Seizing Capital Opportunities in Nursing’s Future

t was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”-Charles

Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities.” And so began the opening “I remarks for the AWHONN 1997 Annual Convention, from

keynote speaker Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes.

“ [Dickens’] statement mirrors what is happening in our chosen field of health care. We have a soci- ety that lives longer, smokes less, is more health conscious, has slightly better health behaviors, and is opti- mistic about continued progress in medical technology,” Howse said.

“At the same time, we’re also working our way through the evo- lution of managed care, bioethics, budget cuts and disappearing safety nets, the erosion of health insur- ance, especially for children, and scores of other tough issues. I think it’s very important in times of change and challenge to keep very clear about your vision of what health care should be about in this country,” Howse continued in her opening remarks to the 1,700 nurses and allied health profes- sionals gathered at the “Capital Opportunities, the AWHONN 1997 Convention.

For more than three days in Washington, DC, AWHONN mem- bers and other nurses heard from leading experts in women’s health and neonatal nursing on both the latest in clinical practices and inno- vations and strategies for negotiat- ing the turbulent times currently reshaping the nursing field.

part of this time in which we live. It’s all part of an evolution that our profession is experiencing like many, many industries are experi- encing. It’s called reorganization and reengineering-it’s called rapid-

“Yes, nurses will survive. It’s all

ly changing times ...,” said Dr. Celeste Phillips, EdD, RN, and president of Phillips & Fenwick, during her presentation, “Legends From Our Past, Visions for Our Future: Perinatal Nursing in the 21st Century.”

Rising above the tides of sharp criticism and negativity, keynote speakers steered nurses toward opti- mism and opportunities at hand for those who are willing to adapt to the changes in the market.

“In the midst of these great chal- lenges are opportunities. Opportun- ities for health care delivery to change, opportunities for our soci-

ety to change, and opportunities for us to change. The answer to all of these challenges in the next millen- nium lies in our ability to forge the political will to work together in a community of shared interest, in our individual capacity to maintain our personal vision of what health care should be for mothers and babies, and in our ability to blend humanity and technology in the world of medicine,” March of Dimes’ Howse said.

October 1997 L i f e l i n e s 59

Other important sessions includ- ed talks on advanced practice nurs- ing opportunities; executive survival skills and the evolution of the voice of nursing. Additionally, more than 100 allied health professionals, medical device and drug manufac- turers, and health care publishers took the opportunity to network with AWHONN nurses. An onsite media center featured a variety of video programs, and nurses had the chance to talk politics with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) at a sold-out legislative breakfast. The convention also fea- tured clinical research and innova- tive poster sessions along with prac- tice and research consultations.

Mark your calendars now and plan to attend the 1998 AWHONN Convention, “Forging New Frontiers,” in San Antonio, TX. For more infor- mation about the 1998 convention, log onto the AWHONN WWW site (http://www.AWHONN.org) or call the Fax-on-Demand line at (800) 395-7373 and request document #305 for the Call for Abstracts or #306 for 1998 Convention Highhghts.

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Awards Program Teen pregnancy is a problem. Fortunately, it is being addressed in creative and innovative ways. Schools, churches, hospitals, health departments, local newspapers, and television stations are examples of groups that, independently or as community coalitions, are creating programs to help prevent teen preg- nancy. Whether as a volunteer or staff, AWHONN members play a vital role in many of these programs and in the lives of the teens they reach. The newly created Innovations in Teen Pregnancy Prevention Award will recognize and reward the efforts of these programs.

Any teen pregnancy prevention program, in which an active AWHONN member is involved, is eligible for an award. The AWHONN member involved in the program, be it as a volunteer, staff, consultant, or another role, is encouraged to submit an applica- tion on behalf of that program. The program must have been in exis- tence for at least one year before

the application deadline of January 30, 1998. For more information about nominating a program for this award, please contact Pearl Thorpe 1-800-673-8499 ext. 1623 or visit the AWHONN Web site (http://www.AWHONN.org).

at the 1997 AWHONN Auction Gala-A Capitol Opportunity to Conquer Teen Pregnancy.

Money for these awards was raised

Wood Named as Distinguished Nursing Professional Former AWHONN president (1995) Sylvia H. Wood, MSN, CNM, has been honored with AWHONN’s 1997 Distinguished Professional Service Award for her lifelong contributions to women’s health and neonatal nursing. During the last 22 years, Wood has held a variety of positions within AWHONN, at the section, district, and national levels. She has served as a staff nurse, head nurse, certi- fied nurse midwife, chief of a nurse midwifery clinic, maternal-child supervisor, and educator. In 1987, she was named Tennessee NAACOG Nurse of the Year.

During her distinguished career, Wood has developed and imple- mented a nurse-run midwifery clinic at a large military hospital that pro- vided patients options for mid- wifery care throughout the child- bearing experience. She also provid- ed the guidance and leadership to transition a large medical center

into the mother-baby model of care. She also led AWHONN dur- ing a significant period of adjust- ment as the organization underwent a name change and the separation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). In making the award, Wood was lauded for her “consum- mate leadership with remarkable energy and perseverance toward the attainment of excellence.”

