Faculty and staff achievements

The School of Nursing is proud to highlight faculty and staff achievements since the last Vital Signs issue. 

Four faculty join the UMMC Academy of Excellence in Education

Earlier this month, four more SON faculty members joined the second cohort of the UMMC Academy of Excellence in Education, bringing the total for the school's past or current faculty up to 29 of the academy's 174 members. New inductees include Dr. Marlie Farrar, assistant professor; Dr. Leigh Holley, associate professor and assistant dean for Oxford Instructional Site; Dr. Kathleen Rhodes, associate professor of nursing; and Monica White, assistant professor. The new members were inducted during a special ceremony and a full listing of members is available on the academy's website.

Telehealth nurse educators grow impact; Jackson school-based clinics welcome a new nurse practitioner

Our three telehealth nurse educators continue to train school nurses in our state on the use of telehealth in their schools. This service, which is a partnership between UMMC’s Center for Telehealth and the Mississippi Department of Education, has been very successful and has provided access to urgent and behavioral health care to over 175,000 children in our state. Visits continue to increase, with the total number of appointments in November reaching almost 500 children, with 326 urgent care and 165 behavioral health visits.

Welcome to the SON Jackson School-Based Health Clinics, Angela Beem! Beem joined our team as a nurse practitioner and will see patients at Galloway and Johnson Elementary and Lanier Teen Wellness Clinic. She earned her BSN from UMMC’s SON in 2010 and her MSN as an acute care/primary care pediatric NP in 2017. She brings a wealth of expertise to the pediatric population, and we are so happy she has joined our team!

Faculty publications come in strong to end 2023

Congratulations to Dr. Derek Holt, assistant professor and director of the family nurse practitioner MSN track, who first authored an article published in the Journal of Nursing Education and Practice. The article titled "Burns and posttraumatic stress disorder: What's being done," different screening and diagnostic instruments that can be used to detect early signs of posttraumatic stress disorder. DOI: 10.5430/jnep.v14n2p25

Assistant Professor Dr. Deloris Slade published an article in the Journal of American Association of Nurse Practitioners (JAANP) titled "Improving care practices of the patient with type 2 diabetes in community health centers." She co-authored the article with Dr. Kayla Carr, Assistant Professor Dr. Masoumeh Karimi and Dr. Mary Stewart. The article focuses on a NP-led practice improvement project to look at implementing educational components and recommended American Diabetes Association screening interventions to decrease morbidity and mortality experienced by persons living with diabetes and being seen within a community health center. DOI: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000976

In the Nurse Educator journal, Dr. Jeanne Calcote, assistant professor and director of the nursing and health care administrator MSN track, published an article titled "Big Data in Health Care." Co-authored with fellow UMMC faculty members Dr. Joshua Mann, Dr. Kim Adcock, Dr. Savannah Duckworth and Matthew Donald, M3 student., the article centered on student collaboration with an interprofessional team to analyze electronic health record information big data on an assigned diagnosis patient population. DOI: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000001571

Dr. Debi Fatherree, assistant professor, and Dr. Michelle Palokas, associate professor and interim associate dean for administration, authored an implementation project in JBI Evidence Implementation. The article titled "Postpartum hemorrhage prevention and management in women in an inpatient postpartum unit: a best practice implementation project." The project looked at the JBI Model of Evidence-Based Healthcare and used the JBI Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System to improve practice related to the prevention and management of postpartum hemorrhage in an inpatient postpartum unit. DOI: 10.1097/XEB.0000000000000395

Another faculty group specializing in simulation, led by corresponding author Dr. Joseph Tacy published an article in Simulation Technology & Operations Resource Magazine (STORM) titled "Examining the Use of a Digital Stethoscope within an Academic Medical Center Nursing Program. Co-authored by Dr. Alaina Herrington, Dr. James Hughes, Dr. Masoumeh Karimi, Dr. Robyn MacSorley, Dr. Sharon McElewain, Dr. Daniel Wiess and Dr. Lei Zhang, it compared the use of three different microscopes on amplified sound waves in auscultation of heart, lungs and bowel sounds. 2023: Volume 2, Issue 2

A team of faculty from the research area and graduate faculty, plus a PhD in Nursing student published an article in the Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing. The writing team led by Dr. Angela Duck, associate professor and director of the PhD in Nursing program, was titled "metabolic syndrome risk among adolescents in the Deep South and the relationships with behavioral health, food insecurity, and physical activity." Others authors included Dr. Masoumeh Karimi, LaDaryl Watkins, Dr. Joseph Tacy, Dr. Christy Savell and Dr. Katherine Hall and the article geared towards "enhancing the ability to identify adolescent metabolic syndrome risk profiles and potential psychosocial and physical interrelationships." DOI: 10.1111/jspn.12420

Thank you all for your scholarship and efforts to grow our school's research mission!

Faculty achieve CNE credential

Kudos to Dr. Debi Fatherree, assistant professor; Lacey Gentry, assistant professor and director of Accelerated BSN program - Oxford; Dr. Carl Mangum, associate professor and director of Family Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner MSN track; Dr. Deidra Morgan, assistant professor; and Dr. Joseph Tacy, associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs, for successfully meeting all requirements for the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) exam. They join fellow faculty members Dr. Chelsey Andries, Dr. Kimberly Douglas, Dr. Angela Duck, Dr. Marlie Farrar, Dr. Tina Ferrell, Rachel Gambill, Dr. Katie Hall, Lisa Hosey, Professor Emeritus Dr. Jennifer Robinson, Dr. Christy Savell and Dr. Amanda Weeks with the credential.

Upchurch completes JBI Train the Trainer program

Director of the DNP Program, Dr. Linda Upchurch successfully completed the Trainer the Trainer: Evidence Implementation Training Program (EITP) sponsored by JBI. She joins fellow DNP faculty members Dr. Michelle Palokas, deputy director of Mississippi Centre for Evidence-Based Practice (MSCEBP), and Dr. Robin Christian, director of MSCEBP, with this status. As part of their DNP program, students are taught on how to complete an evidence-implementation project and are required to complete their project and present their poster during the SON Research and Scholarship Day. Congratulations to Dr. Upchurch and thank you for your work with the MSCEBP: A JBI Centre of Excellence and US Cochrane affiliate!

Spring recruitment events

The SON has several events throughout the year that offer opportunity for service, recruitment and outreach. The Exploring Healthcare Pathways events are career focused events for high school students, and faculty are needed to offer in depth conversation and insight into the field of nursing. The Discovery Day events have taken the place of High School Visit Days and offer a great opportunity to involve simulation, as it is an interactive/fun exposure event. We have added a subgroup in GivePulse that will allow faculty and staff to view and sign up for upcoming recruitment events. Visit GivePulse to view upcoming events.

Exploring Healthcare Pathways — On Campus
01/27/2024 — Student Union — TBD

UMMC Discovery Day — On campus
02/09/2024 — Student Union — 9:30 AM to 11:30 PM

Exploring Healthcare Pathways — On Campus
02/24/2024 — Student Union — TBD

UMMC Discovery Day — On campus
03/22/2024 — Student Union — 9:30 AM to 11:30 PM

UMMC Discovery Day – On campus
04/12/2024 — Student Union — 9:30 AM to 11:30 PM