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Fall 07 index/Past Issues/ SON Home/ MU Home/ Contact Us
Fall 2007 |
This night was about recognizing the level of excellence at the School. Vicki Conn, associate dean of research, has contributed significantly to the School's level of excellence. “Her vision of where nursing research could lead the School is unparalleled,” Dean Rose Porter said. “For the past five years, the School has been nationally recognized as a top 25 National Institutes of Health grant recipient.” This fact alone was worthy of a toast. However, Conn also set a personal goal of bringing the School into the international lime light. On January first, Conn officially became the editor of The Western Journal of Nursing Research (WJNR). This research journal is one of the top three international journals addressing current nursing research findings. This is the first time in the School's 100-year history that it has an editor of a major research journal housed at the School. So, first Dean asked all 325 attendees to raise their non-alcoholic glasses of bubbly to honor Conn. “Second, we toast all the faculty, students, staff, administrators, alumni and friends who have helped us elevate the School's level of excellence,” Porter says. “Each individual in this room has played a very important role in creating this culture of excellence. A toast to everyone in this room.” RN-BSN nominees
Erin Clickner After five years in an unsatisfying career, Erin Clickner followed the family tradition and became a nurse. She saw the impact her two older sisters had on the lives of patients and families they cared for.
Her employer, Moberly Regional Medical Center, has supported her educational goals from the beginning. Erin had to decrease her hours at the Center to balance clinical practice with study time. She loves being a nurse within her home community of Moberly. She already has a relationship with many of the people, so Erin has already established the trust and rapport nurses have with their patients. As she continues down her educational path, she plans to continue practicing nursing in this rural community as a Family Nurse Practitioner.
Dawn Rupp's interest in nursing began innocently enough at a dance marathon. Although happy working in a lab, she realized she wanted to interact with patients more after becoming involved with this philanthropic activity that benefited children diagnosed with pediatric cancer. With a bachelor's in biochemistry and molecular biology from Penn State , Dawn's education and volunteer activities made her a perfect candidate for the School's accelerated program. With her passion for science and her aspirations to enter the health-care profession, Dawn plans on becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner. See foresees herself as having the primary role of using her critical and analytical skills to assess, diagnose and deliver care to premature and full-term neonates with life-threatening conditions.
Attending a university is about finding the profession that ignites a passion that a student can carry into the work place. Many times it is discovered quite by accident. Keira Story was led to the nursing profession while sitting by her grandmother's death bed. A hospice nurse's passionate words made her realize she was missing that kind of passion in her current program of study. She knew her decision to become a nurse was the right choice. Keira understands there will be times when life is hard, messy and scary, but she is looking forward to the challenges. These challenges will make her a better nurse. They are going to continually increase her passion for the profession. And in the words of the nurse who inspired her, these challenges will allow her to make a dent in her little corner of the world.
Elyssa Bumgarner believes that while you may be just one person to the world, you could be the world to just one person. That simple statement sums up why Elyssa wants to be a nurse. She plans to be a part of a life-touching career that allows her to help as many people as she can. As a small child, her mother nicknamed her “Band-Aid Girl” because of her compassion for helping others. She has always had an intense desire to live her life as a person who has made a difference in other's lives. Since being accepted into the school, Elyssa has come to understand that nurses are responsible for saving and touching lives while sometimes giving meaning to life itself. And through the hundreds and thousands of patients that will cross her path, being the world to just one of them is worth all of her hard work.
Megan Rowland really can't describe why she chose a nursing career. She doesn't have family members in the profession. She hasn't had a life-altering experience that made her chose nursing. All she does know is that it is in her heart – even if she's not sure how it got there. Megan enjoys working with people – caring, listening and making them feel better. She views nursing as a complete career where she can make a difference. As the nursing profession advances in nursing research and patient care, she plans to become a lifelong learner to meet the individual needs of her patients. Tomorrow will be different than yesterday, and that is what Megan finds so exciting about the nursing profession regardless of the area or specialty. Megan and her husband, Patrick, welcomed their first child into the world this past December.
Rebecca Pratte's first choice of a career wasn't that of a nurse it was of a soldier. However divine order took over and due to a military-ending sports injury at West Point she had to face making a critical decision about what to do with her life. Quite by coincidence, this sports injury fine tuned her choice of a career. Always interested in the health-care profession she had considered becoming a physician, but after being in the role of patient she couldn't forget the way the nurses had treated her with respect. After an additional surgery, Rebecca was eligible for a medical waiver back into the Army. So she enrolled at Mizzou and Army ROTC and has split her time between military training and nursing education. Rebecca's future plans include becoming a certified flight nurse and then completing a master's degree in nursing to become a neonatal or pediatric nurse practitioner. However, her immediate plans include graduating in May and then serving her country wherever she is needed. She is anticipating being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan to do her part in the American efforts to care for those hurt in the line of duty.
