February 2024 - The University of North Carolina Wilmington has announced the 2024 recipients of the UNCW Alumni Association Distinguished Awards. Dr. Melissa Batchelor '96, '00M received the Distinguished Diversity Award. These awards are presented to individuals in recognition of their extraordinary achievement, outstanding character, and exemplary service to the university and community.
Dr. Batchelor has dedicated her career to improving the lives of older adults through her clinical practice, teaching, research, policy experience and service. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing from UNCW. Batchelor was a lecturer for UNCW's School of Nursing (SON) from 2005-11 while earning her post-master's certificate as a nurse educator and her doctoral degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. Batchelor was an associate professor at the Duke University SON from 2011-18 and is the current Director of the Center for Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University SON. She is board-certified as a gerontological registered nurse and family nurse practitioner.
Dr. Batchelor serves on the UNCW Alumni Association Board of Directors and is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) and Gerontological Society of America. Batchelor is a member of the AAN’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the past chair of the AAN's Expert Panel on Aging. She hosts a weekly podcast called “This is Getting Old: Moving Towards an Age-Friendly World” and is a co-author on a book titled “#SocialMedia in #Healthcare: A Guide to Creating Your Professional Digital Presence”. Batchelor served in the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging in the office of Senator Susan Collins [R-ME] in 2018.
An award ceremony honoring Dr. Batchelor and the other alumni honorees will be held at a later in the year.
February 2024 - The UNCW School of Nursing has launched a new Doctor of Nursing Practice concentration.
The Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) concentration is designed to produce a professional with advanced-practice nursing skills to provide primary health care to patients ages 13 through end of life. This concentration prepares the graduate for advanced-practice provider roles in primary care settings.
The AGPCNP program consists of a minimum of 68 credit hours including six hours concentrated on a DNP project. Each candidate’s program of study will be designed to meet student outcomes for advanced practice as a DNP.
Applicants must hold a bachelor's degree in nursing from a regionally accredited institution with an overall cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Those interested must also have a valid unrestricted North Carolina registered nurse license, or a compact state license to complete clinical hours in North Carolina.
Additional requirements and details can be found here: Admission Requirements | AGPCNP
For further information about the program, visit uncw.edu/dnp or contact the AGPCNP concentration lead, Kelly Laham, DNP, ANP-BC, CNE, at dnp@uncw.edu.
March 2024 - Congratulations to Dr. Brandy Mechling (professor) and Dr. Lorie Sigmon (assistant professor) on being inducted into the National Academy of Practice.
On March 15th, both attended a ceremony in Jacksonville, Fl. where they became official fellows of the National Academy of Practice (FNAP) after having been nominated by the UNCW School of Nursing’s Dr. Nancy Ahern (professor), also a fellow in the academy.
Founded in 1981, the National Academy of Practice (NAP) is a non-profit organization that advises governmental bodies on the health care system with the mission to transform health and well-being, and advance interprofessional education, scholarship, research, practice, and public policy. NAP recognizes distinguished practitioners and scholars from multiple health professions. Dr. Mechling and Dr. Sigmon were selected for their excellent nursing and the interprofessional work that they have conducted over the years.
Those inducted join the only interprofessional group of health care practitioners and scholars dedicated to supporting affordable, accessible, coordinated quality health care for all.
March 2024 - According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 percent of residents in the City of Wilmington are living in poverty and 14 percent of residents under 65 go about their day-to-day without health coverage. Unfortunately, money buys better health in the United States, and those struggling under income inequality are at a severe disadvantage with poor health and a lack of essential resources to stay healthy.
Clinical Instructor Kassie Stoffer’s Community Health prelicensure students at the UNCW School of Nursing found this out firsthand. Through the auspices of a New Hanover Endowment grant, Dr. Angie Sardina, associate professor of recreation therapy in the School of Health and Applied Human Sciences made it possible for Stoffer’s students, working alongside Dr. Jane Anderson (clinical assistant professor) and Dr. Stephanie Turrise (associate professor) of the SON, to provide several resources and services to this underserved population at a Mobile Health and Resource Fair, which promotes access to critical community resources to address socioeconomic disparities in health.
A New Hanover Community Endowment grant had also been awarded to Dr. Turrise for a separate project, but the health fairs conducted by Dr. Sardina and colleagues afforded Dr. Turrise a prime opportunity to reach those in the community who were in need.
Through her grant, Dr. Turrise was able to furnish Stoffer’s Community Health clinical students with plenty of blood pressure monitoring equipment so that the students could screen and educate citizens at high risk for hypertension as well as those who were screened as having high readings but who lacked a blood pressure monitor to conduct self-monitoring at home.
The Community Health prelicensure students offered cholesterol, blood glucose, and HgA1c screenings along with BP and BMI assessments. Dr. Anderson provided nutritional and fall-risk screenings and offered flu prevention care. Dr. Anderson also distributed digital thermometers for assessment of flu and educated people about COVID versus cold symptoms.
In reviewing the data from the nutritional screening conducted, Dr. Anderson was concerned to discover that more than 60 percent of participants in these communities were at high risk of malnutrition.
