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January 31, 2007

Marvelous Mr. Meti

On Friday of last week, Sandy and I traveled down to North Carolina to see a Meti-Man in action. What is a Meti-Man? A Meti-Man is a Human Patient Simulator. According to the Meti website:

The Human Patient Simulator (HPS) – a computer-model-driven, full-sized mannequin – delivers that experience in true-to-life scenarios that swiftly change to meet instructors' goals.

I knew that I was in for an interesting day when Sandy asked the Director of the Simulation Lab if she had \"a good recipe for clotted blood.\"
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It was quite amazing to watch the simulation man in action. Our colleague manipulated the Meti-Man in all kinds of ways to my amazement. Here, Meti-Man has a swollen tongue as one of his symptoms. (View image) The next shot shows the monitor (View image) that checks Meti's vital signs to make sure that he isn't having a heart attack or that his oxygen level is too low. This is a shot of the compressedAir.jpg compressed air that Meti needs in order to \"breathe.\"

It was fascinating for me to take the pulse of the HPS from his arm or his foot. I could really see how this tool in teaching could be extremely effective to run a simulated activity without having to have a \"live\" patient present. I read a number of articles that described how students actually cried when the Meti-Man died during the activity. I very much look forward to setting up our own marvelous meti and getting the reactions of the students as they work with this amazing teaching tool.

Culture and Health Care in the New South Africa

The Office of International Education and the School of Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University are pleased to offer a unique opportunity to study the impact of national and international policy decisions on the health and well-being of individuals and communities in the new South Africa. Download the brochure.141_4128.jpg

South Africa Nursing and Health Care
3 or 6 undergraduate and graduate credits in Nursing and International Studies
July 19-August 19, 2007
Contact: Martha W. Moon mwmoon@vcu.edu
$2,400 + airfare + VCU tuition
Registration deadline: March 1, 2007

Course and credit options: 3 or 6 undergraduate or graduate VCU credits
-NURS 514/INTL 514: International Perspectives on Community Health in Developing Countries
-NURS 491: Special Topics
-No credit; field trip only.

Course description: This program is offered in collaboration with the International Studies Program and the Department of Nursing at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. After participation in the program, students will be able to discuss four factors that have influenced the development of the health care system in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and to describe the major cultural influences impacting the health of South Africans. Nursing students who have completed the Health Assessment course will be provided provisional licenses from the South African Board of Nursing to provide health assessment activities to patients in the home, clinic, and hospital settings. Students will be accompanied in all settings by the nursing faculty mentor, a lay health worker volunteer, or a South African nursing student. Experiences include working in home-based care for a family over the duration of the trip, working in a community health clinic with South African nursing students, working or observing in a tertiary care hospital, working closely with a South African nursing student buddy, and a visit with a traditional healer.
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Program cost: $2,400 + airfare + VCU tuition
The program fee covers lodging, study visits and tours, VCU administrative fees, and the International Student Identification Card. Students are responsible for the cost of airfare, VCU tuition, all meals and other miscellaneous personal expenses. Please budget for these additonal expenses. A nonrefundable administrative fee of $50 is due upon registration. A nonrefundable deposit of $200 is due by April 1, 2007. The balance will be billed through VCU Student Accounting in May 2007. Students who register between April 1 and April 15 must pay the deposit and registration fee together upon registration.

Tuition: Tuition is charged separately and additionally at standard VCU rates for in-state students and at a 40 percent discount for out-of-state students. Estimated costs, based on current tuition per credit, are as follows: undergraduate in-state, $179 (per 3 credit class: $537); undergraduate out-of-state, $401 (per 3 credit class: $1,203); graduate in-state, $379 (per 3 credit class: $1,137); graduate out-of-state, $533 ($1,599 per 3 credit class).

Airfare: Airfare is not included. Participants are responsible for their own round-trip travel arrangements between the United States and South Africa. Students should plan to arrive in Port Elizabeth on the afternoon of July 20. For best fares you should purchase your ticket prior to April 15 but not until accepted into the program. Once accepted, Dr. Moon will advise you about the most economical and direct travel arrangements.

Payment of fees: The nonrefundable registration fee of $50 is due upon registration. A nonrefundable deposit of $200 is due two weeks after receipt of acceptance packet. Students who register after April 1 must pay the deposit and registration fee together upon registration. The balance of the program fee and the tuition costs (based on the number of credits taken) will be billed separately through VCU Student Accounting after May 2007. (Both amounts may be billed at the same time.)

Eligibility: This program is open to students from all fields.

Registration deadline: March 1, 2007. Applications will be accepted until the deadline or until participant space is full. A minimum of 6 students is required to offer the program, and a maximum of 9 students will be accepted.
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Two required pre-trip meetings will be held.

Activities and excursions: Included in the activities is a safari to view the wildlife, and a visit to a farm.

Accommodations and meals: Students will stay in guest houses in double accommodations (2 per room). Meals are not included in the program fee.

