Sigma Theta Tau
International Honor Society of Nursing
THE DELTA REPORT
DELTA OMEGA CHAPTER
Summer 2013
Editor – Amber Bulcroft
Delta Omega Officers
President –Kathy Rose
[email protected]
Message from the Chapter President:
Kathy Rose RN, MSN
1st Vice President – Linda Shanks
[email protected]
2nd Vice President – Karen Mascolo
[email protected]
Immediate Past President – Barb Brunt
[email protected]
Treasurer – Peg DiMarco
[email protected]
Corresponding Secretary – Marlene Huff
[email protected]
Counselor – Lori Kidd
[email protected]
Archivist – Dina Dornack
[email protected]
Research Grants & Recognition Chair – Elaine Fisher
[email protected]
Leadership Succession Committee Chris Graor [email protected]
Newsletter Co-Editor –Amber Bulcroft
[email protected]
The Delta Report is published three times yearly for Delta Omega
Chapter, Sigma Theta Tau, Inc. The Delta Report welcomes
information about members’ accomplishments in research,
promotion, publication, and/or presentation. Correspondence to the
Delta Report should be sent to the president Barb Brunt via email at
[email protected]
Sigma Theta Tau, International www.nursingsociety.org
Delta Omega http://www.uakron.edu/nursing/about-us/stti
Delta Omega has had a busy year beginning with
our chapter induction ceremony in April. Dr. Lori
Kidd and Dina Dornack did a wonderful job with
the plans and subsequent ceremony held in the
Student Union at The University of Akron. In the
weeks that followed we also celebrated Nurses’
Week by providing awards and monetary gifts to
the selected nurses at local hospitals. Those nurses
biographies appear later in the newsletter. Thank
you to all who made these celebrations a success.
As our 2015 deadline approaches for the
implementation of electronic healthcare
information, there has been some confusion in the
general public with how electronic medical records
(EMR) and electronic health records (EHR) differs.
Here are some quick and easy answers the next time
you are questioned by a patient and/or family
member about those differences.
EMR are a digital version of the paper charts in
your clinician’s office. It contains the medical
treatment history of patients in a single practice.
The advantage over HER is – it tracks data over
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time, easily identifies which patients are due for
preventive screenings or checkups, checks how
their patients are doing on certain parameters and
monitors and improves overall quality of care in the
practice. This information usually stays within the
practice. In the event of a sudden hospital
admission, this information needs to be printed out
and faxed/mailed to the facility. This system is
comparable to the paper system.
EHR does all of the above in addition to other
things. It focuses on the total health of the patient –
going beyond standard clinical data collected in the
clinician’s office. They are built to share
information with other healthcare providers, such as
other specialists, testing laboratories, to include all
members of the health care team involved in the
patient’s total care. Essentially the information
moves with the patient . . . either to another health
care facility, nursing home, and next state or across
the country. Information is shared through the
various modalities engaged by an individual; the
information can be accessed by the individuals
themselves.
Even though there is only one word difference
between EMR and EHR, the information contained
in these two records makes a world of difference.
Share this with your patients the next time they
question what all this information means.
Submitted by
Kathy Rose, RN, MSN
President, Delta Omega Chapter, STTI
THE 2013 SIGMA THETA TAU
INTERNATIONAL DELTA OMEGA
BALLOT
CONGRATULATIONS to the newly elected Board
Members of the Delta Omega Chapter of Sigma
Theta Tau!!!!
With just over 100 votes the election was a great
success.
Thank you for voting!
What is the benefit of EHR?
All members of the health care team have ready
access to the latest information allowing for more
coordinated, patient-centered care. The information
gathered by the PCP alerts the emergency
department clinician about the patient’s lifethreatening allergy, even if the patient is
unconscious. Patients can log onto their own health
care record and see trends in lab results over the
past year, which can help motivate clients to
comply with medication regimens. Immediate
results from lab tests already in the record tell the
specialists what they need to know without
duplicate testing. Recent discharge documentation
from a hospital stay informs what the discharge
instructions and follow-up instructions contain
making transition from one facility to another
easier.
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•
The winner are:
•
First Vice President: Lisa Hart
•
Secretary: Linda Shanks
•
Leadership Succession: Barb Brunt
•
Faculty Counselor: Lori Kidd
Governance Council: Greer Kabb-Langkamp
and Nancy McManus
The question asking how many years have you been
a member of STTI had a response rate of 43/104
stated = 41.3%
The range of the years of membership question was
from one month to a. 44 years. The distribution can
be seen in the table below.
