Resurgens Orthopaedics nurse Mary Jo Satusky has assumed the role of president of the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (NAON).
As president of the 6,000-member NAON, Satusky, BSN, RN, ONC, CCRC, will further the nonprofit organization’s mission to advance orthopaedic nursing through excellence in research, education and nursing practice.
“I am honored to be chosen to lead NAON,” Satusky said. “I look forward to the challenges and growth opportunities I will encounter in this new role.”
Satusky works at Resurgens’ Cumming office with Dr. David Covall.
Regents OK GSU Ph.D.: The Board of Regents recently approved a request by the Georgia State University Institute of Public Health to offer a doctor of philosophy in public health degree. The new degree program will help meet the demand for public health researchers in Georgia and heighten the school's focus on the health of underserved urban communities.
The first doctoral class will begin the 62-credit hour degree program this fall. As the only public university with a public health doctoral program in metro Atlanta, Georgia State expects to prepare its graduates for research careers. The new doctoral students will have the opportunity to help with research projects funded by a $6.7 million federal research grant developed to reduce health disparities in urban populations.
For more information or to apply for the program, e-mail publichealth@gsu.edu.
Nurse gets VA grant: Assistant professor Andrea Boyd of the Georgia Health Sciences University College of Nursing in Augusta has received a three-year, $900,000 Department of Veterans Affairs grant to study the effect of exercise on advanced heart failure patients.
In a previous study, Boyd examined a suspected imbalance of the sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates body functioning, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which has a calming effect, to see if exercise could bring it into balance.
In advanced heart failure, an over-activation of the sympathetic nervous system coupled with a blunting or down regulation of the parasympathetic nervous system is thought to lead to many of the disease’s outcomes. Boyd’s previous research showed that weight-bearing aerobic exercise (such as walking) vs. nonweight-bearing aerobic exercise (such as bicycling) decreased symptoms.
The new study hopes to discover the tipping point and frequency factor that optimizes results.
She envisions computer software that will allow the provider to input the patient’s clinical parameters along with age, body mass index, weight and other factors to produce a progressive schedule with specific daily instructions for exercise, rest and diet/fluid intake.
For information about becoming a study participant, contact Boyd at 706-721-4602 or Andrea.Boyd@va.gov.
Inaugural leadership award: Roslyn Marshall, nurse manager of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at MCGHealth Medical Center in Augusta, was recently named the first recipient of the Patricia K. Sodomka Leadership Award for Patient/Family Centered Care.
Marshall, MHSA, BSN, RN, who joined MCGHealth in 1983, has more than 25 years of experience in nursing leadership. She has been instrumental in implementing patient/family-centered care at the hospital, which has included unit renovations and makeovers.
Marshall is on the faculty at the Insitute for Patient and Family Centered Care and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Chapter gets the silver: The Northwest Georgia Chapter of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) brought home the silver award for membership for the intermediate size chapter at the annual AORN Congress in Philadelphia.
The awards committee looked at the chapter’s activities last year, including education offerings, community events and leadership activities.
In other news from the event, Holly Ervine was elected to serve on the AORN’s National Nominating and Leadership Development Committee. Ervine, a nurse manager at Atlanta Medical Center, will continue to serve on the local chapter’s board of directors.
Fund-raising success: Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing has exceeded its $20 million fund-raising goal nearly two years ahead of schedule. To date, the nursing school has raised more than $20.4 million to support student scholarships, faculty research, service learning projects and academic programming.
Emory trustee Dr. J. David Allen and his wife, Beverly Dew Allen, both Emory alumni, are leading the efforts as chairs of the campaign.
The nursing school’s effort is part of Campaign Emory, a $1.6 billion fund-raising endeavor that combines private support and Emory’s people, places and programs.
Mother/daughter moment: Clayton State University nursing student Laura Hinshaw recently received a $1,000 scholarship for doing something that's close to her heart. She wrote an article about her relationship with her daughter, Anna, also a Clayton State nursing student.
Hinshaw earned the 2010 Andrea Lane Scholarship from the Morrow Women’s Civic Club after she wrote an article showcasing the benefits of Clayton State’s nursing program for the school’s Continuing Education class schedule. She wrote about her relationship with her daughter, which motivated her to continue her education and pursue a BSN in nursing.
A nurse for 28 years, she graduated from then Clayton Junior College with an associate degree in nursing in 1983.
The Andrea Lane Scholarship is awarded to women who return to school to continue their scholastic goals. Hinshaw will use the scholarship to pay for tuition and a study abroad trip to Guatemala.
Clayton State’s “Medicine in the Jungle” program to Guatemala allows for students to provide health care and nursing aide to Mayan Indians. Anna Hinshaw, who received a $500 study abroad scholarship from Clayton State, also went on the trip in May.
Pharmacy residency program: Mercer University's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and a metro Atlanta-based health care outcome research company are teaming up to provide postgraduate residency training for pharmacists.
Mercer’s pharmacy school and Total Therapeutic Management Inc. (TTM), a physician-focused, quality-improvement and research company in Kennesaw, announced the residency program in April.
The Patient-Centered Outcome Residency Training program begins in July and is designed to provide residents with advanced training in drug information retrieval, drug literature evaluation, and supporting sound medical communication of evidence-based recommendations.
Among other selection criteria, applicants must be pharmacy graduates from an accredited college or school, and licensed or eligible for licensure in Georgia no later than Sept. 1, following the commencement of their residency.
Residents of the one-year program will split time between TTM and Mercer, with one 10-week longitudinal rotation at Atlanta Medical Center.
For more information about the program, contact Dr. Ashish Advani at Advani_AA@Mercer.edu.
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