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.

Our first topic is “Where Do We Start? Developing a Campus Culture of Respect and Civility for Controversial Conversations to Occur.” The discussion will focus on identifying the ground rules that should be implemented in order to allow for respectful and civil public dialogue.  Attendees will share what they consider to be opportunities and barriers for such dialogue to occur as part of our campus community. Students, faculty, staff and administrators are invited and encouraged to participate in this exciting new program.

Joshua A. Boschee, Assistant Director of Leadership and Organization, and Dr. Lonni Schicker, faculty in the School or Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, will facilitate the group discussion.

The theme for this year’s conference was “Unbridled Nursing Innovation and Care for the Older Adults.” The sessions covered information about the future demands for nursing preparation to meet population needs, roles and opportunities for nurses in geriatrics, and resources about practice opportunities and certifications.

NGNA has approximately 1,600 members nationwide.

The scholarship recipients were chosen on the basis of academic merit, student activity and leadership qualifications, as well as professional goals in the area of psychiatric nursing. Amy reports the experience was an incredible opportunity to learn from nursing leaders who are “shaping the direction of the nursing profession for the future.”

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. 

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.

To jump start their professional geriatric nursing career, students were given a year membership in the National Gerontological Nursing Association.

The conference was supported through a grant from the West Central Initiative with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. WCI is a regional community foundation that works to strengthen west central Minnesota by encouraging business and employment opportunities, providing training and support to workers and their families, working with communities and the region to help them thrive, and promoting philanthropy.

The attached news release contains more details about the conference and the need to address the needs of an aging population.

Geriatric Nursing News Release

“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.

The purpose of this noncredit or one-credit course is to help educators, counselors, social workers, nurses, and other human service professionals develop collaborative strategies to address issues such as bullying, suicide prevention, body image and stress that are prevalent with school-age children and in schools today. Practice in conflict management, listening skills, and other skills to meet the goal of working collaboratively will be included. The class will be conducted in seminar fashion during which there may be guest speakers as well as case studies to assist the participants in seeing the roles and collaborative opportunities participants may have in the school community.

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. The research questions included: 1) Why do “you” run marathons?; 2) Are there intergenerational difference within women’s perceptions for marathon running?; and 3) Is there a relationship of life satisfaction and running life satisfaction for these marathon runners? This study was qualitative and utilized a theoretical Grounded Theory approach. Study findings will be discussed about how life satisfaction was related to the marathon women’s lives and how similar and different perceptions emerged from the data based on participant’s age.

Refreshments will be provided.

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.

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.

Preliminary enrollment at MSUM is up 4.4 percent over this time last year, and is expected to increase as students continue to register. Classes start Monday.

“What a great position to be standing in compared to where we were a year ago,” Solinger said.

The university is aiming for 8,000 students over the next five years, Szymanski said. Last fall’s headcount was 7,477.

The MSUM Alumni Foundation reported its best year ever, bringing in nearly $2.3 million in donations, a 55 percent increase over last year. About half of that went into endowments for student scholarships, said Joan Justesen, vice president of the foundation.

However, the foundation did not meet its goal of increasing student scholarships by 10 percent because the endowment fund declined about 18 percent due to the recession, Justesen said.

MSUM solved a 14 percent budget gap coming into the 2010 biennium by increasing revenues and decreasing expenses. Personnel costs have decreased by $1 million since a year ago, due to early retirements and positions that have not been filled.

“I know everybody’s tired because we have been working very hard,” Szymanski said.

Now planning for the 2012 biennium, MSUM expects a decline in state funding of $3.5 million to $7 million, said Jean Hollaar, interim vice president of finance and administration. The severity of the cut depends on how state leaders decide to balance the budget, Hollaar said.

MSUM is well positioned to handle the $3.5 million cut, but a greater cut could mean the elimination of adjunct faculty and other temporary positions, Hollaar said.

University Excellence Awards were also presented on Tuesday. The winners are:

Excellence in teaching: Chang-Seong Hong, associate professor of philosophy; Tim Piel, math professor.