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Years as a member
Responses
Less than 1 year
6
1-10 years
11
11-20 years
5
20-30 years
9
30-40 years
10
> 40 years 1
1
Installation will be at the June Board Meeting, June
27, 2013 at 5:00 pm in Mary Gladwin Hall
Submitted by,
Carolyn Sutter
Leadership Succession Co-chair
NURSES’ WEEK 2013 DELTA OMEGA
AWARD RECIPIENTS
The winners of this year’s Nurses’ Week
celebrations are as follows:
ensuring the technology and documentation would
enhance nursing practice, nursing clinical
documentation and patient safety.
Pam has a leadership style that is nurturing,
supportive and approachable to all of her customers
and there is not a task that Pam will not do to ensure
success of a project. Pam is a positive role model
for nurses who aspire to explore the world of
nursing informatics. As we continue on the journey
of CARE One implementation, Pan continues to
focus on developing work teams, policies, protocols
and work flow that captures the essence of nursing
practice and quality patient care. Pam has spent
more than 15 years of Healthcare IT experience
including serving in leadership positions at various
healthcare facilities within Northeast Ohio. Pam is
certified in Nursing Informatics and is a certified
Project Management Professional and is a graduate
of Ursuline College and Ohio Northern University.
Summa Western Reserve Hospital is very proud and
pleased to have Pam in her role as the Chief
Information Officer and be the recipient of this very
prestigious award from Sigma Theta Tau.
Summa Western Reserve Hospital: Pam Banchy,
RN, BC-PMP, Chief Information Officer. Pam is a
member of the hospital’s Executive Team. Since her
arrival to Summa Western Reserve Hospital, she
has provided leadership and clinical insight to
develop and implement one of the hospitals biggest
strategic initiatives, the electronic health record,
which was branded CARE One. Under Pam’s
leadership she developed and enhanced the IT
Department structure to ensure hospital staff had the
resources, education and support required for the
implementation of CARE One on March 17, 2013.
During the planning stages, Pam was highly visible
and assertive in her leadership as she advocated
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Robinson Memorial Hospital: Brea Loewit, BSN,
RN graduated from Youngstown State University
with her BSN in 2005. She began her nursing career
at Robinson Memorial Hospital in August of 2005.
Brea is an inspiration to her peers, she has been
nominated by them for the Cameo of Caring Award
three times, and she successfully led the Birth
Center Unit Based Council for 3 years. Brea was
very engaged in our Magnet Journey, is a member
of Nursing Research and Scholarly Activities
Council as well as our Nursing Research Academy.
Brea accepted the position of Health Educator and
teaches childbirth classes, does lactation consulting
and continues to provide care to perinatal patients in
the Birth Center. Brea became a certified Lactation
Counselor is 2009 and then achieved the esteemed
certification of Lactation Consultant from the
International Board of Lactation Consultant
Examiners in 2010. She is active in the
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advancement of nursing practice. She is mentoring
11 staff to become certified as lactation counselors.
numerous family members and friends of those
being inducted or receiving awards.
She is committed to evidence based practice;
developing a breastfeeding decision algorithm and
up to date childbirth education curriculums. She
played a central role in the removal of formula
discharge packs, resulting in the Birth Center
receiving a Maternity Care Best Practices award
from the Ohio Lactation Consultant Association.
She has improved community outreach by
expanding outpatient lactation services, improved
continuity of support of mothers by collaborating
with WIC and LaLeche League, and has utilized
social media to reach and connect with the
childbearing population.
Newly inducted members that participated in the
ceremony were given honors as a gift from the
chapter. The inductees consisted of graduate
students, undergraduate students, accelerated
undergraduate students and RN-BSN students.
Brea is involved with breastfeeding coalitions to
help protect, promote and support breastfeeding
throught political and educational endeavors. She is
a member of the Region 6 Perinatal Network Task
Force on breastfeeding, the TriCounty
Breastfeeding Connections coalition and is also a
member of the Ohio Lactation Consultant
Association.
Brea comes to Robinson from Boardman. She is
married to her husband Jim and they have 3 young
children, twin boys and a daughter. Brea spends her
off time building forts in the living room, having
family movie nights and watching the stars with her
children.
2013 Delta Omega Induction
Ceremony
On Sunday, April 28th the Annual Spring Induction
Ceremony and Awards Presentation was held at the
University of Akron Student Union. President,
Kathy Rose and Dr. Elaine Fisher, Interim Director,
School of Nursing and Delta Omega Member
provided a warm welcome to those that were in
attendance. The celebration was attended by
existing members, inductees, award recipients and
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Numerous awards were also presented during the
event.
