Johns Hopkins Nursing Summer 13

Hill’sSideHill Shares, Counsels Class of 2013 on Voyages of DiscoveryExcerpt from Dr. Martha N. Hill’s speech at the 2013 School of Nursing graduationceremony, her last as dean.When I came to Hopkins to go tonursing school it was a while ago.It was still a hospital three-year diplomatraining school. We lived in HamptonHouse, where each of us had our ownprivate room, with a sink in the room.I’d never had a private room with a sinkin it before! We were taught by nursingfaculty and physicians, and received astunning education. We learned byworking in the hospital. (Today wewould call that free labor.) In return,we received excellent clinical experienceand a great deal of knowledge.But the hallmark of how we learnedwas to be imbued in an environment ofresearch and discovery, what today wewould call evidence-based learning. Itwas about asking the question “Why?”“Why is this patient being readmitted?”“Why hasn’t this patient been taking theirmedications as prescribed?”“Why is this patient having medicationsprescribed that the prescribers don’t believeare going to help, and the side effects ofwhich are worse than the disease itself? Orwhere the cost is so great that the patientcan’t afford to buy it?”“Why is it that we nurses have theopportunity—if we are in the right placeand we are making the right assessments,the right plans, delivering the right care andevaluating it—that we cannot gather thedata, write the papers, and influence theprocedures and policies?”“Why is it that, here at Hopkins, wedon’t yet have a university nursing school inwhich the faculty can be standing with rank,and where the students can receive degrees?”After working long days in thehospital, and having a few hours off, wewould lie on our beds and call up anddown the hall. Our concerns dwelt onthe immediate. One of my remarks, muchremembered by classmates, was, “When6Johns Hopkins Nursing Summer 2013I marry a millionaire, I’m going to givean EKG machine to each floor in Osler.”It never occurred to me that some day,every bed in the Osler Building, everybed in most of the hospital, would havean EKG machine in the wall at the headof the bed. It also didn’t occur to me thenthat what I heard alumni and facultycalling out for—a university school ofnursing—would lead us to where weare today: a highly ranked division of aninternational, research-intensive university known for its scholarship andits patient care.And it has been an enormous privilegeto be able to lead this school to fulfillingits potential, with the standards of excellence embedded in my DNA as a graduate of the hospital training school.So I say to you graduates: I hope we’veembedded in your DNA our Johns Hopkins University standards of excellenceand our values. You are about to go ona voyage of discovery. Carry with you—wherever in the world you may go—theHopkins messages of Knowledge for theWorld and Rising to the Challenge and ourcommitment to caring for patients andimproving the evidence on which webase that care. You are Hopkins Nurses.Onward!Martha N. Hill, PhD, RN, FAANDeanProfessor of Nursing, Medicineand Public HealthThe Johns Hopkins UniversitySchool of NursingEditor’s Note: Martha Hill will continue toserve the School as dean until September 1.Her caricature is by Tom Chalkley, whosework has appeared in the New Yorker andwho teaches an undergraduate course incartooning at Johns Hopkins University.

