Dean Tart's Blog

Great News from 2011

2011-12-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

Ribbon Cutting of the MG and Lillie A. Johnson Patient Care Simulation Center

2011-11-11T14:35:00.001-08:00

November 10th the Victoria Chamber of Commerce hosted the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for the MG and Lillie A. Johnson Patient Care Simulation Center!

It was a wonderful event! In attendance were community supporters, the Trustees from the Johnson Foundation, faculty, staff and students! Here is an email I received regarding the impact that the School of Nursing is making! Permission was given to share these thoughts.....

Kathryn:

On behalf of the Johnson Foundation, thank you for the tour of your new digs and for the very unnecessary gifts to the trustees. I would have been perfectly happy with the cookies.

I want to repeat what I mentioned to you last night at the dinner. One
of your students, the one with the young child on her hip, impressed me with her sincere, and frequent, expressions of appreciation for her scholarship funds. As trustees, we rarely have the opportunity to experience first hand, up close and personal, the impact of our decisions, especially as it relates to students. I saw that yesterday.
Polite thank you notes are certainly welcomed but yesterday I was profoundly moved by that young lady.

Your program and your students will continue to go far. We look forward to participating as best as we can in that journey.

Feel free to share this message with your students and faculty.

Jack

Dear Jack,

On behalf of the School of Nursing, the faculty, staff and students, our sincere thanks for the support given to us from the MG and Lillie A Johnson Foundation and board of trustees.

We are passionate about our work and our profession. Your support allows us to fulfill our vision of innovative nursing excellence...meeting dreams in your community!!

Sincerely,

Kathryn Tart
Kathryn Tart, EdD, RN
Founding Dean and Professor
School of Nursing

Our Silver Winner!!!

2011-09-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Dr. Ginger Blomstrom!

She received the Good Samaritan Foundation Silver Award for excellence in Teaching. Her husband, granddaugher, and nursing faculty colleagues joined her at the Hilton Americas Hotel for the event on September 15th!

Dr. Blomstrom received the award from 125 nominees! The UHV School of Nursing at Sugar Land is honored to have such a wonderful faculty member!

Welcome to the Fall 2011 semester!

2011-08-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to each of you to a new school year! I am looking forward to the opportunities we have in store for the School of Nursing! I am in awe of the accomplishments we have seen and the vision we have for the future. Our school has grown by 205% over the last four years!

The Future of Nursing Report that came out in October of 2010 gave 8 recommendations that will help guide our profession for the next decade.

Recommendation #4 is to: Increase the proportion of nurses with a baccalarueate degree to 80 percent by 2020. The School of Nursing's RN-BSN program now has seamless articulation agreements with Lone Star Community College System, Wharton County Junior College and The Victoria College. www.uhv.edu/nursing (click RN to BSN program). The ADN graduates from these programs can attend our UH System Cinco Ranch, UH System Sugar Land and UH Victoria campuses respectively.

If you want to know more about the report you can view it on-line at: www.iom.edu/reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx It's our profession!!!

UHV Spring Nursing Forum to bring experts to address health care changes

2011-04-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

Please click the link below to find out about the upcoming UHV Spring Nursing Forum in Victoria. Hope students and nurses come and find out about how the Institute of Medicine report and the Affordable Care Act will impact nursing's future! What a great way to start National Nurses Week!!

http://www.uhv.edu/car/newswire/release.asp?id=1121

UHV Nurses in Austin!

2011-04-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Nursing students in the RN-BSN and MSN programs attended Nurse's Day at the Capitol. The pictures were provided by Judy Jacob Mathew RN BSN (thanks!!). Comments I heard from students were: "I really understand how important the legislative process is for the nursing profession." "I have joined TNA now that I have been to Austin - I see how important the organization is to protecting my license." Thanks to Dr. Neill for heading up the experience!

Coffee with the Dean event

2011-04-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Eighty three (83) undergraduate and graduate students and alumni made it to the Coffee with the Dean in Cinco Ranch, Sugar Land and Victoria. We had a great time being together! Great questions, laughs and ideas along with some coffee and treats..... Our thanks to Mary Beth and the doctors at OGA for the great mugs and sponsoring our event!

I am looking forward to the next Coffee with the Dean in Victoria!!!

Spring Coffee with the Dean

2011-03-24T08:10:00.001-07:00

UHV School of Nursing Spring Forum

2011-03-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

87.5% of First Class taking NCLEX-RN exam are RNs!

