xt7r222r8236 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7r222r8236/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky College of Nursing Kentucky -- Lexington University of Kentucky College of Nursing 2002 2003  newsletters  English University of Kentucky College of Nursing  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. University of Kentucky College of Nursing publications Nursing CONnections, Winter 2002-2003 text CONnections, Winter 2002-2003 2002 2002 2003 2019 true xt7r222r8236 section xt7r222r8236 * Editor
M. Claire Baker

Contributors
Dorothy Brockopp, R.N., Ph.D.
Marcia Dake, Ed.D., R.N.
Brad Duncan,
UK Public Relations
Becky Fields, Ph.D., R.N.
Terry Green
Lynne Hall, R.N., Dr.P.H.
Regina Lowry, M.S.N., R.N.
Nancy Mangrum
Russ McGuire, R.N., Ph.D.
Karen Minton
Julie Sebastian, Ph.D., A.R.N.P., F.A.A.N.
Moni Shields, R.N., B.S.N.
Marcia Stanhope, D.S.N., R.N., F.A.A.N.
Peg Teachey
Carolyn Williams, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N.

Design
M. Claire Baker

Photography
M. Claire Baker
Cathy Brunker, B.S.N., R.N.
Greenspring Village Channel 6 staff,
Springfield, Va.
Nancy Mangrum
Deborah Reed, Ph.D., R.N.
UK Medical Arts and Photography

is published twice a year by the
University of Kentucky College of Nursing.
Carolyn A. Williams, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N.
Dean
University of Kentucky
College of Nursing
315 College of Nursing Bldg.
Lexington, KY 40536-0232
Visit us on the Web at
www.mc.uky.edu/nursing

From the dean
Beginning a new year is a time to pause and think about what is really important in our lives,
how we invest our time, energy and resources and why we make the choices we do. This new year
finds us in the midst of many changes occurring both within the broader world as well as at the
University. The organizational rearrangements being implemented represent the most fundamental
changes for the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center since its creation four decades ago.
In a nutshell the restructuring has several components. First, it brings the
medical center colleges under the administrative purview of the University’s
new provost. Just like the colleges on Lexington campus, all medical center
deans will report to the provost for academic matters and in the management
of the state budget for their colleges.
Secondly, there will be a new vice president for health affairs who will
report to the president and who will have administrative responsibility for
UK’s clinical enterprise, which includes University of Kentucky Hospital, the
clinics, and the practice activities of the colleges. Thus, each dean in the
medical center will report to and work with the vice president for health in
the management of the clinical enterprise in their college.
The plan also calls for the development of a medical center deans’ council upon which all
medical center deans will sit along with the provost. The office and role of the chancellor of the
Medical Center will be phased out. The provost and his office and the vice president of health will
assume many of the responsibilities of the current medical center chancellor and his office.
The transition to this model is now occurring; the new structure will be in place by July 1.
Superimposed upon these changes is the prospect of a significant budget cut for the University
due to the shortfall in state funding. The combination of these realities will test our ability to think
strategically and deal with what is really important to the College. We will be considering the best
use of our resources to address current needs and, most importantly, we will be considering how to
position the College for continued success in meeting our mission in the future.
I would like to share a few thoughts with you about what I anticipate may be ahead. My
assessment of the changes that are occurring within the University at-large and within the Medical
Center suggest that increasing attention is going to be paid to the productivity of each unit within
the University. Those who achieve results will be in a better position to obtain additional resources.
Just as health care is moving toward more evidence-based decision making, I believe such
strategies will play a larger role in decision making within the University. Further, there is no doubt
in my mind that the importance of external funding in supporting the mission of the University
will grow exponentially. That is the way top-20 institutions become and remain top 20.
This will mean much more of a focus on generating grants and contracts and expanding efforts
to attract private donations which represent the commitment of individuals and private groups to
investing in the University’s future. In my view it will be those colleges/units that “get their acts
together,” deal with the new realities, and develop strategies for bringing in external support to
leverage the monies available through the state, that will become the lead colleges in the University.
While we are a small College compared to several others within the University, we have the
potential to emerge as one of the most successful colleges in meeting our mission and I believe that
should be our goal going forward.
As we begin 2003, the University will be engaging in a strategic planning process, which will help
all of us focus our resources and energies in targeted arenas. We in the College will be considering
how to best direct our resources and strategies for doing so.
In the last decade the College has made significant progress in curricula, in research and other forms
of scholarship, in the clinical arena, and in the way in which more and more of those in our communities
of interest are investing in the College. For example, this year more than 500 different individuals or
groups made gifts of funds to the College, and of all units within the University there is only one,
Athletics, that has achieved a higher percent of their goal in the capital campaign.
We are most appreciative of the wonderful support we have had from our alumni and friends of the
college. The monetary support to provide scholarships, professorships, enrichment opportunities for
students, and to build the endowment for faculty and student scholarship is more important than ever to our
continued success. We have a positive momentum in place and keeping that momentum is very important.
What we do is important. Nursing matters. We believe that; we need to help others see that; and
the best way to do so is through our actions, what we are able to accomplish and our outcomes.
Working together and building on each other’s strengths we can thrive in the restructured
University of the future. The next couple of years at the University of Kentucky will be a pivotal
period. I look forward to working with you as we negotiate the changes and challenges ahead.

