School Notes: School of Nursing
May/June 2012

AHRQ publishes YSN students’ ideas

Graduates with a master’s from the Yale School of Nursing not only need to be skilled in theory and practice; they also must possess the leadership skills to create innovation. Judith Kunisch, lecturer at YSN, designed a class project for these future leaders. Students created innovations to present in a simulated conference setting; they then submitted their ideas in professional practice memoranda to the Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Innovations Exchange website. AHRQ published six students’ memos and invited Kunisch to join their expert panel. Kunisch found the experience invaluable for her students, adding, “The key is that it’s bridging theory with practicality and reality.”

Professor authors nursing textbook

“We need to teach students how to think like a nurse, and how to focus quickly on the most critical aspects,” said Linda Pellico ’89MSN, director of YSN’s Graduate Entry Prespecialty in Nursing (GEPN) program and author of the new interactive textbook, Focus on Adult Health: Medical-Surgical Nursing. The 56-chapter text focuses on the need-to-know content of advanced nursing practice and prepares master’s students for the NCLEX licensure examination. Pellico wrote the text specifically for students who come into accelerated nursing programs like the GEPN program.

Heart study examines why some delay medical help

Too often, heart attack sufferers delay several hours before going to the hospital, losing valuable time. Yale researchers are asking why, in hopes of reversing this harmful pattern. “We are so embedded and invested in our daily lives that we are very, very reluctant to just drop everything and seek medical care,” said Angelo Alonzo, research scientist at YSN and head of the Yale Heart Study team. “Only when the signs and symptoms become so overwhelming that we have few choices, do we willingly go.” Researchers created a survey asking heart attack survivors to elaborate on their experiences. The team hopes to gain valuable insights and help people seek immediate care when experiencing heart attack symptoms.