Twelve students from the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University in Macon have been selected the first Piedmont Scholars. The nursing scholarship program is the first initiative under the Center for Health and Learning, established through a partnership between Piedmont Healthcare and Mercer University last June. The scholars program is designed to address the critical shortage of nurses in Georgia. Chosen for their demonstrated leadership, scholastic achievement and commitment to the profession of nursing, the following students will participate in increased clinical experience at Piedmont and in research on nursing practice: Claire Draffin of Jonesboro; Susan Garcia of Marietta; Lisa Giles of Snellville; Tiffany Johnson of Atlanta; Elizabeth Kennedy of LaGrange; Katie Melton of Marietta; Lindsay Morales of Douglasville; Stephanie Morton of Snellville; Kimberly Smith of Athens; Lynne Sycamore of Duluth; Dahnide Taylor of Chamblee; and Christina Vidana of Decatur.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE: Kathy Ordelt, RN, CPN, CRRN, is the latest recipient of the Jean W. Raines Distinguished Service Award. Presented by the Health Care Education Association, the award recognizes significant achievement in the field of health care education. Ordelt is the patient and family education coordinator at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where she prepares education materials and patient education activities. She received the award with Wayne Neal of Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Ordelt and Neal created Partners in Pediatric Education, a learning community for professionals committed to improving health care and the organizations they serve. PIPE has helped bring together more than 120 pediatric educators from around the country to explore ideas and share material.

FIRST FOR NURSE: Connie Whittington, MSN, RN, ONC, orthopedic clinical nurse specialist at Piedmont Hospital, is the first nurse to be appointed to the Food and Drug Administration Orthopaedic and Rehabilitiation Devices panel of the organization's medical devices advisory committee. Whittington serves as the consumer representative on the panel, which reviews and approves of all orthopedic devices, including joint replacement, spine, fracture and external orthopedic implants.

"This appointment is a wonderful recognition of the professional expertise that Connie brings to the table through her strong base of knowledge and her vast experience in the clinical practice arena," said Tony Smith, RN, MSN, ONC, and orthopedics service line administrator at Piedmont Hospital. "Her extensive background in clinical practice and orthopedic research, and her penchant for patient advocacy make her an excellent choice."

KATRINA NURSES FUND: The American Nurses Association has established a fund to help nurses whose lives and work were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. All funds donated to the American Nurses Foundation will be used to assist nurses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, or to help nurses who have opened their homes to families or evacuee nurses. To date, ANF has distributed $24,000, and is still accepting donations. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the Katrina Nurses Fund and sent to The American Nurse Foundation, 8515 Georgia Ave., Suite 400, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

DR. NURSE: The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation has awarded $995,000 to the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing to support its new doctorate of nursing practice program, the tenth of its kind in the nation. "We look forward to preparing a critical mass of doctorally prepared nurse clinicians through increased collaboration with other graduate schools of nursing throughout Georgia," said Dr. Lucy Marion, dean of the MCG School of Nursing and a leader in the national doctorate of nursing practice movement.

MCG's partner in the initiative, Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, has been awarded $500,000 through the same grant. By offering distance training options, the partnership will allow Emory faculty to enroll in the doctorate program at MCG. In return, MCG faculty will attend Emory's postgraduate program for clinical educators.

"Before this program was developed, nursing was the only health profession without a practice doctorate," said Dr. Saundra Turner, chair of the MCG Department of Biobehavioral Nursing. "Graduates of our program will be nursing leaders with a global perspective, able to collaborate with physicians and other health care providers to optimize patient care."

The program is also expected to help alleviate the national nursing shortage by producing more nursing professors.

For more information, including program requirements, contact Turner at sturner@mcg.edu or, 706-721- 4807.

PATIENT AMBASSADORS: DeKalb Medical Center at Decatur has created an innovative program to enhance customer service in its long-term acute care unit. Each patient is assigned a patient ambassador who serves as a liaison for setting up appointments, addressing concerns and providing feedback to department managers. The ambassadors are a group of 11 DeKalb Medical Center employees whose regular jobs do not involve direct patient care.

The ambassadors catch small problems before they become big ones. Since implementing the program 10 months ago, the percentage of patients who said they would recommend the hospital to others has jumped from 89 percent to 97.8 percent.

SERVICE LEARNING GRANT: Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing has received $60,000 in support of its Office of Service Learning from the Charles and Mary Grant Foundation and the Georgia Health Foundation. Service learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility and strengthen communities.

The grant will be used to expand the school's farm worker health program in South Georgia and the alternative spring break partnerships in the Caribbean, and to add other programs next year.

GNA RESTRUCTURED: After a year of research and work, the Georgia Nurses Association's leadership has proposed a new, more flexible structure for the organization to better serve its current and potential membership.

The GNA's house of delegates voted to accept the amended structure at the annual convention held last fall in Columbus.

"We recognized that we needed to become more available and applicable to the totality of our members," said Linda Easterly, RN, BSN, MS, COHN-S, president of GNA.

Cindy R. Balkstra, MS, APRN, BC, a board-certified pulmonary clinical nurse specialist at St. Joseph's/ Candler in Savannah, was elected president-elect, and will begin serving in two years. For a list of other newly elected officials, see www.georgianurses.org.

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