School of nursing

YSN ranks seventh in U.S. News and World Report rankings

YSN has risen to seventh place in the U.S. News and World Report rankings of graduate schools of nursing. During the previous ranking in 2003, YSN was rated tenth in this review of more than 1,000 nursing graduate schools across the United States.

In addition to its overall ranking, four YSN master’s programs were ranked in the top five. They are the specialties in: pediatric nurse practitioner (ranked first); adult medical-surgical clinician and midwife (third); family nurse practitioner and psychiatric/mental health practitioner (fourth); and adult nurse practitioner (fifth).

Nursing administrator delivers annual Bellos Lecture

Rapidly changing forces in health care—from cutbacks in government funding to the nationwide nursing shortage—are coming together to create a critically important juncture for the profession of nursing. Jane Metzger, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children’s Hospital, addressed these changes and the future of the nursing profession in her talk, “Approaching the Perfect Storm,” which she delivered at YSN on April 18 as the 2007 Sybil Palmer Bellos Lecture. Will nurses view these as creative and innovative opportunities or will these escalating demands be seen as negative and de-energizing? Metzger discussed how nurses might weather this “storm.”

In her position at Rhode Island Hospital, Metzger oversees inpatient, adult, and pediatric emergency nursing services, as well as the surgical, cardiology, infection control, and endoscopy areas at the largest and busiest hospital in Rhode Island. In 2003, she was recognized with two leadership awards: the Rhode Island State Nurses Association’s Nurse Leadership Award, and the New York Times’s Job Market “Tribute to Nurses” award, which honors four nurses from more than 500 nominees nationwide.

YSN student awarded Nightingale Scholarship

Cathryn Imperato '07, a YSN student in the graduate entry prespecialty in nursing (GEPN), was presented a $1,000 scholarship as part of the Nightingale Awards for Excellence by the Visiting Nurses Association of South Central Connecticut, during a ceremony on April 19. The Nightingale Awards, Connecticut’s largest statewide nursing recognition program, celebrate nurses who demonstrate excellence in their profession, a commitment to their community, and a willingness to go “beyond the call.” The scholarship program honors nursing students who display these qualities while still in nursing school. Frank A. Grosso, assistant dean for student affairs, says that Imperato has “demonstrated her commitment to YSN, its students, and the surrounding community” by her involvement in community-service programs and student activities.

Imperato came to nursing almost by accident. “I started as a pre-med undergraduate student, and saw nurse practitioners at work during an internship. Once I saw what they did, I fell in love with nursing,” she said. “From my first rotation at Yale–New Haven Hospital in the HIV/AIDS unit, I really loved working as a nurse. I have felt driven toward this work with HIV patients.”

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