News

1:30-2:50 p.m., Wednesday, March 7 – CMU 203

Colleges and universities play an integral role in providing opportunities for dialogue and critical thinking around sometimes controversial topics. However, there tends to be a hesitation to have too public of a dialogue around these topics out of fear of creating conflict or upsetting the “Minnesota nice” conversation culture. MSU Moorhead has had a history of barrier-breaking policy initiatives, world-class faculty and research, thought provoking curriculum and inviting dynamic speakers to enhance our campus community dialogue. Controversial Conversations is an opportunity for on-going, respectful dialogue around issues that impact students, employees and our communities. Read the rest of this entry →

Melinda Thompson, a senior in the baccalaureate nursing program, attended the National Gerontological Nursing Association (NGNA) Convention in Louisville, Kentucky October 13-16. Thompson was one of two students in the country to receive the Student Leadership Award, which covered the cost of the conference. Read the rest of this entry →

Amy LaValla, a senior BSN nursing student was chosen as a recipient of the American Psychiatric Nursing Association Scholarship, which provided an all expense paid trip to the 2011 APNA Conference at Disney Land Resort in California in October 2011. She was one of 15 students chosen nationwide for this honor. Read the rest of this entry →

Vicki Teske, Nursing, was chosen to attend the Faculty Learning About Geriatrics (FLAG) summer institute, Aug. 8-12, 2011 at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus, joining representatives from 24 schools, universities and tribal colleges from across the country. The institute is followed by a yearlong mentorship centered around specific geriatric nursing educational projects. The program provides learning experiences and resources related to teaching and evaluation including use of technology enhanced learning strategies, geriatric nursing, academic leadership, and informatics.

The FLAG program is offered by the MN Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence (MnHCGNE) and sponsored by the John A. Hartford Foundation.  It enhances the geriatric nursing knowledge and resources of nursing faculty in order to better prepare the future nursing workforce to care for the rapidly growing elderly population. 

The School of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership has moved!  The school, which includes Nursing, Health Services Administration, and Community Health, has moved to Lommen 213.

Three Nursing faculty members, Pam Kirk, Helen Harris and Vicki Teske, and nine students—Courtney Conyers, Amy Lavalla, Heather Erickson, Tim Yancey, Melinda Thompson, Piper Delapointe, Deb Wolff, Lisa Murr Johnson and Alicia Saue—attended the Students Investing in Nursing’s Future-Geriatrics (SIN-G) conference held April 8 in Alexandria, Minn.

Thirty-seven nursing students from eight schools in west central Minnesota participated in this one-of -a-kind event focusing on a career in geriatric nursing.  Nursing students were selected to participate in the SIN-G project through a competitive application process and an expressed interest to learn more about, and potentially specialize in, nursing care of older adults. Read the rest of this entry →

Jessica Julig-Weedman, a senior Nursing major, is a featured panelist in the FMWF Chamber’s Breakfast Buzz Thursday, April 14 at 7:15 a.m. at NDSCS Fargo. The topic is on creating effective intergenerational communication.

“Communication issues are prevalent in today’s multi-generational work force. It’s no wonder with one generation needing to hold face-to-face meetings while another has invented an entirely new written language made up of abbreviations. Learn from our panel representing different generations how to effectively improve face-to-face, written and electronic communication in the workplace.”

Learn more.

Three nursing students from MSUM’s RN to BSN completion program have been accepted to graduate school. Alumuna Tracy Zimmerman, ‘10, and current students Ellen Whelihan and Corey Robinson have all been accepted into St. Scholastica’s highly competitive Family Nurse Practitioner program.  All three participated in the Nicaragua medical trip with nursing professor Jane Bergland.

ED 490/590, NURS 490/590, SW 490/590, and CNSA 590
March 24 and 31: 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.; April 2, 8:30 – 4:30 p.m. Read the rest of this entry →

The Women’s Studies Colloquium presents Dr. Gina Aalgaard Kelly, Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, delivering a lecture on “Why Women Run Marathons” at noon Friday, November 19 in MacLean 167.

The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons involved with why women run marathons from an intergenerational perspective. The research literature is limited with long distance running, specifically a gap remains as to why women run marathons. This study will begin to fill a gap and begin to understand why women run marathons and if there are similarities and differences between them from an intergenerational perspective. Read the rest of this entry →

The Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) has recently announced the following published article as the “2010 JANAC Article of the Year Award”: Goodroad, B., Wright, T., & Rhame, F. S. (2010). Integrating HIV-Related Evidence-Based Renal Care Guidelines into Adult HIV Clinics. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC), 21/(2), 113-124. DOI: 10.1016/j.jana.2009.11.001

Brian Goodroad, DNP, ANP, AACRN is a 2009 graduate of MSUM’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program. Tracy Wright, RN, PhD, CNE is an associate professor in MSUM’s School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership. Frank Rhame, MD is research director at Abbott Northwestern Infectious Disease Clinic, Minneapolis.

By Amy Dalrymple, INFORUM

Minnesota State University Moorhead President Edna Szymanski literally jumped for joy Tuesday. Szymanski was ecstatic to deliver news to faculty and staff during an all-university meeting that enrollment projections are up and fundraising last year was at a record high.

But not all of Szymanski’s updates prompted her to jump.

