Hartford Hospital Nursing Magazine, Autumn, 2012 Library/Publications/Nursing Magazin… · W....

NursingFOR HARTFORD HOSPITAL NURSES AND ALUMNAE OF THE HARTFORD HOSPITAL SCHOOL OF NURSING AUTUMN 2012

On the cover:

Jenifer Ash, APRN, MPH, clinical nursespecialist for medical nursing.

This page:

Lauren Baltrucki, RN; Stephanie Wills, RN;Martin McDonald, RN; and Agnes Reynolds,RNC, BSN, participate in emergency skillscompetency training in the simulation labat the Center for Education, Simulationand Innovation.

Photos by Lanny Nagler

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NursingEditorial StaffAmanda Blaszyk, EditorNoreen S. Kirk, Editor/WriterAlan Colavecchio, DesignerLanny Nagler and Cill Russo, PhotographersSteven Lytle, Archivist

HARTFORD HOSPITAL NURSING / AUTUMN 2012

Advisory Board

Cheryl Ficara, RN, MS, NEA-BCVice President, Patient Care ServicesHartford Hospital

Gail Nelson, RN, MS, NEA-BCDirector of Professional Development and Performance ImprovementHartford Hospital

Betty Ann Fusco, RNPresident, Alumnae Association of the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing, HHSN ’66

Patricia Andreana Ciarcia, RN, MSNExecutive Director of Alumnae Affairs, AlumnaeAssociation of the Hartford Hospital School ofNursing, HHSN ’62

Amanda Blaszyk, Marketing Manager

Hartford Hospital Nursing is a twice-yearlypublication of the Hartford HospitalDepartment of Nursing and the AlumnaeAssociation of the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing.

Send correspondence to:

Hartford Hospital Nursing80 Seymour StreetHartford, CT 06102-5037Attention: Cheryl Ficara, RN, MS, NEA-BCVice President, Patient Care ServicesHartford Hospitale-mail: [email protected]

Alumnae Association of the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing560 Hudson StreetHartford, CT 06106Attention: Pat Ciarcia, RN, MSNExecutive Director of Alumnae Affairse-mail: [email protected]

Hartford Hospital NursingFor Hartford Hospital Nurses and Alumnaeof the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing

Volume VIII, Issue 2, Autumn 2012

CONTENTS2 Letters to Our Readers

Messages from Hartford Hospital’s President and CEO and the Vice President of Patient Care Services

3 Nursing News & Notes

4 Living the Values

6 INTEGRITYDonor advocates; Nursing Practice Model

7 EXCELLENCECESI competency training; therapeutic activities

8 CARINGCompassion training; community outreach

10 SAFETYFall prevention

11 Focus on AlumnaeA message from the President of the Alumnae Association

12 Alumnae SpotlightA Pioneer in Her Field

13 A Look BackA Long Life of Giving

14 The PILLBOX Alumnae NewsNews and photos from our graduates

17 In Memoriam

2 HARTFORD HOSPITAL NURSING / AUTUMN 2012

Letters to Our Readers

Cheryl Ficara, RN, MS, NEA-BCVice President, Patient Care Services

Jeffrey A. FlaksPresident and Chief Executive Officer

The Core of Our Care

When patients think about hospitals, the imageof a nurse and the care and compassion he orshe provides invariably comes to mind. Nursesare the core of the care we deliver. They often arecloser to our patients and our patients’ familiesthan any other caregivers and represent to themwhat we stand for as a hospital.

We believe that what Hartford Hospitalstands for is excellence—excellence that isreflected in our values, which are the foundationof our culture. Our values of integrity, caring,excellence and safety shape our environmentand direct us in how we approach our workevery day. Our values also help patients, theirfamilies and our community members knowwhat to expect from us. They can expect toreceive the right and best care in the mostcompassionate and safest way. This is what all ofus work toward every day through H3W andwhat nurses reflect as they deliver care.

This issue of Nursing magazine highlightssome of Hartford Hospital’s accomplishments innursing in terms of our values and includesstories about nurses who exemplify our valuesand serve as outstanding examples for all of us.Our values truly are the foundation of our workand our continuing journey to become one of thetop medical centers in the nation. Thanks to ournurses—as you will read in this issue—we aretaking giant steps on that journey.

Achieving Balance

It would take a much larger magazine than thisone to highlight all the examples of thephenomenal work done by the front-line nursesof Hartford Hospital this year. But the storiesyou’ll read here provide good examples of how,by exemplifying our core values, nurses make adifference in patients’ lives every day.

When I think about our values, I see them interms of the art and the science of nursing.Integrity and caring relate to the art of ourprofession—listening to our patients,advocating for them, and treating them andtheir families with sensitivity and compassion.Excellence and safety, on the other hand,suggest the science of nursing—the applicationof evidence-based practice, the focus on patientoutcomes and the rigorous pursuit ofcontinuous improvement. Both the art and thescience are indispensable to superb nursingcare. As with most things in life, our goal asnurses is to achieve balance—meeting uniquehuman needs while consistently employing thebest practices known to our profession today.

This year, we took steps to furtherstrengthen the science of nursing at HartfordHospital, and we’ll continue that process in theyear ahead. We do this for just one reason: toachieve the best outcome possible for everypatient whose life we touch.

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Nursing News & Notes

Advanced Organ Support/Transplant

Brenna Earle, APRN, MSN, graduated from QuinnipiacUniversity, May 2012.

Emergency Services/LIFE STAR

Sarah Bradbury, RN, received her BSN.Laura Thomasson, RN, became a Certified FlightRegistered Nurse.Isabella Veillete, RN, obtained her CEN.

Medicine, Oncology, IV Therapy

Ruth Amador, RN, earned her BSN.Danette Alexander, RN, BSN, MSN, NEA-BC, appointednurse director.Lanetta Gann, RN, earned certification in gerontologyfrom SNCC.Kaitlin Olson, RN, earned certification in med-surg.Marlene Silvis, RN, MPH, OCN, GI Oncology NurseNavigator, passed the certification exam for Hospice andPalliative Nurses.Claire Williamson, PCA, became a Certified Hospice andPalliative Nursing Assistant.

