Over the last five years Sinclair School of Nursing has been part of a campaign to raise money for various efforts such as the construction of their new state of-the-art facility, student scholarship support, research endeavors, and more. The goal was $10 million dollars and during this time, due to the amazing support of donors, a total of $17,636,904 was raised.
From this, 14 new active endowments and 2 planned endowments for student scholarships were formed. In total, 2,129 donors gave to support this campaign and 807 of them were SSON Alumni.
If you would like to view the recorded presentation, please click here.
We are humbled and proud of all the student support to thank and show appreciation to our donors. As you will see in this presentation,the students always add a special component to any event that we host. You can’t help but grin ear-to-ear while listening to them. They make the School of Nursing so proud!
Researchers compare traditional cows milk based fortifiers with human milk based alternative.
More than 380,000 babies are born prematurely in the United States each year, according to the March of Dimes. “Preemies” can be severely underweight babies and struggle to get the nutrients they need from breast milk alone, so neonatal intensive care units provide an additional milk fortifier, either in the form of cow’s milk or manufactured from donor breast milk, to keep them healthy.
Now, a new research study from the University of Missouri and University College in London suggests that using a human-based milk fortifier has better health outcomes for severely underweight, premature babies compared to traditional, cow-based milk fortifiers.
Jan Sherman is a professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing.
Jan Sherman, a professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing, collaborated with Alan Lucas, a professor at University College in London, to perform a meta-analysis on various studies involving more than 450 severely underweight, premature babies in the United States, Canada and Austria who received either traditional cow-based milk fortifiers or human-based milk fortifiers.
By comparing their health outcomes, they found that the babies who were fed cow milk fortifiers were more than three times as likely to develop necrotizing enterocolitis, a life-threatening intestine disease, and more than twice as likely to develop retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disorder that can lead to blindness.
“Everyone wants what’s best for these underweight, premature babies, and choosing the best type of milk fortifiers for feeding can help lead to improved health outcomes,” said Sherman. “Nearly half of neonatal intensive care units in the United States, including the one at MU Children’s Hospital, are already using human-based milk fortifiers. If we can reduce these cases of necrotizing enterocolitis, if we can preserve their eye sight and reduce the risk of infection, that will benefit the babies’ health in the long term.”
Alan Lucas is a professor at University College in London.
Neonatal intensive care units can use this research in evaluating the nutritional supplements they give to severely underweight, premature babies, who have a higher risk of death or disease than babies born after a full nine-month pregnancy.
“Our research is geared toward better understanding if we can avoid cow’s milk fortifiers while still feeding premature infants well,” said Lucas. “The most current evidence suggests that a diet with entirely human milk and enriched feeds manufactured from donated human milk will meet the nutritional needs of the baby without the potential negative health effects that can come with a cow milk fortifier.”
“Safety of Cow’s Milk-Derived Fortifiers Used with an All-Human Milk Base Diet in Very Low Birthweight Preterm Infants” was recently published in Neonatology Today. Other authors include Maushumi Assad of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, John Boscardin of UC San Francisco and Steven Abrams of University of Texas, Austin.
Every semester we are proud to graduate another professionally-driven class of nurses from the Sinclair School of Nursing. This summer’s accelerated class faced many challenges, not only persevering through those challenges but also being adaptable in a time of uncertainty. They will leave our doors with everything they need to succeed and our doors remain open, – our faculty, staff and alumni are all here to support and cheer them on in this next chapter. Here are a few of our graduates and their chosen quotes of inspiration. Please join us in celebrating the talented 2020 graduates of the Sinclair School of Nursing.
It takes vision and determination to be a leader. In today’s society, leaders are all around us, but only every once in a while does one rise to the top as a Living Legend.
Every year the American Academy of Nursing honors a small number of fellows as Living Legends. These individuals have made significant contributions to the nursing profession and made a positive impact on health care. Traditionally, their “legendary contributions” continue far beyond their own career and have a lasting impact on health care or health policy.
Sinclair School of Nursing is honored to share that the American Academy of Nursing released this week that they have chosen our very own Marilyn Rantz PhD, RN, FAAN as one of 2020’s Living Legend.
“Her research efforts have improved care processes, reduced costs associated with care, and improved the quality and length of life of older adults. These research-based strategies and interventions will have an impact on care delivery and the lives of older adults for years to come”, said Dean Sarah Thompson.
Marilyn Rantz, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the premier expert in quality measurement in nursing homes and research programs to improve elder care. A nurse for 50 years, Dr. Rantz’s pioneering work and innovative spirit is evidenced through the profession’s paradigm shifts in measuring nursing home quality, utilizing new technologies to help seniors live independently, and gaining fair reimbursement for nursing services.
Dr. Rantz also initiated legislation to set the stage for nurses practicing to the full scope of their education and training and has received more than $87 million in various grants to further her work. She is Executive Director for the Aging in Place Project, which allows seniors to “age in place” through the creation of Sinclair Home Care and the Quality Improvement Program for Missouri which has transformed the care Missouri nursing home residents receive— both models being designated as Academy Edge Runners. Dr. Rantz is Curators’ Professor Emerita, University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing.
Dr. Rantz will be inducted as a Living Legend at the Academy virtual ceremony in October.
July 27, 2020
Mizzou News article here
Brian Consiglio, 573-882-9144, consigliob@missouri.edu
COLUMBIA, Mo. – As the coronavirus pandemic continues to put a strain on health care systems, nursing homes have become overburdened with the challenge of keeping both patients and staff safe and healthy. Older residents in long-term care facilities are especially vulnerable to the effects of a respiratory illness like COVID-19, and nursing homes are not appropriately designed nor staffed to handle large numbers of infectious residents.
In response, two MU Sinclair School of Nursing support teams – the Quality Improvement Program for Missouri and the Missouri Quality Initiative – are working with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to provide assistance to more than 500 nursing homes across the state.
“The main goal of our response efforts is to make sure nursing home residents are staying as safe as possible during this very traumatic and challenging experience,” said Lori Popejoy, associate professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. “At the beginning of the pandemic, access to personal protective equipment (PPE) was a big concern for nursing home staff. We were able to collaborate with various community organizations to distribute more than 3,000 face shields to nursing homes throughout the state.”
In addition to securing and distributing PPE, other efforts include offering recommendations, guidance and support to nursing home staff and administrators as they navigate and implement the ever-changing COVID-19 infection control practices. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services continue to update their recommendations for mitigating the spread of COVID-19, the support teams are synthesizing, summarizing and organizing this information to help nursing homes establish and modify protocols for isolating sick patients, use PPE properly and notify the family members of infected patients.
“Now that the nursing homes are isolating residents in individual rooms, the residents are no longer dining in groups, attending group activities or inviting outside visitors into the facilities,” said Amy Vogelsmeier, associate professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. “In order to continue providing support to these individuals, nursing homes have adopted creative practices, such as video chatting with family members so residents can see their loved ones, or assigning staff members to check in daily with residents who may be struggling to cope with the effects of social isolation.”
Given the shortage of nurses in Missouri, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of advanced practice registered nurses, who play a key role in identifying and managing illness in nursing homes to prevent avoidable hospitalizations.
“This is a time where the public is really becoming aware of the value registered nurses bring to the health care industry,” Popejoy said. “It has been inspiring to see the impact they have had to mitigate the effects of this public health crisis.”
“A Coordinated Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Missouri Nursing Homes” was recently published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality.