After solving one budget crisis, the university expects a continued decrease of state funding for at least 10 years. The worst-case scenario as the campus prepares for the 2012 biennium could mean the elimination of temporary positions.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else facing this challenge,” Szymanski said. “We’ve already demonstrated we can come together creatively and innovate.”

The hard work of the admissions and marketing staff is behind the projected enrollment increases for this fall, said Diane Solinger, vice president of enrollment management. Read the rest of this entry →

MSU Moorhead has received a $7,500 grant from the Dakota Medical Foundation to support scholarships for registered nurses to pursue their bachelor of science in nursing (BSN).

The scholarships will help experienced nurses to obtain a BSN, which prepares nurses to respond to increasingly complex health care needs and to function more independently in multiple healthcare settings. MSU Moorhead’s RN-to-BSN program meets the needs of working nurses while allowing them to stay in the area.

For information on the nursing scholarships or MSUM’s nursing programs, contact 218.477.2693 or nursing@mnstate.edu.

Dakota Medical Foundation, Fargo, N.D., focuses its efforts on improving health and access to medical and dental care in the region, with a special emphasis on children. Since 1996, the Foundation has invested over $36 million to over 320 nonprofit organizations in the region. For more information, see www.dakmed.org.

Tracy Wright, Nursing, has recently had several articles appear in professional nursing publications, including the following:

Forsyth, D., Wright, T., Phyllis, G., & Scherb, C. (2010). Disseminating Evidence-Based Practice Projects: Poster Design and Evaluation. Clinical Scholars Review: The Journal of Doctoral Nursing Practice, 3/(1), 14-21. DOI: 10.1891/1939-2095.3.1.14. Read the rest of this entry →

Fargo Marathon runner goes from volunteer to contender in one year

Heath Hotzler, The Forum

Gina Aalgaard Kelly’s transformation from recreational runner to elite competitor began at the finish line of last year’s Fargo Marathon. And she wasn’t even running in the event.

Working as a volunteer, Aalgaard Kelly struck up a conversation with accomplished running coach and author Gerard Pearlberg. He suggested with a structured training program the 33-year-old rural Lisbon, N.D., resident could accomplish big things.

Pearlberg was right. Read the rest of this entry →

Jane Giedt, Nursing, has received the Minnesota Association of Colleges of Nursing (MACN) Outstanding Nurse Educator Award for 2009-2010.

Giedt, PhD, RN, CNE, has provided leadership and inspiration to nurses and nursing students for over 35 years in undergraduate and graduate programs locally and regionally.  She has taught at every level in nursing education:  hospital school of nursing, BSN, RN-to-BSN, MS, and the Doctorate.  In addition to her long tenure with MSUM, she recently completed a Fulbright where she taught university-level nursing on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Further international professional travel has included her military service in Desert Storm. Read the rest of this entry →

Published March 29, 2010

WDAY Staff Reports

Sharon Anderson was eating lunch at the Golden Corral in Fargo earlier this month, when a piece of steak got lodged in her throat.

Her cousin Bernell Sannes and two complete strangers, Kathy Oines and (MSUM Nursing student) Susan Ross, took quick action that saved her life. Tonight, those three were given the citizen’s life saving award, in front of family and friends.

“And at one point I leaned down and said to Sharon, Sharon, God gave you a second chance at life today, use it well and I know that you will.”

One of Sharon’s rescuers says this is a perfect example of why every person should know C-P-R and how to properly perform the Heimlich maneuver.

In an e-mail to the MSUM Nursing department, Susan Ross wrote: “On my birthday (March 7th) my husband and I were eating at Golden Corral. A lady collapsed from choking on a chunk of steak. Before Kathy and I could get the steak removed her heart stopped. So after finally getting the meat out we started CPR. She ended up making it and is doing very well now. She is recovering in a nursing home very sore from the trauma that we did to save her life.”

Link to the story: http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/31590/group/News/

Professor Jane Bergland and seven nursing students recently returned from the ninth annual Nicaragua trip where they provided health care in rural northern Nicaragua. The team included MSUM nursing students, four pediatric residents from Hennipen County Medical Center, four emergency room residents from the University of Chicago, a dentist, faculty, and other ancillary staff.

The group saw an average of over 100 patients a day. Many of the patients were children with handicaps and their mothers. Both populations are very underserved. Donations received prior to the trip were used to buy school supplies and custom made shoes for children with foot deformities.

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) has awarded the Nursing Department an extension of their on-site campus visit to 2016. This decision was based on the progress report nursing faculty submitted to CCNE this past summer. Officially recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a national accreditation agency, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is an autonomous accrediting agency, contributing to the improvement of the public’s health. CCNE ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate, graduate, and residency programs in nursing.

CCNE serves the public interest by assessing and identifying programs that engage in effective educational practices. As a voluntary, self‑regulatory process, CCNE accreditation supports and encourages continuing self‑assessment by nursing programs and supports continuing growth and improvement of collegiate professional education and post-baccalaureate nurse residency programs.

Gina Aalgaard Kelly, an assistant professor in MSUM’s School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, will give a talk on “Global Health Issues and Disparities” Monday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in the university’s Science Lab building room 104.

In an era of globalization, understanding world health issues and policies is of growing importance. Various factors influencing the health status of those living outside of the United States will be examined during the presentation. Topics will include global partnerships that promote health for all citizens, a description of socio-cultural, political and economic determinants of health, disparities and health status, and human development and health systems in developing and industrial countries.

The talk is free and open to the public.