Carolyn A. Williams, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N.
Dean

* Contents
2

From the dean

The College
4
7
8
8
8
9
9

Elbow room
A new Clinical Simulation Facility will change the education of the College’s students.
Appointments made to endowed chair and professorship
Moser inducted into American Academy of Nursing
And our ranks grow by two
College receives national reaccreditation
Making a difference — Habitat for Humanity
In memory of a friend and former faculty member

College Development
10 3...2...1...action!
From founding dean to TV producer, Dake’s never stopped helping others.
12 With your help we can do so much more
13 We’d like to ask...
13 Recognizing your contributions — the Caring Society
13 Naming opportunities
14 2002 College of Nursing donors

4
Elbow room

Graduate and research programs
17 Researchers study violence, infant feeding practices, smoking cessation
17 Two years old and growing strong

Undergraduate program
18 Student ambassadors shine for College
18 University of Kentucky Hospital and College of Nursing team up to participate in B.S.N.
Nurse Residency Pilot Program
19 Undergraduate student experiences program’s first international clinical rotation
19 College now offers popular certified nursing assistant program for public, incoming
students

Alumni

27
Getting students
interested

20 A gathering of graduates
Alumni take time to network, catch up with friends
21 And the winner is...
22 A good day
Ph.D. program celebrates 15th anniversary
24 Alumni association expanding rep network

Clinical practice activities
25
26
26
27

Watching out for the ones at risk
Faculty member practices energy therapy at new Integrative Medicine Clinic
College’s academic nursing program continues growth
Getting high school students interested 101

22

28 Nursing students among honored UK African-American alumni, current students

A good day

* The College

Elbow room
A new clinical simulation facility will completely
change the education of the College’s students.
Students and faculty have waited a long time through the
noise, the mess and the inconvenience. They know at the
other end of construction they’ll no longer be bursting at the
seams for want of clinical learning space.
Right now, the College has 2650 square feet of lab space,
divided between two rooms. Scheduling lab time is a nightmare,
trying to squeeze in sophomore, junior and senior classes,
master’s program classes, and certified nursing assistant
(C.N.A.) classes. There needs to be open time for students to
use the facility for mastery of skills as well.
“The rooms are overcrowded and booked solid, all the time.
At times, a 14- by-10 room must be used for lab classes of 18
people and an instructor, plus tables, chairs and a hospital
bed,” said Mary Jayne Miller, B.S.N., R.N., one of the clinical
lab instructors.
Beyond the need for more space, the College has recognized
and is acting upon the paradigm shift that’s occurring — one
that turns around learning from being teacher-centered to
being learner-centered. Technology is the catalyst. Computerdriven patient simulators like SimMan, which the College
purchased last year, and other technologically advanced
equipment will be advantageous to students across all
programs and in many ways:
• skill development and refinement
• evaluation and remediation
• application of theory to clinical practice
• integration of theory, practice and research
• learning by experience in a safe place
• involvement of students in a more meaningful learning
experience
• builder of student confidence
• evaluation of mastery of skills before real patient contact

So the renovation of the building’s fourth floor begins in
February. When it’s completed, students and faculty will have
a Clinical Simulation Video Validation/Standardized Patient
Care Center, chock full of simulated outpatient exam rooms,
simulated inpatient hospital rooms, intranet access on
portable desktop computers — and perhaps most importantly

