October 2020 Issue
Message from the Dean | Highlights from the School of Nursing | Alumni News | Faculty News | Student News
Message From The Dean
Welcome to the second issue of the School of Nursing newsletter. We plan to publish three times a year (January, April, and October) to share our news. The last few months have been challenging, but our dedicated faculty and staff have risen to the challenge. When we went virtual last March, the faculty quickly pivoted to providing classes on Zoom. Advising, exam reviews, and meetings were all done virtually. That continues this semester. Most of the clinical courses have significantly reduced clinical hours, with case studies and simulations being substituted for the missing time. Unfortunately, some courses (pediatrics and mental health) do not have any on-site based clinical time. This fall our students are meeting in person for skills and some simulation, and our exams are being given in Hudson Hall with all the proper distancing and cleaning protocols in place.
It is quiet on campus, with no large meetings, no major in person events and everyone’s smiles covered by a mask. But as you will see from the news below, we are continuing to move forward. For the first time we are offering some nursing electives. The one-credit courses will provide students with an introduction to topics such as nursing informatics, nurses in the media, and palliative care. We have also created a School of Nursing Alumni Advisory Council. This group will help to guide the future of the School and assist us in finding ways to be relevant to our alums.
We look forward to hearing from our alums. It is nice to know what you are doing after leaving the Mount.
Yours in Nursing,
Susan LaRocco PhD, MBA, RN, FNAP, CNE
Highlights from the School of Nursing
Faculty and Students
Dr Christine Berté received a $1500 Faculty Development Grant to install video recording equipment in a nursing laboratory to create a video record of graduate nursing students’ performances during simulated patient experiences. Dr. Anne-Marie Uebbing was awarded a one-course release Faculty Development Grant for the fall semester to incorporate the use of simulated standardized patients (SPs) into the graduate curriculum. Dr Uebbing also exhibited her artwork in the Tivoli Artists Gallery.
One faculty member and one recent graduate were included in the Hudson Valley Magazine’s Salute to Essential Workers. Dr Elaine Suderio-Tirone teaches in the master’s program and Shannon Christiano, Student Nurses’ Association President (2019-2020) and 2020 baccalaureate graduate were both recognized for their service to the community. Elaine and her two brothers (both RNs) her sister-in-law and her daughter made more than 300 masks to help alleviate the shortage of PPE. She also worked as Family Liaison for Covid 19 ICU patients at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. Shannon worked in the emergency room at Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson for three years, until she graduated. She is now at the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.
Kathleen Pecoraro passed the National League for Nursing Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) exam.
We are pleased to welcome three new full time faculty at the start of the 2020-2021 academic year. They are:
- Mary Buck, DNP, RN
- Rhonda D’Agostino, MSN, ACNP-BC, FCCM, FCCP
- Carol Wanyo, DNP(c), MA, RN
Mary and Carol have both been adjunct faculty in the School of Nursing.
We are sorry to be saying good-bye to Dr Ann Corcoran. She has been at the Mount since 2001, working in simulation and teaching, primarily Adult Health courses. Ann has been the Director of Simulation since July 2019. She is retiring and moving to North Carolina after the Christmas holidays. She will be missed. Dr Beth Boyd has left her full time faculty position, but continues to teach as an adjunct.
A Profile of the Full Time Faculty
The experience and dedication of the faculty are what makes the School of Nursing so successful. Currently we have 18 full time faculty (and one dean). This represents an aggregated 572 years of nursing experience (range 11 to 49 years). Nine of the 18 are doctorally prepared and 5 more are in doctoral studies, mostly nearing completion. Four faculty and the dean are tenured. Of the 18, only 3 have been full time faculty at the Mount prior to fall 2015. Seven are certified nurse practitioners, with a variety of specialties including psychiatric mental health, family, adult/gerontology primary care and acute care. Many of the faculty had previous academic teaching experience at a variety of places including Westchester Community College, SUNY Orange, Western Connecticut State University and St Vincent’s College. Several taught for the Mount as adjunct faculty prior to the appointment as full time faculty. Four received their baccalaureate degree in nursing from the Mount and one completed her master’s degree here.
The School of Nursing also employs about 70 adjunct faculty each semester. Most of these work in the clinical setting, providing the students with the opportunity to learn from experienced practicing nurses.
Recent publications:
Jennifer Dillon co-authored “Registered Nurse Staffing, Workload, and Nursing Care left Undone, and Their Relationship to Patient Safety in Hemodialysis Units” in Nephrology Nursing Journal (March-April 2020).
Antonia Brewer co-authored “A Need for Trauma Informed Care in Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics” in Public Health Nursing (e-pub before print issue).