• Excellence in Nursing Leadership
(Gina Prosser, Montefiore Home)
• Excellence in Nursing Practice
(Carol Powell, Summa Health
System),
• Excellence in Nursing Research
(Kristine Jacobson, Summa Health
System),
• Excellence in Nursing Education
(Diane Lorenzen, Akron Children's
Hospital),
• Excellence in Nursing Mentoring
(Vickie Wells, Summa Health
System)
• Outstanding Undergraduate Student
(Molly Arnold)
• Outstanding Contributions to the
Chapter (Chris Heifner Graor).
Many thanks to Dina Dornack, Second
Vice-President and Lori Kidd, Faculty
Counselor for making the event a huge
success. The additional help received on the
day of the event from several board
members was also greatly appreciated.
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Congratulations 2013 Inductees!
Newly inducted members include:
(Undergraduate Student Inductees)
(Graduate Student Inductees)
(Accelerated Undergraduate Student Inductees)
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Graduate Students
Alisha Bauer
Mary Beth Bergman (Valek)
Gail Beriswill
Tony Denicola
Susan Gutlove
Christine Halishak
Ashley Joreski
Kaitlyn Kaustinen
Tiffany Leake
Stacie Leeper
Alexa Naoum Matsui
Jessica Dawn Mitchell
Michelle Lyn Neff
Quyen Nguyen
Heather O’Leary
Sharon Perry
Pretti Polk
April Powers
Kamila Praslova
Linda Preebe
Diana Rutan
Alison Schoch
Heather Sprouse
Rachel Strnad
Elise Thorkelson
Undergraduate Students
April Dawn Bos
Karla Brown Carnahan
Devon Chappell
Katherine Cottrill
Jennifer E. Edwards
Bethany Filhour
Sarah Pauline Hendershot
Brittany Hirth
Sean Holvey
Andrew Kochan
Meredith Ann Kroeger
Samantha Lilly
Malissa Lynn
Alison McNutt
Jessica Mikelait
Shauna Nighs
Kelsey Priddy
Katherine Ren
Erin Rosen
Brittany Sanfo
Dustin Schrom
Andrea Danie
Segulin
Laura Sherry
Accelerated
Undergradua
Students
Patricia Elie A
Jeffrey Thoma
Archibald
Joan Cervino
Erin M Crane
John Daily
Kelly Hobbs
Katie Kindrick
Renee Mikovic
Daniel Newme
Sloane Perry
Julie M Terlop
Kelly Ann Zve
RN-BSN Stud
Tammy Deely
Craig Steven
Tamara F How
Kristine Mahaf
Nicholas Sciam
Katie Smith
John Ziegler
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Life Support and Basic Life Support.
Delta Omega Award of
Excellence Recipients 2013
(Award Recipients)
Every year Delta Omega members
nominate nursing colleagues to
receive Excellence in Nursing
Awards. This year the following
nurses were recognized by their peers
and honored at the April Induction
Ceremony.
Excellence in Nursing Practice:
CAROL POWELL
Carol is a RN Care Coordinator in
one of the Emergency Departments
(EDs) in a seven-hospital integrated
healthcare system. In that role she
provides direct care for a variety of
patients.
She is certified as an Emergency
Nurses through the Emergency
Nurses Association and a Sexual
Assault Nurse Examiner. She is also
certified in Non-Violent Crisis
Intervention. Carol is also an
instructor for both Advanced Cardiac
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Carol frequently volunteers to
precept senior nursing students for
their practicum experience and also
volunteers to have high school
students interested in nursing shadow
her. She also volunteers in her
church-run World Relief Center and
as a nurse at a free clinic. For the
past ten years she has made regular
trips to Haiti to volunteer where she
volunteers her expertise to domestic
violence victims, clinical education,
and even the translation of an EKG
manual and pocket references in both
French and English for practitioners
in Haiti.
She stays current with evidencebased practice and research through
her involvement as a member of the
Emergency Nurses Association and
Sigma Theta Tau International
Honor Society of Nursing. She is
also a charter member of the
International Association of Forensic
Nurses.
Excellence in Nursing
Leadership:
Regina (Gina) Prosser
Gina is currently the Vice President
of Clinical Services at Montefiore
Home in Beachwood, OH. During
her work at the 268 bed facility, she
has developed an award-winning
holistic environment and care
delivery program for dementia care
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and one of long-term care’s first
Clinical Ladder Programs for LTC
nurses to foster professional
development, clinical excellence,
leadership and retention. Further,
Gina has had “deficiency free” Ohio
Department of Health surveys for the
last 3 years.
Her publications are available in
Home Healthcare Nurse, the Journal
of the American Geriatrics Society,
and Approaches to Pain
Management: An Essential Guide for
Clinical Leaders, Second Edition,
Joint Commission Resources.
Further, she is a co-investigator for
The Bridge Project which aims to
Improve Heart Failure Care in
Skilled Nursing Facilities.
Gina will graduate with her DNP in
Nursing Administration in the spring
of 2014.
