Now, a UT nurse anesthetist will be instrumental in guiding the future of nursing and advanced practice nursing care across the state.

Donald Bell, a clinical associate professor of nursing and certified registered nurse anesthetist, has been elected chairman of the Tennessee Board of Nursing (BON).

Bell is the program administrator and coordinator of UT and UT Medical Center’s Nurse Anesthesia Concentration. He is the first certified registered nurse anesthetist to chair the state organization and has been an advanced practice nurse representative on the BON for the past two years.

Bell has served as president, district director and on multiple committees of the Tennessee Association of Nurse Anesthetists. He has also served on various committees of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.

Bell has been a nurse anesthetist for more than twenty-four years. He received his master’s degree in nurse anesthesia from the Gooding Institute of Nurse Anesthesia, Bay Medical Center, in Panama City, Florida; his master’s degree in health education from UT; and a master’s degree in nursing and a doctor of nursing practice degree from UT Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee.

“The Tennessee Board of Nursing plays a crucial role in the assurance of safe and competent delivery of nursing care, protection of the public and assuring that there is an adequate supply of qualified nurses to meet Tennessee’s healthcare needs,” said Victoria Niederhauser, dean of the College of Nursing. “Dr. Bell will represent the voice of Tennessee nurses by advocating for our profession and supporting rules, regulations and legislation that promotes health and supports access to health care for the people of Tennessee.”

Certified registered nurse anesthetists are advanced practice registered nurses who specialize in anesthesia care and who safely administer more than thirty-three million anesthetics to patients each year in the United States.

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C O N T A C T :

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

Donald Bell (865-305-7762, dbell@utmck.edu)

The funding will help pay for five students who meet certain criteria—they are making a career switch to nursing and are underrepresented in the field.

“These scholarships will support a well-educated, diverse nursing workforce that will provide safe, quality care for our citizens,” Dean Victoria Niederhauser said. “NCIN is helping to fill the nursing pipeline with capable, culturally competent nurses.”

The grant comes on the heels of numbers released by UT’s Center for Business and Economic Research which predict an increasing deficit of registered nurses as the decade progresses, culminating in a shortage of 14,910 RNs in 2020 in Tennessee.

“Nurses are needed now more than ever as the baby boomer population ages,” said Dean Niederhauser. “Yet, we are losing nurses because we lack funding and faculty to educate them. Grants like this one help tackle this challenge.”

The grant will provide five $10,000 scholarships to accelerated bachelor’s and master’s degree students who are either underrepresented in nursing or from a disadvantaged background for the 2012-13 academic year. The accelerated program enables students with a bachelor’s degree in another field to complete the bachelor’s degree in a year of full-time study. Students are then eligible to take the National Registered Nurse licensure examination.

The scholarship recipients will participate in a yearlong mentoring program where they will work to develop leadership skills related to self-knowledge, strategic vision, risk-taking and creativity, interpersonal and communication effectiveness, and inspiring and leading change. With this grant, the college has increased enrollment the program by 50 percent for the fall with a total of twenty-four students.

The New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) Scholarship Program was launched in 2008 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to expand enrollment in accelerated degree programs in schools of nursing while increasing diversity in the nursing workforce. Since 2008, the NCIN program has distributed 2,717 scholarships to students at more than 100 unique nursing schools. This year, funding for 400 scholarships was granted to 55 schools.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and healthcare issues facing our country. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.

UT’s College of Nursing is a nationally recognized leader in nursing education. The college enrolls more than 600 students in undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs. For more information, visit nursing.utk.edu.

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C O N T A C T :

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

Hamparsum Bozdogan

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Ramon P. DeGennaro, the CBA Professor of Banking and Finance, has been appointed as UT’s voting member for the Atlanta Census Regional Data Center. The university is the newest member of the ACRDC, which offers qualified researchers access to data which is otherwise unavailable. The ACRDC is a partnership between the US Census Bureau and a consortium that also includes Georgia State University, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University, Georgia Tech, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Georgia. For more information about using the ACRDC, visit the website.

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A paper by Frederick Dosalinger, a research associate in ecology and evolutionary biology, in the Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment was named Risk Management Paper of the Year for 2011. The paper “Developing Health-Based Pre-Planning Clearance Goals for Airport Remediation Following a Chemical Terrorist Attack: Decision Criteria for Multipathway Exposure Routes” was cited as giving salient management actions should airports experience terrorists’ release of toxic substance into airport environments. The paper was selected by an editorial board comprising of distinguished scientists and risk assessment professionals on the basis of quality of writing and contributions to the field of risk assessment.

