Highlights - Alumni

Margaret A. Fitzgerald, Merrimack Valley nurse practitioner and nurse educator and business owner, recently earned national recognition when she was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She is a 1986 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she earned her Master of Science in Nursing. The fellowship is an exclusive designation that recognizes outstanding national contributions and achievements in nursing. Less than 1 percent of the nation's nurse practitioners and registered nurses earn this designation.

Laurie Kennedy-Malone, Ph.D., APRN, BC, FAANP – graduate of UMass Lowell, (MS, GNP 82) now at UNC Greensboro is co-author of one of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN) 2010 Books of the Year in the category of Gerontological Nursing. 

Integrating Gerontological Content into Advanced Practice Nursing Education, by Carolyn Auerhahn and Laurie Kennedy-Malone.   New York City, Springer Publishing Company.

Alice Bonner, PhD, GNP-BC (MS 1989)

Allice Bonner, Ph.D., was tapped to direct the Division of Nursing Homes at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), joining the Survey & Certification Group that is responsible for ensuring the country’s 16,000 nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities comply with strict CMS standards. She described the appointment as a chance to influence national policies and regulations and make a positive difference in nursing home quality for the entire country.

Anne Marie Bourque (MS GNP Alumna-1994) was one of the recipients of the fourth annual Exceptional Preceptor Awards, according to The (MCNP) Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners.  

Susan Kelly-Weeder, Ph.D., has been selected for the 2015 class of American Association of Nurse Practitioner Fellows.

At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives (MONE)Kevin Whitney, RN, MA, NEA-BC, became the President-Elect of the Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives.  Whitney earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing (1996) from UMass Lowell and a Master's degree in Health Care Administration from Framingham State College.  He is a board-certified Nurse Executive by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. 

Deborah Van Etten is a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Psychiatric Nursing, a psychotherapist and transitional life coach who specializes in helping people live meaningful lives after weight loss surgery.

She has a diploma in nursing from the Peter Bent Brigham School of Nursing and a bachelor's degree in nursing from Salem State College. She received a master's degree in gerontological nursing(GNP, 1996) and a post master's degree in psychiatric mental health nursing (2008) from UMass Lowell.

She is a nurse educator at Lawrence Memorial Hospital/ Regis College and has held a faculty appointment at UMass Lowell. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing and is an associate member of the American Society for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery. Her recent publication: Psychosocial Adjustment Following Weight Loss Surgery

Mary M. Aruda, RN, Ph.D., PNP-BC, an assistant professor at Boston College William F. Connell School of Nursing, was the 2009 recipient of the Distinguished Nurse Practitioner Award from the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners. Mary is a PhD Alumna from UMass Lowell and a also a former Nursing Advisory Board member.

In the Nursing Spectrum, November 2009 (p.12) one of our UMass Lowell (MS GNP) graduates, Anne Marie Bourque, MS, GNP-BC, Inspiris, was recognized by The Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners as having received an Exceptional Preceptor Award.

Psychiatric nurse practitioner Peter Amari, (MS 2005) has teamed up with Representative Miceli and Nurses United for Responsible Services (NURS) to introduce a bill allowing NPs and psychiatric CNSs (Clinical Nurse Specialists) to have section 35 authority - the right to petition the court for civil commitment of an alcoholic or substance abuser. The bill was heard by the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse on June 10, 2009.  The bill remains in committee and has not yet been released to the House floor for a vote.

Of note, currently, psychiatric CNSs have section 12 authority for involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility, while NPs do not.  Please let MCNP know if this issue is important to you and whether or not MCNP should join with NURS to change the section 12 language to include NPs.

Donna Jenkins, MS, RN, CNA, BC
1978 University of Lowell School of Nursing Graduate Earns AONE Fellowship (pdf)

University of Massachusetts Lowell Alum (BSN and MSN) Susan Gordon, APRN-BC, nursing director of a general medical unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, is creating an innovative program designed to advance the care of older adults. The initiative is part of an 18-month Geriatric Nursing Leadership Academy offered by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.