Excellence in Nursing
Education:
Diane Lorenzen
Diane is a certified Pediatric
Nurse (CPN) and is certified in
Nursing Professional
Development (RN-BC). She has
achieved Level 5, the highest
level, on the Akron Children’s
Hospital Career and Recognition
of Excellence (CARE) Ladder.
Diane Lorenzen is currently an
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Instructor in the Undergraduate
Nursing Program at The
University of Akron. Previously,
she served as the Clinical
Instruction Coordinator and
Clinical Instructor at Akron
Children’s Hospital.
In her role at Akron Children’s,
Diane functioned as a shared
educational resource for the
hospital and affiliated nursing
programs and demonstrated
excellence in teaching as
evidenced by student and peer
evaluations. Affiliated nursing
programs reported increased
satisfaction with the clinical
training site.
Outcomes from Diane’s efforts
included: increasing the ability to
accommodate more students by
using nursing program
instructors for classroom
teaching and facility-based
instructors for clinical
instruction, combining use of an
electronic documentation
instructional CD and on-site
computer documentation class
for faculty and students,
improved collaboration between
direct-care nurses and facilitybased clinical instructors, and
access to a designated hospital
liaison for faculty and students.
Diane advanced the science of
nursing through increasing
nursing’s knowledge base about
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addressing pediatric clinical
faculty shortages. She conducted
a research study titled “Bridging
the Gap between Nursing
Academia and Service: A
Facility-Based Clinical Instructor
Program”. The Clinical Instructor
Program and the study results
have been presented locally and
nationally.
Excellence in Utilization of
Nursing Research:
Kristine Jacobson
Kristy maintains certification as a
neurological nurse and is a BoardCertified Clinical Nurse Specialist.
She was in the first group in the
country to be certified in emergency
neurologic life support at the
Neurocritical Care Society meeting.
As an advanced practice nurse,
Kristy is a resource for critical care
issues. In that role, she educates and
provides practice pointers for the
critical care nurses. Further, she
promotes evidence-based practice
by reviewing and critically
appraising the latest research
findings.
She provided CNRN review courses
for nurses from Summa and
surrounding facilities, as well as
classes for staff about advanced
concepts and care of sever traumatic
brain injured patients. She has also
played a key role in the
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development of trauma order sets
and policies.
Kristy received a graduation
certificate for completing an acute
neurovascular fellowship program
offered through Arizona State
University. She also received a
“Clinical Excellence” award from
Net Smart for her clinical
practicum.
Excellence in Nursing
Mentoring:
Vickie Wells
Vickie is a role model for others,
passionate about lifelong learning
and recently earning a master’s in
nursing education, while working
full time and caring for elderly
parents.
As Staff Development Instructor for
surgical services, Vickie has
coordinated CPAN and CAPA
review courses for surgical service
staff. She also mentored a group of
12 Same-day Surgery nurses as they
prepared to sit for certification. As a
result of her mentoring program, all
12 nurses became certified.
Vickie has also been involved in
implementing a new surgical
services universal protocol, she
worked on an interdisciplinary team
to ensure compliance with the new
policy/procedure.
She has received recognition for over
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8 years through the Summa Hospital
Clinical Ladder program and now
mentors other nurses working on this
recognition.
As an advanced practice nurse, she
has helped several staff with research
questions; an example being a sleep
apnea study for surgical patients. As
a result of Vickie’s mentoring,
Summa Surgical Services had four
posters accepted for the National
ASPAN conference in Chicago in
April.
Outstanding Undergraduate
Nursing Student:
Molly Arnold
Molly is graduating from The
University of Akron with her
baccalaureate nursing degree in May
2013. She has earned a minor in
Spanish, maintained honors status
throughout her undergraduate
studies, and been on the Dean’s List
all semesters since 2009.
of Nursing websites, in posters, and
are due to be presented at out
chapter’s Practice Pearls events this
Wednesday.
Molly has also traveled to Spain and
Mexico for studies and mission work
during her undergraduate studies.
She has served as an intern for the
Sigma Theta Tau Delta Omega
Chapter this past year, and although
she’s actively participated at many of
our events, her efforts of maintaining
our Face book page have been
especially appreciated. She is also
active in the Honors Nursing Group,
Campus Focus,and the Akron Swim
Club.
In addition to excelling in her
coursework, swimming, and service,
Molly works as a nursing student
technician at Summa City Hospital.
