Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing Faculty News: Winter 2022
Nursing faculty members contribute to the profession with research, testimony and more
Family Nurse Practitioner Program Director Sharon R. Simon, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, (pictured, above) testified in Richmond in February before the Senate Education & Health subcommittee in support of House Bill 1245 advocating for Virginia nurse practitioners’ (NPs) autonomous licensing.
If the Senate does not pass this bill, Virginia’s NPs will return to a five-year requirement for autonomous practice. This would mean practices may be forced to restructure, patients could lose their NP provider, and access to care may be limited, especially in rural areas.
The Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners (VCNP) thanked Dr. Simon, the VCNP Northern Virginia Chapter president, for her testimony. The School of Nursing greatly appreciates Simon’s advocacy and staunch support of Virginia nurse practitioners.
Martha Vesterlund, DNP, APRN, ANP-C, FNP-C, assistant professor at Shenandoah University’s Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing and family nurse practitioner for Apple Valley Family Medicine, recently published an article in the American Journal of Nursing – “The Particular Pain and Challenge of Educating Patients During a Worldwide Pandemic.” In it, she shares her experiences of working in a rural community access hospital and the difficulties she and other health care providers have faced educating patients about the COVID-19 virus and vaccines. Read the article in the American Journal of Nursing.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Nurse-Midwifery Lauren Ervin, DNP, CNM, has been recognized with a Patient Safety Hero award from her clinical employer, MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital. Read more online at https://www.thebaynet.com/articles/1221/medstar-st-marys-recognizes-patient-safety-hero.html.
The doctoral study of Assistant Professor of Nursing Jollibyrd M. Gusto, DrPH, MAN, RN, CMSRN, PCCN-K, on CHF readmission was accepted and was one of the posters presented virtually during the “2021 Nursing Research and Evidence Based Practice Symposium – Honoring Nursing Science: Past, Present and the Future” sponsored by the Inova Health System on October 28, 2021.
