FEBRUARY 2012 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

Scholarship Update

Purposes of

Scholarship Update

To communicate current

scholarship initiatives

within TWU School

of Nursing

To profile faculty,

student, and alumni

achievements

To provide information

regarding upcoming

conferences and funding

opportunities.

Inside this issue:

SON Update from the Dean

2

MSN Graduation 3

Male Association of Nursing Students

4

SIM family welcome 5

Campus Health 6

Networking Café 7

Convocation Address 10

Faculty Updates 12

Editors:

Guelda Redman and

Dr. Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham

Inside this issue of our Scholarship Up-

date, you will meet our first graduating

class from the MSN program who convo-

cated on November 5, 2011.

We wish them all the best as they serve

as leaders in the nursing profession.

You will also meet our new SIM family, the

simulation dolls that are already enhancing

student learning. The SIM Family Project is

a fundraising project that has brought

together many donors, including School of

Nursing Alumnae.

We are very grateful for your

contributions!

Please Join Us….

We are warmly inviting

nurses and other inter-

ested people to attend the

upcoming Religion and

Ethics in Pluralistic

Healthcare Contexts

Symposium to be

hosted at Trinity Western

University May 10—12th,

2012. This international

symposium will gather

nurses and other caregiv-

ers from across practice

and academic settings to

discuss the interface be-

tween religion, spirituality,

nursing and healthcare

ethics. The symposium

feature esteemed plenary

speakers, concurrent

presentations, a public

panel (Friday evening),

roundtable discussions with

leading thinkers in the

field, and a celebration of

the newly published books

Religion, Religious Eth-

ics, and Nursing (edited

by Marsha Fowler, Sheryl

Reimer-Kirkham, Eliza-

beth Johnston Taylor, and

Richard Sawatzky, 2011,

Springer Publishers) and

Religion: A Clinical

Guide for Nurses

(Elizabeth Johnston Taylor,

2012, Springer Publishers).

Many of the authors who

contributed to these books

will participate in the

symposium.

Plenary Speakers:

Marsha Fowler (Azusa

Pacific University, CA)

Elizabeth Johnston Taylor

(Mary Potter Hospice,

Auckland, NZ; Loma

Linda University, CA)

Donal O‘Mathuna (Dublin

City University, Ireland)

Rani Srivastava (Centre

for Addiction and Mental

Health, Toronto)

Sonya Grypma (TWU)

Early Bird rates available

until March 15, 2012 on

TWU‘s website

New graduates, new family!

PAGE 2 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

Ode to the Faculty of the SON—Dr. Landa Terblanche

As humans, participation in group

activities is unavoidably part of our everyday activities - the expression,

‗no man is an island‘ comes to mind. We are bound to be part of family,

sport, recreational, church and work

groups. Our involvement can be for-mal, informal and/or recreational in

nature. It is also assumed that we make individual and collective contri-

butions, not only to the work con-tent, but also to work processes, the

interpersonal and group dynamics as

well as the corporate culture and cli-mate. These conscious and even

unconscious factors influence individ-ual, team and organizational effec-

tiveness. It is interesting to note how

what we as individuals do in groups, informs our identity, need satisfac-

tion and support. It also reflects how we experience difficult feelings such

as frustration and stress.

After reading various definitions of

group participation I noticed that they all emphasize one or more of

the following defining characteristics of working in groups:

Our social interaction allows us to

communicate and to exert influ-ence on one another

Our agreed upon or common goals and targets facilitate the achieve-

ment of our objectives

How we structure our tasks, roles and rules will reflect in our inter-

action over and across time and situations

Our sense of inclusion in and attach-ment to the team dynamics influ-

ences the quality of our relation-

ships in the team, and with ‗the other‘ namely outside colleagues

and students

Group processes refer to group phe-

nomena such as the communication patterns used by the group. One way

to realize the importance of such group processes in the understanding

of workgroup behaviour is to return

to the topic of social loafing. It is

evident that one plus one does not necessarily add up to two. In group

tasks, where each member‘s contribu-tion is not clearly visible, there is a

tendency for individuals to decrease

their efforts. Social loafing, in other words, illustrates a process loss as a

result of using groups. But group processes can also produce positive

results; in other words, groups can create outputs greater than the sum

of their inputs.

Synergy, as used in biology, refers to

an action of two or more substances, resulting in an effect that differs from

the individual summation of the

substances. This concept is also used to understand group processes. Social

loafing, for instance, represents nega-tive synergy. The whole is less than

the sum of its parts. On the other hand, research teams are often used

in laboratories, because the diverse

skills of various individuals combined in a group produce more meaningful

research than could be generated by all of the researchers working inde-

pendently. That is, they produce posi-

tive synergy. Their process gains exceed their process losses.

In the African culture, Ubuntu de-

scribes our interconnectedness and

the responsibility to each other that flows from our connection. In terms of

group behaviour, the focus is on participation and consultation, mutual

trust, respect, care, collective unity and a common agenda. ―I am because

we are, and since we are, therefore I

am‖ is a good example of the 'self-in-community' foundation that gives rise

to sayings in Zulu, such as umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu - ―It is through

others that one attains selfhood‖.

