Newswise — Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) recognized recent accomplishments and honors for faculty, students and alumni.
National recognition
SuperScholar.org ranked the MNSON online undergraduate nursing degrees (RN to BSN) No. 14 of the nation’s top 50 programs.
Karen Saban, PhD, APRN, CNRN, FAHA, associate professor, was appointed a site lead for the national VA Women's Health Practice-Based Research Network, which supports research initiatives across practice settings to improve the health of women veterans. The network helps local researchers share expertise and recruit from a larger pool of study participants.
Statewide recognition
The Illinois Board of Higher Education has named Carol Kostavich, PhD, RN, a nurse educator fellow. Kostavich, associate professor and director of simulation at MNSON, is one of only 22 nurse educators in Illinois who has been given this honor. As a fellow, she plans to further her work in simulation in nursing education.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn appointed Monica Dillon, RN, project director for Loyola’s Community Nursing Center, to the Illinois Community Health Worker Advisory Board. The board will recommend core skills and develop a certification process for community health workers in Illinois.
Patricia Friend, PhD, APN–CNS, AOCN, associate professor and program director, Oncology Specialty Master’s Programs, and Lee Schmidt, PhD, RN, senior associate dean for academic affairs and associate dean for undergraduate programs, received the Pinnacle Nurse Leader Award at the 2014 Power of Nursing Leadership annual event Nov. 6 in Chicago.
Student recognition
Health Sciences Management student Samantha Cordova was named a Loyola University Chicago McNair Scholar. The McNair Scholars program prepares qualified students for doctoral education. Cordova was one of only 30 students to be chosen university-wide. She plans to study issues related to cultural competence and diversity in the healthcare workplace.
Nursing student Meg Ryan received the President’s Medallion for MNSON. This award is presented annually to the university’s most outstanding students in recognition of service and scholarship.
Simi Joseph, DNP ’14, APN, NP-C, was awarded first prize at the Illinois Association for Advanced Practice Nursing annual meeting for her poster “EBP Project: Using an Electronic Educational Module to Improve APN Adherence with a Preventative Care Protocol for Immunocompromised Patients.”
The MNSON Alpha Beta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International nursing honor society inducted 72 undergraduate and graduate students. The students and their families attended the induction ceremony Nov. 1 at Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus. Community recognition
Joanne Kouba, PhD, RDN, associate professor, spoke Nov. 5 at the Healthier Communities Learning Institute sponsored by YMCA of the USA. “School Nutrition and Obesity Prevention: Elevating Community Partnerships” covered strategies through university-community partnerships such as Loyola’s School-Based Health Center at Proviso East High School and the Grand Family Challenge through Maywood Fine Arts Center.
Teens from the Loyola-sponsored Proviso East School-Based Health Center’s Lunch Bunch Program participated in Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's “Don’t Get Burned by Big Tobacco” video contest with an Instagram video exposing the harmfulness of candy-flavored tobacco products. The teens took a pledge to be poison-free.
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