NEW YORK NURSE: November/December 2011
by Alison Munday
NYSNA member Desiree Farquhar from the Moses CSICU of Montefiore Medical Center was recently awarded the annual Critical Care Nurse of The Year Award, as well as an educational grant. Each year, one ICU nurse is selected by his or her peers and physician partners as the team member who best represents the necessary dedication, kindness and willingness to work with the staff and the families during the most difficult period of their lives - an ICU admission. “We appreciate the tremendous quality and patience of our ICU nurses who are the heart-and-soul of Critical Care,” said Vladimir Kvetan, MD, Director, Director, Division of Critical Care Medicine. Farquhar recently celebrated twenty years of employment with Montefiore Medical Center.
Four notable veteran nurses from New York State were among those honored at the American Academy of Nursing’s 38th Annual Fellows Induction Ceremony in Washington, D.C. in October. The Academy’s new Fellows from New York are: Susan Apold, a professor and founding dean of the Division of Nursing and Health Studies at Concordia College New York; Margaret-Ann Carno, an assistant professor of nursing and pediatrics at the University of Rochester, School of Nursing; Kathleen T. Hickey, an assistant professor of nursing and a family/adult nurse practitioner in the Division of Cardiology at Columbia University and a Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Faculty Scholar; and Nancy VanDevanter, associate professor at New York University College of Nursing.
Apold was commended for her significant contributions to the profession as an organizational strategist and professional activist and her leadership of the Nurse Practitioner Association of New York State and The American College of Nurse Practitioners — serving both for two terms as president —resulting in changes in policy, legislation and regulation at state and national levels. Described as an eloquent spokesperson for the profession, Apold is an expert on state regulation of nursing practice, nurse practice acts, healthcare reimbursement models, and nurse practitioner practice issues. She continues to strive for NP independence amidst healthcare reform efforts, and to influence federal legislation and regulations on the development of healthcare delivery models and expansion of primary care using NPs.
Carno was recognized for a quarter century of work dedicated to improving outcomes for children who suffer from sleep disorders in critical care and outpatient settings. Her research was the first to categorize changes in sleep patterns of children during therapeutic paralysis and drew attention to the problem of disrupted sleep in critically ill children. With a focus on pediatric sleep disorders in other settings and the impact on growth and development, she became one of approximately 15 nurses worldwide to be certified by the American Board of Sleep Medicine. Consistently serving nursing through leadership of professional organizations, Carno has held leadership positions within the American Thoracic Society, New York State Nurses Association and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. She maintains her clinical practice as a PNP in the Division of Pediatric Sleep Medicine Services, Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong in Rochester, NY.
Described as “…a truly exemplar nurse scientist and nurse leader who shapes and improves the lives of cardiovascular patients and their families,” Kathleen Hickey has received funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH), The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Columbia University to support her research endeavors. For more than twenty years, she has collaborated with interdisciplinary teams as a nurse scientist on landmark NIH clinical trials contributing to significant educational advances in the fields of arrhythmia, heart failure and cardiovascular research. She was praised for consistent advocacy for nursing’s critical role in the rapidly evolving field of genomics while raising public awareness of potentially life threatening cardiac conditions. A member of a small cadre of cardiogenetic nurse practitioners in the U.S. who focus on improving the lives of families with inherited cardiac conditions, Hickey is actively involved in the American Heart Association Council for Cardiovascular Nursing and the International Society of Nursing Genetics (ISONG), and her efforts have been recognized at national and international levels. In October 2011, Dr. Hickey assumed the position of President-elect on the ISONG Board of Directors.
VanDevanter is currently in collaboration with nursing and dental colleagues at NYU to develop and implement a model for saliva-based HIV screening in dental clinics. She has conducted numerous CDC and NIH-funded behavioral intervention research studies integrating a community based participatory research approach to develop and test theory-driven interventions to promote health and reduce disease in communities with health disparities. Her interventions have focused on individuals living with HIV, including HIV infected blood donors and adolescents with behaviorally acquired HIV, interventions to increase self-protective sexual health behaviors in adolescents and women at risk for HIV. She is a member of the NYU-HHC CTSI Community Engagement Population Health Research Core, Evaluation Director for the Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Hepatitis B Health Disparities and Evaluation Co-Director for the NYU Prevention Research Center.
Have you or one of your colleagues been recognized for an accomplishment, elected to office, won an award, received a grant or scholarship, launched a new venture? Tell us about it! Send name, address, phone number, and accomplishment — E-mail to: communications@nysna.org or mail to: NYSNA Communications Dept., 11 Cornell Road, Latham, NY 12110-1499.