Nursing News : School of Health Sciences : Simmons College

Department News
Simmons College and Prince Sultan University Sign Agreement

Dean Gerry Koocher and Associate Dean Judy Beal traveled to Riyadh,Saudi Arabia to sign a memorandum of understanding with Prince Sultan University(PSU) to develop a joint degree program in maternal and child health nursing for Saudi women. The program will begin in Riyah in September 2009. In the second year, students will come to Simmons for one and a half years of study to complete the specialization.

Student News

Recent MS nursing graduates offered an array of research presentations including:

Implementation of an Electronic Clinical Log
Barriers to Medication Compliance in Lung Transplant Recipients
Work-Related Teen Injuries in Massachusetts 2006-2007
Cardiac Rehabilitation:Predictors of Heart-Healthy Behaviors
Family Perspectives on End of Life Care
Empowering the Staff Nurse as a Diabetic Educator
Language Barriers and Access to Timely Breast Health Care
A Descriptive Analysis of Beastfeeding Experience, Knowledge, and Effectiveness in Pediatric Primary Care
The Lived Experience of the Overweight Adolescent
Adjustment of Elders to Nursing Home Placement
Postpartum Depression Screening in the Pediatric Primary Care Office
Gender Role Strain of Licensed Advanced Practice Male Nurses

Simmons Nursing Students Continue to Achieve

Simmons graduate nursing students recently achieved a 100% first-time pass rate on the NCLEX examination, well above the state average of 83%. The Simmons NP certification first-time pass rate is 100%. This continuous achievement further demonstrates Simmons's commitment to the success of our students.

DNP Students

Recent achievements by candidates for the Simmons DNP :

Susan Harrington received a $3,000 grant from the nurse practitioner Healthcare Foundation/Pfizer Community Innovations Awards Program for her DNP capstone project,"development of a Mentoring program for New Nurse Practitioners in Primary Care."

Janet Patterson, presented a poster titled"Accelerated Capstone Development: A Student's Growth through Leadership Competencies," at the second National Conference on the Doctor of Nursing Practice, sponsored by Drexel University.

Sandy Leiby received a $4,000 Promise of Nursing for Massachusetts Regional Fellowship from The Foundation of the National Student Nurses' Association. Leiby also received a $2,000 scholarship from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and a $2,000 scholarship from the Metrowest Healthcare Foundation.

Alumni News

Allison Moore, '02 HS received the 2009 nurse practitioner of the year award for Massachusetts. This award was presented at the Annual Conference of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in Nashville,TN in June 2009.

Annie Lewis O'Connor, '90 HS, was appointed Program Manager for Nursing Practice in the Center for Women and Newborns at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Nancy O'Rourke '96 HS was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners at the Academy's annual conference in June,2009. She is the current president of the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners; practices as an acute care nurse practitioner in the intensive care unit at Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton,MA.Faculty News.

Wendy Wright, '92 HS, received the Kenneth B. Swartz Compassionate Caregiver Award for New Hampshire.

Faculty News 2009-2010

Janet Rico, assistant professor of nursing, was recently appointed chair of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. She has served as acting chair since fall, 2008. Rico was also invited to participate on Massachusetts' Patient-Centered Medical Home Initiative Coordinating Council, convened by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. The Council's purpose is to jointly design and implement payment models and practice transformation strategies to support public-private multi-payer medical homes across the state.

Faculty News 2008-2009

Anne-Marie Barron, associate professor of nursing and Patricia White, assistant professor of nursing,co-presented "Grief Responses in Palliative Care" at Boston College.

Judy Beal,associate dean of SHS and chair of nursing,received a $62,562 award from the Department of Health and Human Services,Health Resources and Services Administration,for MSN and DNP traineeships.