Hopkins Welcomes Fourth Nursing DeanEditor’s Note: The following is the text ofJohns Hopkins University President RonaldJ. Daniels’ announcement naming the newdean of the School of Nursing.Dear Members of the Johns HopkinsCommunity:Will Kirk/Homewoodphoto.jhu.eduOur School of Nursing has recordedextraordinary accomplishments in thescant three decades since its inceptionas the eighth division of the University.It has grown remarkably in size, scopeand stature. Today, it is a national leaderin education, in research, in promotinghealth care for underserved populationslocally and globally, and in advancingthe profession of nursing.The school’s success is a credit tothe dedication and accomplishment ofits faculty and staff, to the energy of itsstudents, to the loyalty of its alumniand other supporters, and—very significantly—to outstanding leadership. Thecritical role of the school’s first threedeans in the school’s upward trajectoryunderscores the importance of the choiceof the fourth.I am, therefore, delighted to reportthat the Executive Committee of theBoard of Trustees has, on my recommendation and that of Interim ProvostJonathan A. Bagger, appointed PatriciaM. Davidson as the next dean of theSchool of Nursing. The appointment willtake effect September 1.Dr. Davidson is a global pioneer inthe improvement of cardiac health forwomen and indigenous populations. Sheis a passionate teacher, a valued mentorand—as counsel general of the International Council on Women’s HealthIssues—a world leader in her field.A native Australian, Dr. Davidson isprofessor and director of the Center forCardiovascular and Chronic Care at theUniversity of Technology, Sydney. She isalso professor of cardiovascular nursingresearch at St. Vincent’s Hospital there.Additionally, Dr. Davidson is an adjunctfaculty member at institutions as diverseas the American University of Beirut,the University of New South Wales,the University of Western Australia,the University of Western Sydney, andCurtin University.She is no stranger to Johns Hopkins:She has been involved in collaborativeresearch, teaching, and professionalactivities with the School of Nursing forFrom left, Dr. Patricia Davidson, Dean Martha Hill, Provost Robert Lieberman, and PresidentRonald Daniels at a ceremony introducing Davidson to the Hopkins community.a decade and served as a visiting scholarhere in 2007, 2009, and 2011. She hasalso worked with colleagues at Penn,UCSF, Duke, and Michigan and is a fellow of the American Heart Associationand the Australian College of Nursing.For nearly a decade, much of Dr.Davidson’s work has centered on improving cardiac rehabilitation for women.She has expanded her program to focuson the needs of Australian aboriginal andother indigenous peoples, the disadvantaged, and culturally and linguisticallydiverse communities.Our dean-elect is also deeply committed to interdisciplinary collaboration, andhas partnered extensively and effectivelywith colleagues from medicine, publichealth, psychology, sociology, engineering, pharmacy, and law, among otherfields. She is intimately familiar with thedemands and joys of clinical practice nursing, the focus of most of the first 23 yearsof her career before she became a full-timeacademic nurse-scientist in 2003.Trish is visionary, engaging, energeticand articulate. She is a builder and adoer. She is an award-winning scientistand educator with important ideas forthe future of health care and nursing.She will be an innovative dean and aformidable university citizen.My thanks to Interim Provost Bagger and all the members of the searchcommittee; they worked diligently tobring this process to such a successfulconclusion. Deep, deep thanks as well toMartha Hill, who has agreed to extendher exceptionally successful deanship bya few months until her successor arrives.Please join me in welcoming TrishDavidson to our community, and also in awarm reception for her husband, attorneyMichael John McGrath, and adult children, Sarah and Christopher.Sincerely,Ronald J. DanielsLearn more about Dean Patricia M.Davidson at www.jhu.edu.Johns Hopkins Nursing magazine.nursing.jhu.edu7

On the PulseProfessional ProgramsOffers Innovation ThroughCutting-edge Learningby Rebecca ProchUltimately, it’s about the people. They’rePeace Corps volunteers and prospectiveHopkins students; nurses, patients, orpatients’ families; doctors and social workers; even a sea captain. They come fromall backgrounds and they live all overthe world, but they’re working togethertoward a common goal: to improve carefor the sick. It just so happens that at thesame time, they’ve joined a swellingcrowd on the digital frontier.Who are they? These are registrants for the massive open onlinecourses, or MOOCs, offered onthe popular openware courseplatform Coursera on behalfof the School of Nursing(JHUSON). They are the distance learning students enrolledin the nursing prerequisitesoffered online through the JohnsHopkins University School ofNursing’s Professional