Thinking of the Faculty of the School

of Nursing, the concepts of ‗agreed upon or common goals‘, ‗sense of

being part of a group‘, ‗synergy‘ and

Ubuntu come to mind. Although

each faculty member feels passion-ate about their own specialty area,

it is so exciting to experience how

all are working together to show ‗the whole is more than the sum of

the parts‘ and how everyone works together to educate Godly Christian

leaders.

Not only does the faculty display

cohesion when educating students but, in our ‗extra-curricular‘ activities

as well. We received donations from various on- and off-campus donors

to do some important renovations

throughout the School of Nursing. The hallways were painted over the

Christmas break and, we are continuing with various painting pro-

jects during the reading break – for

example the big lab. It is so interesting to get to know faculty‘s

hidden talents when doing projects like these – Sonya Grypma has be-

come known as our Interior Decora-

tor. We are also in the process of developing a Nursing Research and

Education Room which will provide working space for undergraduate

students and research assistants. It is exciting to see faculty members

being inspired and enthusiastic to

plan and contribute to these renovations.

Sheryl, Sonya, Rick, Faith,

Heather, Catherine, Barb,

Darlane and Deborah —

Thank you - not only for WHAT you are doing but also HOW you are doing it.

PAGE 3

14 Nurses Graduate in the Charter MSN class — November 2011

SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE FEBRUARY 2012

Fourteen nurses graduated with their Master of Science in

Nursing on November 5th, 2011 at TWU‘s Graduate Con-

vocation held in Abbotsford. The charter class, together

with family and faculty, also gathered in the Marlee

Snider Collegium for a Graduation Celebration on Friday

evening, November 4th. Dorolen Wolfs was honoured to

give the graduating address (Please read her speech on

p.10).

Abstracts from the completed Capstone Projects can be

found on our website.

CONGRATULATIONS TO:

BACK: Jaclyn Curll, Rosanne Rothenberg,

Deena Honan, Bonny Townsend, Leah Lacey,

Babita Prasad

FRONT: Sue Styles, Dorolen Wolfs, Grace Liu,

Cindy Regier, Heather Elliott, Kate McCulloch

Missing: Richard Sanassy, Rosanne Hampel

evidence on how to conduct such experiences in ways that are mutu-

ally beneficial to students and hosts.

In particular, our interest is not just in learning outcomes for Canadian

students, but also for local students in host settings, through an explora-

tion of experiences of partnering. The project will explore partnering

between Zambian and Canadian

nursing students, with the goal of contributing to the sparse empirical

evidence on partnerships in the con-text of international nursing educa-

tion placements. Using a case study

methodology, we will gather

descriptive data from Canadian and

Zambian nursing students, and key Zambian stakeholders, during an

upcoming travel studies course.

Congratulations to School of Nursing

Faculty — Professor Darlane Pank-ratz, Dr. Barb Astle, and Dr.

Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham — who were awarded the Western Northern

Region Canadian Association of

Schools of Nursing Research Award for their project ―Nursing Students Partnering: A Zambian-Canadian Case Study‖. In an era of globaliza-

tion, international learning experi-ences have become increasingly

commonplace in nursing education.

Although some empirical evaluation of such placements exists, several

significant gaps remain, including

TWU School of Nursing Faculty Recipients of WNRCASN Research

Award to Study Global Student Partnering

Prof. Darlane Pankratz, Dr. Sheryl

Reimer-Kirkham, and Dr. Barb Astle

Graduate Jackie Curll

(with her husband Tyler

who graduated with a

masters degree in bibli-

cal studies) and Sue

Styles

Graduates Dorolen

Wolfs and Babita

Prasad.

Left: Graduates Kate

McCulloch and Heather

Elliott celebrate with

family and friends

PAGE 4

The Male Association of Nursing Students (MANS) at TWU:

“How it Evolved” - by Brian Sherk (4th year nursing student) & Dr. Barb Astle

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

Entering first year university can seem rather daunting as there is a

lot of uncertainty about what lies

ahead. As a male nursing student, I remember feeling particularly uneasy

in a new context where the majority of my classmates were female. I

remember thinking ―I wonder what this is going to be like for me‖ as I

had not spoken to any other male

nurse graduates or students about their experiences. Early in the nurs-

ing program, there was an opportu-nity to meet some of the senior male

students. They were nice and ap-

proachable, but once the semester moved forward everyone went their

separate ways, so it was often diffi-cult to connect with these students.

At times, I thought, ―wouldn‘t it be great if there was a specific place

that the male students in the pro-

gram could meet‖ – affording an op-portunity to chat about our experi-

ences and get some answers to questions that we may feel uncom-

fortable discussing with our female classmates.

In the Fall of 2010, as I entered my third year of nursing, I finally made

the decision that I was going to ad-dress ―the gap‖ that existed: finding

a space for the male students in the School of Nursing (SON) to meet and

hopefully provide an opportunity to

have conversations about ―what it is like to be a male student nurse‖. At

the beginning, ―my dream‖ and in-tention was to have a venue for

some of the male nurses in the latter

years of the program to provide some peer conversations, encour-

agement and a faith perspective for the male nursing students who were

situated earlier in the program. I proposed this idea to my classmate,

Jori Dueck and he fully supported

that we should move forward on this initiative.

