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1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307)-766-1121

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UWYO Nursing Faculty and staff receive awards: 2017

Pictured:
top row l-r: Linda Williams, Kim Raska-Miller, Susan Steiner, Elizabeth Goodwin, Joanne Prahl.
bottom row l-r: Ann Marie Hart, Sherrie Rubio-Wallace, Jenifer Thomas, Claire Hitchcock, Rebecca Carron, Denise Gable.

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University of Wyoming Nursing Faculty and Staff Recognized

Congratulations to the eleven nursing faculty and staff pictured, who were honored recently for a broad spectrum of reasons! Scroll down for descriptions of each individual's particular award...

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Page updated 5/5/2017

woman with silver hair and blue suit

Rebecca Carron

Carron received a 2017 "Sharron S. Humenick Grant" award for a follow-up study on women and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Carron elaborates on her project: "My research focuses on understanding psychosocial stress and coping mechanisms in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is an androgen-excess disorder in which a woman's ovary produces too much testosterone. Increased testosterone results in several masculine symptoms including facial hair, thinning of scalp hair in a male type pattern and difficulty becoming pregnant due to infrequent of absent ovulation. Long term risks include type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. There is no cure for PCOS, only control and management of symptoms and problems. Women with PCOS are also at risk for depression and anxiety. I am going to use my Humenick funding to interview a sample of women from my doctoral work. I am going to examine further causes of psychosocial distress in the women, use of coping mechanisms, and what health care providers can do to help women manage their symptoms and problems."


woman with reddish-brown hair and orange sweater

Denise Gable

Gable won the 2017 UWYO staff award for Supervisor of the Year in April. Gable is Business Manager for UW Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing. An article was written on this award in April. Click into the title (Gable's name above) to link to the story.


Woman outside in the autumn

Elizabeth Goodwin

Goodwin was honored with the UW FWW School of Nursing "Communication of Wisdom Award" for her excellent publication this year. She was the first author on a paper in the journal "Cancer" titled, "The experience of treatment barriers and their influence on quality of life in American Indian/Alaska Native breast cancer survivors."


Portrait of woman with full brown hair

Ann Marie Hart

Hart was awarded a 2017 "Sharron S. Humenick Grant" for a project to pilot academic-primary care practice partnerships between the DNP program and select primary care practices in Wyoming. ABSTRACT: The University of Wyoming’s Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing’s (FWWSON) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program prepares primary care nurse practitioners (NPs), including family nurse practitioners (FNPs) and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs), for practice in rural and underserved communities. Despite the program’s rural focus, Wyoming continues to experience a shortage of primary care providers, and some of the school’s DNP graduates do not end up working with rural or underserved populations. Academic-practice partnerships between educational nursing programs and clinical entities have been proposed as an innovative solution for influencing students’ future career choices, while also improving health care delivery. Although the DNP program has relationships with primary care practices throughout Wyoming, it has yet to develop a formal academic-practice partnership or other similar initiative, aimed at increasing the likelihood that its DNP graduates will work in primary care practices located in rural and/or underserved communities. A formal academic-primary care practice partnership between the FWWSON DNP program and the primary care practices that serve Wyoming’s rural and underserved communities has the potential to increase the number of DNP graduates who choose to practice primary care in rural and underserved communities. In addition, this partnership could improve UW’s DNP curriculum and enhance the care delivery and outcomes of its practice partners. The purpose of this project is to pilot an academic-primary care practice partnership between the FWWSON’s DNP program and select Wyoming primary practices that will collaboratively address the needs of all partners.


woman with black and green bandana around her hair

Claire Hitchcock

Hitchcock was honored with the 2017 College of Health Sciences "Outstanding Staff Award (over 5 years)" at the April CHS award ceremony. She has been on nursing staff for 20 years, seeing her job morph from basic secretarial to web master, public relations, alumni relations, marketing, publicity, and photography. Such changes emboldened her to go back to school to take classes to improve her skills in the new areas of her job. Hitchcock thanks her supervisor, faculty, and alumni for contributing such wonderful words in her support for this award. As web master, she would blush to print them here!