2011-03-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

87.5 percent of the first class of students taking the NCLEX-RN exam have passed. Despite this, the Texas Board of Nursing has placed the School of Nursing on warning status because the pass rate on initial testing in two consecutive reporting periods was below 80%. In August 2009 the SON graduated its first Second Degree BSN class of 17 students. The initial testing results were 77.78% (7 passed of the 9 testing) for the 2009 reporting period. The initial testing results were 28.57% (2 passed of the 7 testing) for the 2010 reporting period. The students were strongly encouraged to take the test in the 2009 reporting period, however, they did not. On April 5, 2010 a Self Study was submitted to the Texas Board of Nursing. The Self Study evaluated factors which contributed to graduates’ performance and included a description of corrective measures that were implemented. Major problems included inadequate admission criteria for the first cohort, nursing faculty who were new to BSN education and unprepared for the technological requirements, and the logistics of teaching a compressed curriculum. In September 2009 the University did not hold classes for three (3) weeks because of Hurricane Ike. This confounding event compressed this initial class even further. In all actuality the two year pass rate represents one class of 17 students. Currently, fourteen (14) total have passed the exam (5 after the second attempt), two (2) have not passed and one (1) student has not taken the NCLEX-RN exam. Thus, 87.5% of the first class of students taking the exam have passed. From our records 13 of these 14 Registered Nurses are working full time in nursing. Your faculty and dean are totally committed to the educational process in the SON. All good things take time and we are moving in a postive direction! Sincerely, Dr. Tart

Fall Semester 2010 commencement and pinning

2010-12-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

The Fall 2010 Semester was full of wonderful events for the School of Nursing. The Students, Faculty and Staff at the School of Nursing are the future leaders for our profession. Enjoy!!!!

SON faculty and Janet Leatherwood, Chief Nurse at Methodist Sugar Land, getting ready for commencement.

First Ever - RN-BSN, MSN and Second Degree BSN Pinning ceremony after the Fall Commencement in Katy, Texas.

Pictured: Heather Chimene, Melissa Chaffin, Donovan Bacuyag, Sarita Shestha saying the Florence Nightingale Pledge with their lamps.

Our Guest Speaker was Steven Brockman-Weber, Chief Nurse of Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital. Many of our students spend clinical time at this facility and we were honored to have Steven share his thoughts (with permission):

"Dean Tart, Faculty, Families, and Honored Graduates…

I don’t have words enough to express my gratitude for the chance to speak to with you on your special day. It would be a pleasure and honor at any pinning ceremony, but today marks a milestone for the UHV School of nursing as this is the first pinning ceremony where all nursing graduates are honored, congratulations Dean Tart and faculty!

Nurses are brave. Insightful. Compassionate. Not only do they help people heal, they calm fears, alleviate grief, inspire others. To be a nurse is to answer a calling to tireless service and self-sacrifice.

Every nurse has paid a price for his or her dedication. As rewarding as it is a touch lives on such a profound emotional and spiritual level, it can also be stressful and heartbreaking. It’s a tough, tough, job. And.. that’s why it’s so important to celebrate this day with pride and accomplishment. I want you to celebrate this day. I want you to experience all of the pride, all of the joy that it brings you to have reached this milestone. I also want to challenge you and inspire you because as you leave this ceremony today many of you have prepared yourselves to take on new roles in nursing, some as a new graduate and some into more leadership and roles of education. You see, today you take a big step into power. In return for your hard work, endless papers, care plans, and business plans your dedication to a life of service and your willingness to take the pledge of duty society gives you access and rights that is given to on one else. Society will allow you to hear secrets from frightened human beings that they are too scared to tell anyone else. Society will permit you to use drugs and instruments that can do great harm as well as great good, and that in the hands of others would be weapons. Society will let you build walls and write rules. And in this new role you will meet a new mother afraid to touch her preemie on the ventilator in the incubator. The construction worker too embarrassed to admit that he didn’t hear a word the physician said just after, “It might be cancer.” The alcoholic bottoming out who was the handsome champion of his soccer team and dreamed of being an architect someday. The child over whom you tower. The 90-yeard old grandmother, over whom you tower. You see your world may change dramatically as you walk out of here today, because now you have the choice, you now how the power, the ability to make new rules. You have a choice now to make the difference in someone’s life, the magical opportunity to decide.

Nursing has changed dramatically over the past 28 years I have been practicing. A long way from the staff nurse in a community hospital in Kentucky. I now help to make the rules and so will you. I challenge each of you to create new opportunities for our profession that will help to propel nursing into the respected profesion it is.

