Awards and Accolades Winter/Spring 2022

Published Mar 15, 2022 by
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Awards, Accolades and Accomplishments

STUDENTS

  • PhD student Kimberly Delgado was named Circle Leader of the Year for the ECU Circle of the Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society and will be recognized at the ECU Initiation Ceremony on Saturday, April 30, at the Mendenhall Hendrix Theatre. The Circle Leader of the Year is a student member of a circle that best represents the ideals and aspirations of Omicron Delta Kappa and must have demonstrated leadership in numerous ways throughout their collegiate career. Circle Leader of the Year recipients are invited to apply for the Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year Award.
  • Honor student Katelyn McKinney’s abstract “Mentoring in Nursing Education” was selected as one of five winning poster presentations for the 31st annual Collaborative Nurse Research Day.
  • The College of Nursing won the Department Cup for ECU’s 3-Minute Thesis competition. This award is presented to the department whose students’ submissions score the highest. Nursing PhD student Lesha Rouse was declared the Grand Champion of the competition and nursing PhD student Kimberly Delgado also participated in the competition, helping to secure the Department Cup for the College of Nursing. Dr. Paul Gemperline, Dean of the ECU Graduate School and Dr. Katherine Cox, Associate Dean of the ECU Graduate School presented the awards on Nov. 18. 2021.
  • Honor student Morgan Shepherd and DNP student Kun Huang co-authored the project “Correlations among nursing students’ perceived stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, caring behaviors, and faculty support,” with faculty members Dr. Robin Webb Corbett, Dr. Francis Eason and former faculty member Dr. Holly Wei, which was selected for publication in the International Journal for Human Caring.
  • DNP student Kun Huang and PhD student Christopher Smith co-authored “A systematic meta-review of systematic reviews about interprofessional collaboration: Facilitators, barriers, and outcomes,” with College of Nursing faculty Phyllis Horns, Department of Psychology professor Dr. Samuel Sears, and former faculty member Dr. Holly Wei, which was published in the Journal of Interprofessional Care.
  • Students from clinical associate professor Sharon Mallette’s Community Health class were invited to share their community service learning projects and provide health education to the audience of the radio show, “Family Health Matters.”

FACULTY

  • ECU Nursing faculty had three articles published in Nursing Education Perspectives — Vol. 42, No. 6. They include “The Doctor of Nursing Practice Project Data Collection Tool: A Teaching Strategy for Data Collection” by Bonnie B. Benetato, Dr. Jan Tillman, Dr. Robin Webb Corbett and Dr. Alexis Hodges; “Is Perception Reality? Using Person-in-Context Simulation to Promote Empathic Understanding of Dementia Among Nurse Practitioner Students” by Dr. Candace C. Harrington, Janice A. Neil, Sonya R. Hardin and associate professor Dr. Donna W. Roberson; and “Teaching Intimate Partner Violence Education: A Quasi-Experimental Study Exploring Gaming and Storytelling” by Susan Williams Hall and assistant professor Dr. Melissa Schwartz Beck.
  • “A Pilot Study Investigating the Relationship Between Heart Rate Variability and Blood Pressure in Young Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease” by ECU Nursing faculty members Dr. Linda Bolin and Dr. Carolyn Horne, along with Amelia Saul and Lauren Bethune Scroggs was accepted for publication in Clinical Hypertension.
  • Dean Dr. Sylvia Brown and former dean and faculty member Dr. Phyllis Horns collaborated with former faculty member Dr. Holly Wei on the book chapter “The evolution of leadership theories,” in the book “Nurse-led Visionary Leadership in Healthcare: Excellence in Practice, Policy, and Ethics.”
  • Assistant professors Dr. Courtney Caiola, Dr. Nancy Dias and Dr. Chandra Speight were selected as an outstanding faculty member for ECU and will be recognized as part of the university’s Research and Scholarship Awards Ceremony on March 16.
  • Associate professor Dr. Mark Hand’s abstracts “Men in Nursing Academia: Factors Associated with Recruitment and Retention” and “Graduating Nursing Students Perceived Preparedness and Comfort Level in Caring for LGBTQ+ Patients” were accepted for poster presentations at the Southern Nursing Research Society’s 2022 annual conference, which was held Feb. 23-25. Dr. Hand was also invited to speak about recruiting and retaining men in nursing academia as part of the Nurse Educator Tips for Teaching podcast. The episode will be available on Apple Podcasts and on Google Podcasts on April 20.
  • “HealthLeaders CNO Exchange: Lived Experiences of Chief Nursing Executives During the Covid-19 Pandemic” with leadership from Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Linda Hofler and Dr. Katie Boston-Leary of the American Nurses Association, was published by Health Leaders Media.
  • Assistant professor Dr. Madeline Fernandez was awarded $5,000 in grant funding from Sigma Global Nursing Excellence for her proposal for the study “Psychological distress and management of women who experienced miscarriage during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Fernandez also received a $1,000 award from the Sigma Theta Tau International – Beta Nu Chapter to fund this study.
  • Clinical professor Dr. Carol Ann King was inducted the ECU Distinguished Military Service Society on Nov. 5, 2021. King joined the Army Reserves at 45 years old and was the first Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in the Reserves. She was recently in Italy as the lead public health advisor to the U.S. Army Africa and Army Garrison in Italy as well as the lead COVID-19 provider. She was also the First DNP to be appointed to the military’s Triservice Nursing Research Council Advisory board. King is a two-time nursing alumna and a clinical professor in the College of Nursing.
  • Associate professor Dr. Cheryl Kovar, was invited to present the session “Providing HPV vaccines to adolescents seeking care in public health department clinics during Covid-19: Opportunities and Challenges for Providers” as part of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s HPV Cancer Prevention Program on March 3. Links to view the recordings from this event are available by emailing preventHPV@stjude.org.
  • “Understanding Farmworker Fluid Intake Using Intersectionality Theory,” by faculty members Dr. Liz Mizelle, Dr. Kim Larson and by Roanoke Chowan Community Center’s Caroline Dougherty, was recently published in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy.
  • Assistant professor Dr. Liz Mizelle was selected for this year’s cohort for the Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists. Dr. Mizelle also recently completed Yale’s Climate Change and Health certificate program.
  • Dr. Pamela Reis was selected to serve as the Nursing Science Department Chair and PhD Director following the conclusion of a national search. Reis received a BSN from Duke University, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner certificate from Pitt County Memorial Hospital (now Vidant Medical Center) and Brody School of Medicine, MSN and post-master’s certificate in Nurse-Midwifery from East Carolina University, and PhD in nursing from East Carolina University. She joined the College of Nursing faculty in 2007 and has over 40 years of nursing experience that includes practice as a nurse-midwife and neonatal nurse practitioner. Dr. Reis worked in full-scope midwifery practices in a large teaching hospital, private practice, health department, and within a busy community hospital obstetrical service. During her tenure at ECU, she has received $4.67 million in HRSA funding.
  • Associate professor Dr. Donna Roberson was honored as a 2021 Treasured Pirate award winner. As a longtime faculty member in the College of Nursing, Dr. Donna Roberson is executive director of program evaluation. Roberson is an ambassador for ECU across multiple colleges thanks to her work with students, as well as her participation on numerous committees throughout the university, helping to align the needs of the health sciences division and the university at large.
  • Peggy Chinn and Dr. Maeone Kramer, along with ECU Nursing professor Dr. Kathy Sitzman published the 11th edition “Knowledge Development in Nursing”
  • Clinical assistant professor Dr. Michael Urton had his abstract “Developing New Clinical Nurse Specialist Educational Opportunities in Community Settings” accepted for podium presentation at the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists 2022 Annual Conference March 14-17.
  • “Progressing to Objective Measures of Daily Mobility in Hospitalized Older Adults,” a manuscript by faculty members Dr. Linda Bolin, Dr. Theresa Floegel, Dr. Alberto Flórez-Pregonero and ECU Nursing PhD student Catharine Taylor was accepted for publication as a feature article in the Journal of Gerontological Nursing.