As a result, Jori worked alongside me

in planning the inaugural meeting of the TWU, Male Association of

Nursing Students (MANS) in No-

vember 2010. There was excellent representation of male nursing

students from all four years of the program. The discussions at this

initial gathering were centered around ideas and questions that

the group thought were important

for them as male nursing students, such as, a ―what is it like to work

in a clinical area, such as mater-nity?‖, as well as there were gen-

eral questions about the program.

Yet, it also made me contemplate: ―Are these questions we have -

similar concerns for our female classmates who are caring for male

clients?‖ There seems to be this persistent notion in terms of what

the general society thinks relative

to a stereotypical perspective of the type of males entering into

nursing in a female dominated pro-fession (Lunau, K., 2011). How can

we then demystify the precon-

ceived stereotypes others may have about males in nursing?

Whether we are male or female isn‘t our purpose the same in re-

gards to providing the best care

for our clients?

Since MANS formation, our group has met quarterly either on cam-

pus or at someone‘s home. There are currently 14 males in the asso-

ciation. It is our belief that as the

number of male nursing students increase, an association such as

this may be a suitable platform for providing continuing peer engage-

ment and spiritual support at TWU.

Reference:

Lunau, K. (December 22, 2011). The enduring stereotype of the

male nurse. Macleans.

Back Row: Graeme Rosenfeld, Matt Embree, Jori Dueck, Byron Sherk,

Robert Spaulding

Front Row: William Harding, Matt Wakutz, David Gariepy, Stuart Hodge

The School of Nursing is pleased to announce a new addition to our

family – the SIMS. No, this isn‘t a

new video game, but a family of simulation mannequins that will be

used for nursing education throughout

the four years of our

program.

Simulation is widely used

in nursing education. It

relies on in-

teractive and responsive

computer-based mannequins for realistic and standardized training.

For example, computerized scenar-ios allow students to assess heart

and lung sounds on the mannequin

which is able to reproduce both nor-

mal and abnormal conditions. Stu-dents may also perform procedures

such as taking a blood pressure or

inserting a feeding tube or catheter. Through the use of realistic scenarios,

students apply their newly acquired nursing knowledge to make decisions

about how to ―treat‖ the mannequin, simulating clinical decision-making

skills that are essential for nurses to

develop.

Using simulation, nurse educators can

create situations that nursing stu-dents might not specifically face in

their clinical experiences as students

and thus can help them prepare for the high level of acuity they are likely

to see when they graduate. The simu-lations can be adapted to address

specific patient populations such as older adults, children, infants, and

pregnant women so these will be well

-used across the curriculum.

Simula-tion pro-

vides an

essential avenue

to en-hanced student learning in an era

when the capacity for health regions to provide clinical placements for

nursing students is continually de-

creasing.

Since the SIMS arrived at TWU, there

has been a lot of enthusiasm and ex-citement from our students. First year

students have been using them in

their assessment lab and third year students in pediatrics have been run-

ning infant and child Code Blue sce-narios. The faculty and students are

very grateful for the generous donors who have contributed to enhanced

student learning in the School of

Nursing.

TWU SON Welcomes a New

Addition — by Heather Meyerhoff

PAGE 5 SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE FEBRUARY 2012

Students Volunteer at 17th Annual Ethel John’s Nursing Research Forum — by Barb Astle

On Feb. 4th , 2012, four N332 third

year nursing students, accompanied with their Instructor, Dr. Barb Astle

attended the 17th Annual Ethel John‘s Nursing Research Forum enti-

tled ―Nursing Innovation: Promoting,

Creating, Embracing‖, in Vancouver. These students had the opportunity

to listen to some excellent presenta-tions from nurse researchers, includ-

ing presentations from our own TWU SON faculty and graduate students.

Below are comments of how attend-

ing this nursing research forum im-pacted these undergraduate nursing

students.

"As a student, I found it motivating to experience first-hand how re-search positively transforms and evolves our discipline. I was im-pacted by the countless research projects currently exploring both

relevant and controversial issues that we experience in nursing today, illustrating how truly dynamic our practice is." - Lenica Godin

"It was so encouraging to see that nursing research is changing nursing and that I have the potential to change healthcare practice too". - Robert Spaulding

―Attending the research forum im-pacted me in a number of ways, such as how research today is be-coming more focused on partnering and collaboration. Fraser Health is stressing that ‗home is best‘ and I think this encapsulates what new ‗leaps and bound‘ our healthcare system is making‖. - Laura Baird

―The Ethel Johns Research Forum was immensely engaging and inspir-ing. It highlighted the necessity and

inherent ability for nurses to be inno-vative in improving the health and wellness of the population as individu-als and as a whole. As well, it was a unique insight into the possibilities of becoming a professional nurse while blending practical experience with aca-demic and philosophical inquiries‖. - Stacy Johnson

Robert Spaulding, Lenica

Godin, Dr. Barb Astle, Stacy

Johnson, & Laura Baird

3rd year students with

SIM family

Melissa Nierop and

Kierra Obzera with

baby SIM

PAGE 6

Undergraduate Nursing Students Contribute to Campus Health

The baccalaureate nursing students

participate in a range of learning

experiences on and off campus.