Programs.Together with the faculty and staffwho develop and deliver the courses,they are headed down new paths onJHUSON’s educational landscape, wherethe idea isn’t necessarily to be the firstbut to always be the best.In that light, the online versions ofJHUSON’s popular prerequisite courses“Nutrition” and “Human Growth andDevelopment” were initially offered insummer 2012 with little fanfare. Nowoffered through Professional Programsand held in summer, fall, and spring,those courses have tripled in enrollmentsince their launch and marketing projections indicate continued growth. “Bio statistics” joins them in fall 2013, andothers are on the horizon.In addition, Cheryl DennisonHimmelfarb, PhD, RN, and Johns8Johns Hopkins Nursing Hopkins Hospital colleague Peter Pronovost, MD, developed “The Scienceof Safety in Healthcare” with guidancefrom JHUSON instructional designmanager Robert Kearns. It’s the School’sfirst MOOC, launched in June. Like allCoursera offerings, “The Science of Safety in Healthcare” was free and open toanyone, regardless of background or educational level, and provided a Statementof Accomplishment rather than academiccredit. It’s an experiment for JHUSON,but one that’s succeeding: Over 14,000people enrolled. Dennison Himmelfarbalso did an impromptu nationwide radiotour focused on the MOOC and otherslike it. Her interviews reached more than1.3 million people.“It has been exciting to see the highlevel of interest and engagement amongthe diverse group of participants in ourcourse,” Dennison Himmelfarb says.“The MOOC model allows us to efficiently deliver important content thatwe hope will contribute to safer healthcare on a broad basis.”Professional Programs has similarlyhigh hopes for its next MOOC, on theSummer 2013topic of elder care. Now being developedby the JHUSON Center for InnovativeCare in Aging, led by Laura Gitlin, PhD,the course begins in October and will betaught by Nancy Hodgson, PhD. Registration is now open at www.coursera.org/jhu. JHUSON will be among the firstschools of nursing to offer ContinuingNursing Education (CNE) for it andfuture MOOC offerings.Plan for Cutting-Edge LearningThese forays into the world of onlinelearning are part of a plan that has beenunfolding for more than four years, whenan online version of the MSN programwas first developed.David Newton, executive director forProfessional Programs, credits the farsightedness of university leaders likePamela Jeffries, PhD, RN, FAAN,associate dean for academic affairs.Newton calls Jeffries “visionary”in her cultivation of a team ofexperts committed to buildingcurricula and courses for distancelearning. He acknowledges, too,the intersection of this commitment with the emergence of evermore sophisticated tools, notingthat “ like no time in the past,we can capitalize on an inventive andevolving technology. New crowdsourcingtechnology for discussion forums andgrading large numbers of assignmentsare enabling professors to reach morestudents in one course than they wouldhave in a lifetime.”The focus, however, remains firmlyon the needs of the students, not on thenovelty of these tools. The process ofdesigning the prerequisite courses beganwith identifying the subject areas mostsought-after by students preparing toenter a nursing program. The evolutionof the courses and their delivery methodsare evaluated against the resources andengagement of the busy adults who takethem, whether it’s the convenience ofa smartphone app or the practicality ofThinkstockphotos.comGoing the Distance

News from Around the SchoolNew Approaches to LearningThus far, the response to JHUSON’sonline courses has been enthusiastic.Students in the prerequisite courseshave offered such comments as “thebest online course I’ve ever taken” andpraised the level of contact with instructors and the value of the course.At the heart of this excitement is theparticipatory, collaborative nature of thecourses, with a variety of pre sentation“New crowdsourcing technologyfor discussion forums and gradinglarge numbers of assignments areenabling professors to reach morestudents in one course than theywould have in a lifetime.”—David Newtontools that enable all types of learnersto connect with the material and eachother. Students share a wealth of experience from their diverse backgrounds andare quickly able to apply what they learnto real-life scenarios, bringing the curriculum to life in an immediate way.For the faculty, it’s an opportunity toexamine familiar subject matter from a newperspective and a chance to actively fosterdialogue and mutual assistance amongstudents in a way that not only enrichesthe experience but helps the instructor toengage those who might otherwise lingerquietly in the virtual back row.Newton gives a great deal of creditto the faculty who have become excitedabout the possibilities opened up throughtechnology. “We’ve come a long way,” hereflects. “We’ve seen nothing short of arevolution over the last 15 years of howwe deliver education.” nDavid