STAFF

  • Business officer Tameka Cogdell was honored as a 2021 Treasured Pirate Award winner. The Treasured Pirate program recognizes exemplary ECU employees and distinguishes their unique contributions to the college/unit and the university. With an ability to solve nearly any problem, Cogdell’s expertise in financial, personnel and administrative issues is shared without reservation, and always in a kind and supportive manner.

ALUMNI

  • Four College of Nursing alumni were named as ECU 40 Under 40 honorees. They are Donnie Johnson, BSN ’16, MSN ’19; Victoria Respess, BSN ’04, MSN ’08; Alison Swift, BSN ’05, MSN ’10, PhD ’20 and Carol Wilson, MSN ’10.
  • Recent graduates from the Accelerated Second-Degree BSN program had a 100% first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam. Students and recent alumni from the DNP-FNP, AGPCNP, Psych MHNP and CNS-Adult Gerontology had a 100% first time pass rates for their respective certification exams for the year 2021.
  • North Carolina Nurses Association (NCNA) past president, current NC House member, and SAVE Act champion Gale Adcock was recently listed as one of the 2022 AANP State Award for Excellence honorees. She is being presented with the Advocate award, “to highlight the efforts of individuals who have made a significant contribution toward increasing the awareness and recognition of NPs.”
  • Sgt. Sandra George Robinson, ’92, was inducted into ECU’s Distinguished Military Service Society in November 2021. Robinson served in the Army from 1986 to 1994 and was the first ECU nursing student deployed to war. After finishing her service as a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, she returned to complete her nursing degree in 1992. Robinson went on to work as a registered nurse for 30 years at various hospitals before starting her own nonprofit, Combat Female Veterans Families United, an organization that helps female combat veterans and their families transition back into civilian life through education, support and advocacy. Robinson is a member of the Leo Jenkins Society and established the Sandra George Robinson ’92 Combat Female Veterans Scholarship in the ECU College of Nursing.
  • Shelley Scribbins, ’93, was named the North Carolina Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (NCACDIS) CDI of the Year award winner for 2021. The award recognizes an individual who stands out as a consummate representative of the best attributes of a CDI professional. This professional embodies NCACDIS’ mission “to promote continuing education programs and professional growth for Clinical Documentation Improvement professionals.” Scribbins was recognized during the NC-ACDIS conference on Dec. 10, 2021.