During the fall term, 4th year nurs-

ing students developed a variety of

projects to promote community

health as part of the Nursing 465

Community Course. In the photo

above, Fourth year nursing student,

Chelsea Cote-Jackson talks with

President Raymond about the im-

portance of sleep on overall student

health for a health awareness pro-

ject for the TWU Wellness Center.

As part of the same course, 4th

year students also partnered with

the TWU Wellness Centre to organ-

ize the annual TWU Flu Clinic.

300 vaccinations were given by the

students. The clinic provided stu-

dents with invaluable learning about

organizing a flu clinic, administering

the vaccinations, and obtaining the

necessary statistics at the end.

―The experience was amazing for

the students‖, said Professor

Deborah Gibson.

SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE FEBRUARY 2012

Ethics Poster Forum: 4th year Nursing Students Promote Dialogue

Fourth year students also hosted an

Ethics Poster Forum in the Atrium.

Addressing a range of topics, such

as de-institutionalization of the

mentally ill, homelessness, global

pharmaceutical distributions, end-of

-life decision making, and elective

cesarean sections, the students in-

teracted with students and faculty

from across campus.

Campus Nurse Michele Regehr

is joined by School of Nursing

Deborah Gibson, Sandra Gra-

ham, and Faith Richardson

Lorraine Geng

Melissa Durksen prepares a

vaccination

PAGE 7 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

NURSING NETWORKING CAFÉ — Nurses Discuss Integration of a

Palliative Approach with Nurse Researcher Dr. Stajduhar

and how nurses are engaging in this research. With these opening com-

ments and some guiding questions

to foster conversation, nurses talked in smaller groups about how princi-

ples of palliative care might be ap-plied in non-palliative settings.

There was also animated discussion

about nurses‘ involvement in re-search and how a project such as

iPANEL could foster evidence-informed care. The evening

wrapped up with comments be re-

spondents Della Roberts (End-of-Life Care Clinical Nurse Specialist, Fraser

Health and co-Investigator, iPANEL),

Victoria Alcuaz (Clinical Nurse Spe-cialist for Hospice Palliative Care,

Fraser Health and clinical intern, iPANEL), Glenda King (Clinical Re-

source Nurse, Hospice Palliative Care

Team, Langley and TWU MSN stu-dent) and Carolyn Taylor (Director

Hospice Palliative and End of Life

Care, Fraser Health and iPANEL Lead Investigator). Nurses left the eve-

ning, pleased with having made new connections, and hopeful for what

nurses contribute to the care of people with life-limiting conditions.

TWU School of Nursing is hosting a series of Nursing Networking Cafes

that are well attended by nurses from the local area. On January

26th, thirty nurses, graduate and 4th

year nursing students gathered to discuss how palliative principles can

be integrated into the care of people who are dying from chronic life-

limiting conditions. Dr. Kelli Stajdu-

har, from University of Victoria, who is heading a nursing research initia-

tive on a Palliative Approach for Nursing: Evidence and Leadership

(iPANEL) provided an overview of the benefits of a palliative approach,

TWU Nurse Researchers Meet with Expert Scholars for Think Tank on Geography, Plurality and Home Health

How does the place in which health-

care services are delivered influence care? How are religion/spirituality

and culture taken into account in Home Health? These were the

questions that were the focus for a

Think Tank held on January 18th in Richmond. TWU nurse researchers

Dr. Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham (Principal Investigator), co-

investigators Dr. Sonya Grypma and Dr. Rick Sawatzky, and re-search associates Marie Cochrane,

Dorolen Wolfs and Valbona Shytlla

were joined by a group of interdisci-plinary scholars for a day of think-

ing deeply about these questions. Geographer Denise Cloutier-Fisher

(UVic) provided an overview of the

current scholarly developments in the field of social geography. Other

scholars included Dr. Lori Beaman

(Canadian Research Chair, Religion and Diversity Project, UOttawa), Dr.

Pamela Klassen (Professor, Study of Religion, U of T), Dr. Barb Pesut

(Canada Research Chair, Health,

Ethics, and Diversity, UBC-O), Dr. Jens Zimmerman (Canada Research

Chair, Interpretation, Religion, and Culture, TWU), Dr. Paddy Rodney

(Nurse Ethicist, UBC), and Dr. Sally Thorne (Professor Nursing, UBC).

PAGE 8

which might do so in the future. The anticipated shift in nursing over the

next decade from an emphasis on

―what do nurses‘ know‖ to ―what do nurses value‖, she argued, foreshad-

ows a shift towards values-based practice. She suggested that for

Christian nurses, increasing attention to the values that undergird nursing

practice should give us pause as we

consider the role of values such as compassion, integrity, servant-

leadership, holism, discernment, honesty, forgiveness and Sabbath

rest. Suggesting that a new era of

nursing is upon us, Sonya invited

Christian nurses to re-envision es-sential nursing values for the 21st

century.