Shannon Christiano (2020 BS graduate) authored “Fuzzy Friends Clinics” in Massachusetts Report on Nursing (September 2020).
Traditional Program
The traditional program has 465 students. Last May we graduated 124 new nurses. Unfortunately, there was no Pinning Ceremony or Commencement ceremonies to celebrate their accomplishments. The usual activities, such as hosting heath careers students from Newburgh Free Academy and the Fuzzy Friends clinics, are all on hold until the pandemic subsides. In spite of it all, the students are working toward their goal of joining the ranks of the Mount nursing alumni.
Non-traditional Program
The non-traditional program continues to be very popular with adult learners. The last cohort from the previous model will graduate this December. In the revised model, new cohorts begin each January and graduate 19 months later at the end of August. We are looking forward to the first graduates of the revised program completing the program in August 2021. These students have a full schedule of classes through both summers. Although the spring and summer semesters had COVID restrictions, all of the non-traditional students were placed in clinical settings during the summer while lectures were held virtually. Irene Belen-Jones continues to be the Nursing Academic Advisor to all of the non-traditional students as well as those students who are taking the pre-requisite courses to prepare for entry into the program. Unfortunately, once again we had to deny admission to qualified students due to constraints in clinical placements.
RN to BS Program
The revised program currently has students enrolled in general education courses. With the pandemic, promotion of the program has been delayed. This fall will initiate the first promotion of the program at Garnet Health Medical Center (formerly Orange Regional) with more events to follow as nursing homes ease COVID restrictions. We anticipate the program’s first course will be offered in the spring of 2021. Irene Belen-Jones also oversees this program.
Master’s Program
The master’s program continues to graduate nurse practitioners in spite of the delays caused by COVID restrictions at the clinical sites. Currently there are 182 students in the program, accounting for 53% of the graduate students at the Mount. A Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track is under development.
Kristine Greco, a family nurse practitioner student, submitted “Issues and Trends in Health Care” to the Fifth Annual MSMC Student Writing contest and took first place in two categories: Winning Essay and Excellence in Research. The judges remarked “The writing strikes a professional balance between including specific scientific terminology and substantiated research while discussing it with a readable tone and compelling narrative. The research is notable for its breadth of source material, all of which is expertly integrated within the text of the essay.”
Preceptors Needed for Nurse Practitioner Students
As the graduate program has grown, we are always in need of preceptors for our nurse practitioner students. If you are an NP and would consider precepting a student, please contact Dr. Christine Berté, Graduate Program Director, at christine.berte@msmc.edu.
Alumni News
Drs. Mary Ellen Doherty ’72, Beth Scannell-Desch ’72, and Jennifer Bready (MSMC MathematicsProfessor) had their study, “A Positive Side of Deployment: Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth in U.S. Military Nurses Who Served in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars” published in the May 2020 issue of the The Journal of Nursing Scholarship from Sigma Theta Tau International. This was the first study to examine possible post-traumatic growth in 282 active duty, retired military, reserve, and National Guard nurses who deployed to these war zones.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Ryan McGahan (BS,2008) MSN, CRNA
Ryan McGahan graduated from MSMC in 2008 with a BS in Nursing. While a student he completed an ICU externship at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. After graduation he was hired into the ICU there. He was the second new grad to have ever been hired straight into their ICU and it was because of the externship experience through the Mount. After about a year on night shift he also picked up a per diem job in Kingston Hospital ER. He enjoyed caring for a wide variety of patients in addition to his regular ICU position.
Ryan relates, “I loved the ICU, but it was exhausting work. One night a CRNA named Mary C. came to take one of my patient’s to surgery. I was surprised to find out that nurses did anesthesia. She asked if I wanted to go with her. I was stuck on Nurse Anesthesia from that day”.
Ryan completed his CCRN, took all the prerequisites for anesthesia school, and in June 2012, he started the CRNA program at Albany Medical College. After 28 months of almost around the clock schooling, he graduated with an MSN in Nurse Anesthesia in December 2014 and had a position already secured. He worked for NAPA, an anesthesia group at Vassar Hospital, Columbia Memorial Hospital, Northern Dutchess Hospital, and various outpatient surgery centers.
Ryan currently serves as a Major in the Army Reserve with 19 years of service. In 2018 he was mobilized as a reservist to Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point, NY to do anesthesia. The hospital had a critical shortage of providers. After his four months mobilized there, he was headed back to his civilian job but found out that West Point was opening civilian positions (as contractors) for CRNAs. Ryan is now part of a small autonomous CRNA anesthesia group taking care of cadets, military service members and their dependents, and military retirees at West Point.
