School Notes: School of Nursing
July/August 2010

Nightingale Awards honor YSN faculty

Two YSN faculty members were honored as winners of the 2010 Nightingale Award for Nursing Excellence in Connecticut at the tenth annual awards ceremony on May 5. Associate professor Ivy Alexander, director of YSN’s specialty in adult, family, gerontological, and women’s health primary care, is a noted expert in midlife women’s health, and has published two popular and award-winning consumer books on osteoporosis and menopause. Associate professor Nancy Banasiak, pediatric nurse practitioner, is an expert in primary care of urban children with asthma, and has led coordination of asthma care for more than 700 children at Yale–New Haven Hospital Pediatric Primary Care Center. The Nightingale Awards program was established in 2001 by the Visiting Nurses Association of South Central Connecticut and honors nurses who make special contributions to patient care. In connection with this program, YSN student Brandon Ko ’10MSN received a Nightingale scholarship.

Visiting professor presents findings in gastrointestinal health

Beatrice Renfield Visiting Professor Margaret M. Heitkemper addressed YSN faculty and students on March 31, on the topic of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Heitkemper is chair of the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems, and director of the Center for Women’s Health, at the University of Washington. She has been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1983 in an ongoing study of women’s health, stress, and gastrointestinal function. IBS occurs in 10 to 17 percent of the U.S. population, Heitkemper said, and more often in women than in men. She added that hormone levels are an important factor in both men and women, and that a lab rat study has shown that estrogen inhibits bowel function. Heitkemper has found that treatment for IBS is less effective for patients with a history of trauma, indicating that the cause may be a combination of genetics and life events. Managing IBS, Heitkemper said, has gained importance in health-care management because the disorder accounts for 40 percent of gastroenterologists’ time and involves costly diagnostic procedures.

YSN professor receives Elm-Ivy Award

YSN associate professor Alison Moriarty Daley ’94MSN was recently honored with a Seton Elm-Ivy Award, which celebrates an individual’s efforts to enrich the relationship between the university and the city of New Haven. Moriarty Daley was recognized for her work with underserved teens through primary care, advocacy, and education. In 1999, she developed and implemented a primary care clinic with the Hill Regional Career High School. There, and in her practice at the Adolescent Clinic at Yale–New Haven Hospital, she provides friendly health care for many of New Haven’s teenagers. Moriarty Daley was tapped by Mayor John DeStefano to co-chair his Task Force on Teen Pregnancy Prevention and has worked with community-based organizations like Planned Parenthood of Connecticut. In addition, she developed new programs to help urban youth avoid or stop smoking and she established and conducts the first school-based program for grieving youth.