How can nurses anticipate and influ-

ence trends in professional practice? This was the question addressed by

Dr. Sonya Grypma in a keynote presentation entitled ―Transforming

Nursing: Historically-Informed Lead-

ership‖ at a Nurses Christian Fellow-ship Australia conference in Sydney

NSW in November 2011. Sonya of-fered a fresh approach to preparing

nurses for an unseen future by draw-ing on 2000 years of nursing history

to identify which key paradigms,

leaders, issues, events, and values have shaped nursing in the past, and

Nursing Leadership Down Under - by Dr. Sonya Grypma

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

A Day in the Life of the Clinic

and has been working there since graduation.

Hadassah wrote a poem regarding

her work at the clinic and gave per-

mission to share with all. Dr. Landa Terblanche

Hadassah Moes graduated from the

BSN program in 2011. She did her preceptorship in an inter-city clinic

A Day in the Life of the Clinic. And so I write...

It‘s the week after Christmas, and for many refugees, the reality of Christmas, is far from tangible:

A whirl- wind week. God.

I live in the tension. I wrestle,

Yet still trust,

That you bring joy

out of suffering.

This week I left the clinic. My mind spinning

And my heart weighted-

Yet still beating. A Single 29 yr old Somali woman

Here alone- Fleeing the persecution of her homeland

A beautiful woman,

fully clad in headdress and multi-colored sari.

She sits down in my office.

I do a thorough triage and health history. When I ask about her life in the refugee camp,

She numbly discloses A long history of rape.

Raped so many times she cannot even recall.

Surgically fixed- both of her hips broken due to the extent of torture.

As I turn and gaze into Her deep brown eyes,

The caverns of pain are apparent- though she holds back the tears from welling over.

I chart thoroughly and feel disgusted At the moral depravity of the human race.

God I can dress her wounds And provide what little I know of medical help,

But nothing

No nothing Will even

Begin to heal Her heart.

Except.

You.

And your love.

PAGE 9 SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE FEBRUARY 2012

O God

let grace rain.

You-

You can.

Make all things new.

I let go. And let God.

I wait. I work. And

She lives. And is living…

Thank you

for new beginnings at life.

I am stilled.

A 5 minute Break…and the next patient slowly enters the

room.

He limps and sits. A 48-year-old Iraqi man.

We chat small talk via the Arabic interpreter.

I then inquire if he has any imminent medical concerns that he would like to have addressed.

He nods. And slowly lifts his shirt.

His body-

From head to toe- a road-map of scars-

Kidnapped; blindfolded; and brutally beaten

with the backside of a war rifle.

When presumed dead- burned

with hot iron rods. Both feet

severely disfigured. The circular scars seared into his backside are healing-

slowly.

The post Saddam Hussein realities are here in my office. I sit numbly.

I feel deeply inadequate. ―How long O Lord till we see your righteous hand…‖

I do what I can to link him in to Mobility and Physiother-apy services

And then book him in to see the MD. However the reality is stark:

The psychologist has at minimum, a six-month waiting list.

And this is whom he needs most…

Living and working Amidst the realities of a broken health system

And broken world.

And then (thank you Lord) that there are the beautiful redemptive stories:

Stories Of reunion and hope.

Two Iranian couples Are reunited after 7 years of separation.

The joy is palpable

And their ear-to-ear grins Say it all.

Being the bearer of good news is sheer joy

The second line on the pregnancy test slowly emerges-

I enter the room and share the news. Tears cascade like rain

Down her hijab The woman embraces me in a long hug.

Her husband stands to the side- beaming. A two-year struggle with infertility.

And now pregnant.

Hope- not just a word,

but a tangible presence.

Thank-you Lord

For blessings amidst pain. It brings them-

And myself- To tears.

―Perspective:‖ Definition: How we choose

To see. Shifted.

Yes, it is Christmas.

And I am. Beyond grateful.

For a chance

at life; Our hope

(with) in Christ;

and for all of you wonderful people- who bring joy

to my life.

Be most blessed.

~ Hadassah

PAGE 10 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

Dorolen Wolfs, MSN, Addresses Convocation Audience

bility that I needed to even complete graduate studies. However, the real

draw was the prospect of being

taught by the same professors that initially inspired me at the Faith and

Nursing Symposium. I was not dis-appointed! Their infectious passion

for their subject, combined with their palpable interest in seeing us

all succeed, made for a rich learning

environment. They pointed out op-portunities for growth and success

and offered encouragement along the way. Their continuous examples

of servant-leadership have taught

me much more than the books I read [though the books were great

too!]. I know that this was not only my experience; could we all take a

moment to thank those professors who took an interest in our learning.

In each course, I was encouraged to integrate my faith in my reflections

and writing. The idea of integrating

my faith was, at first, foreign. How-ever, this expectation—which contin-

ued in each course—led to a fruitful and rewarding cross-pollination of

my understanding of the heart of

Jesus with the discipline of critical thinking. Not only was my faith en-

riched through inspection, but, my nursing mantel was given new

meaning. I scrutinized my professed values and compared them to the

way I actually lived. Once in the

light, my ideas of who is important and what kind of work is important

shifted as I saw my own biases and dissonance for what they were. I

began to see that it wasn‘t the nurs-

ing work that was too humble, but I who had an unjustifiably narrow

sense of what was valuable.

