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Celebrating A Career in Nursing Education: Dean Lacey-Haun’s Retirement Reception

Dr. Lora Lacey-HaunUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City faculty, staff and students gathered to celebrate the career of Lora Lacey-Haun, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies.

Lacey-Haun is retiring after a 40-year career in nursing education. Joined by her family, including children and grandchildren at the Diastole Scholars’ Center, Lacey-Haun listened to colleagues praise her leadership.

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SoNHS 9th Annual Clinical Jump Start Set For August 12

UMKC’s School of Nursing and Health Studies 9th Annual Clinical Jump Start (CJS) will take place on Monday, August 12, 2013 at UMKC’s Health Sciences Building, 2464 Charlotte Street in the School of Nursing and Health Studies.  All students in the accelerated and pre-licensure programs are required to attend to prepare for clinical coursework.  Be sure to periodically check your UMKC e-mail during your summer break for specific details and possible updates.  If you have any questions and/or concerns about Clinical Jump Start, contact Elgie Garner @ 816-235-1723 or via email at: garnere@umkc.edu.

Dean Lora Lacey-Haun Wins DAISY Faculty Award

UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies Dean Lora Lacey-Haun was presented with a DAISY Faculty Award for 2013.

The Lambda Phi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, nursing’s only honor society, is the sponsor for the School of Nursing and Health Studies Daisy Faculty Award Program. At the Chapter’s recent induction ceremony, Lacey-Haun was honored as the first UMKC DAISY Award recipient.

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SoNHS NNP Student receives National award

Rebecca Wilton, a student in the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program at UMKC was recently awarded the National Neonatal Advanced Practice Nursing’s “Case of the Year”.  This is an award which is chosen by submitting an abstract which describes an intriguing and well-developed clinical case designed to challenge the critical thinking and diagnostic skills of conference participants.  Abstracts are submitted by NNPs from across the country and both students and active practitioners are invited to participate.  This is a peer-reviewed, blinded process.  Rebecca will be presenting in Washington DC at the National Neonatal APN conference at the end of May.  This award is quite an honor for Rebecca as well as UMKC and the NNP program.

SoNHS Dean and students featured in Fox 4 Health Segment

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — You’d expect a doctor and nurse to see you in a clinic exam room. But a pharmacist, too? Or maybe even a dentist? That team approach is gaining steam in primary health care.

UMKC nursing, pharmacy and dental students are doing some of their training together at the Hope Family Care Center and Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center.

“So from day one, when they graduate, they’re used to working in teams and they’re prepared and know what their role is in that team,” says Lora Lacey-Haun, Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies.

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SoNHS Professor Receives Abbott Nutrition Research Grant

The University of Missouri-Kansas City, with Professor Marco Brotto as the principal investigator, has received a $100,000 research grant from Abbott Nutrition.

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SoNHS wins the 2013 Chancellor’s award for Excellence in Diversity

The UMKC community presented 21 awards to its members recently at the annual faculty-staff award program.  UMKC began ‘Celebrating Excellence’ four years ago as an annual tradition for recognizing the exceptional achievements of our UMKC faculty and staff. The goal is to honor and to fully appreciate the extraordinary work and talent that our university community offers our students and the greater community.  Program host Mary Lou Fritts, CIO said, “Our awardees today – and all the nominees – set the mark for achievement at our university.  They reflect not only the exceptional research, teaching and service that take place each day, but they also point the way toward the individual and institutional goals we’ve set for ourselves.”

The UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies won the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Diversity, recognizing sustained contributions and an active commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity at UMKC, signaling the university’s commitment to diversity as a core value as well as an enterprise which benefits the entire campus.

Introducing the UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies

Name Change Reflects Expansion of Healthcare Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2013
Contact: Stacy Downs
(816) 235-1441, downs@umkc.edu

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Nursing is taking on a new name today: The UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies.

“The name change of a school might not seem significant, but it reflects the important, evolving role of health care in our community and in our country,” said UMKC Provost Gail Hackett. “The UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies provides more opportunities for more students to meet the need to care for more people.”

School of Nursing and Health Studies Dean Lora Lacey-Haun said the school has expanded beyond nursing in numerous ways to meet those needs. The school now trains professionals with a background in health to administer hospital and clinic operations, conduct community outreach, serve as patient advocates and health educators and manage conversion to electronic health records.

“We wanted a name that more closely represents the breadth of offerings we are providing,” Lacey-Haun said.