Neuro-Trauma Intensive Care Unit

Susan Clark, RN; Stefanie Denis, RN, BSN; AshleyDidonna, RN, MS, MPH; and Jessica Smith, RN, BSN,earned CCRN certification.Jarad Goldberg, RN, BSN, earned his CEN.

Nursing Administration

Susan Gallagher, RN, received her master’s degree innursing education, earned certification from the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium and the SimulationInnovation Resource Center and made a posterpresentation at the University of Hartford in May on UsingSimulation to Educate Nursing Students on Peri-DeathScenarios.Sue Williamson, RN, MHA, MS, NEA-BC, graduated fromthe University of Connecticut acute care APRN programand was awarded the Sigma Theta Tau Internationalaward for nursing scholarship and leadership.

Psychiatry

Ellen Blair, APRN, NEA; Karen Larsen, RN; and CynthiaBelonick, APRN, contributed a chapter, The Patient in Pain,in a book entitled Inpatient Psychiatric Nursing: ClinicalStrategies and Practical Interventions. With others, theycontributed a second chapter entitled Management ofBarriers to Being Therapeutic.Ellen Blair, APRN, NEA, published an article onUnderstanding Depression: Awareness, Assessment, andNursing Intervention, in the Clinical Journal of OncologyNursing, 16 (5), 1-3.Ellen Blair, APRN, NEA; Bonnie Szarek, RN; and StephenWoolley, DSc, in collaboration with Theodore Mucha, MD;Olga Dutka, MSN, MBA; Harold Schwartz, MD; and JohnW. Goethe, MD, gave a poster presentation on VariablesAssociated with Falls among Psychiatric Inpatients: TheInstitute of Living Falls Intervention Initiative, at theannual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

STAR Team

Amanda Hall, RN, earned her APRN and passed her boardexaminations.Mari Scalesse, RN, obtained CCRN.

Surgery/Wound Care

Lisa Q. Corbett, APRN, CWOCN, was an invited oralpresenter of Far from Zero: Measuring Actual Occurrence ofHospital Acquired Pressure Ulcers in Acute Care at theSymposium on Advanced Wound Care in April 2012. Shewas appointed Nurse Member, Curriculum Committee forthe American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair(ACWHTR) and was the advanced practice nurserepresentative at the first Patient Centered WoundOutcomes Summit held at the ACWHTR meeting inChicago, Ill., July 2012. She was an author of theAssociation for the Advancement of Wound Care VenousUlcer Algorithm, which was accepted for publication onthe Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality NationalGuidelines Clearinghouse website, www.guidelines.gov,August 2012. She was also a finalist in the Spectrum(Nurse.com) New England Region for her contribution toinpatient clinical care, May 2012.

Women’s Health

Susan Ekwall, RNC, BSN, became unit leader for N6.Jennifer Moller, RN, received her MSN.Denise Puia, RN, had a manuscript accepted to MCN. It isentitled A Meta-Synthesis of Women’s Experiences ofCesarean Birth and will be published in the January/February 2013 issue.Lauren Rosario obtained her RN-MSN.Noraliz Santa-Grondin, RN, earned her BSN.Joanne Auger, RN, MSN; Deborah Gingras, MS, RN, CSN;Carolyn Bauer, RN; Elizabeth Brinkley, RN; Mary Ekwall,RN; Hattie Grant, RN; David O’Sullivan, PhD; TanyaRiddick, RN; Megan Ruppenicker, RN; Theresa Schneider,RN; Michelle Walsh, RN; and Sara Young, RN, MSN, won aprestigious award for their poster presentation at the 2012Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and NeonatalNurses Conference.Joanne Auger, RN, MSN, and Deborah Gingras, MS, RN,CSN, published “Fall Risk Prevention in PostpartumPatients” in the AWHONN Special Issue: ConventionProceedings, June 2012.

Congratulations to those who earned nursing degrees.

Kylene Fritsch, Suzana Qeriqi, Amanda Daley, AngelaMassa, Brittany Menta, Christina Camp, ChristineTetreault, Joanna Ryan, Morgan Denno, Sharisse Ziomek,Melissa Brousseau, Ruekia Serrano, Michael Stowe, SarahLevick, Kim Silverman, Hannah Staffaroni, Melissa Regan,Sarah Napolitano, Jennifer Andrews, Lindsey Brunick,Jennifer Bergeron, Lucie Ping, Abby Baecker, Kayla Lunt,Marcin Wozniacki, Katherine McGuire, Michelle Martins,Shoushounova Dallas, Christine Sutay, Amanda Sullivan,Anna Petrowski, Monica Moquin, Marissa Wnuk, JuanMaldanado, Cristina Scalise, Brittany Dumont, MaryFearon and Sara Silva.

We Congratulate These Hartford Hospital Nurses on Their Recent Achievements

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Living theValuesJenifer Ash, APRN, MPH, exemplifies the values that distinguish Nursing at Hartford Hospital.

Jenifer Ash, APRN, MPH, received a singular honorthis year when she was named the New Englandwinner of Nursing Spectrum’s 2012 NursingExcellence Award for inpatient clinical nursing. Butshe’s quick to point out that the credit is not hersalone.

“It’s all about teamwork and collaboration,” Ms.Ash says. “The only way any of us, including thepatient, succeeds is through teamwork andcollaboration—through problem-solving, listening,respecting everyone’s contribution, keeping an openmind and integrating evidence-based practice intodaily best practice.”

Ms. Ash, the clinical nurse specialist for medicalnursing, works in partnership with the Departmentof Medicine and is team leader for the APRN team.She says she is always mindful of Hartford Hospital’score values—caring, safety, excellence and integrity—as she marshals the talents and insights ofcolleagues to make a positive difference in the livesof patients and families. Continuously improving careand the patient/family experience involves change,and Ms. Ash says she finds her motivation in “seeingthe favorable impacts of changes.”