Masten Helps Build Knowledge Base Whether providing continuing edu- cation to nurse employees in rural hospitals or contributing to the con- tinued development of the knowl- edge base within perinatal and women’s health nursing, Dr. Yondell Masten, RNC, PhD, WHNP, CNS, ICCE, demonstrates compassion and understanding in her work as a nurse educator. In being honored with the AWHONN 1997 Award of Excellence in Education, Masten’s colleagues say she frequently talks of the “need for nurses to give back to the profession through guidance and education.”

As a professor at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing, Masten has con- tributed to her field as a women’s health nurse practitioner, as a clini- cal nurse specialist, certified child- birth educator, and a leader within AWHONN. She was the recipient of the President’s Academic Achievement Award for the Texas

Neonatal Pain Expert lauded for Practice Known for her strong advocacy for neonates, and her focus on neonatal pain management, Sheila Ecklund, RNC, MSN was awarded with the AWHONN 1997 Award of Excellence for Practice for her long and well- known expertise in working with neonates and new families. “What’s best for this baby,” is always first in Ecklund’s mind, say her colleagues. A long- time AWHONN member and officer at many levels, she was the Nebraska Section AWHONN Nurse of the Year for 1996.

Ecklund is a leader at Saint Elizabeth Community Health Center in Lincoln, NE, and she serves as an Editorial Advisory Board member for AWHONN Lifelines. In advocating for neonates, Ecklund is a member of the Lancaster County Health Board MaternaVChild Advisory Committee and vice president of the Nebraska Chapter of the March of Dimes. Ecklund recently served as a reviewer for AWHONN’s “Core Curriculum for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing,” and she also serves on her hospital’s Professional Nurse Practice Council. She was also the 1992 recipient of the NCC Hi-Risk NICU Nurse Award. She is the co-coordinator for Perinatal Outreach to 24 Level I hospitals and has provided education and hands-on experience for these hospitals since 1983.

60 L i f e l i n e s October 1997

Tech University Health Sciences Center in 1990. Other awards include the YWCA Women of Excellence for Medicine and the Soroptimist International Women Helping Women Award.

Helping Women Get Prenatal Care After watching the incidence of inadequate prenatal care in Jackson County, OR, climb to 9.4 percent of women, nurse activist Bunny Lewis, CNM, NP, launched First Steps, a program to assist pregnant women in accessing early prenatal care. After the first year in opera- tion, First Steps improved first trimester entry into prenatal care from 53 to 65 percent, and served 325 women during that first year. This year, Lewis was lauded with the AWHONN 1997 Award of Excellence in Community Service.

A community health nurse and nurse practitioner with the Jackson County Department of Health and Human Services, Lewis has been lauded by members of her own state legislature for her efforts in helping them understand the need for access to early prenatal care. Calling her an “unsung hero,” her colleagues say Lewis’ energy, com- mitment, and leadership are helping change public policy in Oregon relating to prenatal care.

In lauding her accomplishments, her colleagues say “her ability to relate theory to practice, to simplify complex material, and to promote critical thinking is the key to her success as an educator.”

Tulman Named Second AHCPR Nursing Scholar Naming only their second-ever nursing scholar in residence, the Agency for Health Care Policy Research (AHCPR) has selected nurse scientist Dr. Lorraine Tulman, DNSc, RN, FAAN, to help with its ongoing investiga- tions that integrate clinical nursing questions with critical issues of quality, cost, and access to health care. Agency for Health Care Policy Research worked in con- junction with the American Academy of Nursing in naming Tulman to the post.

Lookiiigjiv Oi,st~~~~:Ui~s~?~~~ iVzirses Candidates are being sought for AWHONN’s highest honor-the 1998 Distinguished Professional Service Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to the specialties of women‘s health or neonatal nursing. Nominees will be judged on their professional attributes, contributions they have made to nursing, and the advancement of nursing knowledge in one or more of three specialties.

Nominations are being sought from AWHONN members and staff, and must be received at AHWONN headquarters by December 5,1997, to be eligi- ble. Selected by the AWHONN Executive Board, the distinguished recipient will be formally acknowledged at the 1998 Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX. In addition to recognition for their work, recipients receive a commemo- rative sculpture, lifetime membership within AWHONN, and complimentary convention registrations.

For more information on the Distinguished Professional Service Award, contact Doris Parson at (800) 673-8499 (U.S.) or (800) 245-0231 (in Canada). Information is also available on the AWHONN Fax-on-Demand by dialing (800) 395-7373 and requesting document P508.

ill( U I d S OI‘ h:YCdk??rc.e Candidates are also being sought for AWHONN‘s 1998 Awards of Excellence in Practice, Education, Research, and Excellence in Community Service. Nominations are being sought from members and must be received by January 5, 1998, to be considered. Selected by the Committees on Education, Practice, and Research, recipients will be formally acknowledged at the 1998 Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX, and receive a Medallion of Excellence and a cash award. For more information, contact Doris Parson at (800) 673-8499 ( U S ) or (800) 245-0231 (in Canada). Information is also available on the AWHONN Fax-on-Demand by dialing (800) 395-7373 and requesting document #508.