There are three things that I challenge each of you to take with you into your roles as nurses:
1. Leadership. Be the forerunner, be the rule maker, and be the one who challenges and questions. Lead with pride, lead with purpose and lead with the desire to make things better for patients and their families.
2. Confidence. At the beside or in the boardroom do your job with confidence and pride. You have been taught the basics, and beyond. Use your knowledge to drive excellence in the care you provide. Be willing to ask and admit when you don’t know. Having confidence can help you to achieve great things.
3. Change. Know that change occurs all the time. Be a forward thinker, a visionary in all that you do, who knows one day students in your seats today maybe learning about your new model of care you have tested. Change can be difficult, but it can also be exciting. Be the one that stands up and says, Let me try that.

Congratulations on your achievement today. Feel proud. You ought to. Those who suffer need you to be something more than a nurse; they need you to be a healer. And to become a healer you must do something even more difficult than using your knowledge. You must recover, embrace, and treasure the memory of your shared, frail humanity-of the dignity in each and every soul.

I am grateful for the lessons that I have learned, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to share them with you today. I am still learning. I have so much yet to learn. I have so very far yet to go, as do you. That’s okay. This is a journey and your journey begins now. I honor you today for choosing to make a difference in the lives of the patients and families you serve. Congratulations!"

UHV's Annual Report

2010-11-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

You are welcome to view the annual report and an event photo gallery at www.uhvAnnualReport.com right now, and within the next several days, additional photos and videos will be posted. The site currently features video presentations shown during the event; faculty, staff, student and alumni highlights, UHV’s enrollment and financial figures; a list of donors; and much more. The School of Nursing is highlighted under Academics. ENJOY!!

What Every Nursing Student Should Know When Seeking Employment

2010-11-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

Please be sure to read this publication from AACN if you are in the market for a job:

http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/pdf/hallmarks.pdf

UHV School of Nursing to hold first honor society induction

2010-11-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

Date: November 11, 2010

UHV School of Nursing to hold first honor society induction

SUGAR LAND — The University of Houston-Victoria will hold its inaugural induction ceremony on Friday for the School of Nursing Honor Society.

Sixty-four students have been invited to the induction ceremony which will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Susan Ryon Davis Multi-Purpose Room at the UH System at Sugar Land, 14000 University Blvd.

“We are proud to hold our first-ever induction ceremony, and it’s another sign of how far our nursing program has come since its beginning in 2006,” said Jere Hammer, a UHV assistant clinical professor who is the reception sponsor, along with assistant professor Eugenia Blomstrom. “It’s also a chance to recognize the excellence of our students who must show academic excellence, professionalism, integrity and leadership potential as they pursue their nursing degree.”

UHV should receive its charter in November 2011, one year after the induction ceremony. The honor society must have 50 members for its first year, and 50 members must renew the following year. Once the charter is given, it will receive its proper name.

School of Nursing officials began the process of establishing an honor society after the school’s programs received accreditation in March from the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education.

UHV will partner with the leadership team of the Beta Beta Houston Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, which will mentor UHV’s honor society toward its chapter charter. UHV Nursing Honor Society board members can attend Beta Beta meetings to learn from nursing colleagues.

Kathryn Tart, founding dean of the UHV School of Nursing, will be featured speaker at Friday’s event. Her talk is titled “An Honor to Honor Nursing.”

The board of directors for the honor society of nursing includes: Hammer, president; Blomstrom, vice president; Sandra McNeely, secretary; Lisette Barton, counselor; and Patricia Goehring, treasurer.

The school also has invited 82 alumni and 88 nurse leaders to the inaugural induction ceremony. A reception will be held immediately following.

The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region, offers courses leading to approximately 60 bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and concentrations in the schools of Arts & Sciences, Business Administration, Education & Human Development, and Nursing. UHV also offers face-to-face classes at two UH System teaching centers in Fort Bend County, in addition to its home campus in Victoria, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. Since its founding in 1973, UHV has provided students with a quality university education from exceptional faculty at a great value.

Health Care Reform Conference Call: Nurses, Michelle Obama and Mary Wakefield

2010-10-04T06:35:00.000-07:00

Health Care Reform Conference Call: Nurses, Michelle Obama and Mary Wakefield

Did you get to participate in the September 28th nurses-only health care reform conference call with First Lady Michelle Obama and Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, FAAN the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)? Dr. Wakefield is the highest ranking nurse in the administration. The conference call helped ensure that the voices of nurses were heard in Washington.
Nurses were able to hear first-hand from the First Lady about Health Care Reform and what it means for nurses and their patients. The White House conferencing capacity was exceeded because nurses were overwhelmingly interested in participating - and the White House knows it!
You can read a summary or the full remarks as well as listen to the conference call.
Don’t forget your opportunity to stay involved this election season by pledging to participate in the October 20th Nurses Campaign Activity Night (Nurses CAN 2010). Won’t you take a few hours to ensure we have a friendly voice for nurses at the local, state or national level? Together, Nurses CAN continue to make our voices heard!