“Seeing patient outcomes improve, seeing teamsgrow, seeing nurses grow professionally andpersonally—I find that very motivating,” she says.“We’re always in pursuit of making things better. It’snot OK to be just OK. We need to seek improvementsto meet the changing needs of health care and thediverse population we serve.”

A great nurse, Ms. Ash says, is one who “puts thepatient at the center of decision-making.” This iscertainly true of her. In nominating her for theNursing Excellence Award, her colleagues wrote:“Jenifer Ash is a superbly effective leader in nursingat Hartford Hospital. She consistently places thepatient at the center of any initiative or intervention.She maintains a vigorous commitment to excellencein everything she does.”

Wide-Ranging RoleMs. Ash is an integral part of the department’sleadership team, which includes Michael Davis, RN,BSN, MBA, Michael Lindberg, MD, and Ajay Kumar,MD, as well as nurse managers, educators andAPRNs.

As team leader, Ms. Ash is very involved in clinicalcare, working with her colleagues to optimize patientcare and constantly considering the medical needs of

Jenifer Ash and Christine Rooney, RN,discuss a patient.


patients. She leads the inpatient glycemic task forcefocused on the needs of diabetic medical patientsand chairs some of the pneumonia readmissioncommittees. She heads the department’s health careteam, which aims to ensure the use of evidence-based practice. With Dr. Lindberg, she co-chairs thedepartment’s H3W team.

Providing excellent care—and maximizinghospital efficiency—means ensuring that patientsadvance appropriately through the process of careand not have unnecessarily long lengths of stay. Tothis end, Ms. Ash was instrumental in institutingmultidisciplinary clinical progression rounds severalyears ago. Today, with her physician partners, she isspearheading the process of integrating physiciansinto this model.

Experienced in care of patients with cystic fibrosis,Ms. Ash works closely with the CF team. She is partof an inpatient task group made up of nurses, patientcare assistants and patients. The group aims toidentify and meet the needs of CF patients. “Wedeveloped a self-management protocol to empowerpatients to transfer from the hospital to the homesetting and be proficient in what their home regimenis in terms of medications and therapies,” sheexplains. “We start that here and help them takecontrol of their disease and be proactive.”

Under Ms. Ash’s leadership, Hartford Hospital’sinpatient pneumoccocal vaccination rates have risento top- or near-top-decile levels. She was recentlyasked to speak at a national conference to share withothers how this was achieved.

In the CommunityMs. Ash’s positive influence goes beyond the hospitalwalls. She annually leads the collaboration betweenthe hospital and the City of Hartford to supportinfluenza and pneumococcal immunization clinics.She and other volunteers go to soup kitchens,shelters and other locations to provide vaccinationsto underserved members of the community. Shevolunteers at the city’s annual health fair,collaborates with local universities in theircommunity outreach programs and serves on severalhealth-oriented boards.

Personal and Professional GrowthA Massachusetts native, Ms. Ash received her BSNfrom Boston College in 1993 and her MSN and APRNfrom the University of Connecticut in 2002. She wenton to earn a master’s degree in public health at theUniversity of Connecticut Health Center in 2005 togain a better understanding of chronic diseasemanagement and factors contributing to healthycommunities. With one brief exception, Ms. Ash hasbeen with Hartford Hospital since 1996.

She continues to learn every day, both fromcolleagues and others. “My patients have taught mesome of my greatest lessons along the way,” she says.“They’ve helped me grow.”

Jenifer Ash meets with other members of the Department ofMedicine’s leadership team: Michael Davis, RN, BSN, MBA;Ms. Ash; Michael Lindberg, MD; and Ajay Kumar, MD.

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Donating a kidney is an incredible gift, one that cansave the life of another human being. But for theliving donor, it is a profound decision with physical,financial and psychological implications. Donorsmust be comfortable with their decision, understandthe risks and effort involved, and receive supportevery step of the way. At Hartford Hospital, ColeenSmart, BSN, RN, and Audrey White, RN, CDE, arededicated to making sure we always do the rightthing for every potential donor.

As the living donor coordinator, Ms. Smart workswith each potential donor from the earliest inquirythrough evaluation by a multidisciplinary team andultimate surgery, then follows up with them for twoyears after surgery. She educates potential donors,making sure all their questions and concerns areaddressed.

“Each donor is unique,” Ms. Smart says. “I workwith each of them one-on-one to determine what theright thing is for that particular donor.”

Ethical issues in transplant abound: Is the donorbeing pressured to donate? Does the donor haveconcerns they would prefer to share only with ahealth care provider? To ensure the highest level ofprotection for the donor, Audrey White serves as theindependent living donor advocate. An experienced

transplant nurse who now works in diabeteseducation, Ms. White is not connected to the transplant program in any way. This helps ensureintegrity, because her intervention focuses on thedonor, not the recipient. Mindful of transplant ethics,she makes sure donors are making their decisionfreely and with a thorough understanding of itsramifications. She visits them after surgery to findout if the experience was what they expected and toprovide ongoing support.

Hartford Hospital is one of the only transplantprograms in the region that has a transplantcoordinator dedicated exclusively to living donors.The living donor advocate role takes our ethicalobligation to do the right thing to the next level.

“Having a truly independent living donor advocateadds another layer to the integrity of the transplantprogram,” Ms. White says. “As nurses, we always wantto do the right thing for patients, and this is atremendous way to do that.”

At the July combined NursingCouncil meeting, nearly 100Hartford Hospital registered nursesbegan the process of creating anursing practice model for HartfordHospital. The development of themodel is one of the items onNursing’s balanced scorecard forthis year.

Why create a nursing practicemodel? “The model provides aframework by which nursing care is

delivered,” explains Mary KateParker, RN-BC, MS, one of the manynurses participating in the process.“By developing a nursing practicemodel, we ensure that our practiceis consistent across all specialties,practice variations are minimizedand goals are clearly defined.”

