A Message from the Dean

The School of Nursing welcomes the newest cohort of alumni--the class of 2005--to our Alumni Association.

I thought you would like to have a close-up view of one of our star graduates, Amber Brown. This diminutive young woman was well on her way to leaving her mark on the world during her undergraduate years at MCG. The former VALOR (Veterans Affairs Learning Opportunities Residency) Student Nurse made the most of her undergraduate experience by coupling her in-class instruction with evidence-based student practice and faith-based study abroad.

Taking advantage of every opportunity to learn and provide health care to highly vulnerable people through her student role and her health ministry, she has positioned herself to wield ever-greater influence by reaching far beyond the parameters of traditional health care.

Amber’s outstanding academic performance and exemplary student leadership garnered numerous awards, including the CSRA Student Nurse of the Year, the Katherine E. Nugent Student Nurses’ Association Leadership Award, the Spirit of Nursing Award, the Donna M. Fair Scholar Award, the Leilee P. Ault School of Nursing Alumni Association Scholarship and the Virginia M. Harmeyer Community Service Award. Her energy and vision are boundless.

Amber chose the path of graduate education even before she finished the baccalaureate program in May. She was sitting on the front row when I welcome our new graduate students in August. Her goal? A Ph.D. in nursing science! She is one of a small but growing number of nurses to go directly from basic nursing to doctoral study.

Most of our doctoral students are mid-career before they get back to graduate studies after having children or pursuing other goals. This delay in reaching terminal degrees is a major reason for the shortage of nursing faculty, administrators and researchers. Amber, our first B.S.N.-to-Ph.D. student, recognizes the importance of acquiring the highest level of education early in a nursing career.

We intend to recruit more bright and capable nursing students who aspire to become theory-building health care researchers. This one change in nursing education design will increase the potential for nurse scholars over lifelong careers to improve health and health care in the state, nation and world.

Ever onward and upward,

Dr. Lucy Marion
Dean, School of Nursing

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Dr. Narsavage Named Associate Dean

Dr. Georgia Narsavage, formerly associate dean for academic programs in Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, has been named professor of nursing and associate dean for academic affairs in the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing. She began June 15.

“Dr. Narsavage has extensive expertise in nursing education, particularly in the areas of curriculum and faculty development. We are very pleased to have her on board,” said MCG School of Nursing Dean Lucy Marion. “She will work closely with our leadership team to define standards of excellence and create academic programs that position the school at the forefront of nursing education.”

Dr. Narsavage also will lead the review of the school’s educational programs, work with faculty members to create contemporary new degree programs, implement academic policies and establish strategic academic goals.

“This role is particularly critical because the school has recently implemented several new programs to reflect the growing role of nursing in health care,” said Dr. Marion.

These include a doctor of nursing practice program as “a flagship program, one of the first one of its kind, that will provide parity for advanced practice nursing professionals,” Dr. Narsavage said.

Dr. Narsavage earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Maryland, a master’s degree in nursing from College Misericordia and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also completed a postdoctoral fellowship. She received an adult nurse practitioner certificate from Case Western Reserve University and joined the faculty in 1999 as director of the master of science in nursing program.

As an administrator, educator, researcher and advanced practice nurse, her work has focused on optimizing home care for older patients with chronic lung disease to improve quality of life. These initiatives have led to her upcoming induction as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

She is a member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the American Thoracic Society, the European Respiratory Society, the National League for Nursing, the American Nurses Association, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and Sigma Theta Tau. Dr. Narsavage received the 2002 Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society Regional Mentor Award. She chairs the American Thoracic Society’s Assembly on Nursing and was the "Who's Who" feature in the society’s July newsletter.

She and her husband, Peter, have three children and two grandchildren.

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Nursing School Introduces Practice Doctorate

The Medical College of Georgia has established a practice doctorate program to help nurses in practice develop interdisciplinary skills and mastery.

The four-semester program “provides the clinical and management expertise necessary to improve health care outcomes in the practice arenas of health care, leadership and teaching,” said Dr. Saundra Turner, chair of the MCG Department of Biobehavioral Nursing.

“Until recently, nursing has been the only health profession without a practice doctorate,” said Dr. Turner. “This is the first program of its kind in Georgia. We’ve already had considerable interest throughout the state in this program, so we know the demand is high.”

The program requires a master’s degree in nursing or an associated program of study related to a selected practice area. The curriculum will include extensive clinical experience at sites throughout the state. Students will complete a project to demonstrate their competencies.

“We’re very excited about this opportunity to provide parity for nurses and enable them to expand on their field of expertise,” Dr. Turner said. “This area is growing by leaps and bounds. The program not only will address the nursing shortage by making the field more attractive but will ensure the highest level of nursing care for patients statewide and beyond.”