Susan Duty,assistant professor of nursing, was appointed to the Harvard School of Public Health/National Institute of Environmental Health and Safety's Center for Environemental health,in the Organic Pollutants Rsearch Core. The core brings together faculty to address the health effects of organic pollutants across the lifespan,with primary focus on fetal development through puberty. She also became the first recipient of the Rose: Inspirations to Others Award at South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth,MA. As a nurse research scientist at the hospital, she was recognized for her quiet leadership among her peers and her ability to motivate others. A rose bush was planted in her honor in the hospital rose garden. Dr. Duty also received a $18,960 grant from The Passport Foundation's Science Innovation Fund for her project"Determination of sources of Bisphenol A exposure among infants in a Neonatal Intensive care Unit. Bisphenol A is a chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastics,often found in the linings of metal cans,bottle caps, and water supply pipes. Susan and Elizabeth Scott,assistant professor of biology, were awarded a $15,000 grant from the Simmons President's Fund for a research project entitled "A Pilot Study to Explore the Strain Relatedness of Methicillin Resistent Staphylococcus Aureus Between Human,Hand Contact Surfaces, and Pets."

Priscilla Gazarian,assistant professor of nursing, presented a poster on her grant funded simulation project with the Brigham and Women's Hospital. The poster,"Using a Simulate Learning Experience to Improve the Care of the Patient Experiencing Delirium," was presented at the Eastern Nursing Research Society in Boston in March 2009. She also presented "Nurse Decision Making and Prevention of Adverse Effects," to the Research Council of Emerson Hospital,in Concord, MA. in January 2009 ;presented "Communicating Changes in Patient Cognition" to nursing assistants at Brigham & Women's Hospital.

Grace Good, clinical lecturer of nursing,received the Brian M. McEachern Award for Extraordinary Care from the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Rebecca Koeniger-Donohue,associate professor of nursing,and Kelly Ann Pfeiffer '05,'08HS recentlty published "The DNP for Advanced Practice Nurses: Integrating Practice into a Terminal Degree" in Women's Health Care: A practical Journal for Nurse Practitioners.

Eileeen McGee,assistant professor of nursing,was awarded $2,500 from the Simmons Faculty Research Fund to conduct a "Grounded Theory Study Looking at the Nursing Faculty Shortage." Dr. McGee had a poster accepted on the preliminary results from this study for the Comhra Conference in limerick, Ireland in june 2009.

Susan Neary,associate professor of nursing,Patricia White,assistant professor of nursing, and Alice Sapienza,professor Emerita of health care administration,presented a paper at the Drexel Doctorate of Nursing Practice Conference in Hilton Head,S.C. The paper was titled "One DNP Program's Pedagogical Design:Using AACNs Essentials and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership Cpmpetencies."

Janet Rico and Patricia White,assistant professors of nursing, and colleagues from Yale University School of Nursing and the University of Massachusestts-Worcester,presented their collaborative research on best practices for accelerated nursing students at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioners Faculty meeting in Portland, OR. in April.

Julie Steller ,assistant professor of nursing,traveled to Romania in July 2009 to continue her collaborative work with Hospices of Hope,an international organization designed to improve quality of life for the terminally ill in Romania, Serbia, and other countries in the region.

Dr. Sarah Volkman, associate professor of nursing was a speaker at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans.

The School of Health Sciences Offers Two Online Courses to Assist Students in Fulfilling Simmons Prerequisites

A non-credit course, titled WebStat ,which meets the School of Health Sciences(SHS) statistics requirement is offered entirely online.This course is designed for students planning to apply to any program within the School of Health Sciences. This ten-week course is offered Pass/Fail. Please note that this online course is offered only to prospective or accepted applicants to the SHS. Further details may be obtained by contacting the Division of Online Learning at 617-521-2518.

A non-credit course, titled, Developmental Psychology: A Lifespan Perspective,is offered entirely online to prospective or accepted applicants to the Direct Entry nursing program. This six-week course is offered during the summer on a Pass/Fail basis. Further details and a registration form may be obtained by contacting the Nursing Department at 617-521-2141 in mid-March of each year.

Webstat Course

Faculty News Archive 2007-2008

Faculty News Archive 2003-2004

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The School of Health Sciences Offers Two Online Courses to Assist Students in Fulfilling Simmons Prerequisites

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