ECU CONnection Newsletter – October 2025

Friends,

I’ve been traveling a lot this month to celebrate the College of Nursing and its students, faculty, and alumni. Travel can be taxing, but to honor the incredible work Pirate Nurse Nation is doing has been a privilege.

At the American Academy of Nursing’s (AAN) induction ceremony for its newest Fellows, I was reunited with many friends and peers. Still, most importantly, I cheered on my friend and fellow Pirate Nurse, Dr. Cheryl Kovar, as she was inducted along with seven other North Carolina nurses. This is the highest honor our profession can bestow, and Cheryl is more than deserving.

Also inducted as AAN Fellows were Bill and Joanne Conway, founders of the Bedford Falls Foundation. Their vision is to help 5,000 nurses graduate on scholarship each year – including future Pirate Nurses – through an innovative pathway that will see advanced military medics obtain their BSN degrees. Thank you, Bill and Joanne, for your visionary impact on the future of America’s health care.

I was lucky to have been one of the nearly two dozen (you read that right!) Pirate Nurses who were inducted as this year’s cohort of Great 100 NC Nurses at a gala in Goldsboro. What a great night – it was a true party to celebrate professional excellence.

While I unfortunately didn’t make it to the 50th annual American Association for Men in Nursing conference in Orlando, Dr. Mark Hand and a contingent of our students did, to receive the “One of the Best Schools for Men in Nursing” recognition for the third year in a row. Pirate Nursing welcomes everyone, and we are proud of the young men in our ranks.

I had the good fortune to spend time last weekend with Dr. Erin Beaman and her Student Services team as they represented our College at ECU’s Open House. The prospective students we met were impressive and gave me a lot of hope for the future of our university and the state. I look forward to inviting many of those future Pirates as they join our college in purple scrubs in the coming years.

I invite you to join us for our Homecoming activities on Nov. 8. We are having a reception here at the College on Friday night and a parade watch party on 5th Street Saturday morning. For the first time in a long time, the ECU College of Nursing will have a float! There is still time to register to join us.

It’s a great time to be a Pirate Nurse. I’m proud of us all.

Best,

Dean Bim

Student

This week some of our graduate nursing students got hands-on patient assessment training with the help of Physical Training Assistants, who work with students to refine the way they work with patients by acting as standardized patients.

The benefit of employing PTAs is that they give students immediate feedback and know how patient assessments should be conducted, acting as adjunct members of the teaching staff.

Two of our Neonatal Nurse Practitioner students – Courtney McDaniel and Samantha Mathwich – were recognized for their research at the Florida Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (FANNP) conference in Clearwater Beach this month.

McDaniel and Mathwich were supported by NNP program mentors Drs. Amy Jnah and Amy Williford, and the rest of East Carolina University’s NNP Class of 2026 who presented at the conference, followed by family-style dinner.

At the 50th American Association for Men In Nursing conference in Orlando, the College of Nursing was recognized as “One of the Best Schools for Men in Nursing” for the third year in a row.

“This recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to fostering a supportive learning environment for all students,” said Dr. Bim Akintade, dean of the College of Nursing.

A special thank you to Dr. Mark Hand for his dedicated leadership and advocacy and to our Pirate Nurse faculty and staff for creating a community where every student can thrive.

We also want to thank all our students – especially Ethan Curtis, Trevor Brisson, Isaiah Lampkin, Daniel Lee, Grayson Faulk, Connor Hutchison and Landon Sweet, who attended the conference – for dedicating themselves to be the next generation of nursing leaders.

Some of our MSN and BSN to DNP students in Dr. Alex Hodges’ Advanced Health Assessment class who were in town for their first in-person sessions at the Office of Clinical Skills Assessment and Education at Eastern AHEC.

We love the opportunities to have our graduate students on campus with us.

Faculty

CON professors Drs. Mitzi C. Pestaner and Shannon Powell, Laupus librarian Carrie Forbes and Dr. Ellen McCabe from the City University of New York’s Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing had their article “School Connectedness and School Nursing Services: A Concept Analysis” published in the Journal of School Nursing.

From the article: “School connectedness encompasses protective elements that enhance students’ academic and health outcomes. School connectedness alludes to a student’s perception of having a meaningful relationship with adults and peers within an inclusive and respectful school environment that supports the student’s well-being, regardless of the student’s health challenges. Empowering school nurses to promote school connectedness can help identify at-risk students and foster a supportive, inclusive environment.”

Dr. Shannon Powell, and newly minted Dr. Brittany Cherry, gave a presentation titled “The Impact of Virtual Simulation on Clinical Judgement Development in Undergraduate Nursing Students” at the South Eastern Nurse Educator Symposium (SENSES) conference in Asheville.