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An article written by Terry Hazen, Governor’s Chair for Environmental Biotechnology, has been named Top Feature Article of 2011 by the journal Environmental Science and Technology (ES&T). BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico drew inevitable comparisons with what until then was the nation’s worst environmental catastrophe, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. In ES&T‘s Best Feature of 2011, Hazen and Ronald Atlas, of the University of Louisville, point out the key differences in the environmental impacts of the two spills. Hazen and Atlas have firsthand experience of the spills: Hazen was an investigator on the BP spill whereas Atlas served as a lead scientist during the Valdez response. Crews worked feverishly to contain both spills, but in the end, naturally occurring microbes were responsible for much of the cleanup.

To read the original article, visit ES&T online. Read the perspective piece about the Top Feature Article here.

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Victoria Niederhauser, dean of the College of Nursing, has been selected to join an elite network of more than 5,000 women as a member of the Leadership America Class of 2012. Leadership America is a program of Women’s Resources. Established in1974, Women’s Resources seeks to advance the power of leadership and legacy through programs that connect, inspire, empower, and honor women. She is one of about fifty outstanding women leaders competitively selected from across the nation to participate in the longest-running women’s leadership development program in the US. Throughout the year-long program, Niederhauser will have the opportunity to broaden her perspective and enhance her recognized leadership skills.

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Fritz G. Polite, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, has received the 2012 Ethnic Minority Award for Southern District American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. He was honored at a luncheon earlier this year. Polite serves as director of the Institute for Leadership, Ethics, and Diversity and director of Outreach and Global Engagement for the college.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s College of Nursing is answering a call from First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, to serve the nation’s veterans as well as they have served their country. The college will join more than 150 state and national nursing organizations and more than 500 nursing schools in a coordinated effort to further educate our nation’s three million nurses so they are prepared to meet the unique health needs of service members, veterans, and their families.

“Whether we’re in a hospital, doctor’s office or a community health center, nurses are often the first people we see,” said Obama. “Because of their expertise, they are trusted to be the frontline of America’s healthcare system. That’s why Jill and I knew we could turn to America’s nurses and nursing students to help our veterans and military families get the world-class care they’ve earned.”

More than 300,000 veterans returning from Afghanistan or Iraq have PTSD or TBI. Since 2000, more than 44,000 of those troops have suffered at least a moderate-grade traumatic brain injury. Veterans seeking care within the Veterans Affairs health system are often treated by healthcare professionals who have received extensive training in mental health issues. However, the majority of veterans seek care outside of the VA system in their local hospitals, and this effort will ensure their caregivers are aware of their special needs.

“We are committed to incorporating key concepts in all our programs that will promote optimal health and wellness for military families,” said Victoria Niederhauser, dean of the College of Nursing. “It is an honor and privilege to support this nationwide effort to raise awareness in how to better care for our veterans.”

A concerted effort to share the most up-to-date information across academic and practice settings will improve care for common combat-related issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and depression throughout the healthcare system.

The effort is led by the American Nurses Association, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the National League for Nursing, in coordination with the departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense which have outlined specific goals and commitments to the cause. For more information, visit the Joining Forces website.

UT’s College of Nursing is a nationally recognized leader. The college enrolls more than 600 students in undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs.

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C O N T A C T :

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

Leadership America is a program of Women’s Resources. Established in1974, Women’s Resources seeks to advance the power of leadership and legacy through programs that connect, inspire, empower and honor women.

“This opportunity will widen my views on leadership at a national and international level,” said Niederhauser. “I plan to apply these newly developed skills and perspectives in my role as Dean at the College of Nursing. It is a true honor.”

Niederhauser is one of fifty-three outstanding women leaders competitively selected from across the nation to participate in the longest-running women’s leadership development program in the US. Throughout the year-long program, she will have the opportunity to broaden her perspective and enhance her recognized leadership skills.

“We consider it a privilege to assemble these influential women leaders from a broad diversity of professional and personal backgrounds and provide them opportunities to consider new modes of listening, to seek new perspectives, and to imagine new collaborations that will provide new solutions to the challenges of today’s interconnected global society,” said Martha P. Farmer, founder and executive director of Leadership America.

The theme for the 2012 program year is “Leading Into the Future…Changing the World for the Better.”

Participants will visit Washington DC, San Francisco and Houston, where each city’s opportunities and challenges will illuminate the participants’ knowledge and stretch their visions as they consider the future for America as a global leader, the future for national and global consensus and the future for global business and the economy.

Niederhauser joined UT in 2011 from the University of Hawaii, where she served as associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow from 2008 to 2011, is a board certified pediatric nurse practitioner and received the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners State Award for Excellence in 2006.

Ginger Evans

Ginger Evans has been a nurse for forty years and a member of the faculty for thirty-five years. In that time, she’s cared for patients and she’s cared for our students.

Evans, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing, took a special interest in helping victims of domestic violence while working as a psychiatric nurse about fifteen years ago. Throughout her career she had seen the long-term effects of domestic violence on its victims, even years after they had experienced the trauma.