______________________________
THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON
As an honors student, she worked
with co-investigators Erin Rosen and
Kelsey Snyder on a senior honors
project, entitled: “An Examination of
the Effectiveness of a Health
Promotion Program on Children’s
Bedtime Routines in Bangalore,
India: A Pilot Study”. Findings have
been presented to The University of
Akron Trustees, featured on The
University of Akron and the School
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The 65TH Western Reserve District 5
Science Day
On Saturday, March 16, Delta Omega was proud to
honor two high school students with special awards
at the Western Reserve District 5 Science Day at the
University of Akron. Western Reserve Science
Day included projects from participants in grades 512, and the Sigma Theta Tau special awards went to
entries in the Medicine and Health category that the
judges deemed most relevant or beneficial to the
profession of nursing. Members of Delta Omega
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judging the projects included chapter president
Kathy Rose, Barb Brunt, Lyn Benedict, Lori Kidd,
Dina Dornack, Sheau-Huey Chiu, and Elizabeth
Dixon.
The first $50 award went to Katherine Friess, a
sophomore at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
Friess’ project was entitled “Imitating a Grapevine
to Produce a New Suturing System”, and she used
the latticework of grapevines as inspiration for a
new stitching technique that is both stronger and
more cosmetically appealing than standard stitches.
The second award was given to Mariah Costa, also
a sophomore at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School
for her project “Fatal Bathroom Fall: Detection and
Prevention”. After her grandmother sustained a fall
in the shower, Costa came up with the idea of a
non-slip, water resistant bath mat that alarms when
a patient falls.
Delta Omega congratulates these young winners
and hopes they continue to pursue healthcare
science-related careers.
NEWS FROM AREA
INSTITUTIONS
News from Summa June, 2013
Summa Health System Akron City/St Thomas
Hospitals received the Nurses Choice award from
the Ohio Nurses Association on April 19, 2013.
This is given to an organization that values nurses.
Summa received the OSPI Best Practices award
from the Ohio Hospital Association for the 2nd year
in a row. This year’s recognition was related to the
work and outcomes we have had related to
postpartum hemorrhage. Jocelyn Davis, DNP, RN,
CNM, C-EFM, CNIII will be presenting a poster on
this at the Ohio Hospital Association 6th Annual
Quality Summit by in June.
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Elizabeth Madigan, PhD, RN, FAAN, Brian
Schmotzer, MS, Cynthia Struk, PhD, MSN, BSN
and others had an article published in the March
2013 issue of Home Health Care Services Quarterly
on “Home Health Care with Telemonitoring
Improved Health Status for Older Adults with Heart
Failure”.
Jan Weinhardt, MSN, RN, CNS, and others were
the authors on a paper published by the American
Stroke Association in February of 2013 on
Dysphagia Screening: State of the Art Invitational Conference Proceedings from the Stateof-the-Art Nursing Symposium, International
Stroke Conference 2012.
Four posters done by Summa Nurses were
displayed at the ASPAN National Conference in
Chicago in April. There were: “Improving
Communication and Patient Comfort when Stay is
Extended in PACU” by Cyndi Johnson, BSN, RN,
CPAN; and Robin Houk, BSN, RN CPAN; “Life of
a Safety Sticker: Awareness of Risk to Prevent
Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression”, by Lisa
Moyer, BSN, RN, Robin Houk, BSN, RN SPAN,
Sandy Perch, BSN, RN, CAPA Karen Schlechter,
BSN, RN, CPAN, and Victoria Wells, MSN, RN,
CAPA; “GE Brings Pain Scores to Life:
Improving Post Discharge Pain Assessment
Electronic Documentation” by Kathy Makary, BSN,
RN, CAPA and Victoria Wells, MSN, RN CAPA;
and “No Show-OH NO! Understanding Pretesting
Visit Cancellations” by Amy Durig, BSN, RN and
Victoria Wells, MSN, RN, CAPA.
The University of Akron and Stark State College of
Technology collaborated on a new 33 month LPN
to AD-RN to BSN program for a cohort of Summa
LPNs, who will start in September of 2013. There
were 24 scholarships awarded to LPNs for this
program.
Summa awarded 15 full tuition scholarships to
nurses for BSN programs. Valerie Grant, BSN, RN,
CNOR and Lindsay Ault, BSN, RN, received
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Umansky scholarships. In addition, Patricia Walter,
MSN, RN, CNS received a Wilbur and Florence
Weaver Education Award to attend a national
conference, five nurses received the Wilbur and
Florence Weaver Advance Education for
Leadership in Nursing Awards, two nurses received
the Wilbur and Florence Weaver Performance and
Service Excellence Awards;, and two nurses
received the Milton and Edith Wiskind Advance
Practice/Nurse Practitioner Education award.
Donna Copeland, BSN, RNC from Labor and
Delivery received the Preceptor Excellence Award
for Summa Akron City Hospital and Ellen Stolia,
RN received the Preceptor Excellence Award for
Summa St. Thomas Hospital.