Sincerely,
Dr. Tart

2010 State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research

2010-10-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

This week Dr. DeMonica Junious and I attended the 2010 State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research presented by the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (CANS). We were in Washington, DC with 942 other nurse scientist from around the world. We spent our time visiting with other nurse researchers and learned about new opportunities for research in our field of nursing.

Dr. Junious presented her research, “Foreign-Born Nursing Students’ Perceptions of Stress”. You can read her article in the Journal of Nursing Education! The picture is of us standing at her poster presentation.

The final evening was the National Institute of Nursing Research “NightinGala” celebrating 25th years of Nursing Research – 1985-2010. The pictures are of Dr. DeMonica Junious and Sister Callista Roy. It was an honor to take our picture with Sister Roy! She is one of the “rock stars” in nursing!! (Google her if you don’t believe me!!)

Sincerely,
Dr. Tart

Affordable Care Act.

2010-09-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

September 23rd is the six-month anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. The Patient’s Bill of Rights will be enacted. Several new health care benefits will begin to apply on Thursday.

1. Insurance companies cannot deny health care to people for making a mistake in filing, no more unjustified rescissions.

2. Parents can keep the kids under the age of 26 on their health insurance. Ask your employer when they will have open enrollment to get your kids back on!

3. Preventative health care is covered.

4. Insurances cannot charge a higher co-pay for going to an Emergency Room that is out of network.

Your community members may have questions about how the Affordable Care Act can help them access health care. Encourage them to visit HealthCare.gov, a “one-stop shop” where they can find answers to their questions about health care reform. Spanish speakers can visit CuidadoDeSalud.Gov, the partner site of HealthCare.gov. For additional resources and information, including a HealthCare.gov Fact Sheet, please visit the HHS Partnership Center.
Thank you for connecting your community members to information and resources that will help them access quality, affordable health care coverage.

Sincerely,
Dr. Tart

Preceptor Development Workshop

2010-09-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

Join the Harvard School of Public Health Nurses’ Health Study III

2010-09-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Nurse Colleagues and Nursing Students,
Please consider joining the Harvard School of Public Health Nurses’ Health Study III. The study is ONLY for nurses, which makes it very unique. The longitudinal research study is meaningful to our future. I have been in the Nurses’ Health Study II for 25 years and consider it a privilege to assist with health research. Typically I receive one survey a year that asks about my health, diet, exercise. At times they have asked for x-ray records, blood samples, urine samples, finger nail clippings. I also receive updates and reports from the study.

Please share this email with other nurses and ask them to join with you! You will be glad you did!!

Sincerely,
Dr. Tart

2010 Women of Excellence!

2010-09-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, I was the guest of Debra Belgard, RN, MS, at the Federation of Houston Professional Women. Mrs. Belgard, helped teach the Perioperative Nursing Care elective course this summer. She is past president of the AORN group in Houston. We were able to meet Anise Parker, Houston’s mayor, at the event. It was fun celebrating Mrs. Belgard’s accomplishment as one of the 2010 Women of Excellence!

Sincerely,
Dr. Tart

Welcome Message for Fall 2010

2010-08-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

Dear UHV School of Nursing Students,

Welcome to the new semester! We have the largest enrollment in our history and are excited to welcome each of you! Your faculty have a great store of knowledge that they are excited to share in your quest to advance yourself in the nursing profession as leaders.

Here are some important updates you will see this semester.

First, Black Board will be loaded for your courses on Monday. Faculty are busy getting their courses uploaded this week and will have the syllabi, course schedule, documents, links, calendars, and course information for you when you get to class. The University and SON will use your UHV email account to send and receive communications. Roberto Tonsul, our on-line support technician, will be available to assist you with any questions. His number is 361-570-4299 and his email is tonsulr@uhv.edu.

Second, you will see faculty CVs and undergraduate course syllabi three clicks away on the www.uhv.edu web site. All universities in the State of Texas must meet this “three clicks away” requirement as outlined in HB 2504 legislation.

Next, I want to invite you to Coffee with the Dean this semester. I will meet with students in Victoria on October 5^th, and with students in Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch on October 7^th. More information will follow.

Ultimately, I wish for you a very exciting semester! The SON faculty and staff are dedicated to helping you learn and explore the many aspects of nursing you will be studying.

Sincerely,

Dean Tart

National organization selects UHV School of Nursing dean for advocacy award

2010-06-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Originally published May 22, 2010 at 8:06 p.m., updated May 22, 2010 at 8:06 p.m.