4

CONnections

— space. Upon completion of the first wave of renovation, the
College’s clinical learning space will have doubled.
A group of dedicated and determined faculty, dubbed the
Dream Team, has been working the last two years visiting
other schools’ clinical learning facilities, going to conferences,
measuring, meeting, working with architects to draft and
redraft plans, and consulting with colleagues at the College to
come up with a plan for the lab and lists of equipment
needed.
Dean Williams appointed five faculty and staff members to
the team in the spring of 2000 and asked them to visit a stateof-the-art nursing simulation facility at the University of
Maryland, with the goal of designing a lab that would take us
into the new century.
“Since then we have explored ways to utilize our fourth
floor space for a new clinical laboratory that would be used
across programs,” said Melanie Hardin-Pierce, M.S.N.,
A.R.N.P.-C.S., assistant professor and Dream Team member.
“After visiting several labs and consulting our clinical faculty
colleagues, we have come up with a plan that will enable us to
better engage our students in creative hands-on clinical
simulations that will better prepare them for the realities of
clinical decision making they will face in practice.
One of the new areas in the plan, the clinical simulated
health assessment center, will have 16 small-scale exam rooms,
complete with the requisite exam tables, privacy curtains,
ophthalmoscopes/wall transformers and overbed tables. This
is a huge improvement over the six tables the lab now has
which have to be shared among up to 40 students at times.
The clinical simulated family care center will contain a
birthing facility for OB/GYN care, a maternal and neonate
birthing simulator, and beds for pediatric, infant and neonate
care.
Another new facility will be the video validation/patient
simulation suites area. Four rooms will be constructed to
mimic outpatient clinical examination rooms like those used
by nurse practitioners and/or physicians. Here, students can
work with standardized patients while wall-mounted video
cameras record their activities.

Winter 2002-2003

* “When students want to do their mastery work or their
evaluations, it takes one faculty to two students. It’s very labor
intensive. Video validation will free up faculty,” says Miller.
In the clinical simulation patient care center, five hospital
beds will be set up complete with overbed wall units containing
oxygen, suction, electrical outlets, and a monitor. Each bed
area will also include a bedside table, overbed table and
privacy curtains, and will be equipped with the necessary
items utilized in an inpatient care area. One of the beds will be
enclosed with glass walls and could be used as an isolation
unit.
In the final area of this first phase of renovation, there will
be a four-bed critical care clinical simulation center. Each
bed’s area will be set up similar to one in a critical care unit
seen in any hospital.
Each area will include an instructor’s center with EM-Net
access (building intranet), computer, dry erase board and
screen, “pods” of tables and chairs for students and portable,
wireless computers that students can use at the bedside or at a
pod.
Computers will be equipped with instructional programs
that students can use for review of psychomotor and physical
assessment skills for which they are required to demonstrate
competency.
Once there is adequate open time in the facility for students
to come in on their own time to work on skills, they will enjoy
the independence of learning to use such equipment as
CathSim – an IV insertion simulator. EM-Net, the building’s
intranet system, will be available as well, allowing students to
come in and review class presentations.

Now that the dream
has been designed...

Dream Team members. Front, from left: Mary Jayne Miller, B.S.N.,
R.N., Claudia Diebold, M.S.N., R.N. Back, from left: Melanie HardinPierce, M.S.N., A.R.N.P.-C.S. and Brenda Ghaelian, Technical
Instructional Specialist.

it’s up to the College to find funding
sources for much of the cost. Approximately
one-half of the first phase’s cost has already
been raised but we need another $200,000 to
equip the facility. We hope that our alumni
and friends will find this project fascinating
and will step forward to support these long
overdue and important improvements in
clinical teaching and learning. For information
on how you can become involved, contact the
College’s development officer, Terry Green, at
(859) 323-6635, or e-mail her at
tgreen@uky.edu. Naming opportunities are
available. See page 13 for information.

* The College graduates two B.S.N. classes each year. Congratulations to our December 2002 B.S.N. graduates!

We thought our alumni and friends might like to see some of our current
advertising. Watch for our ads in Kentucky Nurse, the quarterly publication of
the Kentucky Nurses Assocation.