Kim Ballard, MSN, RN, GCNS-BC, ANVP and Jan
Weinhardt, MSN, RN, GCNS-BC, ANVP had a
poster “A Multidisciplinary Approach to Decrease
Door to Drug Treatment Times in Acute Stroke
Patients” accepted for the Ohio Hospital
Association 6th Annual Quality Summit in June.
Summa celebrated Nurses Week with an inaugural
Professional Nursing Legacy Award celebration for
all nurses who were newly certified or who received
a BSN or MSN in 2012. In addition, they had
blessing of the hands, a concert, pizza day,
professional development day, and Care Beyond
luncheon and awards celebration. Evidence-based
practice and clinical posters were displayed on both
campuses during the entire week.
Michelle Bender, BSN, RN from the Family
Medicine Center is the 2013 recipient of the Virgil
Collins Diversity Award for the work she has done
with refugees in our community. This award will
be presented at the Employee Recognition event on
June 21st.
Jocelyn Davis, DNP, RN, CNM, C-EFM, Tiffany
Kenny, MSN, RN, C-EFM, Jennifer Doyle, MSN,
RN, WHNP, Michele McCarroll, PhD., and Vivian
von Grunegen, MD had an article published in the
March-April 2013 issue of JOGNN entitled
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“Nursing Peer Review of Late Deceleration
Recognition and Intervention to Improve Patient
Safety”.
Linda Kremer, RN, and Jacelyn Fitzwater, BA,
BSN, RN-BC received the Nursing Excellence
awards for Summa Akron City/St Thomas from the
Delta Omega chapter of STTI. Summa nurses also
received the Excellence in Nursing Practice,
Excellence in Mentoring, and Excellence in
Research Utilization awards from Delta Omega –
see the article about awards in this newsletter for
further details.
Doyle J, Silber A, Kenny T, Alexander A,
McCarroll ML, and von Gruenigen VE.Outcomes
after Implementation of a Hard Stop Policy
Limiting Elective Delivery Prior to 39-Weeks,’
Poster presentation, 61st Annual Clinical Meeting
(ACM) of the American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 6,
2013
Ferris EM, Kenny T, Yeary L, Snider KD,
McCarroll ML, and von Gruenigen VE. Physician
Scorecards to Improve Care and Promote
Adherence to ACOG Guidelines,’ Poster
presentation, 61st Annual Clinical Meeting (ACM)
of the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 6,
2013.
Submitted by,
Barb Brunt
Immediate Past President
Delta Omega’s “Practice Pearls”
Program
Delta Omega’s “Practice Pearls” Program
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Akron City Hospital
Delta Omega’s spring program, “Practice Pearls,”
featured a number of excellent speakers: Lori Kidd,
Rachel Fear, Erin Rosen, Molly Arnold, and Kelsey
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Snyder. The program began with a dinner, time to
network with others, and was by followed three 20
minute presentations. About twenty-five nurses
attended the program.
Our first speaker, Lori Kidd, PhD, RN, CNS, is an
Assistant Professor at The University of Akron
School of Nursing. Dr. Kidd presented her research
on “A Mindful Eating Group Intervention for Obese
Women.” Her topic was an area of interest to many
of us who struggle to improve our eating habits with
our busy and fast paced lives.
Rachel Fear was a senior nursing student at The
University of Akron School of Nursing. Her talk
was entitled, “Getting Through the Day: Narratives
from Kenyan Mothers.” She had always wanted to
go to a different country and particularly Africa, so
this was a great opportunity to do research there.
The third talk was by Erin Rosen, Molly Arnold,
and Kelsey Snyder. All three were Honors students
in the School of Nursing at The University of
Akron. They presented “An Examination of the
Effectiveness of a Health Promotion Program on
Children’s Bedtime Routines in Bangalore, India: A
Pilot Study. Erin, Molly, and Kelsey formed their
trio to look at education’s effects on health
behaviors in India and have been encouraged by and
are grateful for the support of those who helped
make this project a reality.
We are very thankful to our five speakers for
sharing their expertise, and to Akron City Hospital
for allowing us to hold our dinner program at their
facility. The venue, food, and presentations were
excellent!
Submitted by
Linda Shanks
1st Vice President, Delta Omega Chapter
Page 12
SIGMA THETA TAU INTERNATIONAL
DELTA OMEGA CHAPTER
ANNUAL REPORT 2012 – 2013
COMMITTEE ACTIVITY: PRESIDENT
SUBMITTED BY KATHY ROSE, MSN, RN
GOALS FOR PREVIOUS YEAR:
1. Continue to work on activities for the Key
Award – currently at 65 points for the
biennium.
2. Update the listserv – done after the April
induction.