I also discovered the connection

between my faith and what issues stirred my heart. My belief of the

equal (and immeasurably high!) value that God places on all humans

naturally worked its way into my

uptake of ‗social justice,‘ particularly

in regard to lis-

tening to the voices of the mar-

ginalized. I made an effort to inten-

tionally hear the

quieter voices. I began to love not only the little pushes, but the workers who did the pushing. This worked its way out in a history pa-

per and in my thesis, where I

choose to add the voices of ordinary nurse to the historical record which

is skewed to the celebrated stories of nursing‘s elite.

And so, little by little, under the leadership of my professors, in a

collegial setting with other graduate

students, and throughout each stage of course work and thesis writing,

the power and value of the aggre-gate of tiny pushes became real for me. In a history paper, in which I recognized past ‗ordinary‘ nurses

who acted as change agents even

though they were situated within oppressive social structures, I saw

the power of their vision. By align-ing the pushes in a singular direction

[or vision], much can be made of

opportunities—even very limited ones. One example is Ruth Bailey, a

woman who desperately wanted to be a nurse. However, being it was

the mid-1940s, she was refused ad-mission to several programs because

of her black skin colour. At this time,

racism was systematically sustained and promoted by the nursing profes-

sion and health-care administrators who believed that ―Canadian women

of non-European heritage could not

be relied on to reflect morality of health at the bedside, to meet the

standard of gentility demanded by élite patients, or to negotiate the

tricky sexual terrain of patient

care‖ (McPherson, 2003, p. 17).

―While little is known about Ruth

I recently came across this senti-

ment from Helen Keller: ―I long to accomplish a great and noble task,

but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as if they were great

and noble. The world is moved

along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggre-

gate of the tiny pushes of each hon-est worker‖ (Larsen, 2009, p. 25).

It wasn‘t until I was well into my graduate studies that I began to see

the aggregate of tiny pushes as be-ing as important as Helen Keller pro-

posed.

In fact, three years ago, I was gear-

ing up to go big and steer as far

away as possible from ‗humble tasks‘ like those that nurses are

known to cheerfully do. I wanted to use my life to make a difference—

the kind of difference that is mark-edly great and noble and not just a

tiny push of a mere nurse. I was in

search of a profession that would capitalize on my enjoyment of prob-

lem solving, critical thinking, and continued learning.

Then, in January 2009, my mom, who is a Trinity professor of Biblical

Studies, invited me on a mother-

daughter date to attend the ―Faith and Nursing Symposium‖ at Trinity

Western University. Trinity‘s own Dr. Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham, together

with other invited scholars, pre-sented their new research in spiritu-

ality and health care and invited the

attendees to explore fresh ways of thinking in rounds of discussion. I

was energized both intellectually and spiritually, and was hooked! I be-

gan to discover that perhaps nursing

was bigger than the box I had put it in, and that this university would be

the best place to pursue graduate studies.

As a wife and mother of three small children, Trinity‘s Master of Science

in Nursing program offered the flexi-

Contribute to TWU’s Nursing Alumni Endowed Scholarship Fund

Trinity Western University Nursing program is known for its

unique, faith based education – not duplicated in Canada. Since

1997 TWU Nursing graduates have earned a reputation for ex-

cellence in practice. In the midst of a nursing shortage, there are

excellent applicants eager to enroll at TWU Nursing but are un-

able to do so for financial reasons. Employers and clients of

TWU Nursing graduates speak to the critical difference they

identify between TWU Nursing graduates and other nurses in

practice.

TWU Nursing Faculty invite you to join them in contributing to the

Nursing Alumni Endowed Scholarship.

Your donations to the Nursing Alumni Endowed Scholarship are vital to our ability to

attract and retain the strongest students who will graduate as professional nurses

serving as Godly Christian leaders in their workplaces.

One time or scheduled ongoing donations (cheques or credit card) are welcomed.

Donors to the Nursing Alumni Endowed Scholarship will be issued receipts for tax

purposes.

Please review donation opportunities at: www.twu.ca/academics/science/nursing/

donations.html

PAGE 11 SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE FEBRUARY 2012

Baily, we can gather from the avail-

able evidence that she envisioned equality shown by Black women being

accepted into nursing. She communi-cated this vision to others who could

support and further the vision‖ (Wolfs,

2010, History of Nursing paper, p. 10) –namely, her father who was presi-

dent of the United Negro Improve-ment Association; he wrote to Prime

Minister Mackenzie King to plead her case. She pursued excellence in her

training and practice in order to be a

worthy trailblazer who set a positive example of Black women‘s abilities to

be great nurses. Ultimately, she was part of shifting the social and political

structures of the time to accept Black

women as nurses, and to encourage

other Black women to pursue a nursing profession.

One area of ‗little pushes‘ that we might all easily relate to is the proc-

ess of completing our theses or cap-stone projects. Each moment spent

researching and writing was like a stone being laid to build a house.

Each day of working on our re-

search may have felt like we got an insignificant amount of work done,

but with perseverance and a com-mitment to excellence, the end

product is meaningful, and is some-thing. And, in the end, our ap-proach to the small moments be-

comes evident.

We all make little pushes in our

work and in our relationships, whether we are intentional or not.