Dr. Anderson, an avid gardener, took it upon herself to plant all her fall garden beds with crops more than her needs. Though this would help, she knew that this would still not be enough to make the kind of impact that she wanted against local food insecurity. Dr. Anderson began inquiring at local produce markets for seconds and produce that was not put on display but still remained edible. In addition, Dr. Anderson logged onto Facebook Marketplace to find and connect with local farmers who had reasonable produce for sale. She found collard greens at $4 a bunch and a general store in Burgaw with 90 pounds of sweet potatoes for $10.
Dr. Anderson also let SON faculty know of her project and her need to reach as many people in need of help as possible. With generous hearts, the SON faculty donated $700 to this cause. Diane Pastor offered food donations of oranges and both Harris Teeter and Bigger’s Market stepped in to offer miscellaneous produce.
After contacting representatives at the Wilmington Housing Authority, Dr. Anderson arranged for there to be free produce distribution events for those in low-income communities.
Over the fall months of 2023, Dr. Anderson managed to conduct four separate distribution events. The bounty that the SON provided to residents of three Wilmington communities (Glover Plaza, Solomon Towers, and Hillcrest) included:
To help Dr. Anderson with the distributions, Diane Pastor (retired), Administrative Specialist Brenda Bowden, Bowden’s granddaughter, and Dr. Seoyoon Woo (assistant professor) all volunteered.
Dr. Sardina received an extension of her grant and planned two additional Mobile Health and Resource Fairs at Solomon Towers in March. Dr. Anderson, Dr. Turrise, and Mrs. Stoffer planned their station screenings once again.
“UNCW is what I know. It seems like home,” said Crawford. “Also, I keep setting professional goals every two years or so. It turns out these goals match well with attaining higher education. I attained my master’s in business to learn more about the business side of health care. I was a clinical coordinator at Novant/New Hanover at that time. Sadly, close to the end of my MBA, I decided that health care leadership was not for me. It took me away from patient care and why I wanted to do nursing. I set a new goal to be part of the next generation of nursing education.”
After a rigorous peer-review application and selection process, Dr. Lorie Sigmon of the School of Nursing was welcomed into the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC) mentoring program where she will be serving as a mentee.
The program is already underway, having commenced in October.
There are very few opportunities available for health and social care faculty to receive formal mentoring that spans across rank and includes different levels of experience.
To remedy this, the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC), in collaboration with the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education developed the AIHC Mentoring Program of interprofessional faculty peer mentoring designed to foster and continue interprofessional education (IPE).
This yearlong program fosters learning together to advance and sustain IPE academic initiatives through s academic-community partnerships. Selected mentors and mentees are matched based on needs and experience.
The mentors and mentees will be recognized at next year’s Nexus Summit.
Congratulations, Dr. Sigmon.
The Center for Workforce Development hosted their Second Annual Collaborative Halloween Health Care Simulations event on October 23. College of Health and Human Services students formed interdisciplinary teams and worked through four Halloween-themed health care simulations staged in the Connector Lobby and Problem Based Learning labs in Veterans Hall. Each simulation was facilitated by interprofessional CHHS faculty members and community partners for a total of nine facilitators and 44 student participants.
In the United States, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 mandates free, appropriate public education for all learners with disabilities. This mandate extends to every child with a disability, including those who also have complex medical needs. Consequently, many professionals, including special educators and nurses, routinely work together in school settings to meet the educational and medical needs of learners, respectively. 
It is essential for special educators to learn these trades because not every school in New Hanover County has a mandated nurse present at all times. Some schools share part-time nurses who are in the building for only half the day, or only a few days per week. Seeing that medical emergencies and medical care do not operate according to a schedule, teachers bear the responsibility of performing these complex medical tasks in lieu of the county having full-time nurses present.
The SMILE Collab project is included in two courses, dependent on the UNCW student’s major. Specifically, the SMILE Collab is included in SED 356: Severe Disabilities for Special Education majors and NSG 401: Pediatric Nursing for Nursing majors.
One of the School of Nursing’s best and brightest will attest to that herself. Born with a congenital heart murmur, Xingyi Ren (Ren Ren)–Nursing Class of 2024–regularly spent her childhood in a hospital setting, often falling ill to fevers and infections from a poor immune system. She credits the nurses who took care of her to be the inspiration behind her life’s dedication to nursing.
Hats off to the more than 70 BSN-DNP May 2023 graduates who made up the largest number of nursing students to have ever achieved a DNP from the UNCW School of Nursing. The graduates earned their doctorates in four areas: BSN-DNP Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP); BSN-DNP Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP); Post Master's Nurse Executive Leader (NEL); and Post Master’s Advance Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). Having begun their studies in the fall of 2020, the graduates are the fifth graduating class to have earned a DNP, and by far the largest for this ever-growing program. May 2019’s inaugural class consisted of nine students.The Nu Omega chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society – whose mission is to “[develop] nurse leaders anywhere to improve health care everywhere” – welcomed their new inductees at a spring campus ceremony this past April. The second-largest global nursing society of over 100,000 decorated members in over 100 countries builds partnerships and collaborative endeavors to promote and celebrate nursing scholarship, leadership, and service around the block and around the world.
