Awards and Accolades Winter 2020

Student Accolades and Accomplishments

• Sarah Hoffman and Marianne Congema were invited to present their research, “A Culturally Responsive Community Palliative Care Model for Latinos with Advanced Cancer” during Sigma’s 32nd International Nursing Research Congress and the 46th Biennial Convention.
• Kelly Allis’ article, “A Broken Pathway: Understanding Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia in the Newborn,” written as part of her coursework for NURS 6420, was accepted for publication in the Journal of Neonatal Nursing.
• “Pulmonary Hemorrhage in the Neonate,” a manuscript written by MSN/NNP students Megan Welde, Cassidy Sanford, Melissa Mangum & Chrisy Paschal was accepted for publication by the Journal of Neonatal Nursing. The article explores the pathophysiology of this acute condition and reviews core diagnostic and treatment strategies.
• MSN/NNP student Kristina Fons’ article “Early Intervention for Neonates with Arnold Chiari Malformation and Severe Spina Bifida” was accepted for publication by the Journal of Neonatal Nursing. This article explores a complicated neurologic disorder that relies on timely identification and management given the association with an open neural tube defect.
• Undergraduate Honors Students Alex Dorn and Hailey Hutto co-authored an article with Holly Wei, Dr. Robin Webb Corbett, Dr. Amanda Haberstroh and Dr. Kim Larson “Impacts of nursing students’ burnout on students’ psychological well-being and academic achievement” was accepted for publication in the Journal of Nursing Education.
• Honor student Dalton Henderson co-authored “Perceived faculty caring as a predictor of nursing students’ caring behaviors,” with faculty members Holly Wei, Dr. Annette Peery and Dr. Alta Andrews, which was accepted for publication in the International Journal for Human Caring.
• Senior nursing student Allysya Moore founded and is president of the Cadet Nurse Association at ECU, representing nursing students who are also in Army ROTC. Moore said the goal of the CAN is to enhance the success for cadets pursuing a career in the military and in nursing. This organization will offer support, guidance, and education for those conquering these difficult roles simultaneously.
• Senior nursing, Honors College student and lacrosse player Liz Blumthal received preseason all-American Athletic Conference honors in February.
• Junior nursing student and cross-country athlete Lindsay Yentz earned all-American Athletic Conference honors in February with an eighth-place finish at the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships. The meet was contested at the 4 Mile Resort right outside of Wichita.
• Senior nursing student and pole vaulter Sommer Knight has her sights set high for her senior season. She was recently featured in East Magazine.

Faculty Accolades and Accomplishments

• College of Nursing faculty and staff provided donations that resulted in 750 hygiene kits for soldiers returning from a 9-month deployment in Afghanistan. Ryan Jnah, son of College of Nursing faculty member Amy Jnah, collected the donations for the soldiers as his Eagle Scout project. Ryan’s project helped fill a gap­ for soldiers whose personal items were sent to storage when their barracks were deemed unlivable upon their return. They were reassigned to new barracks, but without their gear for several days. Each kit provided a soldier with a bottle of water, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap bar or liquid bottle, wash cloth or loofa, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, and snacks. The 2nd Battalion—505^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3^rd Brigade Combat Team, 82^nd Airborne Division sent the college a Certificate of Appreciation for their support of the unit.

• Laura Gantt, along with Brody School of Medicine faculty Dr. Skip Robey and Dr. Jennifer Bennett gave the keynote address for the AHEC Academic Progression conference.
• Susan Kennerly, Dr. Pam Reis and Dr. Holly Wei were honored as outstanding faculty at the university’s annual Research and Scholarship Awards Ceremony on March 2.
• Donna Lake co-authored a book chapter in Veteran Centered-Care in Education and Practice: An Essential Guide for Nursing Faculty (2020), which published over the holidays. Her chapter, Understanding the Complexities of Military Transitions, works to provide “a better understanding of the complex transitional phases of deployments and/or the reintegration from the military to civilian life.”
• Donna Roberson (’86, ’93), presented, “The Triple Challenge of Dementia, Falls and Rural Living: Strategies for Safely Living in Place” at Eastern AHEC’s annual Rural Health Symposium on Feb. 24. Dr. Roberson was also recognized by the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care editor-in-chief, Dr. Michael Relf as a “Red Ribbon Reviewer” for completing 100 peer reviews for the journal.
• “Caring During COVID-19: Ten insights inspiraed by nurse narratives”, by Kathleen Sitzman, along with Dr. Ileen Craven (Vidant Medical Center), was published in American Nurse. In their article, Sitzman and Craven discuss 10 insights gleaned from discussion board posts that were part of the free massive open online course (MOOC), “Caring Science, Mindful Practice.”
• Alison Swift (’05, ’10, ’20) presented “Infertility-Related Stress and Coping Predict Emotional Quality of Life in Women with Infertility in the U.S.,” at the SNRS 35^th Annual Conference. The publication, “Infertility Stress, Cortisol, Coping, and Quality of Life in U.S. Women Who Undergo Infertility Treatments,” with co-authors Dr. Pamela Reis and Dr. Mel Swanson, is online ahead of publication in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing.
• Dr. Holly Wei, with co-authors Dr. Sonya Hardin and Dr. Jean Watson, had their article “A unitary caring science resilience-building model: Unifying the human caring theory and research-informed psychology and neuroscience evidence” published in the International Journal of Nursing Sciences. Dr. Wei also received two $25,000 grants from the CCI Research Foundation to fund the projects “Exploring the Value of Nursing Specialty Qualifications,” and “Nurses’ stress, burnout, and telomere biology.” Wei also presented “Understanding the science behind self-care and post-traumatic growth” at the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Nurses from more than 20 countries attended the global webinar with great feedback.

Alumni Accolades and Accomplishments

• The Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) presented the third annual Mary Pazdur Award for Excellence in Advanced Practice in Oncology to Christina Cone (’99, 16).
• Annette Hines (’90) was named chief nurse administrative officer of the Presbyterian School of Nursing at Queens University of Charlotte.
• A project completed by Stacey Futrell (’20) in NURS 6908 with faculty member Shannon Baker Powell, led to a rating of 4 out of 5 stars for breastfeeding friendly status at Vidant Roanoke-Chowan, a deficient area where Futrell chose to do her NURS 6908 quality improvement teaching project. Futrell and Powell are planning a manuscript together soon. Futrell also teaches full time at Roanoke Chowan Community College in Ahoskie, NC.
• Kimberly Hardy (’91, ’01, ’17) received the prestigious Margaret B. Dolan Public Health Nursing Award from the North Carolina Public Health Association. The award is given to nurses that demonstrate a commitment to quality nursing care and excellence in public health nursing service.

Share your work and accomplishments with other Pirate Nurses.

Do you have an accomplishment, award, or service work that you’d like to share? Send us the details to nursing@ecu.edu.