Ryan serves as a stellar example of an MSMC nursing graduate. He is goal-oriented, self-directed, hard-working, and ‘a man with a plan.’ He sought out clinical challenges in ICU and ER settings to best prepare himself as a CCRN and found a niche as a CRNA and an Army Reserve officer to serve his patients and his Country. Ryan describes his academic and clinical experiences at MSMC as “the foundation that prepared me for the clinical and academic challenges of being an ICU nurse and Nurse Anesthetist. MSMC gave me the tools to set me up for a successful career. The experience at MSMC provided me with a solid education, good networking, and great job potential.”
Ryan offers the following advice to MSMC nursing students, “Keep driving forward. MSMC is your nursing foundation and there you learn the critical thinking and clinical skills to start down your nursing path. How far you go….staff nurse, nursing leader, NP, CRNA, even nursing professor, is up to you because you are in the driver seat of your nursing career. Once you get your BS in Nursing at MSMC your options are wide-open. Stay the course and achieve your dreams.”
We anticipate hearing about continued professional achievements and milestones regarding Ryan and would not be at all surprised if he becomes CRNA faculty or a nursing professor eventually. His wife, Ashlee, received her MSN from MSMC and is currently employed as a Nurse Practitioner. Nursing in their case is a family affair.
Faculty News
Faculty Spotlight:
Dr. Linda Kelly
Dr. Linda Kelly is a medical-surgical nursing expert who recently completed her 3rd year teaching at MSMC. She holds a BS in Nursing from SUNY - New Paltz, a masters’ in nursing education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a doctorate in nursing education from Western Connecticut State University.
Since coming to MSMC after teaching for 7 years at SUNY- Orange, she has led several dynamic service-learning projects. The ‘Teddy Bear Clinic’ (aka Fuzzy Friends Clinic) has operationalized learning about healthy habits such as nutrition, hand washing, personal and dental hygiene, etc., for pre-school through 1st grade children under the guidance of MSMC nursing students.
Dr. Kelly has ‘energized and mobilized’ students to work in community food banks, clinics, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and clothing drives to support the most vulnerable while they learn about living with health, social, and economic disparities and challenges. As the Service-Learning Coordinator for the SoN, she organized opportunities for undergraduate and graduate nursing students to provide service and education to children enrolled in the Saturday enrichment program at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center.
Dr. Kelly spearheaded the PALS (Peers Achieving Leadership and Scholarship) program, which is a mentoring program geared to local high school students interested in nursing or healthcare. Its focus is to engage students to pursue higher education, whether in Nursing or related fields. The program includes mentoring by MSMC nursing students and entails visits to the MSMC campus and SoN lab. During the ½ day visits to the MSMC campus, local high school students are introduced to campus life, and meet representatives from various MSMC departments, including the Office of Student Success, HEOP, and Athletics. The Nursing Lab Coordinator, Nursing professors and/or Division of Science professors provide an overview of academic life, and the students receive a campus tour. Campus visits conclude with a ‘hands-on’ nursing simulation activity in the SoN laboratories. The intent of these visits is to develop relationships to foster and inspire academic excellence and success.
Dr. Kelly states, “Coming to the Mount School of Nursing has opened up a world of opportunity. Service-learning provides a bridge between students and the community. Both our students and the community benefit from this important relationship. It is of paramount importance that our students appreciate and understand the burden of living with health, social, and economic disparities.”
“Inquisitive, hard-working, highly motivated, focused on doing good work, and striving for the skills to be an excellent RN,” is how Linda describes her nursing students. She describes “nursing as a profession she loves. Being able to educate nursing students to become nurses is a privilege. One’s nursing journey provides you with so many roads you can travel. For me, teaching and mentoring are special as I continue to grow.”
30th Anniversary and Induction Ceremony
Sigma Theta Tau
Teresa V. Hurley, DHEd
This year we are celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Mu Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (SIGMA).Sr. Leona DeBoer had the foresight to see the importance of establishing a chapter at Mount Saint Mary College. We are most grateful for her wisdom and we have grown in meeting the mission of SIGMA in advancing world health and celebrating nursing scholarship, leadership, and service.
This year our Induction Ceremony will occur virtually on November 22, 2020. Eighty students met the criteria for Induction. The President of MSMC, Dr. Adsit, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Abaunza, Dean of Nursing, Dr. Susan LaRocco, and Fr. Greg Fluet will be addressing the inductees and giving the benediction.
Over the years, we have celebrated the scholarship of our students and recognized the contributions of practitioners, educators, administrators, and researchers at Induction Ceremonies, our Annual Research Day, undergraduate Pinning and graduate White Coat ceremonies. Awards are given bi-annually to students for scholarship, leadership, research, and commitment to promoting the health and well-being of others through service activities.
