ONS Member News
Sylvia Estrada, RN, DNP(c), WHCNP, CBCN®, is Multicultural Scholarship Recipient
May 16, 2013
Sylvia Estrada’s 30 years of nursing experience, dedication, and passion for learning and helping the underserved led her to pursue a Doctorate of Nursing Practice at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, CA. Receiving the Go Red™ Multicultural Scholarship Fund, generously supported by Macy’s, will help Estrada to develop research projects and influence health outcomes for underserved populations, and will help her show her fellow Hispanic nursing colleagues that there are still opportunities for advancing their education.
“Upon first entering nursing school, I realized that I had an exceptional opportunity to change people’s lives on a daily basis through this profession by consistently showing love and care in a personal way,” said Estrada. “Not only would I touch the lives of my patients, but also their families and friends who, in turn, might spread that love and care to others.”
During her time in the healthcare industry, Estrada has worked in diverse areas such as hospitals and clinics in the United States and in Latin American countries. Her work in Latin America includes teaching and interacting with women who have little to no access to health care.
“Utilizing my primary language of Spanish has helped me tremendously in pursuing my passion for bringing the knowledge and care for these women,” said Estrada. “I plan to continue my work in these countries to serve this vulnerable population to make life altering changes and help educate the local healthcare workers as well as the local women.”
Estrada has served as volunteer with local chapter professional nursing associations such as the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Oncology Nursing Society, and California Association for Nurse Practitioners and has received numerous recognitions during her career for her commitment to clinical excellence and leadership.
The Go Red™ Multicultural Scholarships are part of Macy’s Multicultural Fund which was created in 2009 to focus on increasing diversity in the medical field. Macy’s is a founding national sponsor of the association’s Go Red For Women® and Go Red Por Tu Corazón awareness campaigns.
Steve Wood UAB Photographer
April 30, 2013
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing welcomes internationally recognized nurse scholar Marie Bakitas, DNSc, APRN, NP-C, AOCN, ACHPN, FAAN, who joins the school as the Marie L. O’Koren Endowed Chair and Professor with a secondary appointment in the UAB School of Medicine. She is nationally and internationally recognized for her extensive contributions to the fields of oncology nursing and palliative care. Prior to joining UAB, Dr. Bakitas was an associate professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and The Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
Ronda Bowman, RN, BSN, OCN® Named Chief Operating Officer
February 26, 2013
Ronda Bowman, RN, BSN, OCN® was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Oncology Hematology Care, Inc. (OHC), in Cincinnati, OH. She will manage daily operations of more than 450 OHC staff members in offices spanning 16 neighborhoods throughout the tri-state area. She will be responsible for overseeing clinical patient care delivery and business operations while implementing OHC’s strategic plan, and enhancing patient care to maintain the practice’s high standards of putting patients first by delivering leading-edge, compassionate care.
Bowman has been with OHC since 1994 and has more than 30 years of oncology nursing experience. She is credentialed as an Oncology Certified Nurse™ by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation. Prior to becoming COO, she served as the chief nursing officer and the director of clinical services for OHC. Bowman received her diploma in nursing from the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing and earned her bachelor’s degree from Xavier University.
Dr. Catherine Bender Named PhD Program Director
January 16, 2013
The University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing announced that Catherine M. Bender, PhD, RN, FAAN, will assume the position of Director, PhD Program effective February 1. Bender earned her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at the University of Akron and her Master of Nursing and Doctor of Philosophy degrees at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.
She has been on faculty at the School of Nursing, since 1986 teaching at all levels. She was awarded tenure in 2006 and named a full professor in 2011. In 2012, Bender was named #8 in“75 Nursing Professors You Would Be Lucky to Have Teach Your Classes” by CNA Thrive.
Bender has published numerous articles and held leadership positions in a number of national professional and scientific societies, including the American Cancer Society and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS). Her research focuses on cognitive function associated with cancer and cancer therapy and adherence to cancer therapy. She has been continuously funded since 1993 from sources that include the National Institutes of Health (NIH), American Cancer Society, Department of Defense, ONS Foundation, and Schering, Inc. Bender’s funded research includes two RO1 research project grants and a T32 training grant from the NIH.