Dr. Cherry is a graduate of our BSN, MSN (nursing education concentration) and most recently PhD program in May. Cherry is a full-time nurse faculty at Edgecombe Community College.

From the article: “School connectedness encompasses protective elements that enhance students’ academic and health outcomes. School connectedness alludes to a student’s perception of having a meaningful relationship with adults and peers within an inclusive and respectful school environment that supports the student’s well-being, regardless of the student’s health challenges. Empowering school nurses to promote school connectedness can help identify at-risk students and foster a supportive, inclusive environment.”

From Dean Bim:

“I had the pleasure of having lunch with our Faculty Emeriti. It was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect, hear about their inspiring adventures, and share updates on the exciting initiatives happening at the College!

“I’m deeply grateful for their many years of leadership and service, and for the lasting legacy they built for the future of nursing. Thank you, Pirate Nurse Emeriti, for paving the way for excellence!!”

Catching up on a big one!

Last month, Drs. Shannon Powell, Jeanne Martin, Brittany Baker, Kelli Jones, Mark Hand, and John Smoot were in Orlando to receive the College of Nursing’s 17th strait recognition as a National League for Nursing Center of Excellence.

In addition to representing the College for the award, Powell, Martin, Jones and Smoot gave a podium presentation together, showcasing the seamless integration of faculty and staff to benefit our students.

This award recognizes the incredible commitment on the part of our faculty and staff who have fostered Pirate Nursing’s enduring culture of excellence.

Alumni

During a gala in Goldsboro this month, 23 Pirate Nurses were inducted by Great 100 Nurses of North Carolina, representing nearly a quarter of the night’s one hundred inductees.

The Great 100 organization exists to recognize and honor registered nurses in North Carolina for their commitment to excellence and to promote a positive image of the profession – a cornerstone of Pirate Nursing.

Yesterday, a group of Pirate Nurse alumni stopped by the College today to talk about their experiences as new nurses and to give some advice to our students about how to integrate into their new roles after graduation.

The connections that Pirate Nurses have with their soon-to-be peers is an incredible benefit to our College and to health care in North Carolina as a whole.

Community Engagement

Last week, the Northeast Region of the North Carolina Nurses Association hosted a continuing education event – Emergency Preparedness and Response Training: An Interprofessional Approach at the College of Nursing today.

Featured speakers were Dr. Hoai-An Truong from the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, Dr. Ryan Boasi from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Poison Control Center, Dr. Ann Clark and Dr. Michelle Skipper from the East Carolina University College of Nursing.

We hope to make this an annual training event at both East Carolina University and University of Maryland during hurricane season. We are grateful to Dr. Kimberly Delgado, the NCNA Northeast Regional Coordinator for helping facilitate the continuing education hours.

At the beginning of the month, the American Academy of Nursing announced the new members of the organization’s coming leadership cohort. As part of that announcement, Dr. Michael Jones, the College of Nursing’s associate dean for engagement and professional development and executive director for advancement, was announced as a member of the fellow selection committee.

In this role, Jones will play an integral role in recognizing those nurses who have brought great credit upon themselves and the nursing profession.

We recently hosted the inaugural joint Siegfried Lowin and Evelyn Perry Lecture, honoring our College’s long-standing commitment to research and scholarship.

We were proud to have Dr. Robin Bartlett, professor and associate dean for research in the Capstone College of Nursing at The University of Alabama, deliver an inspiring lecture titled “Research in the Rural South.” Her presentation was a powerful reminder of the opportunities and resources available in our region as we continue to strengthen our identity as an R1 institution.

At the CON, we have made research and scholarship a strategic priority. Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Courtney Caiola, Evelyn Perry distinguished professor; Dr. Heather Wright, associate dean for research; Dr. Chandra Speight, Chair of the Research and Scholarship Committee; and all committee members for their leadership. Kudos as well to our faculty and staff who worked collaboratively to make this inaugural lecture a success.

Thanks to Dr. Deborah Allen and everyone present from ECU Health as we continue to strengthen our academic practice partnership

Advancement

At the College of Nursing, one of the highlights of the year is our Scholarship Donor Reception, where the generous benefactors who have financially supported our students with scholarships come to Greenville where we are able to thank them in person.

During the event students spoke about the impact the scholarships have had on their education, from the fundamental level of helping to pay for tuition and books, to life-enriching study abroad experiences that help broaden worldviews, which will ultimately improve health care here in North Carolina.

Thank you to all or our donors, but especially those who were able to be on hand to make the evening that much more special.

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