Ignite your potential.
Nurse Clinician, OB/GYN, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
B.S.N. graduate
Director of Nursing, Whitesburg Appalachian Regional
Healthcare, Whitesburg, Ky.
M.S.N. graduate
"Becoming a nurse scientist changed my view of the world and my ideas
about the potential for nursing. The support and guidance of the faculty
are key to promoting independent thinking and innovation."
Ph.D. student
"The D.N.P. Program creates a new way of viewing health care leadership,
programmatic development, and research utilization and implementation
at the bedside."
D.N.P. student

* Appointments made to
endowed chair and
professorship
The Good Samaritan Foundation is a Kentucky healthrelated philanthropy that financially supports quality health
care, health education and research focusing on programs that
serve low income and uninsured people in central and
southeastern Kentucky.
With a gift to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical
Center, the foundation established the endowed Good
Samaritan Chair and Professorship in
Community Health Nursing. The faculty
member appointed will work with
masters and doctoral students, interns,
fellows and staff of the Good Samaritan
Nursing Center in the College of Nursing.
“Research activities of the chair holder
will be to develop, implement and
evaluate programmatic efforts designed
Marcia Stanhope
to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent
diseases for Kentuckians who have
limited access to primary health care,” said Carolyn A.
Williams, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., dean of the College.
Marcia K. Stanhope, D.S.N., R.N., F.A.A.N., is the first
recipient. Stanhope was first appointed to the faculty of the
College as an associate professor in 1981. She has provided
consistent and strong leadership in a variety of roles, including
director of the Division of Community Health Nursing and
Administration from 1985 to 1996 and most recently as
associate dean, co-director of the new Doctor of Nursing
Practice (D.N.P.) program, and director of continuing
education. She is also the founding director of the Good
Samaritan Nursing Center.
She has numerous publications and is internationally
known as the editor of the leading textbook in community
health nursing, Stanhope and Lancaster’s Community and
Public Health Nursing, used throughout the world. In 2000 she
was the recipient of the Creative Achievement Award given by
the Public Health Nursing Section of the American Public
Health Association.
Stanhope earned a Diploma in Nursing from Good Samaritan
Hospital in Lexington, a B.S.N. from UK, an M.S.N. from
Emory University and a D.S.N. from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham.
For more than a decade, Stanhope has provided leadership in
working with the Good Samaritan Foundation on communitybased projects designed to provide health education and
improved access to health care and health promotion services
for vulnerable populations and to provide meaningful
learning opportunities for students and new graduates of the
College’s baccalaureate and master’s programs.

www.mc.uky.edu/nursing

The Marcia A. Dake Professorship in Nursing Science
Marcia A. Dake, Ed.D., R.N., founding dean of the University
of Kentucky College of Nursing, came to the University in
1958 and served as dean until 1971. The Marcia A. Dake
Professorship in Nursing Science was established in recognition
of former Dean Dake’s innovative leadership. The endowment
for the professorship was made possible with a donation made
to the University by Linda and Jack Gill of Houston. Mrs. Gill
is a 1962 UK graduate who grew up in Louisville and Fort
Thomas, Ky. Through the Gill Foundation, the couple
supports higher education and health care causes.
The professorship focuses on research and service that
address contributions nursing can make to the care of
individuals, families and/or communities at risk for experiencing
major health problems. A commitment to graduate education
and mentoring of doctoral students and faculty is paramount.
Lynne A. Hall, R.N., Dr.P.H., has been named as the first
Marcia A. Dake Professor of Nursing Science. This appointment recognizes Hall’s sustained contribution to the College
through her teaching, research, and
mentoring activities.
Professor Hall received her bachelor’s
and master’s degrees in nursing from
Clemson University. In 1983, she
completed a doctorate in public health
in maternal and child health at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.
Lynne Hall
Hall joined the UK College of Nursing
faculty in 1985 as an assistant professor.
She currently is the assistant dean for research and the Ph.D.
program.
Her program of research currently includes serving as
co-principal investigator of two federally funded studies. One
focuses on factors affecting the mental and physical health of
employed pregnant women and is funded by the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. The other is a study funded
by the National Institute of Nursing Research, National
Institutes of Health, on the effects of a cognitive-behavioral
intervention on the mental health of low-income single
mothers and on behavioral outcomes of their young children.
Hall’s research has been reported in a variety of journals
including the American Journal of Public Health, Journal of
Nursing Scholarship, Nursing Research, Public Health Nursing,
Research in Nursing & Health, Issues in Mental Health Nursing,
the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, and
American Journal of College Health.
From 1985-99, Hall served as the coordinator of College of
Nursing activities in the Virginia Place Program, which
promotes self-sufficiency of single-parent families. In 1999,
she was appointed to its board of directors and continues to
serve in that capacity.