Once the initial group identifiedessential elements of the model, asubgroup of 15 nurses from variousspecialties continued to work on itand have completed a draft. The

hospital’s core values—integrity,caring, excellence and safety—formthe foundation and “enhancing thehuman health experience” is at itscore. Main features relate to thescience, art, ethics and advocacy ofnursing as a profession.

“The model continues to evolve,”says Ms. Parker. “Numerous peoplehave contributed their ideas andinsights, and we welcome otherswho would like to take part.”

A Model for Nursing Practice

Audrey White, RN, CDE, at left, and Coleen Smart, BSN, RN,talk with a potential donor.

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Doing What’sBest for Living Donors


Over the past year, a team ofHartford Hospital nurses conducteda pilot research project on theeffect of therapeutic activities onagitated patients. Their findingsrevealed vital new information thatwill affect practice hospital-wideand brought them nationalattention.

The Therapeutic ActivityProgram—or TAP—wasspearheaded by Patricia Veronneau,RN, BSN, MSN. She conceived theidea after hearing comments inH3W meetings about continuousobservation. Staff were concernedthat “sitters” were not sufficientlyengaged. Sitters said continuousobservation meant long hours withlittle to do. Ms. Veronneau wantedto see if engaging sitters andpatients in individualizedtherapeutic activities could resolvethose issues while benefitingagitated patients. She assembled ateam that included former STARTeam Manager/Educator KarynTherrien, RN, MSN, Geriatric NursePractitioner Christine Waszynski,RN, MSN, GNP-BC, and three STARTeam PCAs and nursing students,Melissa Brousseau, Sarah Levick

and Angela Massa. All threestudents have since graduated andare now RNs at Hartford Hospital,on CB5, N12 and B9E, respectively.

The team obtained a cartthrough Perioperative Services andstocked it with various activities,such as checkers, playing cards,stuffed animals and CD players.They researched the literature anddeveloped a Personal ApproachForm to gather information aboutthe patient’s interests. Theymeasured each patient on theAgitation Behavior Scale before,during and after the individualizedtherapeutic activity.

The results were impressive.Seventy-three percent of patientshad decreased agitation scoresduring the activity, and 64 percentmaintained the increased calmnessfor several hours. Improvement inpatients’ behavior brought positivecomments from patients, familiesand staff.

The TAP team won HartfordHospital’s Full Circle Award. Theyalso presented their work to morethan 1,000 nurses at the nationalNICHE conference in New Orleansin March and via webinar.

TherapeuticActivity Gets Results

2012 marked a significantshift in how a nurse’scompetence withemergency skills isevaluated at HartfordHospital. Competency isnow evaluated in a way that

more closely resembles real-life situations: using thehigh-tech simulation manikins at Hartford Hospital’sCenter for Education, Simulation and Innovation(photo, inside front cover). In taking this almostunprecedented approach, Hartford Hospital is forging a new path for nursing education in hospitals.

Teams of nurses are tested by responding to the pre-programmed manikin’s “cardiac arrest.” The manikinresponds as a real patient would, and its softwaregenerates data on the nurses’ performance as it relatesto timeliness in calling for help and initiating CPR; rateand depth of CPR compressions; ventilations; anddefibrillation.

“In addition to these skills, we can now evaluatenurses’ abilities to work as a team and to giveconstructive, timely feedback during a criticalsituation,” says CESI Nurse Educator Liza Nowicki, RN,MSN. “We had not been able to evaluate that with theprevious validation format.”

Many nurses say the training is more meaningful tothem. Even those whose teams didn’t performoptimally are glad to have had this realization with themanikin rather than a real patient.

“We’re trying to get folks to think in terms of thepatient’s outcome and get away from the individualnurse’s knowledge of what to do,” says Ms. Nowicki.“Many nurses can independently perform a skill, but we want to test a team’s ability to ensure all the rightand safe things are done for our patients during thesehigh-risk situations.”

SimulationPromotesCompetence

Sarah Levick, RN, engages in a TAP activity with patient Virginia Jedziniak.

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FosteringCompassionate CareTraining for graduate nurses historically hasdevoted little time to the subject of compassion.Yet it’s well-known that patients and familiesplace a high value on compassion as a componentof nursing care. Plus, says Cynthia Belonick, APRN,nurse educator at the Institute of Living,“Compassion skills are … the hallmark of not onlyan exceptional nurse, but of an exceptionalorganization.” So this year the nurse educators onthe residency planning committee decided todevelop a pilot program to raise graduate nurses’awareness of the importance of compassionatecare and equip them with skills to integratecompassion into daily practice.

A multidisciplinary group made up of GingerGoddu, RN, MSN; Mary Kate Eanniello, RN, MSN;Evan Fox, MD; the Rev. Jay Cooke and Ms. Belonickcreated a compassion curriculum based on reviewof the literature and their own experience. Thecurriculum was piloted in December 2011 andApril 2012 to the 62 graduate nurses in theresidency program. A subsequent survey showedthat the overwhelming majority of participants feltthe course had a positive effect on their ability tointegrate compassion into their care.

The nurse educators, along with TaraMcLaughlin, senior researcher and consultant tothe group, were invited to give a posterpresentation on the pilot at the hospital’s 16thAnnual Evidence-Based Practice Conference inOctober. They plan to modify the curriculum basedon feedback and incorporate it into the 2013residency program.

REACHING The caring that Hartford Hospital nursesbring to their patients also extends tothose beyond hospital walls. This yearsaw nurses make numerous contributionsto the health of the community.

Hartford Hospital nurses raised more than $11,000 duringNurses Week 2012 and donated the funds to benefit peoplethroughout the community. The Nursing Departmentdonated half of the funds to the Hartford Public High SchoolNursing Academy, a program for students interested inpursuing nursing careers after graduation. “We wanted togive to our future,” says Libby Brinkley, MSN, RN-C, whochaired the Nurses Week committee. “The school will usethe funds for equipment, uniforms and transportation forthe students.” The other half of the funds were donated tothe hospital’s Employee Disaster Relief Fund.