―I believe, along with Eriksson (1997) that, ‗every time we meet

another person we can, by our atti-

tude, either oppress or confirm the other person, reject or raise him/her

to another level of self-respect‘ (p. 73)‖ (Wolfs, 2009, philosophy paper

#3, p. 3). Let us take pride in our humble tasks—whatever they might

be—and push on in the direction

that is life-giving, understanding that our choices each stack up to

make a difference one way or an-other, not only in how we spend our

lives, but in how others live as well.

PAGE 12 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

Recent Faculty Presentations and Accepted Abstracts

NOTE: Full Abstracts if available at www.twu.ca/academics/nursing/newsletters.html or click on title.

Astle, B., & Mill, J. (November 2011). Global citizenship in nursing education. 2011 Global Health Conference, Montreal Canada.

Astle, B., Wilson, L., Ogilvie, L., & Mill, J. (November 2011). Workshop: Integrating global health content and pro-moting global health competencies in undergraduate and graduate level nursing programs. 2011 Global

Health Conference, Montreal Canada.

Grypma, S. (November, 2011) Transforming nursing: Historically-informed leadership [Keynote]. Nurses Christian Fellowship Australia Leadership Conference. Sydney, Australia.

Pottie, K., Orbinski, J., Tyndall, M., Anderson, K., Astle, B., Abelson, J., Hashimi, A., & Bernstein, A. (November 2011). Workshop Symposium: Pathways to global health: Building platforms for scholarship and career paths. 2011 Global Health Conference, Montreal.

Grypma, S. & Zhen, C. (December, 2011). China nursing: An overview from 1874-2000. A Century of Medicine

and Nursing in China Workshop. China Medical Board, Boston.

Judd, L., Jakubec, S., Astle, B., & Merkley, C. (December, 2011). Experiencing research literacy for clinical practice ―The research policy challenge‖. Poster presentation. Faculty Scholar‘s Showcase. Faculty of Health and Community Studies, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB.

Suzuki, M., Sawatzky, R., & Roberts, D. (February 4, 2012). Partnering: An essential strategy for a provincial nurse survey. Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing: 17th Annual Ethel Johns Research

Day. Vancouver.

Cochrane, M., Reimer-Kirkham, S., Edmond, A., Wolfs, D., Grypma, S., Pesut, B., Sawatzky, R., & Sharma, S. (February 2012). Across the threshold: Religious, spiritual, and cultural plurality in home health. Ethel Johns Research Forum, Vancouver, B.C.

Jakubec, S., & Astle, B., Judd, L., & Merkley, C. (February 2012). Enlivened research literacy through an examina-tion of the evidence in policy and practice guidelines. WNRCASN 2012 Conference, Lethbridge, AB. Canada.

Jakubec, S., & Astle, B. (February 2012). Believer or skeptic? Nursing students practice evidence informed decision making with everyday questions. WNRCASN 2012 Conference, Lethbridge, AB. Canada.

Reimer-Kirkham, S. (March 1, 2012). Reluctant accommodation: Religion in the public sphere of health care. Panelist for Religion in Public Institutions: Where does it Fit? In conjunction with Explore and Discuss se-

ries and exhibition God(s): A User‘s Guide. Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec.

Gunn, G., Ewing, G., & Sawatzky, R. (accepted for March 14-16, 2012). The relative importance of support do-mains in explaining adverse effects from family care giving. The 9th Palliative Care Congress. Newcastle Gateshead, UK,

Reimer-Kirkham, S., Cochrane, M., & Sharma, S. (March ,2012). Reluctant accommodation? The negotiation of religious and cultural plurality in Canadian health care. Sociology of Religion Study Group (SOCREL) An-

nual Conference. Chester, UK.

Grypma, S. (invited for March, 2012). China Mshkids: Women between worlds. Nursing History: Frontiers and Be-

yond. History Roundtable, Carleton University, Ottawa.

Gunn, G., Ewing, G., & Sawatzky, R. (accepted for June, 2012). Supporting family carers: The relative importance of different support domains in explaining negative and positive impacts from caregiving. The 7th World Re-search Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care. Trontheim, Norway.

Grypma, S. (accepted for June, 2012) Historians without borders: Transnational nursing history as an educational tool for a globalized profession. International Nursing Conference: Nursing: Caring to know, knowing to

care. School of Nursing, Henrietta Szold Hadassah Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.

Zhen, C. & Grypma, S. (invited for June, 2012). China Nursing. A Century of Medicine and Nursing in China Work-shop. China Medical Board , Beijing, China.

Recent Faculty Publications

Fowler, M., Reimer-Kirkham, S., Sawatzky, R., & Johnston-Taylor, E. (2011). Religion,religious ethics, and nurs-ing. New York: Springer Publishers. [BOOK]

Grypma, S. (2011). In Retrospect: A room of one‘s own. Journal of Christian Nursing, 28(4) 236

Grypma, S. (forthcoming July 2012). China Interrupted: Japanese Internment and the Reshaping of a Missionary Community (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press) [BOOK]

Grypma, S. & Wu, N. (2012). China confidential: Methodological and ethical challenges in global nursing historiog-

raphy. Nursing History Review, 20. 162-183

Grypma, S. (2012). In-Retrospect: Historically-informed nursing. Journal of Christian Nursing, 29(1) 12

Sawatzky, R., Ratner, P.A., Richardson, C.G., Washburn, C., Sudmant, W., & Mirwaldt, P. (2012). Stress and de-

pression in students: The mediating role of stress-management self-efficacy. Nursing Research, 61(1), 13-

21. doi: 10.1097/NNR.0b013e31823b1440

Voth, J., Sawatzky, R., Ratner, P.A., Young, M.L., Repta, R., Haines-Saah, R., & Johnson, J.L. (first published online: January 3, 2012). A computer-assisted approach to filtering large numbers of documents for media

analyses. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. doi: 10.1080/13645579.2011.645700.