3. Collaborate with other
chapters/organizations on programs –
collaborated with Akron Children’s Hospital
for our October, 2012 fall program; Akron
General Medical Center for our February,
2013 winter program; Summa Health
System for our winter 2012 program and in
May, 2013 spring Practice Pearls program.
4. Continue to support service projects –
adopted a family for Christmas through
OPEN-M; donated money from Silent
Auction to ACCESS; volunteered services
to OPEN-M by serving hot lunches.
5. Continue to support students – provided
science fair awards to students; provided
scholarships for 2 research projects – Erin
Rosen, Molly Arnold and Kelsey Snyder /
Rachel Fear.
6. Continue to support scholarly endeavors –
supported President Elect to attend STTI
conference in Indianapolis, IN; provided a
total of $5,500.00 in research grants to
students and faculty.
7. Developed a role supporting new members –
Membership Ambassador: updates
Facebook page and guides new members
through the member/officer roles.
Summer 2013
THE DELTA
REPORT

GOALS FOR 2013-2014:
1. Assist the President-Elect transition to
President Role.
2. Review and update the strategic plan.
3. Complete and submit the Key Award for
11th Chapter Key Award.
Sigma Theta Tau International
Delta Omega Chapter
Annual Report 2012– 2013
2. To plan and offer a collaborative education
program with other Ohio chapters in 2013.
Sigma Theta Tau International
Delta Omega Chapter
Annual Report 2012-2013
Committee Activity: Leadership Succession
Submitted by: Carolyn Sutter MSN, RN, CNP and
Elizabeth Good MSN, RN
Committee Activity: 1st Vice President
Submitted by Linda Shanks
Goals for 2012-2013:
Goals for previous year:
1. Oversee the planning of chapter programs
ensuring that at least two programs or events
that support the honor society's purposes and
goals are held each year.
Three programs were held during the 20122032 academic year. A fall program was cosponsored with Akron Children’s Hospital
(“Across the Lifespan: Making an Impact on
Abuse”); a winter program (“Current
Trends in Drug Abuse”); a spring program
(“Practice Pearls”) which featured three
topics.
1.5 CEs were offered for the fall program
and 1.5 for the winter program (which was
also approved for APRNs with prescriptive
authority) and 1 for the spring program.
Each of the first two programs had an
attendance of around 30-40 people. About
20-25 people attended the spring program.
Goals for 2012_-2013:
1. Oversee the planning of chapter programs.
Our goal is to continue with three programs
or events that support the honor society's
purposes and goals.
Page 13
1. Promote the growth of the Delta Omega
Leadership Intern/Extern Program (e.g.,
web-based meetings, use of social media)
 The Leadership Extern Amber Wick,
BSN, a 2011 graduate from the
University of Akron was an excellent
addition to the board. The
Leadership Intern Molly Arnold, an
undergraduate honors student also
contributed through the consistent
submission of online newsletter
articles and establishing the
Facebook page. (Goals A, B, C)
 Flyers about chapter committee
involvement and intern/extern
positions were distributed at April
2013 Induction (Goal A, Goal C)
 Discussion with Junior
undergraduates and graduate
students was done after induction to
recruit an intern/extern for 20132014 (Goal A, Goal C)
 Pre- and waves of emails sent to
2012 chapter inductees about getting
involved with chapter work (Goal A,
Goal C)
 Recruitment added to Facebook after
induction
Summer 2013
THE DELTA
REPORT





Three new undergraduates
and one graduate member
have express willingness to
be involved in the
intern/extern program.
Applications are pending.
Waves of emails sent to chapter
members about getting involved with
chapter work (Goal A, Goal C)
Individual invitations sent to UA
faculty about getting involved with
chapter work (Goal B)
 Two new UA faculty have
volunteered for committee
work
 Three faculty have submitted
consent to serve as First VP,
Secretary and Faculty
Governance
April 2012 emails introducing new
committee members to Board sent to
start support of committee member
leadership succession (Goal B)
2. Promote committee development and a
smooth transition between committee
chairs and members fosters a smooth
transition.
 Chris Heifner Graor was a strong
mentor of the new co-chairs this year.
 Provide ongoing support for the
leadership committee new member
 Better integration of committee
meeting with all committee members
3.
Support a stronger involvement with
graduate and undergraduate students.
 Attendance at chapter programs at
hospitals with Leadership Succession
power point slides running
continuously before the program
begins and Flyers were distributed
(Goals A, B, C).