Her research contributions to improve health care have multiplied through her mentorship of graduate nursing scholars. Bender has chaired 20 Master’s thesis committees and been a member on 26 more. In addition, she has chaired four PhD dissertation committees and been a member of seven more. She has also served on the Capstone Project Committees of several Doctor of Nursing Practice candidates, and mentored a number of other post-doctoral Fellows and Junior Faculty.
Bender will continue to pursue her research in oncology nursing and to direct the school’s T32 in oncology. The goal of this National Institute of Nursing Research-funded training program (T32 NR011972) is to prepare nurse scientists to lead independent research programs in cancer survivorship.
Ki Moore, DNSc, RN, FAAN, Receives Nurse Research Grant from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation
January 9, 2013
Ki Moore, DNSc, RN, FAAN, professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, has been named a recipient of the 2012 Nurse Research Grants from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF). Moore will receive the Discovery Award for her research on the effects of Central Nervous System treatment for childhood acute leukemia on antioxidant level, apoptosis, and cognitive abilities in children with leukemia. The award will provide Moore with $100,000 over two years. The Discovery Award, designed for an experienced nurse researcher to investigate topics and issues related to the quality of nursing care and the quality of life for children with cancer, will allow Moore to focus on translating findings from a prior basic science study on the effects of methotrexate on the hippocampus. "This will help us to determine if an antioxidant level and apoptosis are associated with cognitive abilities among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia," she said.
ALSF was founded in 2005 with the vision of finding a cure for all childhood cancers. ALSF funds both medical and nursing research, which aims to not only find better treatments and cures of all childhood cancers, but to improve the quality of care and life for children and their families fighting the disease now.
"By having the incredible support of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, our research has the unique opportunity to study mechanisms of brain injury following CNS treatment in order to develop interventions," she said.
This is Moore's second grant from ALSF. She received a grant for her study, "Effects of CNS Treatment on the Hippocampus," in 2010.
The American Nurse book and The American Nurse Project website document the diverse and profound ways nurses change lives. Author Caroline Jones interviewed and photographed nurses whose work range from crossing streams in Appalachia to bringing health care to the poor to conducting laboratory research. The stories of 100 interviewees show the diverse and profound ways nurses change lives. ONS members Amy Brown, RN, OCN®, Colleen Lemoine, APRN, MN, AOCN®, and Joanne Staha, RN, OCN®, are featured in the book or in an interview on the website.
As the Veteran’s Administration (VA) Deputy Assistant Chief Medical Director for Nursing Programs (1980-1992), Ferguson led one of the largest organized nursing services in the world. She was a visionary in creating a global community of nurses who led in using knowledge, scholarship, service, and learning to improve the health of people worldwide.
Prior to her position at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Ferguson served for seven years as Chief of the Nursing Department at the Clinical Center, at the National Institutes of Health. She was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing of the United Kingdom, the second American nurse so honored. Over the years, she received eight Honorary Doctorates and two Fellowships. In 2008, she was awarded the prestigious FREDDIE Lifetime Achievement Award, the first time in the award's 34-year history that it was given to a nurse.
VA’s Chief Nursing Officer, Cathy Rick, once said “Vernice Ferguson is a transformational leader whose distinguished career has inspired a generation of professionals to pursue academic success. She shaped nursing practice in the largest healthcare delivery system in the world.”
Her passing is a great loss to the nursing community.
ONS member Sheila Evans, MS, RN, AOCN®, was recently appointed oncology program administrator for Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM). It’s her relish for ever-greater challenges that led her to take on this newly created role overseeing all oncology programs in the national capital area which includes Sibley Memorial Hospital and Suburban Hospital. “Together, we can take oncology care in the DC region to the next level,” said Evans. “It’s a natural partnership, like a marriage—two distinct individuals that make something greater.” Evans believes her experience has prepared her well for her new role: helping the oncology programs at Sibley and Suburban to strengthen and enrich their partnership with the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center to set the stage for Hopkins signature oncology in the area. She anticipates new developments in palliative care, survivorship, and clinical research; she notes that as more JHM oncology physician investigators come to the capital region, more opportunities are opening up for Sibley and Suburban patients to participate in clinical trials.