Hartford Public High School Nursing Academy students Arielys Martinez and Stacey Ann Wright, along with the school’sAdministrator of Nursing Deborah Blazys, RN, MSN, accepted theNurses Week donation from Cheryl Ficara, RN, MS, NEA-BC, vicepresident of patient care services at Hartford Hospital.

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OUT TO OUR COMMUNITYSandra Monteiro, RN, and SusanSmith, RN, organized HartfordHospital’s second annual bonemarrow registry drive. Theirfirst drive, in 2011, resulted in227 new donors. This year, againin partnership with Be theMatch, they extended the driveto the Hartford Public Libraryand other Hartford HealthCarepartners. The drive enlistedalmost 100 additional registereddonors. The passion and hardwork of these nurses will helpsave many lives.

Heather Machado, RN; MaryKate Parker, RN; and DianeWilson, RN, spearheaded ascrub drive to collect slightlyused scrubs for distribution tostudents and health careworkers in Greater Hartford.The drive, held on Aug. 15, 16and 17, collected 1,000 scrubs,which were then delivered to sixcommunity organizations fordistribution. They havepartnered with volunteer PeggyEberlee to have a quilt madefrom some of the patterneddonated tops. “The fabric in ourquilt is a reflection of the love,gifts, talent and energy eachperson brings to our communityat Hartford Hospital,” says Ms.Machado. The donated scrubs,she says, will help recipients“embark on their own journeyof compassionate patient care.”

Individual Hartford Hospitalnurses work in countless waysto improve the lives of others,both here and abroad.Christopher Rusate, RN, is asingular example. Mr. Rusate,named a 2012 Healthcare Heroby the Connecticut HospitalAssociation, has traveled onmedical missions to Haiti twicea year for six years. In additionto providing care, screenings,and education, he works withlocal medical staff to improvethe quality of care and has evenbeen involved in building villagewells.

Sandra Monteiro, RN, and Susan Smith, RN, second and third from left, received HartfordHospital’s Full Circle Award for leading the bone marrow registry drive. With them are JamieRoche, MD; Jeffrey Flaks, Hartford Hospital president and CEO; and Elliot Joseph, president ofHartford HealthCare.

Heather Machado, RN, left, delivers some of the donated scrubs to Deb Sheldon of the Town of Windsor’s Social Services Department.

Christopher Rusate, RN.

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This year, innovations recommendedby the Fall Prevention Committeeresulted in a continued decrease infalls, and a team of nurses inWomen’s Health won a nationalaward for reducing falls amongpostpartum patients.

Increasing patient mobilization hasemerged as a core element of bestpractice. But with increasedmobilization comes an increased riskof patient falls. The Fall PreventionCommittee last year began to focusintensively on the number of fallsoccurring while staff were assistingpatients in walking.

“Through a mini root-causeanalysis, we discovered that patientsoften were not given the support theyneeded—proper equipment, correcthold by staff member, for example—to transfer or ambulate safely,” sayscommittee leader ChristineWaszynski, APRN.

The team worked to increaseawareness among staff and toencourage the use of rolling walkers

for support when mobilizing a high-fall-risk patient. Today, the hospitalhas gone from an average of sevenassisted falls a month to two. Thecommittee is distributing gait belts toeach unit, and staff will be using themas an additional safety measure.

The team has created apatient/family fall prevention videothat is available on patient TVs,portable computers and DVD players.Another video is planned to increasethe awareness of fall risk amongvisitors and staff. It will be played inthe public areas.

In Women’s Health, nurses foundthat 57 percent of falls were amongwomen who had had epidurals duringlabor and whose legs—usually theleft—gave out when they were beinghelped to the bathroom for the firsttime. In collaboration with Ms.Waszynski and Carolyn Kelly, PT,Joanne Auger, RN, led a team of nursesin a research project aimed atreducing such falls. The team, theWomen’s Health Services Evidence-

Based Practice Group, found that theassessments being performed prior toambulating post-epidural patientswere not identifying patients wholacked muscle strength orcoordination. They implemented a change: performing Dionne’s EgressTest before allowing these patients towalk with assistance for the first timepost-delivery. After this intervention,the number of falls decreasedsignificantly, accounting for only 14percent of falls during the nine-monthstudy period.

Postpartum falls are a majorproblem nationally, and the team’swork represents a major advance inaddressing it. In recognition of theirachievement, the group was honoredwith the Innovation Program PosterAward at the 2012 Association ofWomen’s Health, Obstetric andNeonatal Nurses Convention held inJune in National Harbor, Md. Theirposter was selected from 500 entries.

More Progress in Preventing Falls

Amy Doucette, RN, uses a gait belt androlling walker to help patient Zoila Bordaambulate safely.

The award-winning team that researchedpostpartum falls included (shown at right) Joanne Auger, Megan Ruppenicker, PatriciaKaehrle, Sue Ekwall, Carolyn Bauer, Carolyn Kelly,Michelle Walsh and Debra Gingras, as well as(not shown) Elizabeth Brinkley, Hattie Grant,David O’Sullivan, Tanya Riddick, TheresaSchneider, Sara Young and Christine Waszynski.

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Falls with serious patient injury have steadily declined on the inpatient units over the past two years.

The Outgoing President

The last six years as president of theAlumnae Association of the HartfordHospital School of Nursing have flownby! Our organization continues to growin numbers as well as in enthusiasm.

There have been many changes andimprovements in our AlumnaeAssociation. One of the first wasmoving the “Bed Fund” into our owninvestment account. This allowed

members to use funds for a variety of medical needsanywhere in the country. The resource has been renamed the“Alumnae Medical Fund.”

We continue to support many charities, including theAlzheimer Association, National Multiple Sclerosis Society,Interval House, Haiti Hurricane Relief (through the AmericanRed Cross) and others. In addition, we continue to support theHartford Hospital Nursing magazine. At last year’s annualAlumnae Banquet we presented a check for $50,000 toHartford Hospital to support nursing at Hartford Hospital.