University of Kentucky College of Nursing

7

* Moser inducted into
American Academy of
Nursing
Congratulations to Professor and Linda C.
Gill Chair of Nursing Debra K. Moser,
D.N.Sc., R.N., who recently was inducted as a
fellow into the American
Academy of Nursing at their
29th annual meeting in
Naples, Fla. This is an important
personal honor for Moser and
recognizes her multiple
contributions to professional
Debra Moser
nursing. It is also an honor
for the College.
Moser joins other College faculty who are
fellows of the Academy: Associate Professor
Norma Christman, Ph.D., R.N.; Professor and
Assistant Dean for Advanced Practice Nursing
Juliann G. Sebastian, Ph.D., R.N., A.R.N.P.;
Professor and Associate Dean Marcia K.
Stanhope, D.S.N., R.N.; Professor and Dean
Carolyn A. Williams, R.N., Ph.D. (who served
as Academy president from 1983-1985); and
emeriti faculty Margaret Grier, Ph.D., R.N.;
Juanita Fleming, Ph.D., R.N.; Gretchen
LaGodna, Ph.D., R.N.; and Barbara Sachs,
Ph.D., R.N.

And our ranks grow by
two
Becky L. Fields, Ph.D., R.N., is a graduate of the College of
Nursing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She joined
the UK College of Nursing after completing her doctorate in
the summer of 2002.
Fields is an assistant professor and
teaches in the master’s program. Her
research interests are in gerontology,
minority health, preventive health
service use, and recruitment and
retention of minority nurses. She is
currently involved with a project
focusing on older farmers developed
by Assistant Professor Deborah Reed,
Becky Fields
Ph.D., R.N.
She is married and has four children. She enjoys reading and
cross stitch in her free time.
Russ McGuire, R.N., Ph.D., joined the faculty this past
summer after earning his doctorate in nursing here at UK.
McGuire has an extensive background in nursing and the use
of information systems in several health care settings. His
nursing experiences include practice in
emergency, critical care, operating room,
community health, and nursing
administration. McGuire’s interests
include teaching clinical decision making
and the use of clinical information
systems to support the collection and
analysis of patient-related data to
improve health care delivery.
Russ McGuire
McGuire is an assistant professor and
teaches in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) program.
In his spare time he enjoys fly fishing and watching college
football.

College receives national reaccreditation
In April 2002 as Kentuckians began to think of spring, horse racing and all the wonderful things that represent springtime, the
College of Nursing was busy preparing for its national reaccreditation site visit from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing
Education (CCNE). The site visit was the culmination of a two-year self-study process during which the College examined its
baccalaureate and master’s degree programs and responded to four accreditation standards set by CCNE.
Site visitors from CCNE spent three days at the College reviewing the baccalaureate and master’s programs. The visitors met with
faculty, administration, students and external constituents. Official word from CCNE came this past October. The College of
Nursing received a stellar report, with both programs meeting all four accreditation standards. The College’s baccalaureate and
master’s degree program have been reaccredited for a term of 10 years, extending to 2012.
8

CONnections

Winter 2002-2003

* In memory of a friend and former faculty member
It is with great sadness that we share the news that Pamela Stinson Kidd, Ph.D., R.N., former faculty member of the College of
Nursing, died tragically on Christmas Day in Arizona.
Pam was with us at UK for about a decade and in that time made a marvelous and sustained contribution.
She went on to become associate dean for Graduate Programs and Research at the Arizona State University
College of Nursing.
She was an associate professor with the UK College of Nursing and a critical care nursing research
consultant with University of Kentucky Hospital. Before going to Arizona State University, she was
director of UK’s Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center. Since earning a Ph.D. in Nursing in
1989, Pam was widely published and made frequent presentations. She was inducted as a fellow in the
American Academy of Nursing in 1999.
“Pam was always in a positive mode, energetic, reaching for new challenges and opportunities, and
Pam Kidd
‘reinventing’ herself as she grew professionally. Because of her enthusiasm, competence, warm and giving
nature, and futuristic approach to nursing and life, she was able to have a very positive impact on the
development of many student and faculty colleagues. Pam’s time with all of us was far, far too short and her contributions to
nursing cut off much too soon, but her wonderful life-enhancing spirit will live in our hearts forever. The paths she was
pursuing in nursing will be followed by others and made their own,” said Dean Carolyn Williams.
The College of Nursing announces the establishment of the Pamela Stinson Kidd Memorial Scholarship Fund. The scholarship
will be awarded to a nursing student who shows potential for leadership in the area of injury prevention, emergency, acute or
critical care nursing. Preference shall be given to the applicant who demonstrates the ability to integrate clinical practice,
scholarly activity and leadership. To help memorialize Pam’s unique spirit please send your contribution to: Office of Development,
313 College of Nursing Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0232. Checks should be made payable to the
College of Nursing with a notation that it goes toward the Pamela Kidd Scholarship.

