Printer FriendlyDear Nursing Alumni and Friends:
Warmest wishes for a happy and healthy new year from the Department of Nursing! On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students, it is my pleasure to share news of ongoing developments and achievements within the Department of Nursing.
Many of you were among the more than 200 alumni, faculty and friends that gathered at the Vesper Country Club in Tyngsboro this past spring for a dinner celebrating the Department’s more than three decades of nursing excellence. The event marked the 35th anniversary of the first BS graduating class, the 30th anniversary of the first MS degree class, and 10th anniversary of the awarding of the first doctoral degrees. Impressive by their numbers for a single graduating class, eight members of the BS class of 1972 were in attendance – Miriam Tobin, Mary Torelli, Jacqueline Talbot, Joanne Bushong, Pat Moysenko, Barbara Quirk, Celeste Campbell and Kathleen Lyons. Since 1972, more than 2,800 nursing students have graduated – 2,742 BS, 725 MS, and 14 PhD students. This anniversary celebration was a wonderful event to share with all of you!
The Department is especially thankful to those who were able to contribute to the endowment funds established in the names of Dr. May Futrell, Dr. Janice Stecchi, and Dr. Gertrude Barker’s Memorial Endowment Fund, as well as to the Nursing discretionary fund. Your contributions are immensely helpful in supporting student scholarships and nursing department activities.
A number of academic milestones reflecting quality indicators of success have been achieved. In addition to our continued full approval from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing, the Department has learned that our pass rate for the graduating class of 2007 on the NCLEX-RN licensure examination was 93%. Reported nurse practitioner certification pass rates for the 2007 graduating Master of Science degree nursing students are 100%. In September of 2007, the PhD in Nursing Program, with a Health Promotion focus, underwent an Academic Quality Assessment Development (AQUAD) review. Three national external reviewers were highly positive in their review, while noting areas where increased resources are needed. Additionally, a full proposal for a post-Master’s Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) degree has received UML approval and is under review by the University of Massachusetts President’s Office. An external review was conducted on November 30, 2007. It is expected that this proposal will be reviewed for approval by the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees at their February 2008 meeting.
In addition to the three MS APN specialties – family health nursing, gerontological
nursing, and adult psychiatric mental health nursing, the MS Program now offers
five different graduate certificates. These include the post-Bachelor’s certificates in
Geropsychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Gerontological Nursing, and Palliative and
End-of-Life Nursing Care. Two post-Master’s certificates are also available: Nursing
Education and Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing CNS/NP. All of these certificate
programs have seen increasing interest and enrollments.
Student enrollments in all three programs at UML are growing. We currently have nearly 300 BS nursing students, 26 of whom are RN BS-degree completion students. The MS program and graduate certificates have an enrollment of 72, while the PhD in Nursing Program boasts 20 full-time and part-time students. Like other colleges and universities nationwide, UML has been unable to accept all of the qualified applicants into our Baccalaureate Nursing program due to a national shortage of nursing faculty, as well as the difficulty in securing clinical placements and the constraints with classroom and laboratory space. Our Department has been successful in attempting to counteract this crisis with receipt of funding from federal and state sources to support the preparation of nurses at all levels. Some of our recent awards include:
· Continued U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) Advanced Traineeship grant funding for full-time PhD and MS students, with Dr. Susan Houde as Principal Investigator.
· In our effort to diversify the nursing workforce, Drs. Melillo, Dowling, Abdallah, Findeisen and Knight received funding notification from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health regarding its RFP on Reduction in Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: Workforce Development grant. UML’s “Bring Diversity to Nursing,” is a 3-year funded study designed to recruit under-represented minority and economically disadvantaged students into the nursing program at UMass Lowell by partnering with the UML Graduate School of Education’s College Prep program,
Other examples of recent faculty research awards include: Dr. Geoffry Phillips McEnany, PI, (2007) Sepacor, “Sleep and Chronobiology for Psychiatric Nurses”; Dr. Ainat Koren, Co-PI (2006-2007) Information Technology Council, “PDA’s and PC Tablets in Health Care”; Dr. Stephanie Chalupka, PI (2005) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Strengthening the Capacity of Health Professionals Serving Minority and Low-Income Communities to Better Identify, Manage, and Prevent Environmental Health Risks”; Drs. Ainat Koren, Barbara Mawn, Karen Devereaux Melillo and Carole Pearce (Professor Emerita) Co-Investigators, (2000-2006) NIOSH, PHASE in Health Care, “Promoting Healthy and Safe Employment (PHASE) in Health Care.”
Renovations to the Department’s Nursing Simulation and Skills Laboratory (Weed 201A/Weed 201B) and the Advanced Practice Nursing assessment laboratories (Weed 204 and Weed 206) are currently underway. It is anticipated that the renovation project will be complete for the start of the Spring 2008 semester. A number of nursing technology and state-of-the-art computer-based simulation upgrades will be made possible from the donations of alumni, faculty and friends of Nursing at UML.
New faculty and administrative appointments for the Spring 2008 include Dr. Annette McDonough as Visiting Assistant Professor, teaching pathophysiology and medical-surgical nursing in the BS program; Dr. Barbara Mawn, Professor, as Interim Director of the PhD in Nursing Program; and Dr. Stephanie Chalupka, Professor, as Coordinator of the RN BS-degree completion option. A new Director of the Nursing Simulation and Skills Laboratory has been hired. Becky Bataller Naughton, RN, BS, MS, will begin this role in January 2008. The Department of Nursing is actively seeking qualified faculty candidates for the doctoral, master’s and baccalaureate nursing programs. Please see
UML Human Resources website for details.Thank you for all you do to represent nursing so positively in your varied roles in the health care system. Your contributions are valued, and we know firsthand from alumni and employer surveys that our number one recruitment method for highly-qualified students and faculty alike is by word-of-mouth. Your advocacy on behalf of the UML Nursing Program is most appreciated.
Karen Devereaux Melillo, PhD,
Professor and Chair