In June of 2011 we celebrated the rededication of thenursing statue in its new location in the lobby of HartfordHospital. Many alumnae turned out for that joyful event.

This year the Board of Directors approved reducingmembership dues to $10 annually, which also includesmembership in the “Alumnae Medical Fund.” We hope thiswill encourage members to participate in our organizationand make use of the fund.

I would like to thank the board for its support over thepast six years. We could not have accomplished so muchwithout their dedication.

Please join me in offering a warm welcome to Betty AnnFusco as she assumes the duties of President of our AlumnaeAssociation.

Karen Stinson Mazzarella, RN, BA (HHSN 1969) Outgoing President, Alumnae Association of the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing

The Incoming President

Thank you for the opportunity to serveas president of the AlumnaeAssociation of the Hartford HospitalSchool of Nursing. My goal will be tosafeguard the legacy of HHSN andcontinue to make nursing and ourassociation viable and visible in thecommunity. I look forward tocollaborating with you.

Let me tell you a little about mybackground. I have worked at Hartford Hospital sincegraduation except for a seven-month experience of living andnursing in California. I was an Assistant Head Nurse on C7L(Neurosurgery) before it moved to N9, expanding to includethe Neurology, ENT and Trauma Services. I left N9 four yearsago and now work per diem in the Assessment Center atHartford Hospital.

I have been a member of the Alumnae Association sincegraduation and have been chairman of the ScholarshipCommittee since its beginning four years ago. Along withKaren Mazzarella and Gail Rapoza, I was instrumental inpreserving “our statue” by working with administration toposition “her” inside the new hospital lobby.

I am an active member and past president of theWethersfield Rocky Hill Professional Nurses Association. I previously earned certification as Master Trainer by TheNational Girl Scout Board of Directors and received the“Honor Pin” from the Connecticut Valley Girl Scout Council. I have belonged to the First Church of Christ in Wethersfieldfor over 50 years.

It is an honor to be your new president.

Betty Ann Fusco, RN (HHSN ’66)President, Alumnae Association of the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing


Join Your Alumnae AssociationBecome one of the nearly 600 HHSN graduateswho belong to the Alumnae Association of theHartford Hospital School of Nursing. Membershipdues are only $10 per year and include membershipin the Alumnae Medical Fund. Members are eligible to apply for scholarships.To join, simply mail your $10 non-tax-deductible check (payableto the Alumnae Association of HHSN Inc.) to the address below,along with your full name, class year, mailing address,telephone number and e-mail address. For more information, please contact Betty Ann Fusco,President, at [email protected]; Pat Ciarcia,Executive Director of Alumnae Affairs, at [email protected]; orvisit www.HHSNalumnae.org. You can also write to theAlumnae Association of the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing,560 Hudson Street, Hartford, CT 06106.

From the Alumnae Association Presidents

PresidentBetty Ann Vose Fusco, RN ‘66

Vice PresidentMary Jane Pappalardo Densmore,RNC, BA, MA ‘69

Recording SecretaryAlicia Plikaitis Junghans, RN ‘66

Program and PublicityGail Pendleton Rapoza, RN ‘66

NominatingKaren Stinson Mazzarella, RN, BA ‘69

Directors

Jerri Saltus Sicaras, RN, ‘63

Lesley Prentice McGrath, RN ‘61

Christine Johnson , RN, MS ‘61

Barbara Biel Nowak ‘73

Executive Director of Alumnae AffairsPatricia Andreana Ciarcia, RN, MSN

Board TreasurerJane Wallace Lasher, RN, BSN, ‘74

Vice TreasurerTheresa Gwozdz, APRN, ‘76

The Board of the Alumnae Associationof the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing

Mary Roth Burns, RN, BS, (HHSN’50) is recognized around theworld as a leader in pulmonaryrehabilitation. She didn’t set outto achieve that status, but sheembraced opportunities, workedhard, and in the process,discovered a passion forpioneering ways to help peoplewith lung disorders protect theirhealth and breathe more easily.

Shortly after graduating fromHHSN, Ms. Burns relocated toCalifornia. After taking time offfor marriage and family, shereturned to nursing and, at theurging of a hospital cardiologist,began working in a coronarycare unit (CCU). It was anintensive learning experience.“This doctor believed that everynurse on the unit should knowas much about cardiology as anyresident he supervised at UCLA,”Ms. Burns recalls.

She had been working incoronary care for six yearswhen, in 1976, a pulmonaryphysician at Little Company ofMary Hospital, in Torrance,Calif., asked her to start aPulmonary RehabilitationProgram. He said it was a fieldfew people were knowledgeableabout, and she would have freerein to shape the program. She

agreed to start what would bethe first outpatient program inthe country for pulmonaryrehabilitation.

The program was a hugesuccess. People lined up to getinto it. Physicians came fromaround the world to learn aboutit. Ms. Burns and her team caredfor patients with emphysema,severe chronic bronchitis,asthma, pulmonaryhypertension and restrictivelung disease. Ms. Burns gotinvolved with lungtransplantation and thebeginnings of lung reductionsurgery. She participated inresearch projects and spoke atnumerous professionalconferences.

“It was very exciting,” Ms.Burns says. “There was alwayssomething new going on, and Iloved it. I learned so much fromthe patients, and I met somewonderful people.”

Ms. Burns became apreceptor for nurses in themaster’s program at the UCLASchool of Nursing and becamean assistant clinical professor ofnursing. She was involved withexperiments in sleep researchand obstructive sleep apnea—research funded by the NationalInstitutes of Health.