Hannah Sasser, who will be completing her prelicensure in December, said it was an “honor to be inducted into an organization that celebrates and encourages nurses and nursing students who are dedicated to the profession.” Sasser further expressed her excitement in seeing the resources and community that Sigma provides as she finishes nursing school and begins her career.
“Being inducted was a huge honor,” for student Abby Yeargan, who showed how ties to the society span across generations as her mother was inducted when she was in nursing school. Carrying on the tradition made it more impactful for Yeargan, who was drawn to membership because it “means connecting with nurses worldwide and being a part of an organization that works to improve the world's health.” Abby Yeargan will also be completing her prelicensure this semester.
Sigma Theta Tau Alumna Ruth Marescalco BSN, RN, SCRN, the assistant nurse manager of Nurse Residencies at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center, was on hand to speak to the new inductees and attendees at the April ceremony. Embodying the can-do energy and the spirit of giving back so foundational to the society, Marescalco, detailed her swift rise from nurse’s aide as a student to placement on the Progressive Care Unit upon graduation. She went on to become stroke coordinator at NHRMC, before stepping in as a frontline worker assisting the ED during the pandemic. Marescalco now serves as an Advanced Stroke Life Support (ASLS) instructor ED, having certified over 300 pre-hospital providers in ASLS across the state in the past year alone.
Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society is open to baccalaureate and graduate nursing students who meet criteria. Membership is yearly and proves vastly beneficial to maintain while in nursing school and throughout one’s nursing career. For nursing students interested in opening new doors to further their careers and helping the many who will benefit as a result, contact Lindsey Paige Jones, MSN, RN (910-962-2891; joneslp@uncw.edu). More information is available at sigmanursing.org.
The UNCW School of Nursing has three on-campus intensives scheduled this school year for FNP and PMHNP students to take note.
These intensives were a combined effort of both FNP and PMHNP faculty using state-of-the-art teaching methods such as high-fidelity simulation with standardized patients and faculty-facilitated debriefings. Faculty experts have spent countless hours developing these intensives to ensure students have the latest evidence-based training and experiences in order to prepare the next generation of NPs.
Real-life scenarios faculty have witnessed firsthand in their careers (HIPPA-censored for learning purposes) have been orchestrated to play out in the simulation labs so that students will gain a richer understanding of what they may see in a real-life clinical environment. Faculty have also worked hard to provide interdisciplinary experiences for PMHNP and FNP students to interact and work together (as they will in the field).
Students will want to visit the on-campus intensive page on Canvas beforehand for pre-simulation information and readings that will help support their success during their days in the campus simulation labs. These pre-session resources will be accessible to students approximately two weeks prior to each session in the Canvas course: DNP Student.
Students can prepare for two full days of simulation for September’s Clinical Skills and November’s Clinical Bound. The final Practice Bound in April serves for only one day for those about to graduate. All intensives are held in McNeill Hall and Veterans Hall.
A two-day intensive, the Clinical Skills on-campus intensive is for FNP and PMHNP students attending their second (of three) clinical rotations. It provides knowledge and skills that are best taught face-to-face, rather than the online format used in the program. Faculty looked at gaps in knowledge described by new nurse practitioners and developed this particular intensive to supplement the curriculum.
This intensive has three foci:
The purpose of Clinical Bound is to help FNP and PMHNP students feel more comfortable and prepared to enter their first clinical rotation. After the SON held the first Clinical Bound intensive last fall, students reported feeling more confident when entering their clinicals. Based on their feedback, expect a second-generation of skills-based learning and a fine-tuning of physical assessment skills to ensure that this year’s students are well suited once clinicals begin for them the following semester.
FNP students will learn and practice important skills such as how to provide a patient report to their preceptor, how to enter patient encounters in Typhon, and what to expect during clinicals. In addition, faculty are collaborating with the simulation lab. Students will further develop their assessment skills through simulation with live, standardized patient actors. Students will work in groups to interview, examine, diagnose, and treat SPs with several common presentations seen in primary care. After interacting with the SP, students will have a faculty-facilitated debriefing to discuss their experience, and further develop their diagnostic reasoning in keeping with best practice for simulation.
PMHNP Students will learn psychotherapeutic and enhanced assessment and diagnostic skills as they prepare for their next clinical semester in the field as a PMHNP student. All PMHNP program faculty will be on board for the planned simulations. Students will also engage in group-based learning to enhance their documentation skills during their simulated experiences.
Reserved for those FNP and PMHNP students who are in their final semester, this joint intensive focuses on the business of becoming a board-certified NP ready to be launched into practice.
FNP and PMHNP students are together for the entirety of the day’s simulation to allow for an interdisciplinary approach to learning. In addition to invited guests from the North Carolina Board of Nursing and the North Carolina Nurse's Association, expert faculty will discuss issues such as interviewing tips, continuing education requirements, and malpractice. Lastly, students complete their empathy-focused MOUD training with a group simulation and debriefing.
A special thanks to Dr. Tamara Link and Dr. Anka Roberto for providing the information for this report. For questions or further information, please contact Dr. Link at linkt@uncw.edu; and Dr. Roberto at robertoa@uncw.edu.