For more information, contact Dr. Turner’s office at 706-721-4807.

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Alumna Donates $10,000 to Nursing Chair

Dr. Linda Ellis has supported her alma mater in many ways throughout her adulthood, but her most recent gesture brings her full circle.

Dr. Ellis, Associate Professor and Associate Dean Emerita of the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing, recently donated $10,000 to the school’s E. Louise Grant Chair. The chair honors the school’s founding dean, a woman who launched countless nursing careers, including Dr. Ellis’.

The chair was established and partially funded through a gift in the will of Dean Grant. Dr. Ellis’ gift brings the funding level to around $375,000; the chair will be fully endowed at $500,000. The funding will supplement the salary of a world-class faculty member, bolstering MCG’s tripartite mission of education, research and clinical care, according to School of Nursing Dean Lucy Marion.

“Dr. Ellis’ gift is meaningful on so many levels,” said Dr. Marion. “She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from MCG, then joined the faculty in 1972 and came out of retirement last year to serve as interim associate dean when we needed her. It’s impossible to overstate her many contributions to our school and the university as a whole.”

Dr. Ellis, who is originally from Statesboro, Ga., recalls Dean Grant’s gift of inspiring others while insisting on the highest of standards. “She and the early faculty were quite visionary, and I really think it’s important to get this endowment funded by the time [the MCG Health Sciences Building] opens.”

The Health Sciences Building, which will house the School of Allied Health Sciences and School of Nursing, is scheduled to open in mid-2006.

“Now more than ever, private philanthropy such as Dr. Ellis’ makes a critical difference in helping the MCG school of Nursing achieve its vision of becoming a premier nursing school,” said Dr. Marion.

Such generosity is particularly important amid an urgent need to attract bright young minds to the nursing profession and to optimize their education, she said.

“The MCG School of Nursing is the largest nursing school in Georgia, and it is extremely important to ensure its academic future, particularly in light of a nationwide nursing shortage,” said MCG President Daniel W. Rahn. “Endowed chairs help us recruit and retain the highest-caliber academic nurses and go a long way toward ensuring that future.”

Since retiring for the second time from MCG, Dr. Ellis enjoys gardening and recently opened her home to the Augusta Daylilies Society to showcase her flowers.

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Dr. Weinrich Named Georgia Cancer Coalition Scholar

Dr. Sally P. Weinrich, a professor in the Medical College of Georgia Department of Biobehavioral Nursing whose 30-year research career has focused on health disparities, has been named a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar.

Dr. Weinrich will receive $750,000 in Georgia Cancer Coalition funds over five years to support her studies that include innovative measures to inform black men about the benefits and limitations of prostate cancer screening.

“African-American men get prostate cancer more frequently and die at twice the rate of any other ethnic group but they get the least amount of screening,” said Dr. Weinrich, who came to MCG in January from the University of Louisville in Kentucky. “The support of the Georgia Cancer Coalition will help ensure that all men have equal opportunity for education and screening.”

She has helped develop and test approaches such as a peer educator program and the use    of social workers and nurses to help men navigate the health care system.

At MCG, Dr. Weinrich is collaborating with the statewide civic organization, the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Georgia, to develop and test a Web-based educational program that eventually will be available to the public.

Current prostate cancer screening recommendations include annual rectal exams and blood tests beginning at age 50 for men at average risk and at age 45 for those at increased risk, including blacks and men with a first-degree relative with prostate cancer.

Some controversy exists about the efficacy of screening. “Autopsy studies of older men have shown many have prostate cancer and it never caused them any problem,” she said. “We know there is a form of cancer that does not kill and one that does.” Unfortunately, available screening doesn’t distinguish the type. However, all men need to know what screening offers so they can make informed choices about their health, she said.

Dr. Weinrich plans to pursue similar studies in colorectal cancer. She also is working with the Augusta Chapter of the National Black Leadership Initiative Against Cancer to develop other cancer-related initiatives relevant to the community and state and the resources at MCG.

She was named the 2003 Eminent Scientist of the Year for North America, USA by the International Research Promotion Council and received the Cancer Research Award for the best research publication in 2000 in the journal Cancer Nursing from the International Society of Nursing. She received an American Cancer Society Pioneer Award and the University of South Carolina Educational Foundation Award for Outstanding Researcher in Health Sciences in 1995. Her memberships include the Society for Medical Decision Making, the national nursing society Sigma Theta Tau, the American Nurses Association and the International Society of Nurses in Genetics. She recently was one of seven principal investigators for the African American Hereditary Prostate Cancer Study, funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Weinrich, who has been a principal investigator on 17 studies, has published more than 100 articles about half of which are directly related to populations with health disparities. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a master’s degree, a certificate in gerontology and doctorate in educational research from the University of South Carolina.

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