Financial aid: Eligible VCU students may apply for need-based financial aid to participate in this program. Contact VCU Financial Aid, Ginter House, Room 110B; phone 828-6669; or email faidmail@vcu.edu. VCU offers its students a limited number of scholarships for study abroad participation. Contact VCU Education Abroad or see our website for further details.

Passports: If you have a passport, make sure it is valid for at least six months after your return date. If you do not have a passport, apply early because the processing time is up to eight weeks. For more information on how to apply for a passport, visit http://travel.state.gov

Program director: The program will be led by Martha W. Moon, RN, Ph.D., MPH. Dr. Moon is an Associate Professor of Nursing in the Department of Integrative Systems in the VCU School of Nursing. She has been on faculty at VCU since 1998. Her teaching focus is on community and public health, and her research program is in HIV prevention and stigma in vulnerable populations.

Every effort is made to provide updated and accurate information at the time of printing. The sponsors reserve the right to make necessary changes to the programs and costs.

VCU School of Nursing targets Spanish-speaking nurses for RN-BS Weekend Program

It’s no secret that we face a critical shortage of nurses. Bureau of Labor statistics indicate that our nation will need 1.2 million more nurses by 2014. By 2020, Virginia alone will need 22,000 new nurses – meaning that without increases in nursing education enrollment, one in three Virginians will not have a nurse to care for them.

At the same time, changes in patient demographics are compounding the problem. Not only is the overall patient population aging, but we are experiencing rapid growth of Spanish-speaking patients. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2005 Hispanics were the largest and fastest-growing racial/ethnic minority in the U.S. Similarly, a 2003 Bon Secours/Central Virginia Health Planning Agency study found that in Central Virginia the Hispanic population was growing 5 times faster than the overall population. This is troubling because of healthcare disparities among Hispanic patients: CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reports that Hispanics have the lowest levels of doctor visits, early prenatal care, and health insurance among all racial/ethnic groups.

In response to this emerging crisis, the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing has obtained a 3-year grant from HRSA to recruit Hispanic and Spanish-speaking nurses and current public health nurses for its RN-BS Weekend Program.

This innovative program allows Registered Nurses without a bachelor’s degree in nursing to obtain a BS in nursing in as few as three semesters. With classes just one weekend a month, and with locations across Virginia or online, the RN-BS Weekend Program accommodates nurses who are already working full-time.

Associate Professor Martha Moon, Ph.D., who directs the RN-BS Weekend Program, says, "This grant-funded initiative can improve healthcare across Virginia by helping nurses in demand acquire the capabilities to assume expanded roles and responsibilities."


For more information on the VCU RN-BS Weekend Program, please contact Millie Flinn, Hispanic Coordinator, at 804.828.5181 or flinnml@vcu.edu.

January 29, 2007

VCU School of Nursing targets public health nurses for RN-BS Weekend Program

The last ten years have seen a shift in the role of public health in Virginia. There has been an increased focus on assessment, assurance and policy development and a decrease in the direct care provided by local health departments. The Virginia State Department of Health (VDH) has reported an increased need for nurses who are prepared to provide population focused care. VDH offers training for its current employees to increase their skills in epidemiology, community assessment and diagnosis, and policy development. They require new employees to have these skills, but have had difficulty finding a qualified applicant pool. According to the former State Public Health Nursing Director, “over 50 percent of the existing workforce is associate degree or diploma prepared and has not had any formal education in public health science. This is of grave concern as we move into population-based services, where nurses must work with primary and secondary sources of data, mobilize community partnerships and monitor trends.‿ (Karen Connelly, personal communication, November 12, 2004)

Virginia’s shift to population-focused public health services, along with the increasing diversity of the state’s population, is necessitating a public health workforce more highly skilled in community and population-based practice. Baccalaureate education at VCU includes community and public health nursing content. Indeed, the community health content is a key difference between BS education and AD and diploma educations. All BS students take a community and public health nursing course (NURS415) that employs an epidemiological approach to population-focused nursing through community assessment and evaluation of the effects of contemporary issues and health policy on the public's health. Many of the current public health nurses received more traditional public health clinical training, including home visits and individual direct care provision, and they are unfamiliar with models of population-focused care required in current public health practice. VCU School of Nursing’s RN to BS Weekend Program, which has been in existence for seventeen years, offers nurses who work full-time the option of completing their BS in Nursing on weekends over three to nine semesters, full- or part-time. By promoting this program to public health nurses, we can increase the number of well-qualified public health nurses in the workforce in Virginia, and help to retain these nurses in the public health workforce by improving preparation, job performance and satisfaction.

This innovative program allows Registered Nurses without a bachelor’s degree in nursing to obtain a BS in nursing in as few as three semesters. With classes just one weekend a month, and with locations across Virginia or online, the RN-BS Weekend Program accommodates nurses who are already working full-time.

Associate Professor Martha Moon, Ph.D., who directs the RN-BS Weekend Program, says, “This grant-funded initiative can improve healthcare across Virginia by helping nurses in demand acquire the capabilities to assume expanded roles and responsibilities.‿

For more information on the VCU RN-BS Weekend Program, please contact Millie Flinn, Hispanic Coordinator, at 804.828.5181 or flinnml@vcu.edu.