Kathryn Tart, founding dean of the University of Houston-Victoria School of Nursing, recently was selected from 646 nursing deans across the nation to receive the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Advocate of the Year award for her work on behalf of the nursing profession.
"Dr. Tart is the founding dean of a young nursing program and has clearly made it a priority to engage in the advancement of nursing education and research policy on behalf of nursing students and faculty across the country," said Teri Murray, chair of the association's Government Affairs Committee and dean of the School of Nursing at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Mo.
Tart was named the 2009 AACN Advocate of the Year at the association's spring meeting in Washington, D.C. The award was given based on the visits Tart made to legislators during the association's spring and fall meetings, and the nursing advocacy messages she sent to legislators during the year.
"If we don't advocate for our profession, then policy changes occur more slowly or don't happen at all," Tart said. "I just feel very honored to have the UHV School of Nursing get more national exposure with this award."
Tart, who started her position at UHV in September 2008, has spoken with legislators both at the state and national level about the UHV School of Nursing and the importance of funding for nursing education, she said.
UHV didn't have a nursing program until 2006, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board didn't approve a proposal until 2007 to allow the university to create a School of Nursing. The school now offers bachelor's and master's degrees in Victoria, Sugar Land and Katy. Its first attempt at national accreditation paid off in October when the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education fully accredited the school's undergraduate and graduate programs for the next five years.
"We're a new school and I'm a new dean, so I just thought it was really important for me to get involved," she said.
Tart has written letters on her own time to U.S. legislators asking them to support Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, which provides funding for nurses, nursing students, nursing schools and healthcare facilities. Increased funding for nursing students is important so that more nurses will get advanced degrees, she said.
"Educational progression is so important within our profession because the more educated the nurse, the better care he or she can give patients," Tart said.
UHV President Tim Hudson said he has been impressed with Tart's work ethic since she first came to UHV.
"She is constantly educating people about the UHV School of Nursing and the nursing profession," he said. "I couldn't think of a more deserving recipient for this national award."

MITIE Simulation Experience

2010-06-07T11:22:00.001-07:00

Perioperative Experience

2010-06-07T11:17:00.001-07:00

Perioperative Course - It takes a Methodist Hospital System Village

2010-06-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

During the two week UHV May intersession 10 Second Degree BSN students and I embarked upon a Perioperative Nursing Elective Course. The Methodist Hospital and Methodist Sugar Land Hospital became a second home for the students and they learned more than they ever could imagine.

Week One
The first three days of the course were all didactic with Debra Belgard, MS, RN, CNOR as the guest expert from The Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Students learned the concepts of Asepsis, Safety, Communication, Role of the OR nurse, skin preparation, positioning, traffic patterns and OR attire.

The fourth day the students went to the MITIE lab on The Methodist Hospital campus for an entire day of practice with simulation. There they practiced intake of the patient into the OR, scrubbing, gowning and gloving, instrumentation table, saftey and prepping. Twelve perioperative nurses from TMH volunteered their time to teach these students these skills. They were patient and guided the 10 students through every step of the way. The nurses demonstrated their professionalism in many ways such as teaching the why and how of what is done in the OR, the practice of skills to a novice comfort level, and the value of being a nurse and the important role of patient safety, teamwork and communication.

Day five the students observed an actual surgery in the dome at TMH. This was an important day as the students were able to put together all they had learned and practiced into an observational experience. They made observations about gloving, time out, and were able to discuss in greater detail their learning from the week.

Week Two
The Methodist Hospital Sugar Land perioperative staff welcomed the 10 students and me at report at 6:45am on Monday. Marlyn Tanvir, RN had the students assigned to a room in either a scrub nurse or circulating nurse role. My goal was for the students to scrub in at least once during the week. Some of the students were scrubbing in the FIRST day! The perioperative staff at Methodist Sugar Land were wonderful. They too exhibited the same professionalism as TMH.They took the students under their wing and let them participate in all the concepts they had learned in class and practiced in the simulation experience. The students were able to feel like they were part of the Methodist Sugar Land Hospital perioperative family by weeks end. They felt they contributed to the care of patients and had a feel for what being a nurse was like in the perioperative setting.

UHV School of Nursing profoundly thanks the nurses at The Methodist Hospital and Methodist Sugar Land Hospital for guiding, teaching and imparting your wisdom to these young nursing students. The weeks spent with you will always be a strong and postive part of their nursing school memory. It takes a village to teach our new nurses and The Methodist Hospital System was just the perfect village to teach perioperative nursing. THANK YOU!!