Newton, executive director ofProfessional Programs at the JohnsHopkins University School of Nursing,on MOOCS and online learning:Will Kirk/Homewoodphoto.jhu.edua variable-length course structure. Toaccommodate all students, as each classreaches its limit (35-50 registrants),another class is opened, with a poolof expert faculty ready to be tapped.What excites you about online learning within Professional Programs?Being a part of something that isalways evolving is definitely exciting.The diversification of our audienceis also very intriguing as we moveforward—nurse education will alwaysbe at the core of what we do, howeverwe’re also working toward more andmore interprofessional educationalprograms as well. I derive a great dealof my own personal job satisfactionknowing that my actions enable thegood work of countless individualsthat I will never meet.What do you think drew participantsto the Science of Safety in Healthcare MOOC on Coursera?The great thing is that our contentis being delivered in a manner forthe casual learner—the person whomight be interested in the topic area,but would never be able to comeon campus or attend a professionalconference. It allows the rich resourcesof the university and the amazingresearch of Johns Hopkins Universityfaculty to be dispersed to a mass audience like never before.Does the MOOC carry weightprofessionally, without accreditation?The students actually drive thereputation of the MOOC by whatthey say about it in social media orthrough professional conversationswith colleagues and this, in turn,drives what the marketplace value ofthe experience is. However, we’re alsolooking at how to have our coursesapproved for Continuing Nursing Education (CNE). We’re working throughthe early stages now, but our nextCoursera course—which will be onthe general topical area of elder care—may very well have the option of CNEcontact hours.What was the most surprising thingabout the partnership with Coursera?They have credibility and they havethe ability to reach an audience thatis—in all honesty—astonishing. Forexample, on the first day of enrollmentfor The Science of Safety in Healthcare, we had 400 students enrolled.Four hundred students before we hadmade any announcements concerningthe course, or distributed press releases.All that drove them was the course“register” button going live on thewebsite. Quite impressive.Johns Hopkins Nursing magazine.nursing.jhu.edu9

The Nurse asExecutiveby Jennifer L.W. Fink, RN, BSNWhen you thought about becoming anurse, you likely envisioned helpingpatients. In your mind’s eye, you probablysaw a hospital room or a clinic and someone lying in a bed. Youprobably did not picture aboardroom or corner office.Connie Curran, EdD,RN, and Therese Fitzpatrick, PhD, RN, want tochange that. Their newbook, Claiming the CornerOffice: Executive LeadershipLessons for Nurses, encourages nurses to look beyondclinical and nursing education roles to executive andentrepreneurial positions.Designed to “be consumed on a Boston to LasVegas flight,” Claiming theCorner Office is a brief overview ofnursing leadership and the path to anexecutive position. It’s also a call toaction. Curran and Fitzpatrick write,“We believe that—with health carereform still looming, but uncertain interms of its impact, and the nation’saging population destined to place anincreasing burden on an already overburdened system—there has never beena better time for nurses to move intomyriad leadership roles.”They point out, repeatedly, that theskills that make great nurses—organization, compassion, intimate knowledge ofthe healthcare industry, and a patientcentric focus—have value in the businessworld as well. Nurses, they say, need tolet go of their preconceived ideas ofwhat nurses do and embrace the fact thattheir skill set makes them highly valuableplayers in a world that’s restructuringand re-envisioning healthcare.10Johns Hopkins Nursing They are less clear on exactly whatit takes to get there. While Claiming theCorner Office includes a skills checklist tohelp nurses determine which leadershipskills they possess and which they needto strengthen, as well as some generalbusiness tips (one section is titled,“The Care and Feeding of Your Contacts”), it doesn’t offer a concrete path foraspiring nurse leaders. The lack of specifichow-to information isfrustrating at times.The authors write, forexample, that successfulnurse executives “learnedto identify, describe, andleverage their IC [intellectual capital]—their nursingknow-how; the knowledge,skills, and experience generated over rich and fulfilling careers—and communicate this expertiseto potent

son-editor@jhu.edu 410.614.5317 Send correspondence to: Editor Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing 525 N. Wolfe Street Baltimore, MD 21205 410.614.5317 Fax: 410.502.1043 son-editor@jhu.edu For general inquiries, call: 410.614.5317 A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Aaron Meshon now lives and works in New York City. His work .