Making a difference - Habitat for Humanity
This past fall the UK Chandler Medical Center, including the hospital and the five colleges, came together to build a two-bedroom
home for a single mother who works for the Fayette County School System. The $37,500 needed to build the home was raised
through fund-raising activities, donations and in-kind donations.
Volunteers pitched in to measure and hammer, hang siding and paint. They came away tired and dirty but feeling like their work
really made a difference. “There was immediate gratification in hammering siding to the outside of the house because the progress
was quick and visible. But more satisfying was knowing that I was part of a project that is an investment which will yield long term
benefits for the family,” said Joanne Davis, a College of Nursing staff member and Habitat volunteer.

* College development

3...2...1...action!
From founding dean to TV
producer, Dake’s never
stopped helping others.
The following article was written by Marcia A. Dake,
Ed.D., R.N., founding dean of the College.
There is no call so recognizable to health professionals, nor
one to which they respond more readily, than the “call to
caring.” Caring is the foundation for, and is integral to all
education for these professions. But true caring stems from
something within individuals who are guided by a higher
power to give of themselves in very individual ways. It is this
kind of caring that endures well past any retirement from paid
employment. In fact, yielding to a “call to caring” after
retirement not infrequently leads to levels of personal
satisfaction and joy not previously experienced.
When I first retired about fourteen years ago, I was certain
that my single priority in life was going to be to play golf. My
decision to retire in Florida was based in large measure on
availability of the “perfect” golf course. Not surprising to
many, the joy of satisfactorily placing that little white ball in a
desired spot soon began to fade, and I began to search out
more people-related activities.
Joining the volunteer Sun City Center Guardianship
Foundation was like a prayer answered. Working under the
authority of power of attorney granted to the foundation, we
volunteers carried out banking and other official acts which
the residents, for lack of vision or steadiness of hand, were
unable to do for themselves. To serve fellow residents and
neighbors in this manner was like responding to God’s call to
care and to give of oneself for the benefit of those in need.
After about ten years and the death of two siblings, I felt the
need to relocate nearer to western New York state and my
three remaining siblings, ages 85 to 95. I found a retirement
community in northern Virginia, which met my multiple
criteria. It was a community in the early stages of construction,
which upon completion would have approximately 2000
residents. Having been the seventh professional staff member
at the UK Chandler Medical Center, and years later having
started a second B.S.N. program, I knew I thrived on start-up
operations. In this case I was about the 70th resident to move

* in and I did so directly from Florida. The motto of the
management and staff is “a community where residents and
staff share their gifts to celebrate life.”
The level of wellness experienced by residents covers a very
broad spectrum, and it became very clear that I needed to use
caution to avoid being cast in the traditional nurse role. One
thing that did surface quickly was the value of a smile and the
ability to use first names. Even those whose bodies are bent in
multiple directions respond to a warm smile and greeting.
Nowhere is the mirror reaction more evident. It was this casual
attentiveness on my part that resulted in my election to the
very first resident committee – the Dining Services Committee.
It was early in the development of what we call our “campus”
that I realized I might have a unique contribution to make,
and in fact came to feel an unusual call to share my gifts. Our
resident population increased rapidly as new apartment and
general service buildings were constructed. Communication
became a high priority for me. We started with in-house,
closed-circuit TV capacity in every apartment, with notices
generated via computer. I have had the opportunity to grow
with this system, which now includes a full TV production
studio, and I now plan and produce half-hour programs for
two days a week. I have come to realize that God is working
through me, enhancing both my energy and expertise.
The need to be needed was one of the basic human needs on
which the first UK nursing curriculum was built. Fulfillment
of this basic need becomes more difficult as aging takes place.
My personal call to caring has thrust me into unpredicted
areas. Having shutterbug tendencies, it was not surprising that
I found myself offering to help take pictures of residents for a
photo directory. Realizing how helpful the directory would be

to the creation of an environment of sharing and friendly
communication, I gave gladly to this project.
Need fulfillment was not my only reward. My pictures
would be needed not only for the directory but also for our
Web site and our remembrance book, and for these a

www.mc.uky.edu/nursing

computer would be needed, so I found myself learning new
computer skills.
By far the majority of our residents have come from this
northern Virginia area. As might be expected, many of them
have held responsible positions in government a