Tulman currently is an associate professor in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing. In making the announcement, AHCPR Administrator John M. Eisenberg, MD, said “Her research on women’s health will bring an important perspective to the work AHCPR is doing.”

For the last 10 years, Tulman’s research has focused on the health of women during life transitions, specifically during childbearing and after diagnosis of cancer. During her tenure as senior nurse scholar, Tulman plans to examine how clini- cal trial interventions not specific to women have added to our knowl- edge of the functional status of women. She hopes to study the rela- tion between clinical conclusions and national health care policy.

Tulman, an AWHONN member, recently presented the results of her work under an AWHONN grant, at the annual convention. The work began in 1987 and was enti-

tled, “Functional Ability After Childbirth.” It set the stage for Tulman’s next study entitled, “Functional Status During Pregnancy and the Postpartum,” which is being funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research (RO NR02340). The results of her 1987 study were pub- lished in Nursing Research (“Changes in Functional Status After Childbirth,” 1990), Research in Nursing and Health (“Maternal Employment Following Childbirth,” 1990), and Health Care for Women International (“Recovery From Childbirth: Looking Back at Six Months After Delivery,” 1991).

Since 1993, AWHONN has awarded $42,600 to 13 investiga- tors for quality projects judged important by our Committee on Research (COR) and since 1985, a total of $146,100 has been awarded to 53 new investigators.

October 1997 L i f e l i n e s 61

Doulas for Prisoners Snags Section Award By demonstrating that research supports the benefits of a supportive compan- ion for a woman experiencing labor and birth, the AWHONN Oregon Section and two AWHONN nurses were honored with the 1997 Wyeth- Ayerst Section Award. Oregon section members Cindy Patrick, RNC, and Cindy Crosby, RNC, BSN, proposed a project of training and developing doulas for pregnant inmates to the Oregon Section, after a nurse manager shared concerns about more families needing this kind of support during an AWHONN chapter meeting.

By collaborating with state prison officials, social workers, local child- birth education groups, and the hospital, the nurses were able to move their project forward. Interested volunteers were screened and interviewed by AWHONN members and offered scholarships to a training workshop in exchange for functioning as a doula for three inmates. The AWHONN Oregon Section provided the scholarships and co-sponsored the training workshop with the local childbirth education association. Volunteers were also given training by the state on working with prisoners. Plans were worked out on numbers of visits provided by the doulas as well as cover- age for the labor and birth. As of the time of the award, two prisoners had been aided by the Doulas for Prisoners program.

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In other fellows news, AWHONN member Phyllis Arn Zimmer, ARNP, MN, FNP, coordi- nator of the Post-Masters FNP Program at the University of Washington in Seattle, was named among the 1997 American Academy of Nursing Fellows.

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Higgins Honored as Top Researcher Prolific writer and dedicated nurse researcher, Patricia Grant Higgins, PhD, RN, has been honored with AWH0N”s 1997 Award of Excellence in Research. Known as a mentor for nurses throughout the association, and for her students at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Higgins has been conducting research since 1978. She has published approximately 44 journal articles and currently has four articles out for review.

After receiving her master’s degree, Higgins focused her research on childbearing practices among Pueblo women. She also has consistently focused her research on developing a decision-making model to understand why women do the things they do. Her initial work with the Pueblos sparked an interest to also work with Hispanics and Navajos. Higgins is also well- known for her research on sub- stance abuse. She has conducted research on passive addiction of newborns, nurses’ attitudes toward addiction, and pregnant poly-sub-

stance users regarding their self- esteem, health behaviors, and reac- tions to pregnancy. Currently, she is developing a proposal on divided dose methadone for pregnant sub- stance users. Her clinical observa- tions showed that babies had fewer withdrawal symptoms when their mothers received divided doses of methadone each day.

After earning her PhD, Higgins completed post-doctoral studies at the University of Texas at Austin and was the first nurse to be accepted on an Interpersonal Agreement, which allowed her to transfer as a state employee to a federal agency when her expertise was needed. She was accepted by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Nursing, when

it didn’t have a Disease Prevention-Health Promotion Branch Chief or expertise in par- ent-child nursing. She spent a year in this branch as the maternal-child expert. At the National Institutes of Health, Higgins testified before Congress, wrote the low-birth- weight initiative, and wrote the branch’s summary of research find- ings. In addition, according to those with whom she works in AWHONN District VIII, “she rides shotgun for us as we travel down the road of research.”

National Certification Corporation Certification Examinations Go on Hiatus The National Certification Corporation for the Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing Specialties is putting three of its certification examina- tions on hiatus for 1998: High- risk Obstetric Nursing, Ambulatory Women’s Health Care Nursing, and Reproductive Endocrinology/Infertility Nursing. Applications for the current exami- nations will be accepted only through December 31st. The National Certification Corporation has assembled a content team to evaluate the content of the exami- nations and the potential candidate populations. The teams will deter- mine how the examinations might be changed to better reflect cur- rent practice and to meet the needs of nurses who function in these specialty roles. +

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