 Identify Chapter champions (e.g.,
externs, board members, interns,
leadership succession committee
Page 14


members) who can identify
university and hospital opportunities
to increase visibility of Chapter work
Emails were sent to undergraduate
CON organizations asking for
chapter involvement (Goals A and
C)
• No direct response
An applications for scholarship to
support four undergraduate nursing
projects were submitted to Board
(Goal A and Goal C)
 Awards are pending board
approval. They will have the
following conditions of
support, submitting
newsletter articles about the
study and presenting finding
to the board.
Goals for 2013-2014:

The goals for the 2013-2014 year continue
to be to (a) promote the growth of the Delta
Omega Leadership Intern/Extern Program,
(b) promote committee development and a
smooth transition between committee chairs
and members with committee meetings and
(c) to support a stronger involvement with
graduate and undergrad.
Sigma Theta Tau International
Delta Omega Chapter
Annual Report 2012-2013
Committee Activity: Intern/Membership
Ambassador
Submitted by: Molly Arnold
Goals for the previous year 2012-2013:
1.Attend and participate in monthly Board
meetings.
2. Learn more about the intern role and
discuss possible additional responsisbilities
of the position.
Summer 2013
THE DELTA
REPORT

Thank You from a Delta Omega Member
3. Network with Board members, establish
professional mentors and resources
4. Assist with chapter programs and
activities as needed.
5. Learn more about STTI and the various
opportunities it presents.
6. Attempt to get other members involved in
meetings or chapter activities.
“Dear Ms. Rose:
I recently received your letter and certificate
from the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor
Society of Nursing.
Accomplishments:
• Attended and participated in all Board
meetings for the year.
• Expanded intern responsibilities to
include starting and maintaining the
chapter Face book page, assuming the
“Membership Ambassador” role
• Volunteered serving Hot Lunch at
OPEN-M in the Fall.
• Judged the North High School/Middle
School Science Fair.
• Spoke with Board members and
established professional relationships.
• Encouraged other members to get
involved with chapter activities through
the Face book page and through wordof-mouth.
I go to the National Inventors Hall of Fame
School Center for Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics Learning.
Although I am not sure exactly how, I do
plan to have a medical career, maybe
specializing as a surgical nurse in the
neurology field. Thank you for encouraging me.
•
Goals for 2013-2014:
1. Encourage other members, especially
new members, to get involved with
chapter programs and other
committee participation.
2. Obtain a list of current members,
including undergraduates, to more
effectively attempt to engage them in
chapter activities.
3. Attend and participate in monthly
Board meetings.
4. Help with chapter program planning
an execution, as needed,
5. Maintain the chapter Facebook page.
6. Network with Board members and
other STTI members.
Page 15
I love the certificate! It is very special to me
and I enjoyed showing it to my friends and
family. It was so exciting to be called up at the
assembly to receive your award. there were
over 500 participants, so I was very surprised
and honored that you chose my experiment.
Sincerely,
Paige Norton”
_____________________________________
Call for Fall 2013 Proposals
Submission Deadline: September 15, 2013
Summer 2013
THE DELTA
REPORT

Volunteer now!
Delta Omega has a call for committee
volunteers. Please read the volunteer form for a
description of the committee work and return to
completed volunteer form. Terms are generally for
2 years and begin at the annual conference.
Please return to [email protected] with subject
titled “Volunteer_CommitteeName_Lastname”
Delta Omega Chapter
Sigma Theta Tau International
Honor Society of Nursing
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE: This is made up of two
elected chapter members, plus the counselor. This
committee is charged with overseeing the bylaw
compliance, makes recommendations for bylaws changes,
and oversee member eligibility issues. The counselor
serves as the chair of this committee
LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION/NOMINATING
COMMITTEE: Develops members in organizational
leadership roles, mentors members to assume
organizational board and officer positions, selects
nominees, and prepares and sends the ballot to the board
of directors four weeks prior to a scheduled election.
AWARDS COMMITTEE: Oversees the development,
review and judging of the chapter’s award applications, and
assists with coordination of the preparation and
submission of regional and/or international award
applications on behalf of the chapter.
BYLAWS COMMITTEE: Oversees the bylaws amendment
process and submits the Chapter’s bylaws to headquarters.
INDUCTION COMMITTEE: Assists with the planning and
coordination of the annual induction process and the
induction service and oversees the preparation of the
annual induction ceremony.
Page 16
NEWSLETTER/WEB COMMITTEE: Oversees the
development and implementation of strategies to maintain
and increase the chapter’s visibility through venues such as
Web sites and newsletters.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Plans, develops, coordinates
and implements chapter meeting programming; also
oversees the CE process for all programs and meetings.
WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Works with the
chapter treasurer as needed with fund-raising strategies,
and the coordination, implementation and evaluation of
chapter fund-raising projects and events.
Checkout the Delta Omega Facebook page
for upcoming Chapter events!
http://www.facebook.com/DeltaOmegaChapter