In 2011, the school added a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree. “The program has become increasingly popular, growing from an initial enrollment of 20 students to more than 200 today,” Lacey-Haun said. “We believe the program will have more than 500 students in the near future. This program allows us to prepare health professionals for a variety of roles.”

Last fall, the Collaborative for Excellence in Behavioral Health Research and Practice moved to the school from a non-academic unit. It includes the national Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network Coordinating Office, the Mid-America ATTC Regional Center (HHS Region 7), and a number of grant- and contract-funded projects, all of which implement evidence-based clinical practices into substance-use disorders treatment, integrate behavioral health into healthcare settings and provide training on substance-use disorders. The Affordable Care Act is expected to increase the number of professionals who treat substance-use disorders, so the need to educate health professionals in that field is growing.

Later this month, the UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies and MU will announce a health education partnership.

UMKC’s School of Nursing and Health Studies is actively addressing other gaps in healthcare. It recently won a competitive $2.4 million federal grant to offer full scholarships to help diversify the nursing workforce. The program will assist 240 students who are underrepresented in nursing — men as well as those with African-American, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian or Alaskan native backgrounds — during four years. Given the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ projected need for more than 1 million new and replacement registered nurses by 2016, breaking the cultural divide is increasingly important. The minority nursing workforce hasn’t kept up with the U.S. population. Minorities made up 34 percent of the population in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But the minority nursing workforce is only 16.8 percent; and 6.2 percent of nurses were men, according to a 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses.

UMKC’s School of Nursing and Health Studies also offers high-quality distance learning. It was recently ranked No. 15 of the nation’s best online graduate nursing programs by U.S. News & World Report — the highest of any public university in Missouri or Kansas.

Lacey-Haun, who has been a UMKC nursing faculty member since 1981 and dean since 2004, is a leading health advocate locally and in the U.S. In January, Kansas City Mayor Sly James appointed her co-chair of the Kansas City Health Commission. Lacey-Haun and other health leaders nationwide recently signed a petition asking the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the amount of caloric sweeteners in sodas and other beverages, arguing that scientific consensus is that the level of added sugars in the products is unsafe.

“We felt it was very important for us to make a statement that the FDA should be making policy about what the appropriate level of sugar consumption is,” she told The New York Times in February, noting about 30 percent of Kansas City’s population was overweight and another 30 percent was obese.

About the UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies
The UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies offers a full range of education programs. Bachelor’s degree offerings include a pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing; the RN-Bachelor of Science in Nursing and the Bachelor of Health Sciences, which prepares students for professional careers in health administration, community outreach, patient advocacy and public health. Graduate programs include a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), a Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) and the PhD in Nursing. Research at the UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies is focused on urban and cultural health issues, and includes collaborations such as the Muscle Biology Research Group with the UMKC School of Medicine. For more information about the UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies, visit http://nursing.umkc.edu/. You can also find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

About the University of Missouri-Kansas City
The University of Missouri-Kansas City, one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, and celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2013. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience. For more information about UMKC, visit http://www.umkc.edu/. You can also find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube.

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This information is available to people with speech or hearing impairments by calling Relay Missouri at (800) 735-2966 (TT) or (800) 735-2466 (voice).

Dr. Lora Lacey-Haun, Dean of School of Nursing, Recognized As “Icon of Education”

Lora Lacey-HaunDean Lora Lacey-Haun, Ph.D., was selected as one of nine “2013 Icons of Education” in the January issue of Ingram’s magazine.

Below is the lead paragraph in Ingram’s about Lacey-Haun.

“Throughout her nearly 40 years of nursing education, most of it in Kansas City, Lora Lacey-Haun has been ahead of the curve: She became a nurse practitioner before it became a hot specialty, she’s long pushed for greater student-body diversity at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and she’s fostered innovative approaches to student retention. Not a bad track record for this native Alabamian, who came to the Midwest in 1981. She’ll retire this year from UMKC, where she’s been a professor, assistant dean and, since 2004, dean of the School of Nursing.”

To read the complete article, visit Ingram’s and click on “Icons of Education.”

School of Nursing Receives $2.4 million Grant to Help Diversify Future Workforce

The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Nursing has received a $2.4 million federal grant to offer full scholarships to help diversify the nursing workforce.The program will assist 240 students who are underrepresented in nursing — men as well as those with African-American, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian or Alaskan native backgrounds.

Current and new Bachelor of Science nursing students are eligible to receive scholarships of $10,000 per year over a four-year period. The scholarships are grants, not loans.

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