Engagement in service activities was spirited by SIGMA’s call to its membership to help in meeting the sustainable goals of the United Nations and by former International Past President Hester Klopper’s inspirational words: “We must have the courage and passion to serve locally, transform regionally, and lead globally”. Locally, our Chapter provides support to the Newburgh Ministry founded by our Dominican Sisters. Many of Newburgh residents do not have access to healthcare, transportation, or means of obtaining adequate food, shelter, and clothing. Women and children are especially in most in need of basic hygiene products as toilet paper, diapers, baby wipes, feminine products, deodorant, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. Internationally we have supported health service trips and supplies to Dominican Republic and Haiti.
We hope that in the future we will be able to continue with providing support and having events in person. In the meantime, we are donating part of the Induction fee to the Newburgh Ministry and considering other virtual events.
Student News
Student Spotlight
Molly Dinsdale
Molly Dinsdale is a junior nursing student who hails from Woodbury, CT, and plans to be the 3rd generation in her family to become a Registered Nurse. Molly’s Mother is a graduate of St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing, Hartford, CT, and currently serves as an ICU nurse at Danbury Hospital. Molly’s Grandmother is a recently retired geriatric nurse. Both RNs have helped shape Molly’s life and her desire to help others.
Molly chose to attend MSMC because she was attracted to the beautiful campus, reasonable size of classes as opposed to large university lecture halls, the warmth and friendliness of MSMC students, faculty, and staff, and the excellent long-standing reputation of the School of Nursing. Molly describes MSMC professors as “people who teach with a passion for their subject matter and who provide a positive learning experience for their students.”
Molly lives in College Courts but says she can get home to CT in about 1.25 hours. She reports that living on campus provides her with independence but finds a short drive home on a weekend to be convenient. She currently works as a server and dietary aide in a local Connecticut nursing home and plans to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) later this year. She is a volunteer and ambassador for ‘Ben’s Bells’ Kindness Project at Danbury Hospital. This organization was founded by a grieving mother after the death of her son. Its mission is to foster kindness across community and hospital lines by reaching out to patients, family members, hospital staff, and community members.
Molly’s primary hobby is portrait artistry, specializing in charcoal and graphite mediums. She would like to incorporate art in her nursing practice once she graduates. Molly enjoys her studies at MSMC, and so far, she is leaning toward a beginning career in geriatric nursing after graduation.
Fuzzy Friends Clinics
Shannon Christiano, Class of 2020
Teddy Bears get invited to picnics and teas, but how often do they get health care? At Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh NY, the Student Nurses’ Association saw the opportunity to provide basic health education to children while improving the care of Teddy Bears. Considering the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, we decided that our clinics should be open to all Fuzzy Friends.
Education and community outreach are key components of nursing. In our constantly evolving world, it’s imperative that we, as nurses, find innovative ways to educate the community on various healthcare topics.
Mount Saint Mary College is unique in that we have a private K-8 school located on our campus. Bishop Dunn’s location provides us with the opportunity to easily provide community outreach programs. We contacted the principal and arranged our first on campus Fuzzy Friends Clinic. Kindergarten and first grade students walked over bringing their sick and injured Fuzzy Friends for a check-up. Nursing faculty, Dr. Linda Kelly, Dr. Ann Corcoran, and Lab Coordinator Stacia Donaldson ran triage and directed the children and their Fuzzy Friends to the stations where nursing students provided the necessary care. The stations included an operating room, exam room, treatment room, and nutrition education. Each station was color coded and the children and their Fuzzy Friend received a colored band indicating where they should begin their journey for care. They were also given a paper with space to check off each station as they visited it. The Fuzzy Friends were transported from station to station in an ‘ambulance’ made from a cardboard box.
All in all, the event was a huge success. I am happy to report that all the Fuzzy Friends were healed! Some left with bandages that would later be removed to reveal completely recovered injuries. The Mount students and Bishop Dunn students alike had an amazing time. The nursing students showcased their ability to provide age appropriate education on healthcare topics and the Student Nurses’ Association demonstrated their ability to collaborate with faculty at Bishop Dunn and School of Nursing Faculty. Collaboration, teamwork, and education were key in planning this event, and at the end of the day everyone had fun!
This article was previously published in the September 2020 edition of the MA Report on Nursing, Volume 18, No.3, page 12.
Father Gregoire Fluet, Director of Campus MinistryPrayer from Fr. Greg - Lord God, source and destiny of our lives, in Your loving providence You gave us our student Amanda Daigle to grow in wisdom, age, and grace. Now You have called her to Yourself. We grieve over the loss of one so young and struggle to understand Your purpose. Draw her to Yourself and give her full stature in Christ. May she stand with all the angels and saints, who know Your love and praise Your saving Will. Amen.
Father Gregoire Fluet, Director of Campus Ministry