In the mid-1980s, thehusband of one of Ms. Burns’former patients began the

Pulmonary Education and Research Foundation to advanceknowledge in the field. Ms.Burns served as its firstpresident. In 2000 thefoundation established atHarbor-UCLA Research andEducation Institute the world’sfirst chair dedicated to the studyof pulmonary rehabilitation.They named it the AlvinGrancell/Mary Burns Chair inRehabilitative Sciences. “Theresearch being done there is onpractical things that will helppatients in the short term,” Ms.Burns says. “It deals mostly withoxygen, exercise and education.Doctors come from around theworld to study there.”

The list of honors and awardsMs. Burns has received isbreathtaking in itself. Mostrecently, she was presented withthe California Society ofPulmonary RehabilitationLifetime Achievement Award.She has published widely,lectured all over the world andhelped teams overseas set uptheir own pulmonary rehabclinics.

Now 82 and retired, Ms.Burns continues to be active.She is the executive vicepresident and acting secretary ofthe Pulmonary Education andResearch Foundation. She swimslaps every day from May toNovember, walks with twodifferent walking groups andattends a senior exercise class.

“I’ve been very fortunate, andI’ve had fun,” Ms. Burns says. “Itwas hard work—especially atthe beginning, learning CCU andthen about the pulmonaryconditions—but it all cametogether. You might not realizeat the beginning that all thework you put in will have suchbenefits.”

HARTFORD HOSPITAL NURSING / AUTUMN 201212

Alumnae Spotlight

A Pioneer in Her Field

Mary RothBurns, RN, BS,today, and at

her HHSNgraduation in

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“One thing shealways did, evenwhen we werelittle, was go tothe banquetevery year,” saysMrs. Hardman’sdaughter, DianeLoughran. “Shekept in touchwith quite a few of the people she was in school with.”Mrs. Hardman passed away at age 98 on Feb. 13,2012.

The youngest of five children, Mrs. Hardmanfollowed her sister into training at HHSN.Originally, she planned to be an obstetricalnurse. But while she was still a student, shewitnessed a case in which a baby died. Theexperience was so painful that she decided totake a different path. After graduation, she choseprivate-duty nursing.

“She felt she wanted to take care of onepatient,” Mrs. Loughran says. “She felt that shecould give one patient the very best of care.Usually they were critically ill patients.” In thedays before intensive care units, such patientsrequired constant attention, and Mrs. Hardmanwas vigilant in meeting their needs. Sheroutinely worked 12-hour nights, sometimes inthe hospital and sometimes, for less criticalpatients, in their homes.

In later years, Mrs. Hardman would tell herfamily stories about working with Dr. ThomasHepburn, who established Hartford Hospital’sDepartment of Urology, and about seeing hisfamous daughter, Katherine, come into thehospital, always wearing her signature—and atthe time unconventional—trousers.

In 1940, Mrs. Hardman married and movedback to Massachusetts, where she’d grown up.While rearing three children, there was littletime for nursing. But in 1955, when her youngest

child was 5, a nurse friend who was a colonel inthe U.S. Air Force encouraged Mrs. Hardman totake a private-duty case caring for a child withmeningitis at the Westover Air Force Base.

From that point on, she regularly did privateduty at the Sisters of Providence and HolyokeHospitals, as well as in homes. She always chosethe 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift.

“She was a loving, caring mother and she wasvery good to her patients,” says Mrs. Loughran.Some patients became friends. One, an olderGerman lady, would make gingerbread housesfor Mrs. Hardman’s children. In the 1950s, Mrs.Hardman cared for a little boy who had aconcussion. Because he had to remain quiet, sheborrowed her daughter’s transistor radio so hecould listen to it in bed. Her careful observationand quick action saved the life of one of herpatients, a 3-year old boy hospitalized after atonsillectomy, whose breathing becameobstructed.

Family meant the world to Mrs. Hardman.She could always be counted on to care forfamily members who were ill. In the days beforehusbands were allowed into delivery rooms, shefrequently supported young women relativesthrough childbirth. Family gatherings tocelebrate Christmas and other occasions wereusually at her home.

“She was a very loving person,” says Mrs.Loughran. “She really kept the family together.She will be missed.”


A Look Back

Edith More Hardman ’35 at her 74-year HHSN anniversary

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A Long Life of Caring

Hartford Hospital School of Nursing graduates always look forward to gathering with classmates atthe annual spring alumnae banquet. One of the most faithful attendees was Edith Lucille MoreHardman, RN, of the Class of 1935, who celebrated her class’s 75th anniversary at the 2010 banquet.

Edith More Hardman’s1935 HHSN graduationphoto

People shown in photos are all identified left to right.

2012 ScholarshipRecipient, Ruth Amador, RN

The Alumnae Association of the Hartford HospitalSchool of Nursing awarded Ruth Amador ascholarship to pursue her nursing education. Ruth received her AD in nursing from HolyokeCommunity College in 2005 and is currentlyenrolled in the RN to BSN to MSN program at ElmsCollege in Chicopee, MA. She has worked part timeat Hartford Hospital on C12 for the past six yearsand also works at the University of Massachusettsas a public health nurse. Ruth holds a degree inpsychology from Boston College and is the firstlicensed Hispanic funeral director and embalmer inthe state of Massachusetts. She is the firstgeneration in her family to attend college. Ruth isa single parent and has two children, ages 16 and22, the oldest of whom is also pursuing her collegedegree. She also helps to raise her 3-year-oldgrandchild.

SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE: Betty Ann Vose Fusco’66 Chairperson, Terry Gwozdz ’76, Alfie PlikaitisJunghans ’66, Ruth Amador, scholarship recipient,Jerri Saltus Sicaras ’63, Gail Pendleton Rapoza ’66,Karen Stinson Mazzarella ’69. Missing from photo:Marilyn Miller ’73 (who took this photo), ChristineJohnson ’61 and Mary Jane Pappalardo Densmore,’69.

Dr. Robert Gallagher, cardiothoracic surgeon and guest speaker at the banquet, poses withLouise Wasilewski Honiss ’71, retired PACU nurse.Dr. Gallagher gave an interesting presentationabout the Robotic Program at Hartford Hospital.