For 10 years, Tammy Rood has been taking care of children and their families at the University's Children's Hospital. She has always enjoyed helping and caring for others, especially children. Tammy believes she was led to the nursing profession after losing her brother to a brain tumor. He was 8, she was 11. She truly enjoys the challenge of caring for patients that are diagnosed with a variety of illnesses. This is the only reason she drives from Hermann , Missouri – 70 miles away – to work full time at Children's Hospital. As a charge nurse on the pediatric unit she is often required to problem solve and manage difficult issues concerning patients and their families. But this is where she excels. Her caring, professional demeanor has earned her the University's Hospital Excellence in Nursing award as well as a published article in this year's Pediatric Nursing publication.
Amy Vogelsmeier has wanted to be a nurse since the age of five. Her oldest brother was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and she was able to help her mother care for him after a lengthy hospitalization. She distinctly remembers feeling a sense of pride in helping her big brother recover. Through her career, she has gradually increased her level of education. Each degree brought Amy a greater sense of autonomy and fulfillment. It was through her work with the elderly and their families that she made the decision to pursue a master's degree. One year later she became a certified gerontological clinical nurse specialist. During her master's program she met Lori Popejoy and Dr. Marilyn Rantz and began working for them as a clinical consultant to Missouri nursing homes. Then she met Dr. Jill Scott-Cawiezell. She has had the opportunity to work directly with nursing home staff and residents and to experience first hand the influence of their work toward improving care. Her work as a research nurse continues to be the most rewarding and fulfilling work she has ever done.
Richard works with Linda Bullock's Baby Beep research team, which studies the effects of domestic violence and smoking on pregnancy of low-income women. His organizational skills, caring attitude and attention to meticulous detail keeps the research team working like a well-oiled machine. Not an easy task, since the researchers visit patient's homes throughout the mid-Missouri area. His high work ethic is well respected by, not only the baby beep research team, but Dr. Jane Armer's lymphedema research team as well. These two research teams work and support one another due to being physically housed in Ellis Fishel. His smile, friendly encouragement, listening skills and barbequing technique make Richard a valuable asset and an integral member of the School of Nursing.
Interdisciplinary Faculty nominees
The Interdisciplinary Faculty Award for Excellence is designed to honor a deserving faculty member from outside the School of Nursing who has demonstrated a commitment to teaching excellence, who has made outstanding contributions to the nursing program, and who has demonstrated support of the School of Nursing. Initial nominees are selected by our students who feel this person has made an impact on their education.
As a professor emeritus in the College of Education , Dr. John Alspaugh has taken on the responsibility of teaching statistics to students who aren't math majors. His students say he has a way of making statistics seem friendly instead of scary. It's his passion for the subject and seeing those moments of “I can do this” in his student's eyes that inspires him to do all he can as an instructor. Dr. Alspaugh cannot be with us this evening as he is in Buffalo , Missouri attending his 50th high-school reunion. However, I would like to share a few thoughts that Dr. Alspaugh had about our nursing students. He told me that while he teaches students majoring in many different disciplines, he has found that nursing students are always among the best and brightest of all MU students. Since nursing students have to be top scholars to get into the School, Dr. Alspaugh thought our faculty should know they are also the top students in the University.
Dr. Ed Morris
As a project coordinator for the College of Education , he also directs a public awareness campaign to reduce the stigma surrounding metal illness. The nursing profession strives to promote, maintain and protect health – both physically and mentally. Through his course “Child and Adolescent Psychopathology,” Dr. Morris blends educational disciplines together to show how they fit together to benefit young students with mental health needs. He can present in-depth information to those with little knowledge of mental health issues in a non-threatening manner. However, for those students with a mental-health background, he gently nudges them to explore practical application in-depth so the entire class could benefit. Dr. Morris has been a beneficial and supportive force to nursing students by creating a true interdisciplinary approach on delivering care to those with mental-health needs within the classroom experience.
Dr. Louise Miller's approach to teaching is grounded in nursing practice. She uses real-world applications that integrate fundamental science and social science concepts. She also stresses to students that what they learn in coursework must apply to practice, be up to date and be infused with the mission and compassion of nursing. Louise is the instructor of the undergraduate capstone class of Community Health. She came to our program with an ongoing pivotal role in a statewide health care task force looking at workplace issues. She has a genuine passion and great understanding of public health nursing and a history of developing a highly respected public health nursing course at the graduate level. Louise is a role model. She sets the bar high, but she is right there with her students every step of the way to cheer them on and urge them to challenge themselves. We acknowledge her tremendous contributions to our writing standards, evidence-based practice initiatives and our increased level of respect within the community.