“I wanted to be on the front lines,” she said. “I wanted to be able to help people as they were experiencing their trauma. Victims of domestic violence experience extreme fear and lack of control over their lives. I get to help them regain some of that control.”

Evans is a sexual assault nurse examiner and an expert in forensic nursing, the newest specialty recognized by the America Association of Nurses.

Forensic nurses examine living patients who are the victims of assault. In cases of sexual assault, sexual assault nurse examiners conduct examinations and photograph and collect evidence from living victims. Forensic nurses also may be involved in death investigations.

Evans teaches nursing students, law enforcement personnel, and other health care professionals about domestic violence and sexual assault. She also cares for local victims as a nurse forensic examiner. Her expert attention, documentation, and court testimony have resulted in a number of rape convictions, including one federal child trafficking case.

She also works with Forensic Consultants of East TN, a small business dedicated to the advancement of forensic nursing and forensic nursing services in East Tennessee. She consults and trains in areas related to sexual assault, domestic violence, and death investigations.

Evans received the Chancellor’s Excellence in Academic Outreach award in 2010 because of her work in the community. In 2009, Evans and Assistant Professor Sally Helton, also in the College of Nursing, received the Community Coalition on Family Violence Anita Gregg Award for Service for their contributions to domestic violence education and their ongoing advocacy for victims.

Professor Evans incorporates many aspects of sexual assault nurse examiner training into the curricula for nursing students,” said Victoria Niederhauser, dean of the College of Nursing. “That results in our graduate nurses having a keen awareness of their role for caring for individuals and families who have been victims of sexual assault. On a national level, she is very involved in training new sexual assault nurse examiners across the country.”

Evans has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from East Tennessee State University and master’s degrees in nursing and child and family studies from UT.

Sally Helton

Sally Helton is committed to fighting a serious public health issue: domestic violence.

An assistant professor of nursing and a certified sexual assault nurse examiner with a background in psychiatric nursing, Helton has been teaching for nearly thirty years. She focuses on forensic nursing, psychiatric mental health nursing, and intimate partner violence. She’s also trained others to become sexual assault nurse examiners.

“Violence is recognized around the world as a public health issue,” said Helton. “Throughout history, nurses have responded to public health issues, such as illnesses and epidemics, and led the charge in treatment.”

Helton continues to practice psychiatric nursing, but became interested in becoming a sexual assault nurse examiner after years of hearing from victims with similar stories. She estimates that around 50 percent of the domestic assault patients she saw told her that they’d been victimized before, but never told anyone.

“I felt if these patients could have a safe place to talk about what’s happened to them, maybe we could help prevent future incidents.”

Along with Evans, Helton works with Forensic Consultants of East TN to create training programs. The two created the Domestic Violence Learning Module for nursing students. To date, more than 1,200 students have completed the course, in which students attend circuit court, meet with judges, and accompany domestic violence advocacy workers. Students attend group therapy sessions with victims and perpetrators of abuse, and keep journals chronicling their thoughts, feelings, and reactions throughout the experience.

“Students also learn to screen patients for interpersonal violence to determine how dangerous the patient’s situation is,” Helton said. “Is the patient in danger at home? Is the patient likely to hurt themselves or others? This type of screening may help prevent future violence.”

Helton also has delivered training courses to more than 400 Knoxville-area emergency medical and law enforcement personnel on strangulation, injury, and living forensics, a portion of forensic science that focuses on meeting a victim’s physical and emotional needs while also preserving evidence and meeting other legal requirements.

“Forensic nursing involves a lot of teamwork,” said Helton. “Others may see the victims first. From the medical to law enforcement to counselors, it’s important for everyone to be on the same page as far as the victim’s needs, as well as how to bring about the best possible outcome following an incident of assault.”

Helton works with several local organizations known for assisting victims, including the Coalition Against Family Violence, the YWCA Victim Advocacy Program, and the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board.

“Professor Helton exemplifies the ‘volunteer’ spirit by spending her time working in the community to raise awareness and provide a voice for victims of sexual assault,” said Neiderhauser. “Through this work, she has advocated changes in legislation to support sexual assault victims. At the College of Nursing, it is critical for our faculty to be recognized leaders in their field. Professor Helton’s depth of knowledge and first-hand experience in caring for victims of sexual assault, coupled with her passion to advocate for these victims, creates a optimal learning environment for nursing students.”

“Professor Helton has been recognized at the local, state, and national level for her service as a sexual assault nurse examiner, and her role as an educator in this area,” said Neiderhauser. “Her hard work and dedication in the areas of mental health advocacy and sexual abuse awareness elevate the quality of education students receive at UT’s College of Nursing.”

Helton received the Provost’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2002. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in nursing from Texas Woman’s University, Dallas.