Excellence in research and creative work: the MSUM theater department; George Holley, associate professor of anthropology; Lisa Nawrot, psychology professor.

Excellence in service to the university: Al Breuer, safety administrator; Jim Gemar, professor of health and physical education.

Excellence in service to the community: Olivia Melroe, psychology professor; Pam Kirk, associate professor of nursing and health.

Excellence in service to students: Kim Samson, bookstore supervisor.

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.

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.

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

Netsch, D., Wright, T., & Wyman, J. (2010). Scientific and clinical abstracts from the 2010 WOCN/WCET Joint Conference: Simple Bedside Cystometrogram Use by Advanced Practice Continence Nurses in Long-Term Care. Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing, 37/(3S), S112.

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.

Aalgaard Kelly won the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando, Fla., last month with a time of 1 hour, 23.58 minutes. She beat more than 10,000 competitors for the title.

“I was one of those people who just enjoyed running,” said Aalgaard Kelly, a former NDSU track and field athlete from Bemidji, Minn. “Now it’s become a much more integrated part of my life. It’s my mental health.”

The wife of Ransom County State’s Attorney Fallon Kelly and the mother of three children, Aalgaard Kelly had limited experience with marathons and half marathons before her meeting with Pearlberg.

She qualified for the 2009 Boston Marathon with a solid finish at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth.

In Boston, she finished 1,072nd in the women’s division with a time of 3:28.48.

Aalgaard Kelly’s marathon times, and ability to successfully juggle a career as an assistant professor at Minnesota State Moorhead with life as a busy mom, made Pearlberg believe she could become an elite runner.

She has the right body type and the right temperament, Pearlman said.

“She looks like a mild-mannered human being,” said Pearlberg, the author of the book, “Run Tall, Run Easy.” “Inside, she’s kind of an assassin. You need that. She’s a quiet assassin.”

Pearlberg emailed Aalgaard Kelly weekly workout plans. Aalgaard Kelly followed it to the letter.

Five months later, she dropped almost a half-hour from her previous-best time with a 3:01.17 finish at the Twin Cities Marathon last October. She won the Dragon Fire 10K in Moorhead in April before her victory in Orlando.

Pearlberg says he’s set a goal for Aalgaard Kelly to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. She’s currently 15 minutes off the provisional qualifying standard of 2:46.

The Olympic Trials for marathon are scheduled for Jan. 14, 2012 in Houston.

“Sometimes when you shoot for the stars, you reach the moon,” Pearlberg said.

First, Aalgaard Kelly has her sights on a good finish at the Fargo Marathon later this month. Last year’s winner finished with a time of 2:53.15.

“I just really want to run the best I can,” Aalgaard Kelly said. “It’s going to be tough. I just hope everything comes together.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Heath Hotzler at (701) 241-5562.

Here’s a link to, Running Network, and a story about Aalgaard Kelly’s win in the Disney Princess Half Marathon:

http://www.runningnetwork.com/RNW/index.php/news/roads/608-aalgaard-kelly-takes-the-crown-at-disneys-princess-half-marathon

Jane Gied

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.

She has taught and coordinated nursing programs with MSUM, Tri-College University, and the University of Minnesota.  Her leadership has included program development, grant writing and management, participation and leadership in the North Dakota Nurses’ Association and Sigma Theta Tau (nursing honor society).  She has been honored as the North Dakota Nurse of the Year and the Military Person of the Year.

One of Dr. Giedt’s previous students who wrote a letter supporting her MACN nomination stated that, “she inspires students with her great passion for the professional practice of nursing” and there is no greater praise.

The MACN award is a competitive and peer-reviewed honor presented annually to recognize the outstanding contributions of nurses in Minnesota who have significantly enhanced the profession of nursing through nursing education.  The award criteria include teaching, scholarship, service, and practice.  MACN members include public, private, proprietary and non-profit baccalaureate and higher degree schools of nursing in Minnesota.

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/

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.