Although a fairly young researcher, Dr. Patti Schnitzer is developing into a very distinguished researcher. She has focused her research program on the epidemiology and prevention of injuries specifically targeting childhood injuries and injuries related to abuse and neglect. Patti is expanding her focus to include protection of children from medical neglect as opposed to solely injury-related neglect outcomes. Her current research is focused on methods for improving surveillance of fatal and non-fatal child maltreatment. She has also authored or co-authored more than 20 publications in distinguished peer review journals and is frequently asked to present her research in regional, national and international forums. An examination of Patti's credentials in research and service make it clear that she has pursued the development of a social justice agenda to help protect those among us who are the least able to advocate for themselves. She is grounded in research, practice and education and clearly believes in what she is doing.
Dr. Deidre Wipke-Tevis is a silent star when it comes to service. In addition to maintaining a vigorous program of research, Deidre consistently serves others to promote research at MU. Typically when we think of service activities, we think of service to students or faculty committees. However, research service is vital. Deidre is the type of role model that understands you must step up to provide service to others that makes research possible. Deidre's commitment goes beyond the School's traditional role of being a reviewer for the mock reviews of faculty grant proposals. Deidre serves on various campus committees, the IRB and as an advisor to EXPRESS students. The EXPRESS program introduces freshmen and sophomore students to world-class research being conducted at MU. Deidre actively involves them in her research, mentoring them from the beginning of their nursing careers. Deidre shares her passion for learning and research with students and colleagues. She is a mentor just by doing what she normally does in everyday life.
Throughout the years, Betty Crim made her mark on undergraduate students, as a faculty member and in her diligent effort to tutor and prepare students for their board exams. In 1999, Betty established this award to honor and recognize faculty excellence in undergraduate nursing education. Although she is no longer with us, her legacy will live on through this award. The committee determined that the following characteristics should be recognized with this award: a commitment and dedication to students and the school, a professional role model and a flexibility in teaching styles. All three of this year's nominees excel in these areas. The faculty is selected by students from every semester plus the three past award recipients. Denice Mendenhall constantly challenges her students to think like a nurse, encompassing every aspect of nursing care into their decision-making styles. She instills the skills necessary to proactively anticipate any situation that could arise concerning a patient. Because of her support, many students have grown confident in their future role as a nurse. While it is very well known among the students that Denice is a faculty member who sets high standards, it was also known that her students are challenged and come away knowing and understanding the value of nursing skills. She is consistent in setting and reinforcing high standards for excellence in both teaching and in patient care. She is intelligent, organized, a fluent lecturer and an experienced nurse. It should be of no surprise that this is her second time receiving the Betty Crim Faculty Enhancement Award. Denice truly embodies the spirit and academic level of expectation that Betty Crim did when she was teaching at the School.
James Ross As the chief executive officer for University of Missouri Health Care since 2004, James Ross is responsible for the system's far-reaching network of hospitals, clinics and outreach services, which treats patients from every county in the state. He understands the critical role nurses play in a hospital setting and in the health-care profession. During the past three years he has been a key supporter of the nursing development system, thus creating a high-level nursing staff. At the turn of the century, the School and UM Health Care set up an accelerated baccalaureate degree program to proactively address the nursing shortage. When Jim joined the system's team, he highly endorsed the program by funding an expansion. The class doubled in size in 2004 and then in 2005. They also offer scholarships for these students. Jim has been a great partner to work with over the years. A wonderful attitude of cooperation has evolved under his leadership and the lines of communication have been enhanced. |
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She started with an associate degree, but knew she wanted to become an advance practice nurse.
Accelerated BSN nominees
Dawn Rupp 
Keira Story 
6th-semester nominees
Elyssa Bumgarner 
7th-semester nominees
Megan Rowland
8th-semester nominees
Rebecca Pratt 
Master's nominees
Tammy Rood 
PhD nominees
Amy Vogelsmeier
SON Staff nominees
Patti Wright 
Dr. John Alspaugh 
Dr. Morris is also a College of Education faculty member. He coordinates a U.S. Department of Education grant that improves metal health services for youth in schools and oversight of family supports.
Faculty Excellence in Teaching nominees
Louise Miller
Faculty Excellence in Research nominees
Patricia Schnitzer 
Faculty Excellence in Service nominees
Deidre Wipke-Tevis 
Betty Crim Faculty nominees
Denice Mendenhall 
Alumni Awards 
Distinguished Friend of the School