Newsletter for the MNRS
Nursing Education Research Interest Group
As 2016 closes, it is time to reflect and plan for 2017. This newsletter to
members of the Nursing Education RIG offers information from the past, and planning
for the future. I am the current chair (see p. 3 for my brief bio). Patti Varga is the chairelect for our RIG (see her brief bio on p. 4).
Reflections for 2016
The minutes from the 2016 MNRS RIG meeting are located on our RIG’s website
(along with the goals). The three 2016 awardees from our RIG are on page five of this
newsletter (thanks to Marilyn Frenn for the pictures).
During the summer, the MNRS Program Planning Committee asked for a breakdown of the ‘nursing education’ category for submitted abstracts, since about 55% of
these - for the general call - fit into a nursing education category. Thanks to the 30 RIG
members who completed the summer survey, asking for input about these subcategories. Based on survey results, four sub-categories for nursing education were
sent to the planning committee:
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Pre-licensure and graduate nursing education
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Teaching with technology
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Trending issues in nursing education
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Practice/education research
Also over the summer, the call for abstracts for the NE RIG’s guaranteed symposium for
the 2017 conference went out. Twelve abstracts were submitted and were blind
reviewed by the planning group (Nancy Novotny, Debbie Stark, Lynnette Stamler,
Andrea Harmelink, Jean Yockey, and myself). Five abstracts were accepted. Feedback
was provided to those who were not accepted, in the hope they would submit for the
general call later on.
Planning for 2017
Our RIG’s 2017 symposium title is: Building Foundations for Teaching Strategies
and Learner Outcomes for Tomorrow’s Nursing Education. Planned presentations are:
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Graduate Interprofessional Education in the Primary Care Setting: Teaching
Strategies and Learner Outcomes (Katherine Dontje & Mary Jane Cook)
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Developing Clinical Judgment in Nursing Students in Simulated and Traditional
Maternal-newborn Clinical Experiences (Carol Reid & Jody Ralph)
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Using Competency Testing to Close the Practice Gap with Undergraduate
Nursing Students (Patricia Sharpnack, Kimberly Dillon-Bleich, & Lauren Patton)

Learner Outcomes using Virtual Reality Simulation: Effectiveness in Teaching
Nursing Students Decontamination Procedures (Sherrill Smith, Sharon Farra, &
Deborah Ulrich)

Building a Foundation for Debriefing in Nursing Education: Implications from the
Simulation Debriefing Study (Annette Waznonis)
Try to attend this symposium. Details will be in the MNRS program schedule, when it is
completed.
Jackie Meyer and her Awards Review group (Yvonne Smith, Lynnette Stamler,
Gloria Brummer, Carol Reid, & Jean Yockey) are reviewing award nominees. Those will
be announced at the NE RIG meeting at MNRS in Minneapolis (April 6-9, 2017).
The 2016-2017 goals (that will be reviewed and updated at the 2017 RIG meeting)
are:
1. Host a guaranteed symposium in 2017 to increase our visibility;
2. Improve networking, collaboration, communication, and make it more user
friendly for the purpose of mentoring and enhanced funding mechanisms and
multi-site research using MNRS Matters newsletter, linkedIn, and the RIG’s
listserv;
3. Refinement of measurement tools in education; and
4. Discussions formatted around topic specificity.
A future, long term goal is: to stay in touch with national trends related to research and
evidence-based teaching for nursing education.
Please bring suggestions for revisions in these goals to the 2017 NE RIG meeting.
Thanks and have a productive 2017!
Diane McNally Forsyth
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Diane McNally Forsyth, RN, PhD
Current NE RIG Chair (2016-2017)
Biographical Information
Dr. Forsyth is currently a professor at Winona State University – Rochester Center in the
Graduate Programs in Nursing and coordinator of the Nurse Educator Program. She teaches in
core courses for both the MS and DNP programs, including teaching all of the Nurse Educator
specialty courses, and she facilitates master’s theses and DNP scholarly projects. She has taught
DNP students since 2007. She is active on various departmental and university committees,
including curriculum and assessment.
Previously, she taught in an undergraduate program (psych-mental health and other
courses) and was a clinical staff educator in psychiatry at a large medical center, prior to joining
WSU in 2004. She has served as a program accreditation visitor for the Commission on
Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) since 2000. She has been a member of MNRS since 1989,
and was formerly chair of the Psychiatric Mental-Health Research Interest Group (RIG). She is
the current chair of the Nursing Education RIG. She also serves as a Counselor for Kappa Mu,
the local chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, International. Her staff nursing experience includes ICU, a
nursing home, obstetrics, and psychiatry.
Dr. Forsyth received her BS from Winona State, MS (psychiatric-mental health nursing)
from U-W Madison, and PhD (nursing) from U-W-Milwaukee. She has numerous research
projects, publications, and presentations. These range from doing staff needs assessments and
educational evaluations to psychiatric patient outcomes research. Many of these publications are
with a multidisciplinary psychiatric research team. Additionally, she is active in her local
community in a variety of endeavors, including theatre volunteer work, a local Charter school
committee member, and as a musician.
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Patti Varga, PhD, RN, CNE
NE RIG Chair- elect (2017-2018)
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Education:
BSN – University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
MSN – Marquette University
PhD – Marquette University –anticipated graduation May 2016
Certifications Certified Nurse Educator (CNE), National League for Nursing, 2012
eLearning Certificate, Marquette University, January, 2013
Parish Nurse Institute, Marquette University, 2002
Certified – Advanced Care Planning Facilitator, 2001
Certified – ELNEC Trainer (End of Life Nursing Education Consortium), 2001
Experience:
Practice: I have been fortunate to practice in a wide variety of healthcare settings. Most of my experience
has been in community health and end-of-life care working with vulnerable and widely diverse populations.
I am currently a Faith Community Nurse serving two Central City Catholic churches in Milwaukee. Our
population is widely diverse in ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, and literacy.
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Teaching: I have taught in both ADN and BSN programs. Currently I teach both undergraduate and
graduate courses and teach in and direct the Alverno RN-BSN program. I have taught community health
clinical with diverse vulnerable populations for over 10 years.
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Conference Presenter: Presented at regional and national conferences on topics related to education,
research, and parish nursing.
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Dissertation in progress: “Racially and Ethnically Underrepresented Students' Completion of RN-BSN
Program: Factors Affecting Success”
Study Interests: Nursing education, diversity, literacy, community health, and end-of-life
Philosophy: I believe that I enter into a partnership with my students for mutual learning. My aim is to inspire a
desire to learn and cultivate a strong sense of intellectual curiosity and passion for excellence.
Outside Interests: Time with family, Drum Instructor with Daley Debutantes Baton and Drum Corps
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2016 NE RIG Awards
Janet Levey with Susan Harrington, past NE RIG Chair, for the 2016 Outstanding
Dissertation Award
Gloria Brummer with Susan Harrington, past NE RIG Chair, for the 2016 Outstanding
DNP Award
Sherrill J. Smith with Susan Harrington, past NE RIG Chair, for the 2016 Advancement
of Science Award. Dr. Smith also did an overview of her research.
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