CLASS OF 1938

Stefanie DruzolowskiKaminski, RN, ’38 is theoldest alum at the banquetas she celebrates 74 yearssince graduating fromHHSN.

Stefanie Druzolowski Kaminski, RN, ’38 plays thetambourines with Sam Pascoe and his Band.

CLASS OF 1940

Gert Stickney Lilliendahl ’40, Miriam Sihvonen ’40 and Margaret Hall Carpenter ’40 celebrate their72-year HHSN anniversary.

Alumnae The Pillbox



CLASS 1947

Johanna Deutsch Meisterling ’47, Jane KearneyKeena ’47, Catherine Allen Thomas ’47 and Mary Lou Lynch Bathelt ’47 celebrate 65 years.

CLASS OF 1952

Class of 1952, ringing in their 60th anniversary!Ethel Mlynar Tomolonis ’52, Janet Rowley ’52, LoisSchurman Barlow Cox ’52, Helen Riker Dyar ’52,Ruth Cambell Thayer ’52, and Thelma PetersonYoungs ’52.

CLASS OF 1953Barbara Woodburn Smith ’53 and her husbandEdmund graduated from the same high school andhave been married for over 56 years.

CLASS OF 1956 AND CLASS OF 1967

Sisters Annie Howe Snow ’56 and Shirley HoweKoehler ’67 enjoy family time at the banquet!

CLASS OF 1957Jeannette Berger Reese ’57 and Ann Tomasek Staub ’57 share thoughts as they celebrate their 55-year anniversary.

CLASS OF 1962

Twenty-five members of the Class of 1962celebrated their 50th anniversary with a lovelyluncheon at Hartford Hospital on Saturday and thealumnae banquet on Sunday. The group sharedmemories from their days at Hartford HospitalSchool of Nursing. A great time was had by all!

Cynthia Pelton Bazzano ’62 and her husband Tomhave five children, all of whom live close to them inEastham, Mass. Their four daughters either make orsell donuts and other goodies while their son worksin Orleans, building and repairing boats. She andTom have had fun watching their grandchildrengrow up.

1962 CLASS BOOK The Class of 1962 had a unique Class Book, asdisplayed above. It was designed by Tom Bazzano,the husband of alum Cindy Pelton Bazzano ’62. Theclass dared to be different by using this designversus going with the traditional Shield Class Book.The symbols on the right were taken from the early60s TV show, Ben Casey, MD, and represent: Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity.


Jean Barnes Rushen’62, retired ED nurse,enjoys the 50thanniversary festivitieswith her classmates.

CLASS OF 1967

The Class of 1967 celebrated their 45-yearanniversary by using their student photos as acenterpiece for the table.

Class of 1967 had 25 alums on hand to celebratetheir 45-year reunion.

CLASS OF 1972

Memebrs of the Class of 1972 celebrate 40 yearssince graduating from HHSN. Diane WoodsBronkie, Pat Rzasa Harlow, Joyce Alape Hansen,Sarah Scribner, Lynn Deubert Caparaso, DebbieOsborne, Althea Bean Bartlett, Judy GravesHenderson, and Alane Silver Strong.

CLASS OF 1973

Celebrating 39-years. Front Row: Cathy MatuszakJeffery, Ann Dubiel Bonin, Carol MiddletonCascone and Patricia Runnals Griffith-Kruger.Back Row: Barbara Biel Nowak, Nancy LaFreniereParker Moore, Sharon Kingston Scrivano andMarilyn Miller.

Class of 1973This photo was taken in 1970 as these freshmanclassmates (Class of 1973) began their first day ofclinical. They were all decked out in their studentuniforms and freshman caps, and were describedas “being nervous.” Pictured above: Joyce Gorham,Holly Root, Jane Hurrey, Julia McPhee and Suzanne Krause.

IN MEMORIAM

Let Us Hear from You!

We would love to receive photos andnews from HHSN alumnae. Pleasemail information to the AlumnaeAssociation of the Hartford HospitalSchool of Nursing, 560 HudsonStreet, Hartford, CT 06106 or e-mail [email protected].

Request for HHSN Nursing Pins

We often receive requests for areplacement HHSN nursing pin.Since they are no longer made, theonly way we can get a pin is if analum is willing to donate one to theAlumnae Association. We wouldthen give the pin to the alum who isrequesting it. If you are interested indonating your pin for this purpose,please contact Pat Ciarcia at 860.563.2005 or [email protected].

Give a Lasting Gift

Your contribution today will make adifference to our nursing educationprogram. Mail your gift to Hartford Hospital, Fund Development,80 Seymour Street, Hartford, CT06102. You can act now and showyour commitment to nursingeducation forever by includingHartford Hospital and/or theAlumnae Association of HHSN Inc.in your estate plans. For moreinformation, please contact Carol S.Garlick, vice president, philanthropy,at 860.545.2162 [email protected].


CLASS OF 1974

Betsy Gaudian ’74 wasrecently awarded DiabetesEducator of the Year bythe Connecticut Allianceof Diabetes Educators.

Jane Wallace Lasher ’74received a Hitchcock Chair for her 40 years of service atHartford Hospital. Shecurrently works in Radiology/Short Stay at the hospital.

Katherine Blozie Bolis ’34Wilhelmina Kania Curran ’35

Harriett Steed ’37Edith Lucille More Hardman ’38

Edna Adams Hille ’39Frances L. Watras ’40

Dorothea Cooper Bartlett ’41Tessie Boden Rowe ’41

Elizabeth Williams Wright ’43Mildred Coupe Carney ’46

Mona Margaret Oshana Daniels ’48Marion Cook Marston ’50

Janet Bratsnyder Crealey ’51Gloria Arena Linstone ’51

Helene “Pat” Wasniewski Swider ’51Mary Ann Coe Tinker ’68Karel Langley Stibitz ’74

PHYSICIANDr. Richard Bagnall

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Fifty years ago, the Class of 1962 posed for its June graduation from the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing.

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