence, knowledge, and skill base of practitioners available to serve racial and ethnic minority populations.
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