Sawatzky, R. & Ratner, P.A. (in press; accepted February 17, 2012). Medline. In A. Michalos (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research. New York: Springer. http://refworks.springer.com/mrw/index.php?id=2801

Reimer-Kirkham, S., Pesut, B., Sawatzky, R., Cochrane, M., Redmond, A. (in press). Discourses of spiritual-

ity and leadership in nursing: A mixed methods analysis. Journal of Nursing Management.

PAGE 13

Recent Faculty Funding

A mixed methods knowledge synthesis about nursing care delivery and practice supports for a pallia-

tive approach. R. Sawatzky (Researcher Co-Leader), P. Porterfield (Practitioner Co-Leader), K. Stajduhar, J. Baumbusch,

B. Pesut, S. Reimer-Kirkham, D. Roberts, C. Tayler, T. Schalkwyk, & S. Thorne. Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, British Columbia Nursing Research Initiative (2012-2014, $249,491).

Palliative care without borders: Rural integrated palliative approach team. Pesut, B. (PI), Hooper, B., Robinson, C., Bottorff, J., Sawatzky, R., Clarke, W., Lehbauer, S., Nutinii, T.,

Nielsen, B., Jacobsen, M. Peter Wall Foundation. (2012/02-2014/02, $110,000 per annum).

Nursing students partnering: A Zambian-Canadian study. D.Pankratz, B.Astle, S.Reimer-Kirkham.

Western Northern Region Canadian Association Schools of Nursing. (2012 - 2014, $5000).

Enhancing educational capacity for a palliative approach in rural nursing: A research demonstration

Project. Researcher Co-leader – Barbara Pesut, University of British Columbia Practitioner Co-leader – Gail Potter, Selkirk College. McLean, T., Reimer-Kirkham, S., Doane, G., Hutchings, D., McLeod, B., Schmitz,

R., Stajduhar, K. Michael Smith Health Research Foundation BC Nurses Research Initiative. (2012—2014, $249,695).

Faith and Nursing Symposium: Religion and ethics in pluralistic healthcare contexts. Principal Investigator: L.Terblanche Co-investigators: S. Reimer-Kirkham, S.Grypma, R.Sawatzky.

TWU Internal Grants. (2012, $3800).

Integrated knowledge translation: Examining a collaborative knowledge translation approach.

Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham (Project Lead), Elisabeth Antifeau, Gweneth Doane, Barb Pesut, Pat Porterfield, Della Roberts, Kelli Stajduhar Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, British Columbia Nursing Re-

search Knowledge Translation Demonstration Project. (2012—2014, $150,000).

PAGE 13 SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE FEBRUARY 2012

PAGE 14 VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

Donations from supporters of TWU Nursing will help us reach our goal of $37,000.

Every donation—whether $10, $100, or $1000—brings us closer to this goal!

To donate to the Sim Family Project, please visit www.impacttwu.ca/fundraising/fundraising.aspx

To access ‗The Sim Family Project‘ – On the Main Page under Programs: Click on ‗Academics‘; under Projects click on ‗School of

Nursing‘: The Sim Family Project. Finally, click on View Project Page

Project:

School of Nursing: The SIM Family Project

In an effort to continue in the tradition of excellence that the TWU School of Nursing established since its

initiation over fifteen years ago. TWU’s nursing faculty hope to incorporate medium fidelity simulation man-

nequins into the school’s Clinical Nursing Laboratory.

The excellence of TWU’s nursing program is recognized by national

and provincial accrediting bodies, as well as local employers and the

patients and families for whom TWU nurses care for. To achieve this

excellence, the baccalaureate nursing program incorporates liberal arts

and humanities, science, and nursing courses. Clinical experiences

and laboratory preparation are foundational to integrating the knowl-

edge from these courses.

Simulation is now widely used in nursing and other health-related fields

and is considered integral to delivery of nursing education. Simulation

relies on interactive and responsive computer-based mannequins for

realistic and standardized training. For example, computerized scenarios allow students to assess heart

and lung functioning on the mannequin which is able to reproduce both normal and abnormal conditions.

The students then draw on their newly acquired nursing knowledge to make decisions about how to inter-

vene or treat the mannequin, thus simulating the real life clinical decisions that nurses make. The simula-

tion mannequin provides real-life experience in a safe environment. Using simulation, nurse educators can

create situations that nursing students might not necessarily face in their clinical experiences, given that not

all students have all experiences in clinical settings. While simulation will never replace clinical learning in

the hospitals and in community settings, it provides an essential avenue to enhanced student learning in an

era when the capacity for clinical placements is continually decreasing.

Goal: $37,000.00 CAD

Funds Raised: $33.585.00