Nursing students present papers at research conference

Faculty Dr. Carol Weingarten and Dr. Amy McKeever are seen here at the conference with two of the College of Nursing students who presented, Brian Hartmann and Jennifer Warren. Brian is the recipient of the first health paper award.

Congratulations to our College of Nursing faculty and students who contributed to the 25th Annual  Elizabeth Cady Stanton Student Research Conference on April 4, 2014. Dr. Linda Copel, professor, was part of the Program Committee for this now regional conference presented by The Greater Philadelphia Women's Studies Consortium and Villanova University's Gender & Women's Studies Program. The event was held in Connelly Center.

Five junior nursing students presented at the conference. 

• Brian Hartmann: Female circumcision: healthcare implications. Brian was also the recipient of the first health paper award.
• Jennifer Warren: Parental control: ethical implications of preconception self-selection
• Rachelle Dambman: Gender and climbing the ladder
• Michaela Sclafani and Karli Miller: Shame and blame: adolescent pregnancy and prevention.

Poem "For a nurse"

At our May 17, 2014 Convocation, Dr. Gale Robinson-Smith used a poem as part of her invocation.  Many people have asked for it so we thought we'd share it more broadly.

This invocation comes from a prose-poem, called For A Nurse by John O’Donohue in a book entitled – To Bless the Space Between Us. He begins the poem by discussing that nurses encounter human beings when they are ill and that they may promote wellness through their nursing care.

                             For A Nurse

In this fragile frontier-place, your kindness         

Becomes a light that consoles the brokenhearted,

Awakens within desperate storms

That oasis of serenity that calls

The spirit to rise from beneath the weight of pain,

To create a new space in the person’s mind

Where they gain distance from their suffering

And begin to see the invitation

To integrate and transform it.

May you embrace the beauty in what you do

And how you stand like a secret angel

Between the bleak despair of illness

And the unquenchable light of spirit

That can turn the darkest destiny towards dawn.

May you never doubt the gifts you bring;

Rather, learn from these frontiers

Wisdom for your own heart.

May you come to inherit

The blessings of your kindness

And never be without care and love

When winter enters your own life.

Alumna lauded for extra-special care

Photo courtesy of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Amy Federico McVeigh, ’91 BSN, sees children in crisis each day in her role as a nurse practitioner with Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. She makes an extra effort to help them cope with their hospitalizations. Her work was recognized in March with the Above and Beyond Award from the Connecticut-based Mill Foundation for Kids.

Federico extends herself beyond the routine for special activities such as visiting a patient in a rehabilitation facility on her day off, lifting the spirits of another young patient by taking her to a nearby Starbucks for a treat, and establishing a discharge check list to ease the transition to home for patients and their care teams.

The Mill Foundation supports research into cancer and other pediatric diseases and provides toys, games, art supplies and other gifts to children battling cancer and other illnesses.