woman with silver bangs standing in front of leafy tree

Joanne Prahl

Prahl was honored with the 2017 College of Health Sciences "Outstanding Staff Award (0-5 years)" at the April CHS award ceremony. She has been on nursing staff as the Assistant Project Coordinator in the Clinical Simulation Center (CSC) since 2014. "In her relatively short time with us," says her supervisor, "she has made a huge and lasting impact on the faculty and staff in the FWWSON, faculty and staff in the other divisions and schools in the College of Health Sciences, and our students...She is extremely creative and continually comes up with brilliant ideas to make our 'patients' as realistic as possible...Joanne's energy and independence, combined with her skill and knowledge about her position, make her a supervisor's dream employee."


woman with blond/silvery highlights in her hair in front of fall foliage

Kimberly Raska-Miller

Raska was awarded a summer stipend and focused time to participate in the Ellbogen Faculty Summer Institute. This coming institute targets faculty who have been at UW for at least 12 years. The Institute's agenda is designed as a time “to reflect, reframe and re-energize” teaching alongside a number of other faculty peers at UW. Raska-Miller says she looks forward to the institute this summer to re-vitalize and help her re-energize her on-campus and online courses. "There will be lots of energy from faculty who attend, so I will be learning from them as well as from the speakers. I look forward to developing new activities to increase student engagement and learning in both settings."


portrait of woman with full curly dark brown hair in turquoise jacket

Sherrie Rubio-Wallace

Rubio-Wallace received funding through the school's 2017 Wald award for the purpose of completing a genetics course. She is now enrolled and taking the course through The Genetics Institute, offered by the Genetics Education Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. This online program is designed to teach nursing faculty about genetics so that more genetics content can be placed into nursing curricula. "I’m really excited to be able to take this course," says Rubio-Wallace, "especially since the course is being offered for the last time this year. I’ve found genetics to be fascinating--an area that nursing programs don’t usually focus on. As the applications of genetic science increase in healthcare, nurses will find we need to know more about the field." Rubio-Wallace plans to create modules for UW nursing curriculum to inform students about genetics.


woman with short brown hair in pink suit

Susan Steiner

Susan Steiner was honored with the 2017 College of Health Sciences "Career Achievement Award" at the College's award ceremony in April. UW Nursing Dean Mary Burman summarizes Steiner's career: "Susan Steiner's impact on nursing will continue to be significant because of her involvement with so many students and graduates from the University of Wyoming Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing (UWFWWSON) who are in practice all over the state and region. Moreover, she will be leaving a huge legacy in the UWFWWSON because of her mentoring of faculty and her involvement in curriculum development. Her impact extends beyond nursing education due to her practice as a nurse practitioner and her commitment to health and health care in our community." Read the rest of the article about Steiner's career by clicking on her name in the above title.


Woman with hair pulled back with lovely lights and shadows behind

Jenifer Thomas

Jennifer Thomas received the College of Health Sciences "Innovation in Teaching Award" at the 2017 ceremony in April. A nominator states, "Dr. Thomas' innovative approach to teaching health behavior change to the Doctor of Nursing Practice students and research skills to undergraduate students in the College of Health Sciences, as well as her overall, clear, student-centered organizational approach have made her an effective and beloved teacher in the School of Nursing." Read about Thomas' innovations in motivational interviewing and therapy, in student-led case studies, and through the Thomas Research Lab by clicking on her name in the above title.


woman with golden blond hair in blue dress

Linda Williams

Ellbogen Faculty Summer Institute This coming institute targets faculty who have been at UW for at least 12 years. It is designed as a time “to reflect, reframe and re-energize” their teaching alongside a number of other faculty peers at UW. Williams says, "Teaching has challenged me for the past 18 years, and this summer I am looking forward to collaborating with some UW colleagues about teaching and learning. I am hoping to gain some new ideas and I will share my ideas in an atmosphere of give and take. I am very interested in getting a start on designing a new course that I will be teaching in the future. I hope that this Summer Institute will energize me to finish out my teaching career on a successful note. I am looking forward to this!"


Contact Us

University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307)-766-1121

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